Writing Research Papers For Computer Science

1. Writing Research PapersFor Computer Science Steve Blackburn Research School of Computer Science Australian National University

2. Why write? Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

3. Why Write? The Moral Imperative Who is paying you, anyway? “Scientists have a moral obligation to make their findings known to other scientists, and to professionals […]” Guidelines for Publication Ethics at the Karolinska Institute, 2002 “[…] the obligation to publish research results can be regarded both as moral and epistemic standards” Matthias Adam, in Science and Social: Knowledge, Epistemic Demands and Social Values, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009 “As scientist and as thinkers, we share a moral imperative to communicate this knowledge, with each other, across disciplinary boundaries, and outside the academic and research spheres.” Kate Neville in The Science Creative Quarterly, Issue 6, 2011 “communicate this knowledge” Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

4. Why Write? Where to Publish Communicate effectively • Think seriously about the venue • Discus this early on in the project • Ideal venue will be sub-discipline-specific • Maximize impact • Aim high • Don’t fear rejection • Fear of failure retards creativity and impact Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

5. Effective WritingTop Down Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

6. Effective Writing Know Your Audience (It is probably not your mother) • What does this audience care about? • What does this audience already know? • Think about the venue • Think about the readership • Think about the reviewers • Look at the program committee composition Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

7. Effective Writing Know Your Message Don’t start writing until you have a single, clear, coherent story • What have you done… • that is interesting(to your audience, not you!) • that is novel • that advances the field? • that forms a single, coherent story? • Important v necessary • Include all that is necessary, but the focus must remain on the important • Details of methodology etcmust be reported, but in a way that does not dominate nor detract from the focus Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

8. Effective Writing The Title Make it meaningful and engaging • It is the first handle readers have • Succinct • Meaningful • If you’re lucky, memorable Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

9. Effective Writing The Abstract Many people will only read your abstract... • This is the story of your work • Write v1.0 the day you start the project • Iterate If you can’t capture your work in the modality of an abstract you probably don’t know what you’re doing and/or don’t have enough perspective. Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

10. Effective Writing What’s In An Abstract? Contribution Result “This paper introduces a new context-sensitive and control-flow sensitive pointer alias analysis. We show that it is one hundred times faster than the prior state of the art.” With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

11. Effective Writing Problem statement Contribution Result Meaning “Precise flow and context sensitive pointer analysis is currently limited to programs with 100,000 or fewer lines of code. Pointer analysis clients, such as verification and testing, are consequently limited to small programs because they need high precision.” “Precise flow and context sensitive pointer analysis is currently limited to programs with 100,000 or fewer lines of code. Pointer analysis clients, such as verification and testing, are consequently limited to small programs because they need high precision. This paper introduces a new context-sensitive and control-flow sensitive pointer alias analysis.” “Precise flow and context sensitive pointer analysis is currently limited to programs with 100,000 or fewer lines of code. Pointer analysis clients, such as verification and testing, are consequently limited to small programs because they need high precision. This paper introduces a new context-sensitive and control-flow sensitive pointer alias analysis. We show that it is one hundred times faster than prior algorithms and can analyze programs up to 1 million lines of code.” “Precise flow and context sensitive pointer analysis is currently limited to programs with 100,000 or fewer lines of code. Pointer analysis clients, such as verification and testing, are consequently limited to small programs because they need high precision. This paper introduces a new context-sensitive and control-flow sensitive pointer alias analysis. We show that it is one hundred times faster than prior algorithms and can analyze programs up to 1 million lines of code. Future work should investigate its effects on the precision and scalability of client analysis.” With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

12. Effective Writing Problem statement Contribution Result Meaning … and be precise “Precise flow and context sensitive pointer analysis is currently limited to programs with 100,000 or fewer lines of code. Pointer analysis clients, such as verification and testing, are consequently limited to small programs because they need high precision. This paper introduces a new context-sensitive and control-flow sensitive pointer alias analysis. Our key insight is that many pointers have the same aliases, and we show how to find and exploit this equivalence. We show that it is one hundred times faster than prior algorithms and can analyze programs up to 1 million lines of code. Future work should investigate its effects on the precision and scalability of client analysis.” With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

13. Effective Writing Improving an abstract Interview the writer • Understand • Problem statement • Contribution • Result • Meaning With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

14. Effective Writing The Rest of the Paper Writers (even technical ones) are story tellers • Tell a single coherent story • Link and organize ideas • Recursively at each level of the document • Emphasis • Ensure your story shines through • De-emphasize elements that are necessary but not key to the story With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

15. Effective Writing Recursive structure We’re computer scientists, after all • Containers (paper, section, paragraph) • Structure • Introduction, discussion, (conclusion) • Sentences • Structure • Special rules for structuring sentences • Linkage of ideas • Story has flow • Structure reflects flow paper section paragraph sentence With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

16. Effective Writing The Paper • Containers (paper, section, paragraph) • Structure • Introduction, discussion, (conclusion) • Sentences • Structure • Special rules for structuring sentences • Linkage of ideas • Story has flow • Structure reflects flow introduction discussion conclusion With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

17. Effective Writing Sections • Structure • Composed of paragraphs (or subsections) • Introduction, discussion, (conclusion) • Section title • Should be consistent with key idea reflected in first paragraph introduction discussion conclusion With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

18. Effective Writing Sentences • Familiar ideas • Action • New ideas subject verb object With thanks to Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin & Microsoft Research Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

19. MechanicsA Laundry List Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

20. Mechanics Have a Template Can be invaluable • Use a template directory complete with defaults • Include the common LaTeX practices you use • Include boilerplate for grant acknowlegments • Include a bibliography • Use a standard naming scheme • My lab uses keyword-venue-year • rc-ismm-2012, yinyang-isca-2012, etc Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

21. Mechanics Version Control Writing is a team sport • Why use version control? • Versioning (especially for thesis!) • Concurrent writing • Use LaTeX and an SCM (svn, git, hg, etc) • Break document into multiple files • Put tables etc. into separate files • Use the cloud • Google docs etc. • Write concurrently, leave comments, versions Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

22. Mechanics Author Order Not something to leave to the last minute • Understand the convention • Ensure roles are clear • Discuss it explicitly Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

23. Mechanics Spelling, Grammar & Style Writing errors distract the reviewer / reader • Eliminate passive voice whenever possible • Passivity introduces ambiguity, the antithesis of good science writing • Practice, practice, practice, practice • Use available tools • Read • Invite critique Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

24. Mechanics Spelling, Grammar & Style Can be fun… …no, really. Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012 24

25. Mechanics Captions Many readers will only look at the pictures… • Make figure + caption stand-alone • Capture the insight and meaning in the caption if possible • Capture only most vital methodology in caption Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

26. Mechanics Citations and Bibliography Take special care when acknowledging prior work • Take care to cite the appropriate work. • Gratuitous citations do not impress • Incorrect citations irritate • Missed citations infuriate • Take care with bib entries • Include the DOI where possible • Check the citation. Is it correct? Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

27. Mechanics Feedback & Proofreading Can be invaluable • You will become blind to your failings • Loss of perspective • Failure to explain key predicates • Familiarity of own writing style • Blindness to typos, omissions • Get friends to proofread • Be open to critique • Cultivate a culture of honesty and directness Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

28. Mechanics Rebuttal Use it wisely • Identify key points, factor them out • Points for and points against • Ensure you address all major questions • Ensure you rebut all major concerns • Be succinct • Be polite • Be direct Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

29. Mechanics Credibility What’s the credibility of this work? • Is your work reproducible? • Does the paper contain enough information? • Provide full proofs • Publish as an abstract or tech report • Publish raw data • Put it on your web page Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

30. Mechanics Iterate Start writing early & iterate • Learning to write well takes time and practice • You cannot leave it to the last minute • I recommend a top-down approach • Abstract • Structure • Iteratively fill in content Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012

31. Mechanics Questions? Steve Blackburn | Writing Research Papers | PhD Workshop May 2012