How to Writie Great Research Paper_Simon Peyton Jones Microsoft Research,Cambridge英文版_46页.pdf

How to write a great research paperSimon Peyton JonesMicrosoft Research,CambridgeWhy bother?Good papers and talks are a fundamental part of research excellenceFallacy we write papers and give talks mainly to impress others,gain recognition,and get promotedPapers communicate ideasYour goal:to infect the mind of your reader with your idea,like a virusPapers are far more durable than programs(think Mozart)The greatest ideas are(literally)worthless if you keep them to yourselfWriting papers:model 1IdeaDo researchWrite paperWriting papers:model 2IdeaDo researchWrite paperIdeaWrite paperDo researchForces us to be clear,focusedCrystallises what we dont understandOpens the way to dialogue with others:reality check,critique,and collaborationDo not be intimidatedWrite a paper,and give a talk,about any idea,no matter how weedy and insignificant it may seem to youFallacyYou need to have a fantastic idea before you can write a paper or give a talk.(Everyone else seems to.)Do not be intimidatedWrite a paper,and give a talk,about any idea,no matter how insignificant it may seem to youWriting the paper is how you develop the idea in the first placeIt usually turns out to be more interesting and challenging that it seemed at firstThe purpose of your paperThe purpose of your paper is.To convey your idea.from your head to your readers headEverything serves this single goalThe purpose of your paper is not.To describe the WizWoz system Your reader does not have a WizWoz She is primarily interested in re-usable brain-stuff,not executable artefactsConveying the ideaHere is a problemIts an interesting problemIts an unsolved problemHere is my ideaMy idea works(details,data)Heres how my idea compares to other peoples approachesI wish I knew how to solve that!I see how that works.Ingenious!StructureAbstract(4 sentences)Introduction(1 page)The problem(1 page)My idea(2 pages)The details(5 pages)Related work(1-2 pages)Conclusions and further work(0.5 pages)The abstractI usually write the abstract lastUsed by program committee members to decide which papers to readFour sentences Kent Beck1.State the problem2.Say why its an interesting problem3.Say what your solution achieves4.Say what follows from your solutionExample1.Many papers are badly written and hard to understand2.This is a pity,because their good ideas may go unappreciated3.Following simple guidelines can dramatically improve the quality of your papers4.Your work will be used more,and the feedback you get from others will in turn improve your researchStructureAbstract(4 sentences)Introduction(1 page)The problem(1 page)My idea(2 pages)The details(5 pages)Related work(1-2 pages)Conclusions and further work(0.5 pages)The introduction(1 page)1.Describe the problem2.State your contributions.and that is allDescribe the problemUse an example to introduce the problemState your contributionsWrite the list of contributions firstThe list of contributions drives the entire paper:the paper substantiates the claims you have madeReader thinks“gosh,if they can really deliver this,thats be exciting;Id better read on”State your contributionsBulleted list of contributionsDo not leave the reader to guess what your contributions are!Contributions should be refutableWe have built a GUI toolkit in WizWoz,and used it to implement a text editor(Section 5).The result is half the length of the Java version.We have used WizWoz in practiceWe prove that the type system is sound,and that type checking is decidable(Section 4)We study its propertiesWe give the syntax and semantics of a language that supports concurrent processes(Section 3).Its innovative features are.We describe the WizWoz system.It is really cool.No“rest of this paper is.”Not:Instead,use forward references from the narrative in the introduction.The introduction(including the contributions)should survey the whole paper,and therefore forward reference every important part.“The rest of this paper is structured as follows.Section 2 introduces the problem.Section 3.Finally,Section 8 concludes”.StructureAbstract(4 sentences)Introduction(1 page)The problem(1 page)My idea(2 pages)The details(5 pages)Related work(1-2 pages)Conclusions and further work(0.5 pages)No related work yet!Related workYour readerYour ideaWe adopt the notion of transaction from Brown 1,as modified for distributed systems by White 2,using the four-phase interpolation algorithm of Green 3.Our work differs from White in our advanced revocation protocol,which deals with the case of priority inversion as described by Yellow 4.No related work yetProblem 1:describing alternative approaches gets between the reader and your ideaProblem 2:the reader knows nothing about the problem yet;so your(carefully trimmed)description of various technical tradeoffs is absolutely incomprehensibleI feel tiredI feel stupidInstead.Concentrate single-mindedly on a narrative thatDescribes the problem,and why it is interestingDescribes your ideaDefends your idea,showing how it solves the problem,and filling out the detailsOn the way,cite relevant work in passing,but defer discussion to the endThe payload of your paperConsider a bufircuated semi-lattice D,over a hyper-modulated signature S.Suppose pi is an element of D.Then we know for every such pi there is an epi-modulus j,such that pj pi.Sounds impressive.but Sends readers to sleep In a paper you MUST provide the details,but FIRST convey the ideaThe payload of your paperIntroduce the problem,and your idea,usingEXAMPLESand only then present the general caseUsing examplesExample right awayThe Simon PJ question:is there any typewriter font?Conveying the ideaExplain it as if you were speaking to someone using a whiteboardConveying the intuition is primary,not secondaryOnce your reader has the intuition,she can follow the details(but not vice versa)Even if she skips the details,she still takes away something valuableEvidenceYour introduction makes claimsThe body of the paper provides evidence to support each claimCheck each claim in the introduction,identify the evidence,and forward-reference it from the claimEvidence can be:analysis and comparison,theorems,measurements,case studiesStructureAbstract(4 sentences)Introduction(1 page)The problem(1 page)My idea(2 pages)The details(5 pages)Related work(1-2 pages)Conclusions and further work0.5 pages)Related workFallacyTo make my work look good,I have to make other peoples work look badThe truth:credit is not like moneyGiving credit to others does not diminish the credit you get from your paper Warmly acknowledge people who have helped you Be generous to the competition.“In his inspiring paper Foo98 Foogle shows.We develop his foundation in the following ways.”Acknowledge weaknesses in your approachCredit is not like moneyFailing to give credit to others can kill your paperIf you imply that an idea is yours,and the referee knows it is not,then eitherYou dont know that its an old idea(bad)You do know,but are pretending its yours(very bad)Making sure related work is accurateA good plan:when you think you are done,send the draft to the competition saying“could you help me ensure that I describe your work fairly?”.Often they will respond with helpful critiqueThey are likely to be your referees anyway,so getting their comments up front is jolly good.The processStart early.Very early.Hastily-written papers get rejected.Papers are like wine:they need time to matureCollaborateUse CVS to support collaborationGetting helpExperts are goodNon-experts are also very goodEach reader can only read your paper for the first time once!So use them carefullyExplain carefully what you want(“I got lost here”is much more important than“wibble is mis-spelt”.)Get your paper read by as many friendly guinea pigs as possibleListening to your reviewersEvery review is gold dustBe(truly)grateful for criticism as well as praiseThis is really,really,really hardBut its really,really,really,really,really,really importantListening to your reviewersRead every criticism as a positive suggestion for something you could explain more clearlyDO NOT respond“you stupid person,I meant X”.Fix the paper so that X is apparent even to the stupidest reader.Thank them warmly.They have given up their time for you.Language and styleBasic stuffSubmit by the deadlineKeep to the length restrictionsDo not narrow the marginsDo not use 6pt fontOn occasion,supply supporting evidence(e.g.experimental data,or a written-out proof)in an appendixAlways use a spell checkerVisual structureGive strong visual structure to your paper using sections and sub-sectionsbulletsitalicslaid-out codeFind out how to draw pictures,and use themVisual structureUse the active voiceWe can see that.It can be seen that.You might think this would be a type errorIt might be thought that this would be a type errorWe wanted to retain these propertiesThese properties were thought desirableWe ran 34 tests34 tests were runYESNOThe passive voice is“respectable”but it DEADENS your paper.Avoid it at all costs.“We”=you and the reader“We”=the authors“You”=the readerUse simple,direct languageThe ball moved sidewaysThe object under study was displaced horizontallyThe garbage collector was really slowIt could be considered that the speed of storage reclamation left something to be desiredFind outEndeavour to ascertain YearlyOn an annual basisYESNOSummaryIf you remember nothing else:Identify your key ideaMake your contributions explicitUse examplesA good starting point:“Advice on Research and Writing”www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mleone/web/how-to.html