**CS 190 Senior Seminar** Reading and Writing Requirements and Advice [Back to landing page](../index.html) # Reading Finding and reading technical articles are skills that you will develop over the course of your career. Reading research papers can be awkward at first---they have an "academic" writing style that you may or may not like. ## How to Find Articles I recommend the following approach for finding research papers: - Write a short list of search terms and synonyms. - Search for these terms using [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/). - Look for "recent" papers (recent depends on the field) - Focus on papers with higher citation counts, but don't eliminate a paper just due to the number of citations - Look for "survey" and "review" articles, and then click on the "Cited by DDD" link to find recent papers that cite the survey/review article - If you find a particularly good article, you can also look at the papers it references (found at the end of the paper) - Search with the same terms using your search engine of choice. You can frequently find related blog posts or videos on the authors' websites - Use a tool like [Connected Papers](https://www.connectedpapers.com/) to find related articles. - For other types of work (blog posts, etc.) use your normal searching skills. - LLMs are not (yet?) a good way to find articles. ## How to Read Articles Keep the following in mind when reading any research article: - **Who are the authors?** The authors are the only people with the full context needed to understand a paper. Many authors are not native English writers, so don't let lower-quality writing prevent you from understanding what could be an important takeaway. It is important to know the authors' backgrounds (what department are they in? what company do they work for?). - **What is the venue?** Every venue will have its own requirements and expectations. Keep this in mind when thinking about what the authors left out (due to space requirements) or didn't include (due to the media). - **Who is the audience?** You are likely **not** the intended audience for most research papers. The intended audience is probably some niche sub-field of researchers from around the world. Every group of researchers has its own jargon and informal (not codified) rules and conventions. In general, I only gripe about grammar and style when **reviewing** (providing feedback prior to publication) an article, and not when reading an article or reviewing a research proposal. In the latter cases, do your best to look past writing characteristics (good or bad) and focus on contributions. Once you find a research article (or research heavy blog post), here are a couple of recommended techniques: *Technique 1:* 1. Skip the abstract 2. Read the first sentence of every paragraph in the paper 3. Come up with two or three questions you would ask the author 4. Summarize paper's main points in one to three sentences 5. Read the abstract and compare it to your summary 6. Read the paper again, but now without skipping any sections. *Technique 2:* 1. Read the abstract and introduction. If the paper seems relevant: 2. Skim the methodology and results sections 3. Summarize the paper's main points in 1-3 sentences 4. Come up with 2-3 questions you have about the paper 5. If the paper still seems relevant, read the paper from end to end (skipping the related work section) 6. Look at the related work section to identify other papers you should look at In general, you only need to read in more detail if you need to understand something in more detail (for example, if you are trying to replicate their work). You should not expect to understand every part of a paper. You do not have the same background or context as the author(s). You will often want to read a paper several times if you are trying to recreate something the authors discovered. You should also read ["How to Read a Paper" by S. Keshav](../documents/Keshav-HowtoReadPaper.pdf), which has similar advice. # Writing The best advice I can give you is to write consistently. Aim for 20 to 30 minutes per day rather than trying to write for hours at a time. ## General Writing Advice Some quick tips: - Know your audience and the expected style (e.g., blog-post vs conference paper). - Clearly state your thesis. - Provide clear evidence supporting your thesis. - Write a bold beginning. - Write a provocative ending. - Vary sentence and paragraph length. - Check for sentence and paragraph transitions. - Maintain a consistent tense and voice. - Get into a writing routine. Write a small amount (20 to 30 minutes) three days a week for the entire semester. - Jot down disparate sentences and combine them together as is useful. - Outline sections headings and then write the first sentence of each paragraph for each section. - Use present tense. - Esthetics are important. - Use descending font sizes for headings, subheadings, etc. - Use bold, italics, underlining to draw attention to important points (use consistently). - Add figures and tables to summarize and break-up text. Here are some tips from Some ["Tips from a Pulitzer prizewinner](https://web.stanford.edu/group/nusselab/cgi-bin/lab/sites/default/files/d41586-019-02918-5.pdf) (US novelist Cormac McCarthy) written up by Van Savage and Pamela Yeh: - Use minimalism to achieve clarity. - Decide on your paper's theme and two or three points you want every reader to remember. - Limit each paragraph to a single message. - Keep sentences short, simply constructed, and direct. - Don't slow the reader down. - Don't over-elaborate. - Don't worry too much about readers who want to find a way to argue about every tangential point and list all possible qualifications for every statement. - Spoken language and common sense are generally better guides for a first draft than rule books. - Commas denote a pause in speaking. - Dashes should emphasize the clauses you consider most important—without using bold or italics—and not only for defining terms. - Inject questions and less-formal language to break up tone and maintain a friendly feeling. - Choose concrete language and examples. - Avoid placing equations in the middle of sentences. - Red your work aloud to yourself or a friend. ## How to Outline a Technical Report Writing your proposal (or thesis) will be much easier if you start with an outline. Outlining will help you - organize your thoughts, - order your arguments and supporting evidence, - develop relationships between your topics, and - direct your background reading. An outline will typically follow this format: - Title - Abstract - Introduction - Introductory sentence - Supporting paragraphs (e.g., citation or quote) - Thesis - First body section - Topic related to first point of thesis - Supporting paragraphs - Second body section - Topic related to second point of thesis - Supporting paragraphs - Third body section - Topic related to third point of thesis - Supporting paragraphs - Conclusion - Restated thesis - Highlighted points - Future work and additional questions Here is a concrete example from [Indeed's advice on writing a research paper outline](https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-research-paper-outline): - Why Schools Should Use Technology for Educational Purposes - Introduction - The increasing role of technology in careers - The need for technologically literate citizens - The role of educators to prepare students must include technology literacy - The benefits of technology for students include: - Allows for new types of assignments - Allows for remote learning - Reflects modern careers - Body paragraph 1 - Technology allows for simulations, games, and programming - Examples of simulation - Examples of games - Examples of programming - Body paragraph 2 - Technology allows for distance learning - Examples of remote learning - Example of hybrid learning (Students at school and at home) - Examples of remote collaborations (Across cities, states, districts) - Body paragraph 3 - Technology is an important part of many careers - Technology prevalence in work (cite Johnson, et. al., 2018) - Examples of school projects that mimic work projects (STEM Camp, Boulder Schools, 2012) - Examples of schools using technology for problem-solving - Conclusion - Three reasons to encourage technology in school - Problem-solving - Remote learning - Preparation for careers - Summary of innovative uses of technology - Summary of support for using technology in schools - Belcher (2016) found increased technology use led to better math scores on PSAT - Ideas for future research - More studies on the effect of technology and test scores - Using technology as an intervention for struggling students Here are three more sources for advice on how to outline a technical report: - [Dissertation & Thesis Outline](https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/dissertation-thesis-outline/) - [How to Create a Structured Research Paper Outline]https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/outline/() - [Outlining - Writing a Paper](https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/outlining) A senior thesis will follow a structure closer to the following: - Abstract (problem statement, methodology, main finding, main conclusion) - Introduction (broad territory, your niche/questions, foreshadowing) - Literature review (broken down by topic areas) - Methodology (processes and techniques used for collection and analysis) - Results - Discussion (layout claim, state implications, provide recommendations) - Conclusion - Acknowledgements - References Here is a good example of a well-written and easy to read physics dissertation: ["At the Interface of Algebra and Statistics" by Tai-Danae Bradley](https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3719/) (and the [presentation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiadG3ywJIs)). ## How to Write an Introduction You do not have to write your introduction in any specific format, but you might find Dr. Stirewalt's 5-paragraph rule for writing Introductions helpful: - **Introductory paragraph:** What is the problem and why is it relevant to the audience attending THIS AUDIENCE? Moreover, why is the problem hard, and what is your solution? You must be brief here. This forces you to boil down your contribution to its bare essence and communicate it directly. - **Background paragraph:** Elaborate on why the problem is hard, critically examining prior work, trying to tease out one or two central shortcomings that your solution overcomes. - **Transition paragraph:** What keen insight did you apply to overcome the shortcomings of other approaches? Structure this paragraph like a syllogism: Whereas $P$ and $P \rightarrow Q$, infer Q. - **Details paragraph:** What technical challenges did you have to overcome and what kinds of validation did you perform? - **Assessment paragraph:** Assess your results and briefly state the broadly interesting conclusions that these results support. This may only take a couple of sentences. I usually then follow these sentences by an optional overview of the structure of the paper with interleaved section callouts. ## Project Proposal Advice - Your introduction should foreshadow your proposed approach. - I always encourage authors to add a diagram, figure, or example to their introduction that makes it easier for readers to understand the problem and/or proposed solution. - Your introduction will need to cite papers to support your claims. - Do not repeat, word-for-word, any phrases you use in your abstract. - Your literature review (i.e., related works section) should synthesize your annotated bibliography. - It should not be a laundry list of prior works. - It should group prior works into categories. - It should discuss how prior works relate to your proposed approach. - It should discuss how prior works fall short and how your proposed approach overcomes these shortcomings. - Your methodology section should discuss your proposed approach in detail. - It should discuss how you will evaluate your proposed approach. - It should discuss any datasets, tools, or frameworks you will use. - You should include diagrams, figures, and examples as needed to help the reader understand your proposed approach. - Your ethics section should include citations when appropriate. [Diagrams](https://app.diagrams.net/) is a simple tool for creating diagrams. # Peer-Review Process When possible, we will perform peer reviews in class. They will follow this format: 1. Read a peer's current draft. 1. Answer review prompts on gradescope. 1. Share your feedback with the author. 1. Repeat steps 1-3 with different peer some number of times. 1. Answer feedback prompts on gradescope. Note the following while reading your classmates' reports (you should take notes on gradescope). - What is their topic? - Did they outline their entire report? - Does the introduction help you understand the topic and its importance? - Does the introduction help you understand the topic's categorizations? - What did you find most confusing about their report? - What is a one sentence summary of their report? You can be brief in your note-taking.