Cleveland State University
ESC 720
Research Communications
Lecture 7 – Writing Structure and Style
Dan Simon
Writing Structure and Style
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Paper Structure
Paper Title and Authorship
Abstract
Paragraphs
Writing Style
– Contractions, Voice, Tense, Connectors, Lists, Repetition,
and Formatting
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1. Paper Structure
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Abstract (100–200 words, often with a different font)
Introduction: First numbered section
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Sections
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Subsections
 Paragraphs
Conclusion: Last numbered section
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Background of paper
Related work
Overview of paper
Summary
Future work
Acknowledgments (un-numbered section, or footnote on
first page)
References: Un-numbered section
Appendices
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1. Paper Structure
Some Elements of a Good Introduction
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Is the subject of the report clearly defined?
Why is the subject important?
Who are the important researchers?
What are their motivations for studying the subject?
What are the important definitions in the subject?
What is the basic history of the subject?
Does the first paragraph catch my interest?
Does the introduction motivate me to keep reading?
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1. Paper Structure
Sections
• At the start of each section, give an overview of the material
in that section. This is similar to the paper outline in the
introduction.
“In this section we discuss … Section 3.1 shows that …
Section 3.2 derives … Section 3.2 provides simulation results
…”
• At the end of each section, summarize.
“We have shown that … Furthermore, we have seen that …”
Note that this is an exception to the rule of using a consistent
tense.
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1. Paper Structure
Some Elements of a Good Conclusion
• Has the report been summarized well?
• Is there adequate discussion of future work?
– Discussion of future work is the only new material
that should be in the conclusion
• Is the ending graceful?
• Do not refer back to figures, tables, or
equations in the conclusion
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Writing Structure and Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Paper Structure
Paper Title and Authorship
Abstract
Paragraphs
Writing Style
– Contractions, Voice, Tense, Connectors, Lists, Repetition,
and Formatting
7
2. Paper Title and Authorship
• Paper titles should be specific but not too long
• Titles should not contain acronyms unless they
are generally known
• A Real-Time Markov Analysis of BBO with a
Comparison to GAs and Application to Flux
Capacitor Design in Time Machines
• Markov Analysis of Biogeography-Based
Optimization: Application to Time Machines
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2. Paper Title and Authorship
• Avoid meaningless words – i.e., be specific
Real-world performance evaluation of a newly
proposed novel optimization algorithm
An immigration refusal approach for biogeographybased optimization with application to motor control
A newly developed intelligent control algorithm for
real world applications
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2. Paper Title and Authorship
The IEEE affirms that authorship credit must be reserved for
individuals who have met each of the following conditions:
(1) made a significant intellectual contribution to the theoretical
development, system or experimental design, prototype
development, and/or the analysis and interpretation of data
associated with the work contained in the manuscript,
(2) contributed to drafting the article or reviewing and/or revising
it for intellectual content, and
(3) approved the final version of the manuscript, including
references.
IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual
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2. Paper Title and Authorship
• Contributors who do not meet authorship
criteria should be mentioned in an
un-numbered acknowledgments section
which appears just before the un-numbered
references section.
• Financial support can be mentioned in the
acknowledgments section, or in an unnumbered footnote on the first page.
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2. Paper Title and Authorship
… blah blah blah … and this concludes our work.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by NSF grant 9A453 in the Engineering Directorate.
The authors gratefully acknowledge Albert Einstein for help with the relativity
equations. The anonymous reviewers were instrumental in correcting the
misuse of semicolons in the original version of this paper.
References
[1] A. Einstein, “On the Theory of Brownian Motion,” Annalen der Physik, 19,
371–381, 1906.
...
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Writing Structure and Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Paper Structure
Paper Title and Authorship
Abstract
Paragraphs
Writing Style
– Contractions, Voice, Tense, Connectors, Lists, Repetition,
and Formatting
13
3. Abstract
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The abstract must be self-contained.
Define acronyms that are used in the abstract.
The abstract must not contain references.
It is acceptable, although not common, to identify work by
author. For example, "Our flux capacitor design is based on
the work of Dr. Emmett Brown and Prof. Marty McFly."
Avoid saying "in this paper" in the abstract, unless you’re
writing in the third person.
Avoid general motivation and background in the abstract.
Highlight the problem and main results.
Remember that the abstract may be the only part of your
paper that anyone reads!
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3. Abstract
Sample Abstract:
BBO is a population-based EA [1] that is based on the
mathematics of biogeography. This paper presents a Markov
analysis of BBO. The reason we do this is because general
conclusions cannot be drawn from simulation results, so it is
important to obtain analytical results about the behavior of BBO.
Problems: Undefined acronyms
References
Use of the phrase “This paper”
Too much motivation
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3. Abstract
Better abstract:
Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a population-based evolutionary
algorithm (EA) that is based on the mathematics of biogeography. We present
a Markov analysis of BBO. Our analysis provides the probability of each
population distribution for a given problem. Analytical comparisons on
various types of simple problems (unimodal, multimodal, and deceptive)
show that with low mutation rates, BBO outperforms other EAs.
Corrections:
Acronyms are defined
The reference has been removed
The phrase “This paper” has been removed
Discussion about motivation has been removed
Results have been summarized
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Writing Structure and Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Paper Structure
Paper Title and Authorship
Abstract
Paragraphs
Writing Style
– Contractions, Voice, Tense, Connectors, Lists, Repetition,
and Formatting
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4. Paragraphs
• A paragraph should contain around 100 words
– Shorter than 30 words is too choppy
– Longer than 200 words is cumbersome, hard to read
– Vary the length of your sentences and paragraphs
• A paragraph must never have just one sentence
– Does a sentence ever contain only one word? No.
(Okay, there are a few exceptions.)
– Does a section contain only one paragraph?
(There are exceptions – like transitional paragraphs.)
– Does a report contain only one section?
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4. Paragraphs
• A paragraph should contain:
– Introductory sentence, also called topic sentence
• The most general sentence in the paragraph
– Middle sentences, also called body sentences or
supporting sentences, which discuss one subject
– Conclusion (linking) sentence
• May be omitted if the paragraph is short
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4. Paragraphs: Example
In state estimation problems, we want to estimate the
state x because it contains all of the information about
the system. The problem is that we cannot measure x
directly. Instead we measure y, which is a function of x
that is corrupted by the noise v. We can use y to help us
obtain an estimate of x, but we cannot necessarily take
the information from y at its face value because it is
corrupted by noise. We therefore need a way to
properly balance our measurement information with
our model information.
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4. Paragraphs
• Topic sentences need to be general but also
need to be limited to a single topic.
• Examples:
– Our new controller is stable, converges quickly,
and is low cost …
(unless this sentence is in the conclusion)
– Our new controller is stable under certain
conditions …
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4. Paragraphs
• Topic sentences need to be general but also
need to be limited to a single topic.
• Examples:
– Our new controller is stable if the gain is less than
the infinity-norm of the noise-to-error transfer
function, which in turn is less than unity …
– Our new controller is stable under certain
conditions …
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Writing Structure and Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Paper Structure
Paper Title and Authorship
Abstract
Paragraphs
Writing Style
– Formal Writing, Voice, Tense, Connectors, Lists,
Repetition, and Formatting
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5. Writing Style: Formal Writing
Two kinds of writing:
• Informal (magazines, newspapers, web sites)
• Formal (academic, professional)
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5. Writing Style: Formal Writing
Informal writing:
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Beginning sentences with conjunctions (And, But, …)
Contractions (can’t, won’t, doesn’t, …)
Use of the word you
Use of the imperative (should, need, …)
Abbreviations (a few are okay in formal writing: e.g., i.e., etc.)
Person shift (I, you, he, she, it, we)
Emotional content, personal stories
Short sentences and short paragraphs
Lack of references
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5. Writing Style: Consistent Voice
• Voice is a term that indicates if you are writing in the first
person (I or we), second person (you), or third person (he,
she, they, it).
• In state estimation problems, we want to estimate the state x
because it contains all of the information about the system.
The problem is that you cannot measure x directly. Instead we
measure y, which is a function of x that is corrupted by the
noise v. Engineers can use y to help us obtain an estimate of x,
but they cannot necessarily take the information from y at its
face value because it is corrupted by noise. We therefore
need a way to properly balance my measurement information
with my model information.
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5. Writing Style: Consistent Tense
• Tense is a term that indicates if you are writing in the past,
present, or future. Present is the preferred (but not required)
tense.
• In our state estimation problem, we want to estimate the
state x because it contains all of the information about the
system. The problem is that we could not measure x directly.
Instead we measured y, which is a function of x that was
corrupted by the noise v. We will use y to obtain an estimate
of x, but we cannot take the information from y at its face
value because it is corrupted by noise. We therefore will need
a way to properly balance our measurement information with
our model information.
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5. Writing Style: Use Connectors
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For example, …
For instance, …
One example is …
First, second, third, …
As another example, …
Another example is …
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Finally, …
In conclusion, …
To summarize, …
On the one hand, …
On the other hand, …
However, …
But …
Also …
In addition, …
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5. Writing Style: Use Connectors
Each of the U.S. space projects had specific goals. The Mercury
project was designed to test whether or not human beings could
survive in outer space. The Mercury project tested rockets with a
new space capsule which could hold one person. The Gemini
project was intended to find out whether two people could work
in weightlessness. Gemini astronauts took “spacewalks.” They
floated outside their spacecraft in a spacesuit. Gemini astronauts
tried out new flying skills. On some Gemini flights, astronauts
linked two spacecraft together. This was a major goal of the
Gemini program. The Apollo project had the goal of testing
spacecraft that could fly to the Moon.
We need some connectors!
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5. Writing Style: Use Connectors
Each of the U.S. space projects had specific goals. For example,
the Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human
beings could survive in outer space. In addition, the Mercury
project tested rockets with a new space capsule which could
hold one person. As another example, the Gemini project was
intended to find out whether two people could work in
weightlessness. One way of doing this was by having Gemini
astronauts take “spacewalks.” That is, they floated outside their
spacecraft in a spacesuit. Gemini astronauts also tried out new
flying skills. On some Gemini flights, astronauts linked two
spacecraft together. This linking was a major goal of the Gemini
program. Finally, the Apollo project had the goal of testing
spacecraft that could fly to the Moon.
Good use of connectors!
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5. Writing Style: Lists
• Avoid lists that are set apart from your text.
• But lists can be embedded in the text.
In this section we compare BBO with ant colony
optimization, particle swarm optimization, artificial
immune systems, and differential evolution.
In this section we compare BBO with four other
algorithms: (1) ant colony optimization, (2) particle
swarm optimization, (3) artificial immune systems,
and (4) differential evolution.
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5. Writing Style: Avoid Repetition
• Vary terminology for the sake of variety, as
long as you don’t sacrifice accuracy.
Computers control many aspects of our lives.
Computers merge hardware and software,
integrating the two and generating complex
interactions. It is thus imperative that we construct
computer software and computer hardware so they
can evolve together. This paper discusses one
approach to integrate computer hardware and
computer software.
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5. Writing Style: Avoid Repetition
• Vary terminology for the sake of variety, as
long as you don’t sacrifice accuracy.
Computers control many aspects of our lives.
Computing systems merge hardware and software,
integrating the two and generating complex
interactions. It is thus imperative that we construct
hardware and software so they can evolve together.
This paper discusses one approach to accomplish
this integration.
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5. Writing Style: Formatting
• For journal/conference submissions, use one column,
double-spacing, and 12-point font.
• For your “camera-ready” format, use the following:
– Two columns for 10-point font (or smaller)
– One column for 12-point font (or larger)
• Include header and footer information on each page.
• Exceptions: some journals and conferences include a
template that you must use.
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5. Writing Style: Formatting
Note the footer
information at
the bottom of
the page.
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Acknowledgments
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lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/toeflwrite.html
www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/etc/writing-style.html
www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/language-usage.html
Technical Communication, by Mike Markel
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