PhD Seminar
Hints on Writing (C)
Common Mistakes From My
Graduate Students
Jeff Offutt
http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~offutt/
I. Semantic Notes
• Lack of precise definitions … assuming the reader already
understands the subject
• Undefined terms
– Define terms, don’t just describe them.
• Subjective and imprecise evaluations
– (“A is worse than B”, rather than “A is slower than B”)
• Discussing solutions without mentioning problems
• Mismatched phrases
– “Although this freedom is expected to be a benefit because it mimics the
way humans process information ...” – How does “freedom” mimic
“processing”?
– “Inconsistencies detected require expedient resolution and
implementation ...” – Do we really want to “implement” the
“inconsistencies” ?
© Jeff Offutt
2
I. Semantic Notes (2)
• Objectives are verbs, not nouns
– “Objective is a test document” ... “Objective is to generate a test document”
• Conclusions that just summarize, no tying together
• Literary style in technical paper
– “fall at the side of the road”, “arcane commands”
• Useless adjectives
• “Utilize” means “to use profitably”
• Guesswork based on personal experience – opinions versus facts and
measurements
– In large classes, students think they learn less – standardized tests indicate class
size makes no difference
– Differences ?
• Speed of grading
• Amount of feedback
• Popularity is not important in scientific research
© Jeff Offutt
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I. Semantic Notes (3)
• Comparative adjectives with only one subject :
–
–
–
–
“higher” – than what?
“less” – than what?
“more” – than what?
“better” – than what?
• Comparing nouns and verbs:
– “between the interface and ... what they do ...”
– Compare nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs
• Value judgments
– (good, bad, ...) Why good or bad?
• Emotional phrases
– exploded (increased)
– embrace (use)
© Jeff Offutt
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II. Grammatical Notes
• Mentioning one item and calling it several
– “A is limited by X ... we need to break away from these constraints”
• Plurality mismatch
– “basics of X is described”, “advances ... has been”
• Plurality mismatch to avoid gender
– “...the user where they are...”
– “...the users where they are...”
• Random use of commas
– Too many commas
• No spell checking
© Jeff Offutt
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II. Grammatical Notes (2)
• et al. – “et. al.” or putting et al. in the references
– “et al.” abbreviates “et ali,” which is Latin for “and others”
• “i.e.” – “e.g.” : “i.e.” is “id est”, or “that is”, “e.g.” is
“exampli gratia”, or “for example”
– “for e.g.” sounds like a stuttering problem
• “ensure” – “insure”
– insure is to procure insurance, ensure is to make sure it happens
• article misuse : “the” – “an”
– “the object” means there is only one, “an object” means one of
many
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III. Citation Notes
• Citations are needed on specific or quantifiable points
– Otherwise they becomes opinions, which are irrelevant
•
•
•
•
Using citations as nouns
Missing page numbers in references
Inconsistently putting periods before and after citations
Incomplete references
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IV. Stylistic Notes
• Inconsistent italics / bolding
• Embedded lists (in paragraphs instead of separated)
– Do three things: (1) make your point, (2) support your point, (3) stop.
• Noise words and phrases just slow us down
– “Means by which” – “way”
– “The method by which” – “how”
• Too many “ing” words are weak
– “Make an attempt at increasing ...” – “Make an attempt to increase ...”
• Contractions—do not contract in a technical paper
• Weak sentence beginnings are passive
– “There are three ways to do it, …” – “Three ways to do it are …”
• Single dash for separator—use long or double dash
• Run-on sentences—break up into multiple sentences
• “viz”– few people know what that means
© Jeff Offutt
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IV. Stylistic Notes (2)
• Do not use unnecessary colons
• Do not Capitalize all Important Words
• Do not use binders : This makes it difficult to make comments,
especially in drafts
– Unless a (probably inexperienced) professor explicitly requires one
• Omit first names and titles in the text
• Use sections, not chapters
© Jeff Offutt
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V. Organizational Notes
• Do not use internal, incomplete references ... saying that something
is discussed elsewhere in the paper, but not saying where
• Place figures properly … immediately following discussion,
preferably on the same page
– Never before
• Always discuss and explain a figure
• Introduce and provide a roadmap for each section
• Never follow a section heading with a subsection heading without
intervening text
© Jeff Offutt
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Summary
• Create your own “oops list”
• As you get feedback from friends and professors,
add to your oops list
• When you conquer a problem, and the correct way
becomes a habit, remove it from your oops list
© Jeff Offutt
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