How to write

scientific papers

Engr. Kaleem Ullah

CAS-EP509 – Research Methodology

Slide Credits: Claudio Casetti, Mario Casu, Paolo Giaccone, DET, Politecnico di Torino
 Why are we here?
• The acceptance rate of non-mother English tongue
authors is generally a lot lower than for native English
tongue authors.

• The scientific quality of an article is the principal

reason for publication

• However, is editorial rejection purely on scientific

grounds?
 General Advice
• Write for your readers

• Write for your reviewers

• Think in English as you write in English

• After writing the paper, read it!

• Run a spell checker!

 The Title

• As Robert Day (author of “How to Write a

Scientific paper”) puts it:

“The title should be the fewest words that

adequately describe the content of the paper”
 Choosing a good title
• Don’t be afraid to be creative

• Titles must not look like random sets of

keywords:

✘ WiFi
A Joint Analysis
Networks of Cellular Small Cells and

✔ When Cellular Meets WiFi in Wireless Small Cell

Networks
 Choosing a good title
• Don’t be afraid to be creative

• Titles must not look like random sets of

keywords:

✘ Quality
Internetof Service in Video Streaming over the

✔ Streaming Videos over the Internet: Are

Worth the
They
Wait?
 Choosing a good title
• Don’t be afraid to be creative

• Titles must not look like random sets of

keywords:

✘ Evaluation of non-Optimal Multicast Routing

✔ How bad is a Naïve Multicast Routing?
 Choosing a good title
• Don’t get carried away!

TCP-Smart Framing: A New, Exciting Addition

✘ to the TCP

TCP Smart Framing: a Segmentation Algorithm

Universe
✔ to Reduce TCP latency
 Choosing a good title

•Do not pile up terms in attributive position

1 2 3
High-throughput Receiver-oriented Multicast
✘ Delivery Protocols
4 5
High-throughput Protocols for
✔ Receiver-oriented Multicast Delivery
1 2 3
 Choosing a good title
• Stress what’s novel by placing it at the end

• Readers implicitly assume the last words are

more important

Gateway-based User Management in Wireless

✘ HomeNetworks

User Management in Wireless Home

✔ Networks: The Gateway View
 EXERCISE 1
Propose new titles
Scientific Writing Structure -
IMRaD
• IMRaD – Introduction, Method, Results and Discussions

• A common organizational structure (a document format)

• IMRaD is the most prominent norm for the structure of a 

scientific journal article of the original research type

Introduction

Method,
Results and
Discussions

Conclusion
 Structuring a paper
Abstract

How do you get from here to there

?

Conclusions
 The abstract

• After the title, it is you business card

• Often, the first thing a reviewer reads

• Aim at making a lasting impression from the

outset
 The abstract
• Ideally, a scientific paper
abstract should provide 5
key pieces of information
 The abstract
• Ideally, a scientific paper
abstract should provide 5
key pieces of information

1. Motivation
 The abstract
• Ideally, a scientific paper
abstract should provide 5
key pieces of information

1. Motivation

2. Problem statement
 The abstract
• Ideally, a scientific paper
abstract should provide 5
key pieces of information

1. Motivation

2. Problem statement

3. Approach
 The abstract
• Ideally, a scientific paper
abstract should provide 5
key pieces of information

1. Motivation

2. Problem statement

3. Approach

4.
Results
5. Conclusions
}
The abstract
 The abstract

• This is an abstract
you do not want to write

• no discernible structure

• no context

• unfocused problem statement

• just a list of paper content

 The abstract

• Aim for an abstract that is at most 250 words

• Do not state anything which is not in the paper

 Structuring a paper
Abstract

Introduction

Conclusions
 The “Introduction”
• Capture the readers’ (and reviewers’) attention!

• Structure the Introduction in an easily

recognisable format:

• General statements, scope and context

• Focus on the problem you are about to tackle

• Outline your contribution: methodology and

results
The “Introduction”
General statement
 The “Introduction”
• The General Statement is usually where you
want to flaunt your creativity…

“It is a truth universally acknowledged,

that a single man in possession of
a good fortune, must be in want of a
wife.”

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

The “Introduction”

Getting your work into focus

The “Introduction”

Getting your work into focus

The “Introduction”

Getting your work into focus

The “Introduction”

Outlining your contribution

 Structuring a paper
Abstract

Introduction

Related Work

Conclusions
 Related Work

• You must not only list literature works that are

related…

• …but also explain how they are related, how

they differ from your paper
 Related Work

• Related work is mostly about citations

• know how to cite other works in your paper

• know how to list citations in the bibliography

 Related Work
• Only cite primary sources

• Avoid, unless strictly necessary, to cite:

• papers in press or, worst, submitted only

• web sites

• technical reports (especially if a

“shortcut” against page limit)
 Related Work

• Be detailed in your citations

• Give credit to the authors of the papers you cite

✘
would you like your work
to be cited in this
 Related Work

• Be detailed in your citations

• Give credit to the authors of the papers you cite

✔
 Related Work

• Be detailed in your citations

• Give credit to the authors of the papers you cite

✔ this works too!

 Bibliography
• Some simple rules:

• list citations in… citing order

• you can be minimalist… up to a

point

✘ ✔
 Bibliography
• Some simple rules:

• list citations in… citing order

• you can be minimalist… up to a

point
• don’t be sloppy or inconsistent
 Bibliography
• Some simple rules:

• list citations in… citing order

• you can be minimalist… up to a

point
• don’t be sloppy or inconsistent

• all items in the bibliography must be cited

somewhere in the paper
 Bibliography
Use IEEE Reference/citation style, for example;

Body Citation:
This is because; system architects have little or no visibility of the lower-
level details that are needed to implement low power schemes at RTL
[10].

Reference/ Bibliography
[ 10] A. Qamar, F. B. Muslim and L. Lavagno, "Analysis and implementation of the Semi-Global
9 Matching 3D vision algorithm using code transformations and High-Level Synthesis," in
]
Proceedings of the 81st IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring), Glasgow,
2015.
 Structuring a paper
Abstract

Introduction

Related Work

Technical
Backgrou
nd

Your
P
Conclusions
r
Background and
Proposal
• This is the crucial section, and the hardest
for which to provide advice

• General advice:

• be as sequential, logical as possible

• watch your grammar and syntax

 Structuring a paper
Abstract

Introduction

Related Work

Technical
Background

Your
Propos
al
Results and discussion

• Usually divided into two parts:

• description of the settings, or scenario, of the

performance evaluation and experiments

• presentation of results and comments on their

significant
Results and discussion
• How to present the data:

• if you use an analytical approach, always state

any simplifying assumptions

• If you use simulation, report the confidence

interval

• If you use real implementation, comment on

external factors affecting results (human,
environmental factors etc.)
 Structuring a paper
Abstract

Introduction

Related Work

Technical
Background

Your
Propos
al
 Conclusions

• Conclusions are usually the last thing you write,

but may be the first thing a reviewer reads

• Summarize topic, methodology and main

results but…

• …make sure it isn’t the abstract in the past tense!