Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
the results—or the more startling or unlikely they seem—the better the supporting
arguments and their presentation should be. Remember that, while you have months
or years to prepare your work, reviewers and examiners often have no more than
hours and may have rather less. You need to help them to spend their time well.
For writing about science to be respected, a researcher must have something of
value to say. A paper or thesis reports on research undertaken according to the norms
of the field, to a standard that persuades a skeptical reader that the results are robust
and of interest. Thus the written work rests on a program of activity that begins with
interesting questions and proceeds through a sound methodology to clear results.
Few researchers are instinctive writers, and few people are instinctive researchers.
Yet it is not so difficult to become a goodwriter. Thosewho dowritewell have, largely,
learnt through experience. Inexperienced researchers can produce competent papers
by doing no more than follow some elementary steps: create a logical organization,
use concise sentences, revise against checklists of possible problems, seek feedback.
Likewise, the skills of research must be learnt, and early attempts at investigation
and experimentation are often marked by mistakes, detours, and fumbling; but, as
for writing, competent work can be produced by appreciating that there is a more or
less standard template that can be followed, and then using the template to produce
a first research outcome.
Most researchers find that their work improves through practice, experience, and
willingness to continue to reflect and learn. This observation certainly applies to me.
I've continued to develop as a writer, and today produce text much more quickly—
and with better results—than when I wrote the second edition a decade ago. I'm
also a better scientist, and, looking back just a few years, am aware of poor research
outcomes that are due to mistakes I would not make today. In my experience, most
scientists develop a great deal as they proceed through their careers.
Kinds of Publication
Scientific results can be presented in a topic, a thesis, a journal article, a paper or
extended abstract in a conference or workshop proceedings, or a manuscript. Each
kind of publication has its own characteristics. Books—the form of publication that
undergraduates are the most familiar with—are usually texts that tend not to contain
new results or provide evidence for the correctness of the information they present.
The main purpose of a textbook is to collect information and present it in an acces-
sible, readable form, and thus textbooks are generally better written than are papers.
The other forms of publication are for describing the outcomes of new research.
A thesis is usually a deep—or even definitive—exploration of a single problem.
Journals and conference proceedings consist of contributions that range from sub-
stantial papers to extended abstracts. A journal paper is typically an end product
of the research process, a careful presentation of new ideas that has been revised
(sometimes over several iterations) according to referees' and colleagues' suggestions
and criticisms.
A paper or extended abstract in conference proceedings can likewise be an
end-product, but conferences are also used to report work in progress. Conference
