Information Technology Reference
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is probably faulty. The introduction is completed first and includes an overview of the
paper's intended structure, that is, an outline of the order and content of the sections.
When the structure is complete, each section can be sketched in perhaps 20-200
words. This approach has the advantage of making the writing task less daunting—it
is broken into parts of manageable size—while also creating the impression that the
writing is well under way.
When the body and the closing summary are complete, the introduction usually
needs substantial revision because the arguments presented in the paper are likely
to mature and evolve as the writing proceeds. The final version of the abstract is the
last part to be written.
With a reasonably thorough draft completed, it is time to review the write-up's
content and contribution. Anticipate likely concerns or objections that the referees
may have, and address them; if they can't be addressed, acknowledge them. Consider
whether extra work is needed to fill a hole. Ask the probing, critical questions that
you would ask of other people's work. The burden of proof is on you, not the reader,
so be conservative in your claims and thorough with your evidence.
Completion of a paper tends to focus on writing of the whole document, while
a thesis is typically completed chapter by chapter. When planning a schedule for
completion of a thesis, you need to allow time for multiple revisions of each chapter,
and, crucially, time for your advisor to read each chapter. If two weeks is a typical
time for your advisor to return a chapter, and for each of the eight chapters there
will be two versions, then your schedule will need to include around eight months
to allow for this reading and review time—and also needs to include activities that
you can complete while you are waiting for your advisor to respond. This is another
reason why it is so important to write early.
During drafting and revision, ensure that the topic of the paper does not drift. At
the start of the writing process, you wrote down your aims, motivation, and scope.
Use these as a reference. If you feel that you need to write something that is not
obviously relevant to your original aims, then either establish the connection clearly
or alter the aims. Changing the aims can affect the work in many ways, however, so
only do so with great care.
For a novice writer who doesn't know where to begin, a good starting point is
imitation. Choose a paper or thesis whose results are of a similar flavour to your own,
analyze its organization, and sketch an organization for your results based on the same
pattern. The habit of using similar patterns for papers—their standardization—helps
to make them easier to read.
Students should keep a comprehensive file of notes as they proceed. This can
include records of:
Meetings.
Decisions.
Ideas.
Expectations of outcomes.
Papers you have read.
Sketches of algorithms.
