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Writing Papers

By : Arash Asadpour asadpour@ce.sharif.edu

Omid Etesami etesami@ce.sharif.edu

Amin Kikanlookikanloo@ce.sharif.edu

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1.Writing Papers: Restriction

The first and most important axiom says: “Writing a paper for publication : Don’t”.

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2.Writing Papers: Two Bad Reasons

To have a long publication list. Always quality is more impressive than quantity.

To have a paper published in specific conference. Publishing accurate information is more important than inserting papers in specific conference or journal.

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3.Writing Papers: A Good Reason

You have done something that you are excited about.

We should be judged on the best thing that we have done that we decided not to publish.

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4.How We Learn to Write Well (continued)

Learning to write is more like learning to play piano than learning to type.

We should learn to write by reading. We should learn great literature in order

to learn how to write good mathematical literature.

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4.How We Learn to Write Well

We must know what we want to present before we can present it well.

Bad writing comes from bad thinking, and bad thinking never produces good writing.

We must keep in mind what we are writing and to whom.

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5.Where A Paper Should Be Published

Appropriate places may be a tech report, a letter, a journal, or the bottom drawer of your desk.

It is good to have the record, even if you don’t publish your work.

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5-1. How Do We Choose (continued)

Journal articles should be polished and timeless.

Conference papers can be a little rougher. They are appropriate for work that is not yet ready for archive.

Technical reports are good for the work that is not even ready for general world but still should be written up.

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5-1. How Do We Choose

In each case you still have readers. A tech report may some day turn into a

journal article.

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6. Using Examples

It is better to have one solid example than to have a dry, abstract and academic paper.

It is never a mistake to have a very simple example (at least not for a lecture).

Examples keep you honest.

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7. Details

Do not concern with details. Do not think about formatting when you

are writing. Do think about structure. Whenever you have some detail, such

as complex notation, we shouldn’t write it out: We should use a macro.

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8. Formal Mathematical Writing

Do not state your mathematical theorems in non-mathematical language. It is very difficult to read and understand.

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9. Presenting The Structure of A Proof (continued)

Algebra provided us with a tool for presenting the structure of a formula.

Writing proofs in tabular form that high-school students produce makes them very clear, and easier to read and understand. This form will help you clarify proofs that are to be presented in paragraph style.

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9. Presenting The Structure of A Proof

Here we are talking about structure that tabular writing enforces, not formatting.

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10. Showing Excitement (continued)

You should be excited about what you are writing and that excitement should show.

This principle can especially be applied to first sentences. You want something that leaps out at you.

The first statement can be expressed to be nontechnical and to represent an author’s best effort.

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10. Showing Excitement

It might be a good idea to ask ourselves: “What would J. D. Salinger have written, if he were writing this paper?”

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10-1. A Good First Sentence

Avoid passive wimpiness. Be simple and direct. Get right down to business. If you impress your readers with your

first sentence, you can impress them with your second, and continuing this vein, by induction!

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11. Conclusion (continued)

Start early. Write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite,… . Read. Model the reader. Master the medium. Master the material. Simplify.

Everything should always be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. -- Albert Einstein

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11.Conclusion

Avoid recycling. Aim for excellence.

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The road to wisdom? Well, it’s plain and simple to express:Err and err and err again,but less and less and less.

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