How to write

Written communication,
critical assessment, and
avoiding plagiarism
Tim Kovacs and Peter Flach
 Writing a literature review
Start writing early
keep notes while reading papers
Present a coherent framework
what are the major approaches?
what are the main open problems?
Choose the right level of detail
keep your audience and goals in mind
Dont just copy, give your own opinion!
2
 Structure
Usual structure:
Abstract
Introduction
Problem analysis and proposed solution
Implementation and evaluation
Discussion and related work
Conclusions and future work
Variations are possible
e.g., related work after introduction
Don't write the document in this order!
Do abstract last
 Getting started writing
Prepare an outline of the paper
section and subsection headings
a few sentences about each (sub)section
Start with the most concrete bits
i.e., what you did, results
then the more abstract bits
discussion, related work, etc.

4
 Logical structure
A document has a fractal structure:
document has introduction, body, conclusion
section has introduction, body, conclusion
subsection has introduction, body,
conclusion
paragraph has introduction, body,
conclusion

5
 Flow and Signposts
A well-written document flows naturally
It has connections between sections, subsections, and
paragraphs
Add signposts to help the reader
Where did we come from, where are we now, where
are we going?
In the last section we saw a formal definition of X. In
this section we will see some examples of X, in
preparation for section 3 which will introduce a
special case of X which we will focus on in the rest of
the report.
 Each unit is self-contained
Sections are roughly of equal length
subsections only needed in longer sections
try to avoid sub-subsections
Paragraphs are roughly of equal length,
and express a single coherent thought
or argument
roughly 5-10 sentences
break up overly long sentences
7
 General advice
Try to sell your approach
choose an attractive title
abstract, introduction and conclusions are very
important
Be concise and to the point
aim to explain, not to impress
keep things as simple as possible, but no simpler
use well-chosen examples
Every section, paragraph, sentence and word
should serve a purpose if not, throw it out!

8
 Example 1: complex version
The reason that this is called a linear
function is because the output is formed
from a linear combination of the
inputs.

This isn't a terrible sentence but we can

improve it
 Example 2: complex version
We consider the architectural style of
the system, the structures and
properties of the components that
comprise the system and the
interrelationships between them.

See http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Teaching/learning for

more
 After producing a first draft
Leave it aside for a day or so, then re-read
be critical, approach it as a marker or reviewer
check the logic of your arguments
check if everything is there with a purpose
Pay attention to detail
general appearance, typography, figures and
tables, cross-references, captions, citations,
spell-checking,
Proof-read, then proof-read, then proof-read
11
 Simplicity and Clarity
Make everything as simple as possible,
but not simpler. - Albert Einstein

The goal is to communicate your knowledge

Put yourself in the readers shoes
Is what Ive written understandable?
How much have I assumed the reader knows?
Is there a simpler way to explain this?
Can I give some simple examples or intuition?

12
 Simplicity and Clarity
Do not try to impress the reader with
unnecessary complexity
Avoid unnecessary math, notation, abbreviations,
terms, and facts
Sometimes math is the simplest way to write it
Do not just write everything you know
This shows you dont know what is most relevant
Do not write about it if you dont understand it
You will probably reveal your lack of understanding

13
 Formal and Informal English
Informal:
R U going 2 mark this soon?
text message, emails, conversations
More formal:
I dont know why it isnt working.
Oral presentations, some reports, conversations
Very formal:
It is not known why the service is unavailable.
Dissertations, scientific publications, legal
documents, news readers, formal speeches
14
 Formality
More formal writing:
Avoids contractions, e.g.
dont do not
it's it is
Uses we instead of I
Avoids subjective statements such as I like

But: Excessive formality is hard to read

We dont insist on very formal writing
Emulate scientific papers and books
If in doubt ask your supervisor
15
 Common Mistakes: s and
We often add s to a word to show plurality (more than one)
My car... (I'm talking about one car)
My cars... (I'm talking about multiple cars)

We add s to show possession

My cars door is rusty (The door belongs to the car)

What if we want both?

Both my cars doors are rusty (I have 2 cars, each with
>1 doors belonging to them)
Compare with
Both my cars doors are rusty (The car has 2 doors)
16
 Common Mistakes: its and its
We also use s in a contraction of it is
It is raining It's raining

Because its means it is, when we want to show

something belongs to it, we don't use
Its [it is] raining
Its [possessive of it] door is rusty

Its very common for to be used incorrectly

Would you like some donuts? wrong!
 Common Mistakes: Latin
Some Latin abbreviations are often used in English:
et al. and others note full stop
i.e. that is note two full stops
e.g. for example

E.g.
The paper by Flach et al. shows...
It is difficult (i.e. time-consuming) to ...
When the University is closed, e.g. at Christmas, ...
 Common Mistakes:
Incomplete Comparison

Comparisons:
Dont say: Results show x is better
Do say: Results show x is better than y
Even when its clear to you, it may not
be to others

19
 Notation
Introduce all notation

My knowledge, k, increases as follows:

k= 2hc
where h is the number of hours I study and c
is the amount of coffee I drink.

20
 Technical Terms
Introduce and define any unusual technical
terms (e.g. polysomnography, kurtosis).
Spell out all acronyms the first time you use
them. E.g. ``This dissertation applies
Machine Learning (ML) to ML is.
Best to insert this on final proofreading as
things tend to move around.
Also the time to check typesetting.

21
 Maths
Simple expressions such as x = 2y can occur
in-line (i.e. within text).
More complex or important expressions should
be centred:

e = mc 2

Numbering equations, such as (1), is useful if

you need to refer to them later.
(1)
e = mc 2
22
 Figures and Tables
Figures and tables should be numbered, have a caption
and a long description in a paragraph. E.g. Figure 1
shows the quarterly profits in each area for the year...
90
80
70
60
50 East
40 West
30 North
20
10
0
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

Figure 1. Quarterly profits in each area.

Start another paragraph after the figure and caption.
The caption should be a very short description.
 Use of others material
Use lots of references
Use few or no quotations
Your own words are preferable
Do not cut and paste maths
The resolution is too low
Reference any figures you duplicate
Notice others material
Material that belongs to others 24
 Use of others material
Do take (and cite) ideas from other people
Do not take their words

We want you to write things in your own

words because we want to see if you
understand the material
We prefer bad English written by you to good
English written by someone else

25
 Wikipedia/Web Sources
Do NOT rely entirely on unpublished
material from the web
The quality is highly variable
It has not been reviewed like a journal
article or text book
Cite web pages if you must
Include date you read the page
Better to cite published sources if you can
26
 Plagiarism
Copying words without quotation or ideas
without citation is plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious offense
The minimum penalty is a mark of 0
We have software to detect plagiarism in
both code and text

Rules of thumb
do not cut and paste without quotation
do not quote much
27
 How to get bad marks
Plagiarise
Follow the structure of the original very closely
Use same sections
Use the same logical arguments and examples
See http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Teaching/learning
for a detailed example.
Do not criticise flaws in the original
Base your work on only one other work

28
 How to get good marks
The best reports show:
Critical analysis
Evaluation of quality, significance, relevance
Synthesis
Combining existing things into something new

29
 Critical Analysis
Convince the marker you really understand:
The existing work
What is good and bad about it
What is significant about it
What is relevant to your work
How it relates to other areas
Do the same analysis of your work!

30
 Example Critical Analysis
What point from this talk is most
significant?
Don't plagiarise!
What's least significant
Trimming unnecessary words (?)
How could this talk be improved?
Some slides have have a lot of text
...
 Further Resources
http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Teaching/learning/

32