Elements of report/paper writing. Penny J Davies Department of Mathematics University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

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1 0 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Elements of report/paper writing Penny J Davies Department of Mathematics University of Strathclyde, Glasgow penny@maths.strath.ac.uk aas96109/

2 1 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Ask yourself some questions WHY are you writing? So as many people as possible can see my fantastic results. I m doing a PhD and have to produce a thesis. I ve got to produce an annual PhD progress report. Because my supervisor told me to. I want to write a lot of papers to get a good job/promotion/well-known. To publicise what I do to non-specialists (PUS). For WHOM are you writing? As many people as possible in my research area. My examiners (external + internal + maybe supervisor). A general non-specialist audience. Keep the WHY and the FOR WHOM in mind as you write.

3 2 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Resources Your department or supervisor may have produced useful material. University staff development courses. Nicholas J Higham Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences (SIAM, 1998) and follow link to books. Comprehensive and readable guide. Also contains info on writing and giving a talk; preparing a poster; the publishing process; writing English as a foreign language... Every mathematician should own a copy! It s the main source for the material in this talk. Lynne Truss Eats Shoots and Leaves (the zero tolerance approach to punctuation).

4 3 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Title It should be: accurate; short; snappy. Claim: On average, the title has 500 times more readers than the paper. Examples: Buckling and barrelling instabilities in finite elasticity A simple derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for the strong ellipticity of isotropic hyperelastic materials in plane strain (Both accurate; second is neither short nor snappy.)

5 4 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Abstract Summarizes contents of the paper: accurate and informative. Abstracts are often given in Web of Science or MathSciNet. Many more people will read the abstract than the paper. It should let someone to decide whether to read the paper (or not). The shorter the better, but it must be self-contained. You should claim some some new results in the abstract. Write it from scratch after you have finished the paper.

6 5 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Introduction Define the problem (+ context). Summarise your results. Outline your plan of attack + techniques used. Say how the paper is organised aids navigation. First sentence very important entice the undecided into reading. Hint: try writing the introduction and then deleting the first one or two sentences.

7 6 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 The main body Split it into logical units (sections, chapters). Use a style appropriate for your specialism: Lemma Theorem Proof; Describe physics derive model; Describe numerical algorithm give results. Theorem like things: Theorem: a main result. Lemma: (usually) a lesser result. Corollary: direct consequence of a Theorem/Lemma. Proposition: (someone else s result?) they all must be true. Conjecture: thought to be true, but not proved (or disproved) Proof: give the key ideas and techniques; emphasise the structure; make the argument as clear as possible.

8 7 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Conclusions section Only include if appropriate. If it is appropriate then there should be one. The Conclusions section is not the Introduction written in the past tense! It is a place to: describe the implications of your results; mention further work; outline open problems and future directions.

9 8 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Appendix Contains essential information that doesn t really fit in the main body. e.g. computer listings; detailed numerical results; detailed analysis or technical proofs that could be distracting; something tangential to the rest of the paper.

10 9 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Citations and Reference list The two main citation styles are by number: As shown in [5]; name and year: As shown by Jones (1961) this is called the Harvard system. Appropriate software (e.g. L A TEX) can make dealing with citations and creating reference lists much less tedious. Make sure that the references are accurate. Make sure that you have cited all the references. Most mathematics journals want references to be listed in alphabetical order of author. Many science/engineering journals use citation order. The precise format of the reference list varies between journals.

11 10 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Plagiarism Plagiarism is the act of presenting borrowed words or ideas as your own. It is a major academic sin (Higham, 1998). Self plagiarism is no less a sin. Simply changing a few words may not prevent it from being plagiarism. Always acknowledge the source of ideas, and either paraphrase words or give them exactly in quotes. If you are not sure, then ask.

12 11 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 The art of good writing Writing is difficult! Good writing takes a lot of time, effort, patience, and hard work. It is hard to produce something that is easy to read. It is (relatively) easy to produce something confused, confusing, and littered with long words and jargon. Clear writing needs clear thinking. Be prepared to rewrite (over and over and over again). Read good writing (novels as well as maths). Ask for (and be prepared to accept) constructive criticism.

13 12 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 Some common mistakes It s or Its? In a technical paper it should almost always be its: it s its = it is or it has = belonging to it It s mine. It s been raining. The cat was hungry because its bowl was empty. Lead or Led? lead (pron. ledd ) = a metal led = past tense of to lead We are led to try... Loose or Lose? My trousers are very loose. (adjective) Use it or lose it. (verb)

14 13 Elements of report writing Mar 4, 2009 And finally make sure you say what you mean. A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman: without her, man is nothing. (Taken from Eats Shoots and Leaves.)