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How to write a paper-report?

Suggestions based on recommendations by Jennifer Widom (http://infolab.stanford.edu/~widom/paper-


writing.html, 2006) and some particular considerations by Luis Rojas

Paper Title

Titles can´t be too long, but must describe the nature of the research (see the abstracts we´ve already
submitted)

Abstract (try not to exceed 500 words)

Luis Rojas: What should be included in the abstract:

State the problem, your approach and solution, and the main contributions of the paper. Include little if
any background and motivation. Be concrete but comprehensive. The material in the abstract should not
be repeated later word for word in the paper.

Luis Rojas: I suggest to use 3rd person in passive time. For example:

¨The simulation of the turbulent mixing phenomenon is performed. Finite volume techniques along with a
couple implicit algorithm are used….¨

(Note: take the abstract we´ve already submitted as a starting point for the final abstract)

Nomenclature

Include all relevant variables, constants, abbreviations, names, etc. that you may be
using in the paper

Introduction

Here is the Stanford InfoLab's patented five-point structure for Introductions. Unless there's a good
argument against it, the Introduction should consist of five paragraphs answering the following five
questions:

1. What is the problem?


2. Why is it interesting and important?
3. Why is it hard? (E.g., why do naive approaches fail?)
4. Why hasn't it been solved before? (Or, what's wrong with previous proposed solutions? How does
mine differ?)
5. What are the key components of my approach and results? Also include any specific limitations.
Then have a final paragraph or subsection: "Summary of Contributions". It should list the major
contributions in bullet form, mentioning in which sections they can be found. This material doubles as an
outline of the rest of the paper, saving space and eliminating redundancy.

Related Work

I suggest to dedicate around 1 page to discuss previous work by others or by the same author. It is the
opportunity to be factual about previous works in the same area, being concise, but detailed at the same
time.

Sometimes we want to discuss previous work along with our results, in order to make comparisons. So I
(Luis Rojas) suggest to have short Related Work section in that case, and then, just before conclusions,
during the Discussion of Results, include 2 or 3 paragraphs discussing how our results compare to
previous works

BODY OF THE PAPER (Note: this is not a title)

Here I will suggest different body types, depending on each case (Experimental,CFD or
Clean Energy cases)

IMPORTANT: By the moment we arrive in this section, the reader must have a clear
idea of what is new technical contribution offered in the paper

APPROACH 1: (Experimental cases) (Note: this is not a title)

Experimental Set Up

 A brief introduction of the experiments to be performed. Here in one or two short paragraphs you
need to justify the need of a test facility of certain features (two-phase flow, for example) and
state the minimum conditions of the parameters you need to run. For instance, the range of
flowrates, viscosities, densities, maximum pressure, size of devices to be tested, etc.
 Describe the experimental setup, including drawings and measurements
 Describe the procedure for experiments
 Indicate the uncertainty of your measurements; i.e., mention the accuracy of your instruments
and the whole accuracy of your data (% or absolute)
 Describe in one short paragraph the intended experiments (independent variable(s) and
dependent variables; e.g., the efficiency of the separator is determined as a function of the gas
volume fraction and liquid flowrate, as indicated in the Fig.XX

Indep. Variable 1=A Indep. Variable 1=B

Indep. Variable 2=C Indep. Variable 2=D Indep. Variable 2=C Indep. Variable 2=D
Experimental Results

 Here you need to present in an ordered way all relevant results. For example, as shown in previous
figure, try to present results to show the effect of independent variable 2 at a fixed value of
independent variable 1 (I mean, you are doing a sensitivity analysis). Then, present results of next
cases. It must be clear to the reader, where you are going to; i.e., what is the point of the
experiments.
 During the description of the results, do not repeat how you got them; just describe them and
make quantitative remarks as much as possible.

APPROACH 2: (Numerical cases) (Note: this is not a title)

Numerical Model Set Up

 A semi-brief description of the physical problem. what is the problem being solved? what are the
physical dimensions and boundary conditions?
 What is the mathematical model. What is the computational domain? What are the governing
equations? What are the boundary and initial conditions?
 Geometrical discretization. How is the domain discretized? Type and approximate size of
elements for preliminary mesh?
 Brief description of the numerical algorithm. What numerical method is being used (finite volume-
based finite element). Brief description of how equations are discretized (2nd order higher order
upwind for the convective term derivatives, 2 nd order centered differences for the diffusive term,
2nd order Euler-Backwards for the time-stepping). Brief comments about the coupling of the
discrete equations and numerical solution.
 Dedicate a subsection to describe the mesh-sensitivity analysis (check up mesh refinement
effects). Show numerical results based on each mesh and define a quantitative parameter to
compare the effectiveness of each mesh compared to the immediately coarser one (e.g., drag,
lift, max. velocity at certain location, pressure drop, etc.). Give a percentage of acceptable error in
selecting the mesh (i.e., typically we assume 1-3%)
 Dedicate a subsection to evaluate the effect of the boundary lengths (e.g., how long should the
boundaries be in order to dissipate the backward effects caused by the outflow-opening boundary
conditions. Use the same quantitative parameter as chosen in mesh-sensitivity analysis
 Justify the turbulence model to be used. At this point, you will need either to validate your
simulation turbulence model by either comparing a key simulation against experimental data or by
mentioning the experience of other researchers using such a turbulence model in similar cases.
This is very important!!
 Briefly describe in one short paragraph the intended simulations (independent variable(s) and
dependent variables; e.g., the efficiency of the separator is determined as a function of the gas
volume fraction and liquid flowrate, as indicated in the Fig.XX

Indep. Variable 1=A Indep. Variable 1=B

Indep. Variable 2=C Indep. Variable 2=D Indep. Variable 2=C Indep. Variable 2=D
Numerical Results

 Here you need to present in an ordered way all relevant results. For example, as shown in previous
figure, try to present results to show the effect of independent variable 2 at a fixed value of
independent variable 1 (I mean, you are doing a sensitivity analysis). Then, present results of next
cases. It must be clear to the reader, where you are going to; i.e., what is the point of the
simulations.

During the description of the results, do not repeat how you got them; just describe them and make
quantitative remarks as much as possible.

APPROACH 3: (Clean energy cases) (Note: this is not a title)

Model Set Up

 A deep description of the physical problem. what is the problem being solved? what are the goal
and scope of the analysis to be performed?
 What are the social-technical-mathematical-economical implications of the problem in a brief
paragraph (they will be described in detail later on).
 Description of the social aspects. What is the community to be considered? Where is it located?
How large is the community and how is it conformed? What are their social values and beliefs?
What are their energetic unsatisfied needs (as referred by themselves)? How those needs impact
in their quality of life (illnesses, lack of education, lack of job opportunities, etc.)?
 Describe the methodology (RETSCREEN and HOMER) for feasibility analyses
o Introduction to the practical issues on the economical-technical evaluation of a Clean
Energy Project.
o Energetic or natural resources assess
o Appropriate technology match
o Cost-time analysis. Cashflow theory. Relevant parameters (independent variables): debt
interest rate, energy escalation rate, discount rate, life-cycle of the project, debt interest
rate, O&M costs, periodic costs, taxes, permissions, commissioning, etc.
o Financial indicators. Net Present Value, IRR, Year-to-positive cashflow, benefit-cost ratio,
etc. How to interpret these indicators
o Risk and sensitivity analyses. Brief description of theory and the way they will be
implemented in the study

Feasibility Analysis

 Feasibility Analysis of Current Project


o Natural resources assess. Using their geographical location evaluate the potential of
wind, solar, hydro and biomass.
o Calculation and/or selection of appropriate equipment and components. Budget the
manpower to be involved
o Estimation of costs and other related parameters
o Determination of financial indexes. Sensitivity and Risk analyses. Selection of appropriate
solution

 Discussion about the solution and how to implement it. Prepare a step-by-step procedure to make
the solution a reality
During the description of the results, do not repeat how you got them; just describe them and make
quantitative remarks as much as possible.

Concluding Remarks

In general a short summarizing paragraph will do, and under no circumstances should the paragraph
simply repeat material from the Abstract or Introduction. In some cases it's possible to now make the
original claims more concrete, e.g., by referring to quantitative performance results.

Future Work

This material is important -- part of the value of a paper is showing how the work sets new research
directions. You may use a bullet lists here. A couple of things to keep in mind:

 If you're actively engaged in follow-up work, say so. E.g.: "We are currently extending the
algorithm to... blah blah, and preliminary results are encouraging." This statement serves to mark
your territory.
 Conversely, be aware that some researchers look to Future Work sections for research topics.
According to Jennyfer Widom and my opinion as well, there's nothing wrong with that -- consider
it a complement.

Acknowledgements

Don't forget them or you'll have people with hurt feelings. Acknowledge anyone who contributed in any
way: through discussions, feedback on drafts, implementation, etc. If in doubt about whether to include
someone, include them.

Citations

Spend the effort to make all citations complete and consistent. Do not just copy random inconsistent
BibTex (or other) entries from the web and call it a day. Check over your final bibliography carefully and
make sure every entry looks right.

Appendices

Appendices should contain detailed proofs and algorithms only. Appendices can be crucial for overlength
papers, but are still useful otherwise. Think of appendices as random-access substantiation of underlying
gory details. As a rule of thumb:

 Appendices should not contain any material necessary for understanding the contributions of the
paper.
 Appendices should contain all material that most readers would not be interested in.

Grammar and Small-Scale Presentation Issues

In general everyone writing papers is strongly encouraged to read the short and very useful The Elements
of Style by Strunk and White. Here's a random list of pet peeves.
 Just like a program, all "variables" (terminology and notation) in the paper should be defined
before being used, and should be defined only once. (Exception: Sometimes after a long hiatus
it's useful to remind the reader of a definition.) Global definitions should be grouped into the
Preliminaries section; other definitions should be given just before their first use.
 Do not use "etc." unless the remaining items are completely obvious.
o Acceptable: We shall number the phases 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
o Unacceptable: We measure performance factors such as volatility, scalability, etc.
 Never say "for various reasons". (Example: We decided not to consider the alternative, for
various reasons.) Tell the reader the reasons!
 Avoid nonreferential use of "this", "that", "these", and so on (Ullman pet peeve). Requiring explicit
identification of what "this" refers to enforces clarity of writing. Here is a typical example of
nonreferential "this": Our experiments test several different environments and the algorithm does
well in some but not all of them. This is important because ...

(Exercise: The above rule is violated at least once in this document. Find the violations.)

 Italics are for definitions or quotes, not for emphasis (Gries pet peeve). Your writing should be
constructed such that context alone provides sufficient emphasis.

(Exercise: The above rule is violated at least once in this document. Find the violations.)

 People frequently use "which" versus "that" incorrectly. "That" is defining; "which" is nondefining.
Examples of correct use:
o The algorithms that are easy to implement all run in linear time.
o The algorithms, which are easy to implement, all run in linear time.

Mechanics

 Always run a spelling checker on your final paper, no excuses.


 For drafts and technical reports use 11 point font, generous spacing, 1" margins, and single-
column format. There's no need to torture your casual readers with the tiny fonts and tight
spacing used in conference proceedings these days.
 In drafts and final camera-ready, fonts in figures should be no smaller than the font size in the
body of the paper.
 Tables, figures, graphs, and algorithms should always be placed on the top of a page or column,
not in the body of the text unless it is very small and fits into the flow of the paper.
 Every table, figure, graph, or algorithm should appear on the same page as its first reference, or
on the following page (LaTex willing...).

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