How to Write a Good Paper: Some SuggestionsKrzysztof Apt -
29 November 2007 (abstract)Abstract: One of the main tasks of a researcher consists of reporting in written his findings to the colleagues working in the same field. Therefore it is a pity that many PhD students and senior researchers in Logic and Computer Science pay no attention whatsoever to the writing process. The result is that many papers and most of the PhD theses in these fields are a burden to read. Consequently, they are likely to be ignored and/or misinterpreted, certainly not what the authors had in mind. In this talk I shall go in detail into the writing process of a scientific article. In particular, I shall provide some suggestions how to organize the article, in what order to write its parts, how to organize and break down the proofs, how to link the results together, and what pitfalls to avoid. The presentation will be illustrated by some good and bad examples taken from the literature.