Lecture Notes on Scientific Writing in Computer Science

Overview

Michael Granitzer (michael.granitzer@uni-passau.de)]( http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/michael-granitzer/)

License

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1. Why Writing?

Scientific Writing is an often undervalued skill, especially in Computer Science

• Reading and writing - two sides of a coin
• Gain better understanding on the topic
• Communicating results

2. Problem Setting

Finding a solution starts with knowing the problem setting. That's also true for writing.

Three components characterize the problem setting in reading and writing:

1. The field - expectations, state-of-the-art, conventions, standards, does and dont's
2. The reader - Expectations, knowledge, skills, roles
3. The manuscript - purpose, contributions, structure, layout

3. About the Lecture Notes

This lecture notes explain the process of Scientific Writing by addressing the three components.

FOCCI: Goals in Scientific Writing

Scientific writing is different to writing news, poetry or novels. It follows five principles

• Fluid
• Organised
• Clear
• Concise
• Interesting

4. Disclaimer

Scientific Writing is not an exact science, so there is no best way in doing things. A lot depends on experience and best practices.