“How to write a great research paper”

“How to write a great research paper”

This is a great overview of writing a research paper. I haven’t written many papers, but having read some, the following jumped out as being particularly good advice:

• Move the related work section to the end rather than right after the introduction. I like this idea; when the related work comes early in the paper, it distracts from what the problem and solution are in the first place. I think it makes more sense to see how others have tackled the same problem after I have a good sense of the problem. (p. 23-24)
• Write the paper before doing all of the research. (p.5). I see a parallel here with test driven development – just as writing tests first helps steer the API design of a library, writing the paper first:

* Forces us to be clear, focused
* Crystallises what we don’t understand
* Opens the way to dialogue with others: reality check,
critique, and collaboration

 

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