Links for writing a scientific paper

• A rather extensive description of how to do a research paper assignment is given by Paul Brians
• Literature search: Searching for literature -- help by the library
• Writing academic papers (in English)
  • Rules of thumb for writing a research paper
  • English support by our faculty
  • A humorous list of writing rules
  • My favorite on-line dictionary
  • Common errors in English
  • And finally, a checklist for technical reports
  • Some more links for academic writing
• Making references in the right way, conform APA (note that BibTeX does this automatically right)

Finally, some Tips by Mathijs de Weerdt:

• on finding papers:
  • Use our library's virtual knowledge center for computer science.
  • Search in Google Scholar, Citeseer (ResearchIndex), ACM, IEEE, and your own University library's catalogue.
  • Keep track of conferences (e.g. see the list at my homepage), and journals on your topic and check once in a while whether some interesting articles have been published in those.
  • As soon as you find an interesting article, also check the author's homepage(s) for more recent results, and of course follow some of the references made in this paper.
  • Find people in your own university, or otherwise nearby who have more expertise in this field than you have and ask (email?) them to recommend some literature or conferences.
• on reading a paper:
  • Add a paper to your BibTex database as soon as you find it (before you even print it).
  • If it is not there already, write the publication year on the print.
  • Make some notes immediately after you read it.
• on writing a paper:
  • Try to focus on one original idea in your paper. Summarize it in the abstract, introduce it in the introduction, explain it in detail in the body, and draw some conclusions in the final section.
  • Use a dictionary! On the web you may like Merriam-Webster or the Oxford English Dictionary (the latter is subscribed by the Delft University).
  • Should be obvious, but apparently it isn't: use your spelling checker!
  • Use LaTeX for your text
  • Use BibTeX for your references. (Both programs are included in any Linux distribution.)

Especially for PhD students: you should read these excerpts of the book Promoveren--Een wegwijzer voor de beginnend wetenschapper.