Zum Inhalt

What makes a good Scientific Paper?

Key Questions to be asked

Before you begin, ask the following questions:

  • What problem does the work try to solve?
  • Does it clearly motivate and clearly formulate the research question?
  • Does it outline the current knowledge of the problem domain, as well as the state of existing solutions?
  • Does it present clearly any preliminary ideas, the proposed approach and the results achieved so far?
  • Does it sketch the research methodology that is applied?
  • Does it point out the contributions of the applicant to the problem solution?
  • Does it state in what aspects the suggested solution is different, new, or better as compared to existing approaches to the problem?
  • Does it state how the attained results are evaluated or compared to existing approaches to the problem?
  • Does it state how and by whom the expected results can be applied?

More Information about how to write a good scientific paper

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255993683_How_to_Write_Good_Scientific_Papers_A_Comprehensive_Guide (Adapted with slight modifications)

Some Hints when the main Contribution is the Development of a Technical Artifact

⚠ The following information is important! Disregarding it severely harms your paper’s quality and assessment.

Here is what you should do if your task is to develop an algorithm / a code module / code component / system etc.

  • Do not just develop it and think everything is fine (from a methodological point of view it is not; it is not even heuristiaclly valid)
  • Put the problem to the front, i.e., make the problem your starting point
  • Implement different approaches (that all solve or contribute towards solving the problem – or parts of it)
  • Then define KPIs that help you to assess the quality of a solution and that allow you to compare the different solutions w.r.t. the extent to which they solve (or help solving) the problem
  • Conduct the analysis and compare the different approaches (methodology: comparative analysis)
  • Present and critically discuss your findings. A critical discussion and a critical assessment of your results is better and more valuable than a palliated and supervicial interpretation.

Some Further Tipps

  • Always keep the reader in mind
    • Outline and explain your descisions
    • Provide enough evidence that allows the reader to make an informed assessment about the validity and appropriateness of the choosen and applied methodology as well as about the derived conclusions.
  • Focus on clarity rather than using jargon
    • Use passive style only when needed; in Computer Science, the active is often the better and preferred style
      e.g. not “it could be seen that…” – better: “the data shows that…”
  • Make sure your claims are not exaggerated
    • Stick to the facts and generated results
    • Discuss findings in the context of the paper’s problem domain
    • Do not hoke up your results or the interpretation of your results. A critical assessment is better and more valuable than a superficial, positively over-exaggerated discussion.
  • A scientific paper follows a well-established structure
    • Use the structural recommendation provided in this course materials in order to help readers in understanding the semantics of parts of our work by conveying the context in which the information is presented.
  • Mention the research problem in the title
    • Unlike the worlds of newspaper reporting and marketing press releases, the title of a scientific paper should describe the aim of the work (=the problem to be tackled) not the results.
  • Cosider the related and relevant literature thoroughly
    • Pay attention to a good and critical coverage of related literature.

Usefull Tools when writing a Thesis or Paper

A Word of Advice about AI Tools

It is totally ok to use AI tools for developing a sound and thorough reserach methodology and/or try to find an interesting research problems.

⚠ Please do not use such tools for generating paragraphs or parts of your thesis. Such behaviour is regarded as plagiarism (cheating) and automatically leads to a “desk rejection” of your work, i.e., a grading with mark 5 plus an entry in your student record.

Prof. Dr. Barbary Geyer has developed a comprehensive padlet with a lot of useful prompts that help students and researchers in developing different stages of their research work. Read more about it on her page: https://barbarageyer.substack.com/p/meine-prompt-sammlung