Tips on Presenting Technical Material

Written Presentation

o ``How NOT to Write a Paper'' by Oded Goldreich (pdf).

o ``A Few Rules from `A Handbook for Scholars''' by Mark de Berg, (html).

o ``Ian Parberry's Referee's Guide for Papers in Theoretical Computer Science'' (html).

This gives pointers on reviewing papers for conferences and journals, and thus it also gives tips on writing such papers. Though the emphasis is on theoretical CS, much of the material is applicable to other areas.

o ``Crafting Papers on Machine Learning'' (html, ps) by Pat Langley, Adaptive Systems Group, DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology Center, 2000.

You may also get ICML 2000 formatting templates for LaTeX and Word from the conference site.

o ``Hints on Writing Technical Papers and Making Presentations'' by Victor O. K. Li, IEEE Transactions on Education, 42(2):134-137, May 1999.

o ``Research Issues in Distributed Systems'' from Steve Goddard's CSCE 855 Class

Gives excellent tips on thinking critically, presenting technical material, performing experiments, and interpreting results.

pdf version
PostScript version
Also see his Generic Paper Outline.

o How to Have Your Abstract Rejected by Mary-Claire van Leunen and Richard Lipton.

o Mathematical Writing by Donald E. Knuth Technical Report 1193, Stanford University Computer Science Department, 1988. Reprinted with corrections by the Mathematical Association of America.

The book may be checked out from the UNL library or you may see me for a copy of the TR.

o Slides from CSCE 488 on written presentations [written by Roger Kieckhafer, revised by Sharad Seth and Stephen Scott] (ppt)

o Other books on writing, but not specific to technical writing, include

The Chicago Manual of Style : The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (14th Edition) by John Grossman. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1993
Elements of Style (3rd Edition) by Strunk and White. Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 1995
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (6th Edition) by William Zinsser. Harper Reference, 1998

o LaTeX documentation [not required for writing well, but it helps]

Plagiarism

o UNL CSE Department's Policy on Academic Integrity

o How to Cite Skillfully and Avoid Plagiarizing by John R. Rodgers, PhD

o Avoiding Plagiarism by Sharon Williams

o Slides from CSCE 488 on plagiarism [written by Roger Kieckhafer, revised by Sharad Seth and Stephen Scott] (ppt)

Oral Presentation

o Slides from ``How to Give a Good Research Talk'' (gzipped ps, pdf) adapted from slides by Sally A. Goldman, Washington University Dept. of Computer Science, 1997.

Come see me for an explanation of the slides' contents if you do not understand certain parts.

o ``ICML-2000 Guidelines for Presenting Posters and Talks'' (html), 2000.

o Criteria I use to grade oral presentations (ps, pdf)

o Slides from CSCE 488 on oral presentations [written by Roger Kieckhafer, revised by Sharad Seth and Stephen Scott] (ppt)

If you know of any other references on writing and presenting well, notify me and I'll list them here.