Writing Technical Papers in English

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Writing Technical Papers in English
S. Jack Hu
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Contents

• Why do we write papers ?
• Journals and Journal Review Process
• Paper Structure
• Title Abstract
• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgment
• References
• Paragraph Structure
• Sentence Structure
• Building a pipeline

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Why do we write papers ?

• For graduation
• For promotion
• For knowledge dissemination

Readers should be able to re-produce your
results.
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Sample Journals in Manufacturing

• Tier 1
• ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and
  Engineering
• ASME Journal of Mechanical Design
• IEEE Trans. Automation Science and Engineering
• IEEE Trans on Robotics
• Journal of Engineering Manufacture
• IIE Transactions
• Tier 1.5
• SME Journal of Manufacturing Systems
• SME Journal of Manufacturing Processes
• International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing
  Systems
• International Journal of Machine Tools and
  Manufacture
• Journal of Intelligent of Manufacturing
• Journal of Engineering Design
• International Journal of Vehicle Design
• International Journal of Computer Integrated
  Manufacturing
• Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
• Journal of material processing technology

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Selecting Journals

• Identify where your contents fit
• Limit your papers to a few key journals to
  establish an audience
• Check if a journal is cited in science citation
  index (Web of science)
• Flagship journals by professional society, i.e.,
  ASME, IEEE, etc., are most prestigious

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Paper Review Process

• Manuscript submitted to the Editor-in-Chief
  (website)
• Editor-in-Chief assigns your paper to an
  Associate Editor
• Associate Editor identifies 34 reviewers (1 2
  months to review)
• Usually a decision is made with 3 reviews
• Decisions
• Accept without change
• Accept with minor revision
• Accept with major revision
• Reject
• After final acceptance, paper is forwarded to
  the publisher.
• Publisher edit into journal page, authors review
  proof.
• The whole process may take 2 years.

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Proof
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Typical Review Criteria
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Originality

• Originality is a measure of the creativity or
  inventiveness of the author. That which has never
  before been accomplished is obviously original.
  In the review process, however, originality must
  be interpreted not only in the sense of a new
  physical creation, but must include such items as
  new concepts, techniques, or methods. It
  describes the work of one whose creativity has
  given rise to a new concept it is applicable to
  the analyst who through the generation of new
  analytical techniques or through an unusual
  application of classical techniques, obtains
  solutions to engineering problems it describes
  the inventiveness of an experimentalist in the
  design, construction, and use of novel and unique
  equipment to obtain data not previously
  available. Originality then, is an attribute of
  the authors work that is earned by the specific
  contribution to the appropriate field.
  Originality is a standard by which the authors
  work will be known. The measure of originality of
  the reported work will be determined by the
  reviewer and will be based on what is known of
  past and current developments in the specific
  field.

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Significance

• The significance of the reported work may be
  difficult to appraise. What is considered to be
  of little significance today may be very
  significant in future years. As we read a
  manuscript, however, either consciously or
  unconsciously, we do measure the significance of
  the material. This evaluation, either subtle or
  planned, is made in the light of what we know
  about the subject matter. It is normal to ask the
  questions, why was this work done ? What is the
  significance of the work as it relates to a
  particular technical field ? The reviewer is held
  to be an expert ? It is the reviewers
  responsibility to make a subjective evaluation of
  the importance or worth of the reported work. The
  reviewer must judge the merit or value of
  anothers contribution.

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Completeness

• The completeness of the reported work refers to
  the one-ness or wholeness of the work. In this
  usage, the reported work should be marked by a
  unity and continuity of parts and show an
  interdependence between these parts. As an
  example, an experimental program would be marked
  by a concept or phenomenon that was to be
  investigated the formulation of an experiment
  the design, buildup, and check-out of
  experimental equipment the running of the test
  the gathering and interpretation of data, and the
  establishment of conclusions. Each of these parts
  has a completeness of its own and yet there is an
  interdependence between them ? no part can be
  missing without destroying, to a certain extent,
  the integrity of the entire work. The reported
  work should exhibit a level of accomplishment
  that comes from thoughtful and scholarly efforts
  by the author. Completeness is not a concern
  about the content of the text it is a rating of
  the authors ability to formulate and pursue a
  technical program at a professional level.

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Organization

• The organization of the paper is extremely
  important if the reader is to understand the work
  of the author. Ideas are most effectively
  communicated when there is a carefully planned
  and logical structure in the manuscript. ASME
  provides specific criteria on the organization of
  a paper.

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Organization

• Some of organization items are outlined briefly
  below.
• Title Brief, descriptive
• Abstract Clear indication of object, scope, and
  results
• Body of Paper Logical organization, purpose,
  description of problem, means of solution,
  results, and conclusions
• Symbols Recommended symbols used usually
  symbols adequately definedSI units required
• Bibliography Footnotes if only four or five
  references otherwise listed at end of paper
• Illustration Clear black and white prints of all
  line drawings, graphs, and photographs. Graphs
  should be free of all nonessential lines and
  lettering coordinate rulings should be limited
  in number
• Length Should not exceed 12 printed pages (8.5 x
  11 or equivalent)
• Style The paper should be well written, conform
  to recognized standards of literary style, and be
  readily understandable to engineers in the field
  of interest of the paper.

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Response to Reviewer Comments

• Response to the Review 1 Comments
• Comment 1. Literature could be referenced more
  detailed, there is considerable work done
  already.
• Response A more thorough literature review was
  conducted and thirteen papers have been added to
  the reference list. However, no new methods were
  found that measure the strain in large
  deformation strain as in hemming. One paper was
  found to be related to the problem of bending.
  The method is based on digital image correlation
  technique. But, this paper did not consider
  hemming and the experimental investigations were
  limited to the flanging stage only (section 2).
  
• Comment 2 Fig. 10 The legend needs adjustment
• Response The legend and picture have been
  improved in Fig.10.
• Comment 3 - The noisy band in lower part of the
  picture needs explanation
• Response The reason for the noisy band is that
  the die slides over the surface in the last stage
  of the bending process which reduces the quality
  of the line in this area. This part of the line
  is not considered in the strain calculation
  because it does not indicate a deformation. The
  noisy band in the lower part of the picture is
  deleted by adjusting the picture size.

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Title and Abstract

• Concise and precise
• Abstract is a snap picture of the whole paper
• Problem
• State of the art
• Your objective
• Approach and results
• Significance
• Almost one sentence each

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Sample Abstract

• Traditionally, many manufacturing systems have
  been designed as symmetric configurations based
  on serial flow lines. Increasing product variety,
  however, often leads to complex configurations,
  in which a line of symmetry does not exist. Since
  the structure of asymmetric configurations
  complicates the performance analysis of
  manufacturing systems, designing such complex
  configurations is challenging. The purpose of
  this research is to develop systematic and
  efficient methods for configuration design and
  analysis. A new method is developed for the
  productivity evaluation of asymmetric
  configurations. This method utilizes the
  series-parallel structure of a configuration and
  the reduction of state-space size for efficient
  productivity calculations. This study also
  analyzes how the topological structure of a
  configuration affects system productivity and
  state-space size. In addition, this paper
  proposes a systematic method for designing
  complex configurations. The results of this
  research will enhance the understanding of the
  system configuration, and help systematically
  design complex configurations.

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Introduction

• Problem and motivation
• Why you are writing the paper
• Review of literature
• One or two sentence description of each relevant
  paper
• State what other people did. Do not criticize.
• Only cite these references that are relevant
• Summary the research gap
• To identify your originality
• Your proposed approach
• Paper organization

• Bulletize your ideas and logic on a piece of
  paper before sitting in front of a computer

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Body of Paper

• Methodology
• Description of how your method works
• Equations
• Results
• Graphs and figures
• Discussions

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Figures

• Layout
• Clarity of lines
• Legend
• Font and size
• Caption

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Conclusions

• What did you do summarize in one sentence
• What did you discover
• What are the significance of the discovery also
  one sentence

It is important you state what is new in your
paper, rather than having the reviewers go
figure it out.
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References

• Use of references
• By you
• Identify state of the art, and gap.
• By associate editor
• To find reviewers
• By reviewers
• Is your paper on a relevant problem ?
• Was the paper submitted to the right journal ?
• Is it of journal quality ?
• Follow journal format guidelines.
• Give credit to other authors, citation etc.
• Prefer recent journal papers over books or
  conference papers

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Reference Format

• By number, e.g., 5
• 5 R. G. Askin and M. Zhou, A parallel station
  heuristic for the mixed-model production line
  balancing problem, International Journal of
  Production Research, vol. 35, pp. 30953105,
  1997.
• By author name and year Camelio et al, 2004
• Camelio, J., and Hu, S. J., 2004, Multiple
  Fault Diagnosis for Sheet Metal Fixtures using
  Designated Component Analysis. ASME Journal of
  Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Volume
  126, Issue 1, pp. 91-97.
• Shuxin Wang, S. Wang, or Wang Shuxin

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Paragraph Structure

• Once idea per paragraph.
• Key Sentence
• Usually the first sentence
• Allow fast read
• Support Sentences
• Given information first
• Parallelism of sentences
• Balance of sentences

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Paragraph Structure
Subject verb object.
1st sentence
Subject verb object.
2st sentence
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• Micro-electromechanical (MEMS) devices have found
  a wide range of applications primarily in the
  Integrated Circuit (IC) field. Traditionally,
  these devices have been planar making it
  relatively easy to manufacture and to maintain
  tolerances. However, the manufacturing
  techniques currently used in the manufacture of
  nano-devices tend to be expensive and large
  volumes are often required to justify production.
  These limitations have led to the development of
  3-D structures of various apparent O Neal et
  al, 2002. In recent years, a limited number of
  3-D MEMS devices such as MITs micro engine and
  IBMs nano-drive have been developed. The
  emergence of 3-D MEMS devices necessitates the
  development of novel manufacturing processes and
  technologies. The University of Arkansas has
  proposed and developed the nano-drill for the
  drilling of nano-channels as one such new
  manufacturing technique.

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Sentence Structure

• Subject verb object.
• Tense
• Singular vs. plural
• Articles a vs. the

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Build a Pipeline

• Papers and papers