A Guide to Writing

a Master's Thesis
Terttu Orci
Department of Computer and Systems Sciences
University of Stockholm
March 1996

Abstract goals, the dierent choices the students

can make in
uencing their Master's thesis
This paper serves as a guide for the students admit- work, the requirements on a Master's the-
ted to a course, qualied as a Master's Course, at sis, as well as general aspects of research,
Stockholm University, department of Computer and e.g. how to choose a research topic and
Systems Sciences. The goal of the course is to train formulate a thesis proposal. Approximate
the students in scientic work and scientic writing, time tables for Master's theses projects
intended to result in a Master's thesis. This paper are also presented. The process of scien-
brie
y describes the dierent choices the students can tic writing is discussed in the more detail,
make, in
uencing their work with the Master's thesis, and the editorial requirements for Master's
the requirements on a Master's thesis, as well as gen- thesis are also dened. The paper is also
eral aspects of research, e.g. how to choose a research intended to be an example of a Master's
topic and formulate a thesis proposal. Approximate thesis in its format.
time tables for master's theses projects are also pre-
sented. The process of scientic writing is discussed in In Section 2, the Masters courses are
the more detail, and the editorial requirements for a presented and the goals are stated. Sec-
Master's thesis are also dened. tion 3 is states the dierent choices the
students can make, in
uencing their thesis
work. Section 4 presents a number of ap-
1 Introduction proximate time tables along the steps in a
thesis project. Section 5 is about scientic
This paper is intended for students who work in general, how to nd good topic
are admitted to a Master's course at the ideas, and how to proceed from an idea to
University of Stockholm, department of an acceptable proposal, and nally to an
Computer and Systems Sciences. The pa- acceptable Master's thesis. Section 6 gives
per presents the Master's courses and their guidance in the process of scientic writ-
1
ing. Section 7 gives editorial advice, and The goals of a Master's thesis work are
nally, Section 8 includes some concluding to train the student
remarks.
 in scientic work,
While writing the document, especially
the parts describing thesis work in general,  in writing scientic papers, and
I have been in
uenced by several sources,
[Collection 80], [Winkler et al 79],
[Connor et al 76], [Lamport 86]. The text
about behavioural research in Section 5.3
has been written by Jacob Palme. The
text appearing in the cited sources has
been intermixed, changed, cut, and com-
plemented with my own ideas as well as
with the ideas of colleagues. For simplic-
ity, I refer to the sources here once and
for all, instead of referring to them in the
text.
2 Courses and Goals
 in oral presentation of scientic work,
and
 in critical analysis of work done by
others.
The means towards the goals are high
quality requirements on a Master's thesis,
high competence requirements on the ad-
visors, the mandatory presentation of the
thesis work at a master's seminar, and the
mandatory critical analysis of other stu-
dents' work as part of the requirements for
a Master's course.
In order to give some measure of the
quality requirements, we say that a Mas-
There are three dierent courses qualify-
ing as Master's courses, namely
 Master's thesis work (Examensar-
bete) in the Computer and Systems
Science Program (DSVL), 20 credits
 Master's thesis work (Magisterexam-
ensarbete), 10 credits
 Advanced course for the Master's
Degree (Fordjupningskurs for magis-
terexamen), 20 credits
Whatever track the student follows, a
ter's thesis should conform to the specic
style in its subject area in an international
perspective, i.e. it should be possible to
submit it to an international conference,
possibly after rewriting it in a shorter
form. Further, there must be a compar-
ison of the work with related work in the
area, and also, the thesis must be writ-
ten in good English or Swedish, be well-
structured, and easy to read, and follow
the further editorial requirements given in
Section 7.
Each thesis project has an advisor, who
alone decides about the grade. The com-
passed Master's thesis and with fullled
course requirements, he will obtain the de-
gree of Master of Science in Computer and
Systems Sciences.
2
petence requirements on the advisors are
high, a minimum requirement being the
degree Licentiate of Philosophy, but in
fact, a majority of the advisors have a
PhD, and are active researchers with ex-  10+10 credits model
perience in writing scientic papers for
conferences and journals, and in present-  20 credits model
ing papers at conferences. The advisors The 10+10 credits model includes two dif-
represent the subject area computer and
systems sciences both in breadth and in
depth.
Each thesis project has a reviewer. A
reviewer is a person, not necessarily with
a formal competence, but with a signif-
icant competence in the thesis topic. A
reviewer may well be a person from out-
side the university, e.g. from industry. If
the thesis work is done in a company, the
company might supply an advisor for the
thesis project. However, an external ad-
visor has never the authority to mark a
thesis, only to advice the student in the
thesis topic.
ferent pieces of work, the rst 10 credits
being a project work at the level of can-
didate resulting in a thesis, here called C
thesis (C-uppsats), and the last 10 cred-
its being a project work at master's level,
resulting in a masters thesis, or M thesis,
with the number of credits as index like
M10.
The 20 credits model includes a project
work at master's level, and the associated
thesis is here called M20 thesis.
The dierence between a C thesis and
an M thesis will be characterized in terms
of examples. A C thesis often presents
 an evaluation of a set of systems ac-
3 Choices cording to a well-dened evaluation
criteria,
A student admitted to a Master's course  giving as a result which one of the sys-
has the following choices: tems best fullls the criteria, and
 the model of work  the evaluation criteria is a set of re-
 the group size quirements, often stated by those who
ordered the evaluation.
 the topic
While a work along these lines is com-
 the form of work monly accepted as C thesis, it has not the
generality required for an M thesis.
 the reporting language A corresponding M thesis should
3.1 Models of Work  put forward the evaluation criteria as
such,
In Master's courses of 20 credits, the stu-
dent may choose either one of the following  the criteria should be stated by the
models for his work: authors,
3
  the set of systems would be used as
test cases for the evaluation model.
The main contribution would be
 the develoment of the evaluation cri-
teria, not the evaluation as such, and
 the thesis should discuss the cgarac-
teristics of the cases for which the
evaluation model is applicable.
The dierence between M10 thesis and
M20 thesis is in their extent and contents.
An M10 thesis should represent ten weeks
of full-time work, while an M20 thesis im-
plies the double work measured in weeks.
Further characteristics of an M20 thesis
compared to M10 are that
 it should be more complete in the
are more comprehensive in an M20 thesis
compared to M10 .
An M thesis should be within the sub-
ject are of the track chosen by the student,
while a C thesis may concern any subject
area.
If the student gets a commission from
industry, the commission does not neces-
sarily qualify as an M thesis work. There-
fore, a thesis project proposal must be ac-
cepted by an advisor from the department
before the student should put time and ef-
fort in the work.
It is not evident which one of the work
models has most advantages to a student.
As a C thesis may concern some other sub-
ject area than the track chosen by the stu-
dent, the 10+10 credits model gives the
possibility to a certain breadth. Also, the
sense that there are fewer excuses be-
cause of the time limits,
 it should be more in-depth,
 it tackle an, in some sense, `bigger'
problem, and
 it should include a more comprehen-
experience from a project work in the rst
10 credit thesis might help in the M the-
sis work, which otherwise could be experi-
enced as being a big step in the students
life. At the other hand, every thesis work
includes certain steps which are dicult,
sive data collection and analysis.
Another way of putting the dierence be-
tween an M20 and M10 thesis can be char-
acterized in terms of a development of a
system of some kind, as follows: A systems
development starts from a requirements
the rst one being to determine what ex-
actly the thesis should be about. To per-
form two such stages might take too much
time, leading to a delay in the studies. The
advantage of an M20 thesis might be that
it would, by future employers, be consid-
ered as more valuable than two ten credit
theses together. However, these are only
specication, written by the authors, val- hypotheses, not conrmed in any way, and
idation of the specication, the develop- shold not be taken as necessary truths.
ment of the system, and the verication There might not be any generality at all;
that the system fullls the requirements. situations experienced as being dicult by
The dierence between M10 and M20 the- one student, might be experienced as easy
sis work could be that the dierent steps by another. In any case, the responsibility
4
of the choice is the student's.
3.2 The Size of the Group
A thesis work may be done individually or
in a group of two students. A C thesis is
recommended to be performed as a group
work. An M thesis work may be driven
thru as a group work, but the individual
contributions must be explicitly stated in
the thesis. Another alternative is to write
two thesis reports, one by each and refer-
ring to each others reports.
3.3 The Topic
3.4 Forms of Work
There are three possible forms of work:
 working at the department, inte-
grated with the sta in a research lab-
oratory
 working on a topic in the competence
area of a research laboratory, with an
advisor from the laboratory, but sepa-
rated from the current research in the
laboratory
 working within an external organiza-
tion
Whatever form of work is chosen, the re-
The responsibility to choose a topic is the quirements on the nal product, the the-
student's, alone. When trying to nd a
topic, a student should consider his own
interests, the kind of work he prefers and
is skilled in, his subject areas of interest.
There will not be ready-made proposals
for thesis projects, among which the stu-
dent may choose, other than in exceptional
cases. A commission from industry may
be a good starting point. In every case,
the student must initiate a discussion of
the thesis topic with an advisor from the
department. For a C thesis, the person to
discuss with is Gunnar Bjorkman, who is
responsible for the C thesis course. Topics
for an M thesis should be discussed with
a responsible person for respective track,
chosen by the student. The students tak-
ing a special Master's course should dis-
cuss the topic with an advisor being in the
topic area, and if not obvious, with Terttu
Orci, responsible for the Master's courses.
5
sis, will be the same. The responsibility
of accepting or rejecting the thesis is by
the advisor from the department, not by
an external organization, unregarded their
role in the work. It may be the case that
the requirements put on the thesis by an
external organization dier from those put
by the advisor at the department. In such
a case, the student may need to write two
reports, one for the organization, the other
labelled as Master's thesis.
Every project starts from an idea for
a topic, advances to a proposal, through
hard work and learning, in an interaction
with an advisor, is intended to end up in
a Master's thesis. When the time comes,
the advisor decides about the grade. There
are three grades: accepted (G), excellent
(VG), and rejected (U). If a student is un-
happy with his grade, he has the right to
complain and to get his grade reconsid-
ered by a standing committee consisting as well as literature study, to a seminar,
of three sta members. called proseminar, during which other stu-
dents and possible a reviewer analyse and
3.5 Reporting Language critisize the proposal. A proseminar is a
session, of normally three hours, during
The thesis may be written in Swedish or in which the work of three groups will be dis-
English. In either case, the language must cussed.
be A more detailed description of both
 grammatically correct,
topic idea and thesis proposal, can be
found in Section 5.
 conform to the style in the subject
area, 4.2 Step 2
 easy to read, and Step 2 is the rst half of the work and writ-
ing. Although there might not be an ex-
 contain a minimum of typing errors. act cut making the rst half, the step has

It is not the responsibility of the advisor to been included in the schedule to eliminate
teach in Swedish, or English, only in the atrack.student to proceed too far in a wrong
The advisor accepts or rejects Step
subject, and in the scientic style of the 1, a reviewer is involved for comments, if
subject area. possible, and the student and the advisor
agrees on how to proceed.
4 Steps and Schedules
4.3 Step 3
For several good reasons, a thesis work is
divided into ve steps: When the thesis is completed, the advisor
reads and comments it, and after a revi-
Step 1 Topic idea, thesis proposal, and sion, if needed, the thesis is handed out to
a seminar the reviewer.
Step 2 Thesis, rst half
Step 3 Thesis, second half
Step 4 Revision, defense, revision
Step 5 Opposition and attendance
4.1 Step 1
4.4 Step 4
Step 4 involves a reviewer, who reads and
comments the thesis, and the student and
the advisor decides about a revision. The
nal defence is at the master's seminar,
The rst step is probably the hardest to which may lead to an additional revision,
accomplish, in that it goes from a topic if requested by the advisor.
idea, thru a thesis proposal including a A master's seminar involves the au-
signicant amount of work and insight thor(s), the advisor and the reviewer, a
6
number of students to accomplish Step 5 { How do you nd the structure
in their own thesis work in the role of op- of the thesis? Does it go from a
ponent or attendee. Master's seminars are general background to a specic,
public, and may involve sta and students
from the department as well as people
from business and industry. The proce-
dure is as follows: the author(s) present(s)
the thesis work in half an hour, and addi-
tional hour and a half will be devoted to a
discussion about the thesis, engaging the
reviewer, the opponents, and the audience.
4.5 Step 5
Step 5, including an opposition of another
thesis, and attendance of two more sem-
inars make together 1 credit, which im-
plies that the work behind the opposi-
tion as such should be almost one week of
dening the problem, thru the
work to the results, or do things
appear in wrong order?
 Contents
{ Chapter 1 should include a gen-
eral background, which gives the
reader a sense of how the thesis
relates to a larger area in com-
puter science, it should include
the description of the problem,
motivation why the work has
been done, what is intended to
be accomplished, and what has
been done by others. Do you
full time. It means that it is not enough
to read the thesis once or twice, on the
y, but reading and ananlysing, looking
for weak as well as strong points of the
work. The guidelines below are a mini-
mal requirement for a passed opposition.
The opposition should be both written and
nd all these building stones in
Chapter 1?
{ Are there any explicit con-
straints/limitations? If yes, do
they limits the intention as they
should? If no, are there assump-
tions or limitations in the work
presented orally at the seminar. The mo- which should have been dened
tivations for each argument must be given. explicitly?
The attendees should also be active, in the { Do you nd a discussion or
sense that they must be prepared to give reasoning, which convinced you
their comments on the thesis, at least on that the goals have been ful-
demand, and therefore the guidelines are lled, or show to what degree
applicable to them as well.
4.6 Guidelines for an Opposition
The written opposition must be left to the
advisor before the seminar.
 The structure
7
they have been fullled?
{ Is it obvious that the authors
have read relevant literature?
 Research Methodology
{ What kind of research method-
ology has been used?
 { What sources of error might Step 1 Topic idea,
there be when applying such a thesis proposal, and
methodology? a seminar 2 credits
{ Have the sources of errors been Step 2 Thesis, 1st half 2 credits
identied and discussed? Step 3 Thesis, 2nd half 3 credits
Step 4 Revision,
 Form and language defense,
{ Is the layout of the thesis nice? revision 2 credits
Step 5 Opposition and
{ Is the use of font size in subtitles attendance 1 credit
homogeneous?
{ Are the language constructs
clear and easy to understand? 4.8 Steps in an M20 Thesis
{ Are the sentences suitable in The steps have the same contents as in
length?
{ Are the sentences grammatically M10, but dierent credits:
correct?
{ Is there a dictionary? If yes, is it Step 1 Topic idea,
needed? If no, should there have thesis proposal and
been a one? a seminar 5 credits
Step 2 Thesis, 1st half 4 credits
{ Do the references conform to Step 3 Thesis, 2nd half 6 credits
a commonly accepted style in Step 4 Revision,
computer science? defense,
{ Do you nd more than ten er- revision 4 credits
rors, typing errors or other er- Step 5 Opposition and
rors? attendance 1 credit
{ Are there appendices? If yes, are
they needed, and does the text
include at least one reference to 4.9 Time Tables
each of the appendices? If no,
could some parts of the contentsIn this section, the approximte time ta-
better been put in an appendix? bles for the dierent master's thesis will
Which parts? be given. The master's thesis in DSV
program appears in two variants, early
4.7 Steps in an M10 Thesis and late, while the master's theses in the
special courses have variants autumn and
The steps have the following contents and spring, all these labels indicating the start
credits: of the thesis work.
8
4.9.1 Master's Theses in DSV Pro-
gram
 M10
Start begin November, Step 1 mid De-
cember, Step 2 end January, Step 3
 M20
Start mid January, Step 1 mid March,
Step 2 end May, Step 3 en October,
Steps 4-5 November-December.
end March, Steps 4-5 April-May. 5 Doing Scientic Work
 M10
Start end November, Step 1 end De- Scientic work starts with a topic idea, or
cember, Step 2 mid February, Step 3 by working hard to get an idea. An idea
end March, Steps 4-5 April-May. should be further processed by sharpening
and limiting it to a workable research pro-
 M20 posal. The research conducted according
Start mid April, Thesis Proposal end to the proposal, will nally be documented
May, Step 1 begin September, Step 2 in a scientic paper, in this case the Mas-
end November, Step 3 mid April, Step ter's thesis.
4-5 April-May. One way to view the thesis project is to
 M20 say that it represents a process of reducing
Start mid September, Step 1 mid uncertainty. The life cycle of a research
November, Step 2 end January, Step project can be thought of as going from
3 end March, Steps 4-5 April-May. the general to the specic.
It is almost impossible to dene exactly
4.9.2 Master's Theses in Special what a Master's thesis in Computer and
Courses Systems Sciences should be. Neither can
we clearly characterise the dierences be-
 M10 tween an acceptable one and an unaccept-
Start begin September, Step 1 end able one. No one can present the candi-
September, Step 2 end October, Step date with a prescription for success when
3 end December, Steps 4-5 January- he embarks on his studies. It follows that
February. the guidance presented here is not a guar-
 M10
antee of anything and may not always be
Start mid January, Step 1 mid Febru- appropriate. However, by considering his
ary, Step 2 end March, Step 3 end research in terms of the guidelines pre-
April, Steps 4-5 April-May. sented here, the student and his advi-
sor will go a long way toward developing
 M20 the sensitivity and awareness necessary to
Start begin September, Step 1 end make the research leading to a successful
October, Step 2 end January, Step 3 thesis. It is an eort not to be undertaken
mid April, Steps 4-5 April-May. lightly.
9
5.1 To Find a Research Topic  Your interest areas
There is a list of research topics proposed  The availability of a advisor
by the sta, and the students may choose
an idea from that list. The student may  Your goals with this project
also come up with a topic by himself,
maybe starting from a vague feeling about  Your technical knowledge
the area he is interested in, and he is of-
fered help to nd a research idea based  The recognizability of the result
on that interest, or he can do the nding
process by himself, if he has the time avail-
able. There are several fruitful sources for
identifying potential ideas:
 Current events
 The existence, uniqueness of the re-
sult
The state of your own knowledge should
 Suggestions for research from past
theses
 Suggestions for research by authori-
guide you signicantly if you intend to
take the grade within one term. For ex-
ample, if you know nothing or very lit-
tle about neural networks, you would ac-
quire a certain amount of the knowledge
ties in the eld in the area during the project, but most
probably exceed the time schedule. How-
 Expressions of need for research by ever, it might still be a good idea to
practitioners in the eld choose that topic, if you are very inter-
 Generally accepted but unproved as- ested in neural networks and want to in-
sertions crease your knowledge in the area, inde-
pendent of the graded work. Your tech-
 Unproved or weakly proved assertions nical knowledge is also a signicant fac-
by an authority in the eld tor, meaning that choosing a topic in, for
example, formal logic, and intending to
 Dierent approaches to testing of im- construct a theorem prover in higher-order
portant results logic to be implemented by a parallel ma-
 Papers in scientic journals and con-
ference proceedings
Often an idea may include several prob-
lems to choose among. What problem you
choose to solve, is dependent on
 The state of your knowledge
10
chine, might require excessive amount of
technical knowledge to be acquired even
before you can understand the problems
associated to the idea. It is also impor-
tant that you don't bang your head against
the wall, i.e. try to solve problems which
are commonly known to be unsolvable, or
problems which have already been solved
1. However, the recognizability of the re-  A statement of the problem and why
sult you cannot leave to the advisor. It is it should be solved.
helpful to think and try to nd the answer
to the question: How do I know that I am  Reference to and comments upon rel-
done? It should be noted that the research evant work by others on the same or
idea is just a rst hint about the area and
direction of the research. Examples of re-
search ideas:
 The Work Breakdown Structure: The
Current State-of-the-Art.
 Is Size All That Matters?: Problems
in Software Cost Model Evaluation.
5.2 Thesis Proposal
If a research idea is the start of the re-
search, the thesis proposal is the half-way
similar problems.
 The candidate's ideas and insights for
solving the problem and any prelimi-
nary results he may have obtained.
 A statement or characterisation of
what kind of solution is being sought.
 A plan of action for the remainder of
the research.
 A rough outline of the thesis itself.
If the candidate is unable to include and
point to the nal thesis. A thesis proposal
should represent a considerable eort, con-
sisting of intensive, full-time work. It
should lay the ground for the thesis re-
search by providing convincing arguments
that the problem is worth solving and can
be solved, within the time and other limits
of your Master's thesis project.
The form of a thesis proposal is a matter
of individual taste for the candidate and
his advisor. It may be written down in one
defend these six points in the thesis pro-
posal, then he is not ready to commit him-
self to the hard work to turn it into an ac-
ceptable thesis. Naturally, nobody is go-
ing to hold him to the details presented
in the proposal. The nature of research in
this science is that it provides the biggest
surprises to those who are working most
intensively in a given area. Anyone can be
easily scooped or may feel it necessary to
revise his plan or problem in mid-stream.
document, evolved by mutual agreement,
or done in some other fashion.
A thesis proposal in computer and sys-
tems sciences should address at least the
following points:
This is not true in general, e.g. in be-
1
havioural sciences, a result is usually not consid-
ered valid until several dierent independent re-
searchers at dierent places have arrived at the
same conclusion.
11
He may nd that his original ideas do not
work and he must modify his expected so-
lution. This is perfectly acceptable. Nev-
ertheless, a candidate who is unable to an-
swer the six points is not ready to embark
on the work, let alone follow it, control it,
adapt it and force it to some kind of con-
clusion.
In the following, these six points are de-
veloped more in detail.
5.2.1 Problem Statement local environments produce very inbred re-
search, narrow attitudes, and unaccept-
The rst obvious thing which a thesis pro- able theses. They tend to reinvent ideas
posal should contain is a statement of the already known elsewhere; they fail to ap-
problem to be considered, in both specic ply techniques which could simplify their
and general terms. The specic statement problems considerably; they often attach
must deal with the specic issues in which
the candidate is interested, e.g. the opti-
misation of tables of LALR parsers. The
general statement should relate the prob-
lem to the larger context of the science
and show why it is worth solving. The
problem statement in the thesis proposal
should be directed to an audience of in-
too much importance to minor results and
do not recognise major ones worth report-
ing; and they write incomprehensible the-
ses and papers which make no eective
contribution to knowledge.
5.2.3 The Candidate's Ideas and
telligent scientists who have no specic in-
terest in the problem, but who are inter-
ested in knowing what the candidate is do-
ing. To present the problem to the wider
audience, and to justify proceeding with
the work, it is necessary for the candidate
to present the background to the problem
and to survey related work by others.
Insight
It is hard enough to schedule `invention'
when one has some good ideas for solving
the problem. It is almost impossible when
one does not. Thus a student, who is work-
ing to a tight and very emotionally con-
straining time-table, needs to have some
insight, some ideas, some preliminary re-
sults before he commits himself to discover
5.2.2 Background
It may take any of several forms, for exam-
ple, an annotated bibliography or a sum-
mary, explanation, and analysis of existing
more. If he has none of signicance, then
the problem can capture his attention for
as long as it takes to solve it and write the
thesis. He would have no assurance that
he is heading in the right direction, that
results. It may be necessary or desirable
for the candidate to include his own criti-
cal comments.
This summary is not without traps. If
most of the references cited and most of
the work mentioned are from the candi-
date's own department, then there are se-
rious grounds for questioning his breath
of knowledge and background for pursu-
ing his problem. The danger is that peo-
ple who limit their horizons to their own
12
he is capable of nding a solution.
A common situation occurs when a
student proposes what seems to be a
good problem to investigate, involving
new broad, general theories. But when he
is pressed, he has only some ideas about a
small, special case or example. He might
not even have explored these ideas fully
because he regards that example as unin-
teresting in the context of the overall prob-
lem and those ideas as having no apparent
generalisation. Some students will be able where he stands in this research, and he
to discover the necessary general ideas, de- will be able to argue convincingly at the
velop them and defend them. But such appropriate time that he has done what
theses are few and far between, their au- he set out to do.
thors are typically awarded Nobel prizes
and other very high distinctions. Ordinary
mortals have no such luck and often get
stuck, unable to nd any other examples,
applications or ideas which are substan-
tially dierent from the ones they already
know.
At this point, it is time to go back and
look at the problem statement again. As
often as not, that uninteresting example
may be the foundation for an interesting
or valuable thesis problem in its own right.
If so, it is probably a better investment of
Occasionally, a research student will say
'I know precisely what problem I want to
solve. I have no idea of what the solu-
tion will be, but I will certainly recognise
it when I've got it. After all, this is re-
search. So how can I possibly arrive at
a characterisation of the solution before-
hand?' That is, he thinks he is an excep-
the candidate's energy to solve it, nish
his thesis, and then devote his life's work
to the general problem in a more relaxed
fashion.
5.2.4 The Shape of the Solution
The most important part of the thesis pro-
posal is a statement of what kind of so-
lution to the problem is expected - i.e.
a characterisation of the stopping condi-
tion of the project. This, more than any-
thing else, will help the student estimate
the value of his eorts to separate the
cha from the wheat, to allocate his time.
Without such a characterisation, the stu-
tion, but if he cannot characterise his ex-
pected solution, how can he recognise it?
Sometimes it is easy to characterise the so-
lution, particularly in the light of prelimi-
nary results. For example, a candidate de-
veloping a new analytic model to describe
message trac among communicating ma-
chines would expect to prove some theo-
rems about the model, validate it empir-
ically against some existing systems, con-
struct some algorithms based on it for cal-
culating the performance of similar sys-
tems with dierent parameters, and argue
by example that they are useful in the de-
sign and understanding of future systems.
At other times, it is much harder to be
dent has no good way of knowing when to
stop. He cannot measure how far towards
his goal of a degree he has progressed. He
might even discover a satisfactory solution
to his problem and not perceive that he
has. With a characterisation, he will know
13
so specic about a stopping condition. It
may also be necessary to change it as the
research progresses. However, a moving
target is better than no target at all, pro-
vided that it is not moving so fast that the
candidate cannot catch it.
5.2.5 Plan of Action and Outline of
the Thesis
After the candidate knows what he wants
to do, has some background to allow him
to do it, has done a little bit, and has some
idea where it will take him, he had better
draw up a plan of action. This subsection
of the thesis proposal is like a road map
and timetable of how he will travel dur-
ing the remainder of his research. If it is
carefully and realistically prepared, it will
not expose to him any hazard of trying
to do more than he reasonably can before
he runs out of steam. Obviously this plan,
like everything else in the proposal, is sub-
 Need for research. The results do not
need to have an immediate applica-
tion, but the topic should not be triv-
ial or of little importance. The stu-
dent should also feel the problem is
important and worthwhile.
 Amenable to research methods. The
topic needs to be feasible both as to
availability of data and availability of
tools for analysis.
 Achievable in reasonable time. It
might be dicult to estimate the
exact time your project will take.
However, rather than leaving `rea-
ject to change as new results are obtained
and new ideas gained. But some plan is
better than no plan.
Finally, it is always useful when doing
research to keep in mind how it is to be
sonable time' completely undened,
some rough estimates are better than
nothing. The student must translate
these estimates to the situation in his
case. The background investigation,
reported, what issues will be emphasised,
and what will be de-emphasised. Thus,
the thesis proposal should contain a rough
outline of the thesis itself, preferably in
terms of the expected solution to the prob-
lem. This will have at least a small impact
on the shape of the research, and it will
provide a set of good guidelines when the
candidate decides that it is time to `write
it all up'.
5.2.6 Some Useful Hints
No thesis topic is perfect. However, be-
fore putting too much eort on an idea
and a proposal, certain characteristics of
proposals should be kept in mind as being
important.
14
denition, writing, etc. normally take
more than half of the total time. A
student may wish to select a topic
having a longer time requirement, but
he should do so with an awareness of
the consequences for the date of com-
pletion.
 Symmetry of potential outcomes. A
research project will typically have
more than one potential outcome. For
example, a research experiment may
prove the hypothesis, it may disprove
it, or it may be inconclusive. The
ideal thesis topic from this stand-
point is one in which, given a care-
ful methodology, any of the poten-
tial outcomes would be satisfactory in
terms of the acceptability of the the-
 sis. The lack of symmetry applies to
most theses involving new algorithms
or solution procedures. If the algo-
rithm is found, there is a good the-
sis. If no algorithm is found, the con-
topic, he becomes one of the knowl-
edgeable persons in the subject. If
there is likely to be a continuing inter-
est either academically (or elsewhere)
in the topic, then he can continue to
tribution has not been made. Note,
however, that if a solution method
has been proposed but not proved by
one or more authorities, then a the-
sis might proceed to prove or disprove
the claim that this algorithm can be
used. In that case, proving that the
algorithm is feasible or proving that
it is not feasible{since it was thought
to be feasible{are both contributions
to knowledge.
maintain this and be a signicant au-
thority. A student can therefore make
the thesis a stepping stone in his ca-
reer by selecting a topic that provides
development in areas he is likely to
wish to work in. The student should
try for a new idea rather than digging
deeper in some overworked area.
5.3 The Thesis Work
 Matches student capabilities and in-
terest. A topic should match the ca-
pabilities and interest of the student.
A student who has strong capabili-
ties in the behavioural science and
low mathematical capabilities should
certainly not choose a mathemati-
cal thesis involving proofs and algo-
rithms, even though it might be oth-
erwise a good topic. Likewise, a stu-
dent with strong mathematical abili-
ties and very little interest or train-
ing in behavioural science should not
choose a topic which depends for its
success upon high ability and training
in behavioural science.
 Area for professional development. A
thesis may either be a beginning of
research on a topic or it may be the
end. Since a student puts a signif-
icant amount of work into a thesis
15
The theses should be based on a signicant
question, problem, or hypothesis. The
work should be original and should relate
to explain, solve, or add proof to the ques-
tion, problem, or hypothesis. The research
is additive, i.e. it adds to knowledge. The
results are usually expected to presented
as generalisations.
There are dierent choices about the
type of a contribution. It may arise as any
of the following:
 New or improved evidence. The evi-
dence may disprove or support a con-
cept, theory, or model; disprove or
support a hypothesis; add to under-
standing of a process, etc. Major
questions with regard to evidence are:
{ How was the data collected?
{ How was the data analysed?
The evidence may be collected by
an experiment, simulation, question-
 naire, interviews, measurements, etc.
A major question with respect to such
evidence is the method by which it
was obtained.
 New or improved methodology. The
contribution based on methodology
can be a new or improved solution
or analysis procedure{such as a new
statistical procedure{or a new or im-
proved research methodology. Show-
{ Analysis of content of an existing
theory or concept and analysis of
its implications.
{ Possible research approach or
methodology.
{ Potential outcomes of research
and importance of each.
 New theories
The contribution of a thesis may be based
on more than one of these. For example, a
ing the benet of applying a known thesis might develop some theory, obtain
procedure in a new way may also be a empirical data, and integrate the two.
contribution. The improvement from Much of the research on computers is
a new or changed solution procedure wholly or partly behavioural science re-
should be signicant. For example,
a thesis showing that a new solution
algorithm for correlation coecients
can reduce errors in the result at the
fourth decimal place is not worthy
of acceptance. Quantitative solution
procedures can be demonstrated by
proofs and examples. Other solution
procedures may need to be supple-
mented by evidence of their ecacy.
 New or improved analysis. Analysis
may be based on existing evidence or
include new data. Some examples of
types of analysis are:
{ Historical analysis - develop-
ment of ideas, historical forces,
etc.
{ Analysis of implications of a cur-
search, i.e. research on humans and their
relations to computers. Behavioural sci-
ence research is dicult, since human be-
haviour is so complex, and since there
may be many dierent causes for a cer-
tain human behaviour. Because of this,
extra stringent requirements are put on
behavioural science research.
Research in behavioural science may
start with a general investigation of the
problem. After this, one or more hypoth-
esis are formed, and a method of testing
them is designed and used.
In behavioural science, a result is usu-
ally not considered valid until several dif-
ferent independent researchers at dierent
places have arrived at the same conclusion.
Typical behavioural science methods
are:
rent development in a eld.
{ Comparative analysis - compar-
ing theories, methodologies, sys-
tems, etc.
16
 Experiments under controlled condi-
tions
 Interviews and questionnaires on real
users in real user situations
  Ethnographic research, where the re-
searcher joins and describes the user
situation
 Participatory research (also called ac-
tion research) where the researcher
forms a team with users and devel-
opers to improve their working condi-
tions.
 What might the results of the analysis
Typical data gathering methods in be-
havioural research:
 What are the consequences to the the-
 Interviews
 Questionnaires
 Autologging
 Self reports, diaries, tapes, observa-
tions
5.3.1 Checklist
The following checklist is not intended to
be complete, but it suggests useful ques-
tions a student should ask himself as he
review his proposal.
 Does the proposal have imagination?
 Is the problem stated clearly?
{ Are the hypotheses clear, unam-
biguous, and testable?
{ Can data be collected?
{ How will data be analysed?
{ Will the analysis allow the ac-
cepting or rejecting of the hy-
potheses?
{ Is the population to be sampled
receptive to investigation?
look like?
sis of any of the following:
{ Experiment fails?
{ Data amount not obtainable?
{ Small amount of data?
{ Analysis inconclusive?
{ Hypotheses rejected?
{ Can major research activities be
listed?
{ Can a time estimate be attached
to each major activity?
{ Is the thesis trying to do too
much?
{ If yes, what can be dropped or
reduced to make the project of
manageable dimensions?
{ If no hypothesis, is the objective 6 Scientic Writing
clearly stated? Can it be accom-
plished? Science is a communal exercise and scien-
{ Is the problem too large in tic papers are its monologues. A scien-
scope? tic paper is prose literature: like other
narrative forms, a scientic paper com-
 Is the methodology feasible? municates one person's ideas to another
17
through the written word. The constraints a single unit rather than a series of un-
that dictate the form of a scientic paper connected passages. Write simply, with-
all conspire to make it an eective linkage out worrying about style or grammar. Do,
in the network of collaborative science. however, think of the reader, and direct
First, the scientic paper must have a
particular format. The format is a stan-
dard linkage form, an outline forcing each
scientist to face the same basic questions
and to attempt roughly comparable anal-
yses for even the most varied situations.
your thoughts and words not exclusively
to fellow specialists, but to a wider audi-
ence of `moderate specialists'.
Although the details of grammar can
wait till later, try to use the appropriate
person, tense, and voice of verbs in writ-
Second, the language and the style must ing the rst draft of the dierent sections.
mirror the highly stylised formulations of Use I or we for describing what you did,
mathematical logic. Much of the colour you or the imperative for instructions, and
of our everyday language derives from ill- the third person for describing what hap-
dened, emotionally charged images con- pened. The past tense is best for observa-
jured up by the nuances available in a tions, completed actions and specic con-
large vocabulary of sensual and particu- clusions; the present is correct for general-
larly human words. In contrast, the goal isations and statements of general validity.
in a scientic paper is to reduce the in- Prefer the active voice to the passive.
tangible and the implicit meanings of our You have already selected your main
words. Scientic words should be the
words of logic, because, when the oper-
ations of mathematical logic are used to
build a platform of interconnections, even
quite intricate chains of interconnections,
we can routinely trace through all of the
headings in the thesis proposal. Insert
subsections and sub-subsections to an ap-
propriate level.
6.2 The Structure of the Paper
paths and we can have condence that A scientic paper starts by a heading
each of the individual links is strong.
6.1 Writing the First Draft
Settle down at a time and place which will
allow you to remain undisturbed for sev-
eral hours. Collect all the material you
have prepared and begin to write or type
Abstract, moves to the rst paper sec-
tion usually called Introduction and ends
up with Conclusions or Discussion, fol-
lowed by Acknowledgements, References,
and possible Appendices. The other head-
ings depend on what kind of paper it is.
For example, a theoretical paper usually
contains the headings Theoretical Analy-
the rst draft. Follow the outlines closely sis and Applications, while a paper de-
at this stage, and write as quickly as you scribing a new method instead contains
can. If the paper is short, try to nish the Description of the Procedure, and others
draft at one sitting so that it reads like Materials and Methods. Let us call the

18
Abstract and Introduction Paper Begin,
the Conclusions, Discussion, Acknowledg-
ments, References, and Appendix Paper
End, and the remaining part Middle Pa-
per.
6.2.1 Paper Begin
Abstract Abstract should be fully read-
able without reading the whole paper. It
means among other things that no refer-
6.2.2 The Middle Paper
Unless the overall experimental design or
theoretical approach is already obvious
from the introduction, describe it in a
broad outline before you give details of
the methods. State the premisses and as-
sumptions made in the design, and justify
your choice of any methods, e.g. statisti-
cal methods, to which there are reasonable
alternatives.
ences should be included in the abstract. A scientic paper is written from the
Further, the abstract should tell the reader foundations up, and the Middle Paper is
what the problem discussed in the paper its fundamental support. Also in the Mid-
is, how it is solved and what the results dle Paper, in a section Results
are.
Introduction Make the introduction
brief, remembering that you are not writ-
ing a review article: two or three para-
graphs are usually enough. Indicate the
aim and scope of the paper. State your
purpose in undertaking the work. Ex-
plain how your investigation moves for-
ward from closely related, previous work
on the same subject. Be concise but clear:
aim to awaken interest rather than sti
e
it with fussy detail, and try to gain and
keep the attention of readers who are not
specialists in your eld.
People who nd writing dicult, that
is most of us, sometimes ll introduc-
tions with platitudinous general state-
ments. There is nothing wrong with doing
this if it clears your mind and helps you to
start writing. But there is no good reason
for publishing these generalities and you
should remove them ruthlessly before you
reach the nal draft.
hensible and coherent on its own. Even if who have already read the whole paper; it
you are planning to write a detailed dis- should not be a re-worded abstract. State
cussion later, do not merely describe here your main ndings and conclusions, and
a series of experiments without any indi- refer only brie
y to new hypotheses and
cation of their purpose, signicance and future work. Unlike an abstract, a sum-
relevance to your line of thought. Al-
low yourself to make connections! Present
your results in a logical order, using only
observations that are strictly pertinent to
your argument. Report any negative re-
y any substantial help you received
sults which could be important to other
workers.
6.2.3 Paper End
In the section Discussion the subject is
treated from dierent sides. Write this
section only after you have though long
and hard about your own and other peo-
mary may inlcude references to gures and
tables in the paper itself.
Acknowledgements Acknowledge
brie
from grant-giving bodies or from individu-
als who supplied money, materials, techni-
cal assistance, or advice on the conduct of
the work or preparation of the paper. Ac-
knowledge the cooperation of people who
provided any help not forming part of their
routine obligations. Be sure that all those
you thank agree to having their help rec-
ples ndings. Assess the validity of your ognized and that they approve the form in
results, comment on their signicance, and
relate them to previous work. Do not sim-
ply repeat, in a dierent order, what you
have already said or shown as results. Do
not hide negative results or discrepancies
which you acknowledge it.
References A reference appearing in
the text should follow the format:
[Gabrielsson 93] or [Gabrielsson 93a],
between your own work and that of others; where a indicates the rst publication
try instead to explain them, or else admit by the author within the given year, or
your inability to do so. Criticise the scien- [Gabrielsson et al 93], if there are several
tic basis of other people's work when you
feel it necessary to do so, but do not at-
tack the authors personally. Be absolutely
accurate when you describe or quote from
other people's work.
Pull the threads of your argument to-
gether in a logical form in the discussion.
authors.
There are a number of dierent sources,
each with their own requirements. The
following sources and requirements from
[Lamport 86] should cover the most com-
mon cases.
Refer to the tables and gures only as they  An article from a journal or magazine.
become appropriate to the argument, and Required elds: author, title, journal,
not necessarily in chronological order. year. Optional elds: volume, num-
A summary, if provided, is for people ber, pages, month, note.

20
 A book with an explicit publisher.  A report published by a school or
Required elds: author or editor, other institution, usually numbered
title, publisher, year. Optional within a series. Required elds: au-
elds: volume, series, address, edi- thor, title, institution, year. Optional
tion, month, note. elds: type, number, address, month,
note.
 A part of a book, which may be a
chapter and/or a range of pages. Re-  A document having an author and ti-
quired elds: author or editor, title, tle, but not formally published. Re-
chapter and/or pages, publisher, year. quired elds: author, title, note. Op-
Optional elds: volume, series, ad- tional elds: month, year.
dress, edition, month, note.
 A PhD thesis. Required elds: au-
 A part of a book with its own ti- thor, title, school, year. Optional
tle. Required elds: author, title, elds: type, address, month, note.
booktitle, publisyer, year. Optional  Use this type when nothing else ts.
elds: editor, chapter, pages, address, Required elds: none. Optional
month, note. elds: author, title, howpublished,
 An article appearing in a conference month, year, note.
proceedings. Required elds: au-
thor, title, booktitle, year. Optional Appendices If you decided to include
elds: editor, volume or number, se- an appendix or more, place them here or
ries, pages, address, month, organiza- after the references. Incorporate any refer-
tion, publisher, note. ences in it into the main list of references.
 Technical documentation, e.g. a man- 6.3 Revising
ual. Required eld: title. Optional
elds: author, organisation, address, When you have written the rst draft, put
edition, month, year, note. it away for a day or two. Then re-read
it quickly and not too critically, correct-
 A Master's thesis. Required eld: ing only the obvious mistakes as you go
author, title, school, year. Optional through it. Rewrite or retype any pages
elds: type, address, month, note. that have become illegible. Number the
pages and date them to show which ver-
 The proceedings of a conference. Re- sion is the most recent. File the super-
quired elds: title, year. Optional seded pages in case you have accidentally
elds: editor, volue or number, se- omitted something on them which you
ries, address, month, organisation, later want to restore. Before you embark
publisher, note. on the next stage, revising the draft, put
21
the manuscript away and forget about it As you read the manuscript, note also
for a week or two. the length of the paragraphs and the dis-
A good way to revise the rst draft is intribution of ideas among them. In prin-
two stages: structural and stylistic. It is ciple, each paragraph should deal with a
a waste of time trying to improve stylistic single topic or message and so be a unit
details before you are sure that the sec- of thought. However, readers nd solid
tions, paragraps and sentences are in the blocks of print tiring and you should give
right order, that all the essential points them a rest by keeping most paragraphs
have been included and any super uous to no more than 125 words, or half a type-
ones removed, and that the argument runs written page. If many paragraphs occupy
logically from hypothesis to conclusions. more than a page, look for places to break
Start with the structure, therefore, and ex-them up. But if most of them are only a
amine everything you have so far prepared few lines long, you may be making the mis-
for logical order, accuracy, consistency andtake of letting each new sentence form a
truth. paragraph: group the sentences into para-
graphs now. Thinking about paragraphs
6.3.1 Examining the Sequence and their length like this gives you another
way of examining the structure of the pa-
If your outlines were satisfactory, all the per for logical ow.
statements in your draft probably con-
tribute something, and no points will have 6.3.2 Checking for Consistency
been forgotten. But in getting everything
quickly onto paper you may have strayed Now check whether you have been accu-
away from the main line of your argument, rate in other matters. Have you spelt
introduced unnecessary material, or left the same word in the same (correct) way
out essential evidence. In addition, you throughout? Have you written numbers,
may now realize that some points need symbols and abbreviations in the form ap-
to be discussed or explained earlier in the proved? Many English words have British
article than your outlines originally sug- and American spellings. Neither is more
gested. Check on these matters, especially correct than the other, but you should be
on the need to move some passages to an consistent. A good dictionary will show
earlier place in the text to give increased both forms of spelling and tell you which
clarity. Now examine the headings to see is which.
whether they relate properly to one an-
other and to the text they describe, and to 6.3.3 Reducing the Number of Ab-
see whether any should be deleted. Make breviations and Footnotes
sure that each heading is appropriately
ranked and clearly identied as rst, sec- Many otherwise well-written scientic pa-
ond or third order. pers are married by being overloaded with
22
abbreviations, e.g.\We added DTNB to the medium is not the message. The
the TCA-precipitated RNA before deter- medium is a standardised format for pre-
mining the BUB". Use abbreviations spar- senting new data in a fashion that will
ingly, as substitutes only for lengthy terms
most directly and immediately t into
that have to appear very often, say more the broader, fairly stereotyped schema of
than ten times, in the paper. Dene them other scientic data.
either at their rst appearance, or all to- For clarity, write in short sentences and
gether in a footnote at the beginning of cut down all excess phrases. For exam-
the paper, or both. Try to replace fre- ple, \The fact that axons have been ob-
quently repeated abbreviations with pro- served to grow randomly suggests" should
nouns or other substituting words, e.g. be written \The random growth of ax-
\it". Avoid using footnotes. They are jus- ons suggests". Write \it showed", not \it
tied only rarely, when you need to give served to show". Use simple, direct words,
subsidiary information that would other- words with little emotional weight and
wise seriously interrupt your argument. clear meanings. Science is already burst-
ing with new terminology, and new words
6.4 Revising the Style only clutter an article and confuse the
reader. For example, write \animals ex-
This section is not intended to be a text- posed to ethanol ", not \ethanol-exposed
book of English grammar, only to give animals".
some advice to avoid the main pitfalls.

6.4.1 Language Problems with Verbs Non-agreement

of subject and verb. \The enzyme activity
A scientic paper must be a readable nar-
rative and, as a practical guide and as an
inspiration for narrative writing, a special
form: it has special constraints and is built
with its own peculiar language. The pri-
of the pollinaceous extracts from mature
plants were higher than expected" should
be \was higher than expected".
Incorrect omission of \was" and \were"
(auxiliary verbs) in a series of passive
mary purpose of a scientic paper is not verbs. \The sample was weighed and sev-
to speak to the heart but to the brain! eral fractions taken for examination" is
In science, a smooth,
owing style is wrong because \fractions" as the subject
helpful, and balanced wording is an aid; of the secondverb needs the plural auxil-
but the essence of scientic style is crys- iary verb \were" not the implied singular
tal clarity. Each sentence must convey verb \was".
a denite idea, and it must have an un- Dangling innitives are dangerous, be-
equivocal interpretation: there can be no cause the unstated, understood subject of
mystery, no vagueness, and no intima- an innitive may not be the subject of the
tions of unwritten meanings. In science, next clause: \To apply this form of treat-
23
ment, the patient had to be admitted to
hospital" is wrong because \patient" is not
the subject of \apply". Correct this fault
by substituting the true subject: \To ap-
ply this form of treatment, we had to ad-
mit the patient to hospital".
Excessive use of the passive voice. It
is absurd, and mentally lazy, to use the
passive voice in every sentence. For \The
membrane is crossed by the protein" write
\The protein crosses the membrane": it
is shorter, clearer and more correct ex-
cept in the rare instance when you want
to emphasize what kinds of things cross
the membrane. Write \Fig.1 shows", not
\As shown by Fig.1". In the Introduction
and Discussion sections write \we believe"
rather than \it is thought" if you are re-
ferring to your own thoughts. This type
of circumlocution has been called the pas-
sive of modesty. If you think you must use
\it is generally thought", try to identify
by whom it is generally thought; you will
Problems with Pronouns Over-use of
abstract nouns instead of verbs. Some
scientist have a mania for using abstract
nouns. This leads to a heavy and colour-
less style which is often mistakenly re-
garded as a model of objectivity and de-
tachment. An example is the sentence
\The addition of x and y to the medium
permitted shaking of the solution without
the formation of ice crystels and the pre-
cipitation of z." The words in this sentence
ending in \-tion", e.g. addition, formation
and precipitation, are abstract nouns de-
rived from the verbs add, form and pre-
cipitate. Note that abstract nouns are al-
most always longer than their correspond-
ing verbs; both their length and their ab-
stract quality contribute to the ponderous
eect for which you are probably striving
in imitation of your British and American
models. Stop striving and write \After
adding x and y to the medium we were
able to shake the solution without causing
ice crystals to form and without precipi-
tating z."
Excessive use of nouns as adjectives
probably decide to abandon the phrase.
exible in allowing
The right place for a verb in the passive is
in a sentence like \The cows were milked
twice a day" when there is no need to iden-
tify the milkmaid, or in a sentence like
\The cows should be milked twice a day"
when there is no need to direct any par-
(modiers). English is
nouns to be used to modify other nouns:
\protein iron" for instance, is a short way
of referring to the iron bound to or con-
tained in proteins. The trouble begins
when, perhaps in a laudable eort to be
brief, the writer puts together a string of
ticular person to do that job. The passive nouns, each of which modies one of the
voice is appropriate in many sentences of a others. Phrases like \adult sheep muscle
scientic paper, but you should change to
the active voice whenever possible, if only
to keep the reader awake by varying the
rhythm!
24
protein iron" impend understanding and
may even defy it. Breake up these clus-
ters by inserting verbs and prepositions:
\protein iron found in the muscle tissue of
adult sheep". you select in a dictionary which translates
back into your own language. The result
Problems of Verbosity and Pompos- can be astonishing.
ity Some people will try to persuade you 6.4.2 Problems of Punctuation
that formal English, suitable for scientic
papers, must use Latin-derived words and Problems of punctuation are many but -
an elevated tone if it is to be eective. in a way - trivial. If you write short, sim-
Take no notice of this advice: it is wrong. ple sentences you can avoid most pitfalls.
The most eective writing, in a scientic Puncuate according to whatever rules of
journal or anywhere else, is simple, clear, English usage you already know, always
and precise. If you want to write eec- aiming to make your meaning clear and
tive prose, search for the simplest, most unambiguous to the reader.
direect way to express your thoughts. Be
brave and say \It is most often found in Period
the heart" not \The most frequent among  Use a period at the end of sentences
its localizations is the cardiac one". that make a statement or express a
command. Begin at the top of the
Problems of Imprecision If you al- page.
ways choose elaborate words instead of
simple ones you will soon be trapped into  Use a period after most abbreviations
Ph.D.. Abbreviations of many in-
using words wrongly. English is so rich ternational agencies no longer require
and complex that self-discipline is needed periods. UNESCO
for success in writing it correctly. The ut-
most accuracy in writing, as well as in ex-
perimenting or observing, should be every Comma
scientist's aim. Make sure that you know  Use a comma to separate independent
the exact meaning of every word in your clauses joined by a coordinating con-
text. Since this is hard, time-consuming junction. The interview began with
work, the fewer words there are the bet- the same questions, but the answers
ter for you. You need good dictionar- varied.
ies, of course, including both a dictionary  Use a comma between items in a se-
from your own language into English and ries. Her art broke the harmony of the
a large English-language dictionary. It is design, ignored any sense of rhythm,
often worthwhile looking up an important and lacked all visible balance.
word in a dictionary from your own lan-
guage into English, then checking the En-  Use a comma to separate parallel
glish words in a large English dictionary, modiers. He called it a long, lonely
and nally looking up the English word journey.

25
  Use a comma to set o nonrestric-
tive elements. Fire, which is more
symbolic of passion than of anything
else, rarely appears in the novel. Note
that Fire which burns blue is dan-
gerous. includes restrictive elements
which should not be separated by
comma.
 Use a comma after an introductory
phrase or a subordinate clause. If
King John had listened to his barons,
he would have been a more popular
king.
 Use commas to set o interrupting el-
ements. The French, however, used
the rondelet.
 Use a comma when necessary for clar-
ity. Some years before, we had seen
Charlie Chaplin in London.
Semicolon
 Use a semicolon between independent
clauses not connected by a coordinat-
ing conjunction (and, but, or, nor,
for, so, yet). Rubens was greatly in-
uenced by Titian; he copied him as-
siduously.
 Use a semicolon between independent
clauses connected by a conjunctive  Use a colon between the hours and
adverb however, nevertheless, then,
moreover, consequently) or a sentence
accurate chronology is not the only
concern.
 Use a semicolon to separate items
in a series already punctuated with
commas. The television interview fo-
cused on three guests: a professor
at the University of Michigan, well-
known for his stand against the neu-
tron bomb; a member of NOW, pas-
sionately devoted to passing the ERA;
and a clergyman from the Baptist
Church in Austin, Texas.
Colon
 Use a colon after a clause that for-
mally introduces a passage. The ar-
chitecture consisted of a wide vari-
ety of styles: antebellum homes with
white colonnades, Italian villas sur-
rounded by gardens, and nondescript
California ranch houses.
 Use a colon to indicate that what fol-
lows is either an example, explana-
tion, or elaboration of what has just
been writtten. City-county consolida-
tion is more than a term: it means
the process of merging a county gov-
ernment with all municipalities in the
county.
minutes in time. 3:15 p.m.
modier (in fact, for example, on the Dash
other hand, in the rst place). His-
tory is concerned with events as they  Use a dash to surround parenthetical
occurred in a certain order; however, material that interrupts the
ow of
26
 writing. The scholar's business is in Question Mark
part constructive{to add to the gen-
eral eld of knowledge{ and in part  Use a question mark after a direct
desctructive{to expose false claims question. Is this really a problem?
and errors.
 Don't use a question mark in an indi-
 Use a dash for summarizing. Robert rect question. One might well ask if
Campin, Jan van Eyck, Roger van der this is really a problem.
Weyden{all were from the school of
ancient Netherlands.
 Use a dash to indicate emphasis. All Exclamation Mark
Western thought is a footnote to one  Use an exclamation mark to express
author{Plato. a command. The train is coming.
Hurry!
Parentheses
Use parentheses to enclose material  Use an exclamation mark to express
that explains a remark. English strong feelings such as surprise, disbe-
is not merely a communication tool lief, or anger. Leave England? Never!
(an overused denition), but also the
medium for ne art.
Apostrophe
 Use parentheses to enclose the num-
bers of items in a series or list. It  Use 's to form the possessive of nouns
is a Romantic work because (1) it ex- not ending in s. a dog's life
tols nature, (2) it places feelings above
reason, (3) it celebrates democracy.  Use 's or an apostrophe to form the
possessive of singular nouns ending in
Quotation Mark s. the actress's success
 Use quotation marks to enclose the
exact words from someone else's  Use only an apostrophe to form the
work. Milton was advocating freedom possessive of plural nouns ending in
of speech when he said, \Give me the s. the Smiths' home
liberty to know, to think, to believe,
 Use an apostrophe to indicate omis-
and to utter freely."
sions. o'clock, '20s
 Enclose in quatation marks any word
to which attention is being directed.  Use an apostrophe to form the plural
The term \Newgate" was used to in- of numerals, letters, and words used
dicate crime novels. as words. All his 8's looked like s's.
27
Hyphen
 Use a hyphen to form a compound
adjective preceding a noun. a well-
deserved honor
on facts and language should be directed
to me. Suggestions for improvements are
welcome as well.
My hope is though that the paper will
be able to guide the students in their
 Use hyphens to connect prexes choices and thesis work. Any comments
to their capitalized words. post- and
Victorian
 Use hyphens to link compound nouns. Acknowledgements
printer-painter All the requirements and choices asso-
ciated to a Master's thesis work have
7 Editing been collegially dened by the sta at
the department, during many and time-
This paper is intended to be an exam- consuming discussions. I thank those who
ple paper in its format. Your manuscript participated.
must have the format A4, with type font
size 10-12 pt. The thesis must be in two-
column format. The cover page for the References
thesis is, for uniformity reasons, supplied [Lamport 86] L. Lamport. 1986 LATEX
by the department. On your title page, Doc-
you should include the footnote 2 . You ument preparation Sys-
may use whichever editor you wish. tem. Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company
8 Concluding Remarks [Winkler et al 79] A.C.Winkler, J.R. Mc-
This paper is a revised, and extended ver- Cuen. 1979 Writing the
sion of the paper with same title and au- research paper. A hand-
thor from March 1995. On this round, book. Harcourt Brace
the time did not allow any proof read- Jovanovich, Inc.
ing, neither of the contents nor of the lan-
guage. Therefore, the paper may contain [Connor et al 76] M.O'Connor,
F.P. Woodford. Writing
errors and lack explanations, remaining
to be detected when the paper is in use. Scientic Papers in En-
The responsibility for the possible errors glish. Elsevier, North-
is entirely mine, and therefore, comments Holland.
2
This thesis corresponds to ten (twenty) full- [Collection 80] Course Material from
time working weeks. the Course in Technical
28
English. Chalmers Uni-
versity of Technology,
1980.

29