GOOD STYLE OF WRITING: A QUICK GUIDE

Compiled By: Shahida Sulaiman, Assoc. Prof. Dr

Good Style of Writing

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Have 1 idea per sentence or paragraph and 1 topic per section. Have a simple, logical organization. Use short words. Use short sentences with simple structure. Keep paragraphs short. Avoid buzzwords, clichs, and slang. Avoid excess, in length or style. Omit unnecessary material. Be specific, not vague or abstract. Break these rules if there is a good reason to do so.
Good Style of Writing

Source: Zobel (2004)

Shahida Sulaimn (2012)

Good Style of Writing: Citation I

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Never treat a citation as a word.

In [2] such cases are shown to be rare. [2] states such cases are shown to be rare. In (Wilson, 1984) such cases are shown to be rare. Such cases have been shown to be rare [2]. Such cases have been shown to be rare (Wilson, 1984). Wilson [2] has shown that such cases are rare. Wilson has shown that such cases are rare [2]. Wilson (1984) has shown that such cases are rare.

Good Style of Writing

Source: Zobel (2004)

Shahida Sulaimn (2012)

Good Style of Writing: Citation II

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The cite should be close to the material it relates to.

The original algorithm has asymptotic complexity O(n2) but low memory usage, so it is not entirely superseded by Ahlbergs approach, which although of complexity O(nlogn) requires a large in-memory array (Ahlberg, 1996)(Keele, 1989).

The original algorithm has asymptotic complexity O(n2) but low memory usage (Keele, 1989). Thus it is not entirely superseded by Ahlbergs approach (Ahlberg, 1996), which, although of complexity O(nlogn), requires a large in-memory array.

Good Style of Writing

Source: Zobel (2004)

Shahida Sulaimn (2012)

Good Style of Writing: Misused Words

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Which, that, the. Use which only when it cannot be replaced by that.

There is one method which is acceptable. There is one method that is acceptable. There are three options, of which only one is tractable.
Do not under use that and use the unnecessarily.

It is true the result is hard to generalize.

It is true that the result is hard to generalize.

Good Style of Writing

Source: Zobel (2004)

Shahida Sulaimn (2012)

Good Style of Writing: Sexism

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Avoid sexist usage. A user may be disconnected when he makes a mistake.

A user may be disconnected when they make a mistake.

Users may be disconnected when they make a mistake. A user who makes a mistake may be disconnected.

For more guides see Writing for Computer Science: 2nd edition, Justin Zobel, Springer, 2004.
Good Style of Writing

Source: Zobel (2004)

Shahida Sulaimn (2012)

What We Should Avoid!

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TP: Not following the format. Use a lot of passive voices. Texts: Give opinions without supporting materials. Too many quotations plagiarism. Texts: Use short forms (dont, e.g., i.e.), exclamation mark (!), bombastic words. References: Not listing all cited references or vice versa. Acknowledge: Forget/ignore contributors. Footnotes
Good Style of Writing
Shahida Sulaimn (2012)

How to Win the Heart of Reviewers?

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Catchy titles that reflects the work. Concise abstract. Keywords reflect main topics. Introduction defines the topics and what to be discussed in the paper. Related work shows the motivation clearly i.e. how the work differs. Proposed work: what we have done. Evaluation: prove the proposed work. The most crucial thing: good work, good command of English.
Good Style of Writing
Shahida Sulaimn (2012)