Scientific Writing

General Notes

Don’t use the style of homework papers, in which a sequence of formulas is merely listed.
Tie the concepts together with a running commentary.
All variables and abbreviations must be defined, at least informally, when they are first introduced.
When describing the work of other people it is sometimes safe to provide motivation by simply stating that it is “interesting” or “remarkable”.
It is best to let the results speak for themselves or to give reasons why the things seem interesting or remarkable.
When describing your own work, be humble and don’t use superlatives of praise, either explicitly or implicitly, even if you are enthusiastic.
Many readers will skim over formulas on their first reading of your exposition. Therefore, your sentences should flow smoothly when all but the simplest formulas are replaced by “blah” or some other grunting noise.
Don’t use the same notation for two different things. Conversely, use consistent notation for the same thing when it appears in several places.
Typographic conventions (like lowercase letters for elements of sets and uppercase for sets) are also useful.
Resist the temptation to use long strings of nouns as adjectives. ... the packet switched data communication network protocol problem.
Display important formulas on separate lines. If you need to refer to some of these formulas from remote parts of the text. Give reference numbers to all of the most important ones, even if they aren’t referenced.
Capitalize names like Theorem 1 Lemma 2 Algorithm 3 Method 4.
In general, don’t use jargon unnecessarily. Even specialists in a field get more pleasure from papers that use a nonspecialist’s vocabulary.
When in doubt, read The Art of Computer Programming for outstanding examples of good style. That was a joke. Humor is best used in technical writing when readers can understand the joke only when they also understand a technical point that is being made.

Title

Titles longer than 3 lines are not permitted. Try to find an alternative with your supervisor.

Narrative point of view

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General Writing Style

A thesis at the LDV can be written in English or German. In any case you have to be vigilant about a correct and good linguistic style. Avoid colloquial language. Before you submit your thesis, ask at least 2 people to proof-read your writing. It is helpful, if one of them can focus on the language while the second person can keep an eye out for the technical aspects. You can do without filler words, such as "already", "as expected", etc.. Clear, factual sentences of pleasant length make reading your thesis enjoyable. Very long and complex sentences should be simplified.

References

In general, a source is referenced with the help of an integer number surrounded by square brackets. The enumeration is done according to the appearance in the text. The references formatting is done according to the IEEE guidelines. (IEEE Citation Reference und IEEE Citation Style @google or ask your supervisor at the chair). The formatting of names, titles, conference names, addresses as well should be correct and complete. Using a 3rd-party library does not ensure that the references fulfill these standards. You need to verify the information manually. A correct entry entails

First Name(s) (Initials) and last name of the authors: A. Author, B. Writer, and C. Texter
Title of the article, chapter, conference entry, patent etc. in quotation marks: "A Guide for Creating your Bibliography"
Title of the journal or book in italic: *Random Name*
For certain sources such as books there are more details you can include such as publisher and address of the publisher. The exact details for citations are in the IEEE documents. Keep the following points in mind:
- You do not need to indicate the ISBN numbers for books.
- A consistent style with regards to capitalization and the usage of abbreviations is important.
- Every entry has to end with a period.
- Common knowledge such as collections of formulae. log tables, or similar do not need to be cited. There should be a compromise between a complete and comprehensive bibliography and clarity.
- If possible the primary source should always be cited. We would recommend checking the original source when you are copying a citation from a secondary source.
- Titles in foreign languages should not be translated. In case the titles are in Asian or Cyrillic script, the title can be translated and placed in square brackets.

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Figures & Plots

Figures, tables and diagrams have to be numbered and require captions to clarify the content.
A list of tables, and figures is only required in rare cases.

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Latex

There are great pages to find the right symbol you are looking for:

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Keep your errors at zero and Warnings close to zero!
Do not use x or * for indicating multiplications. There are specialized symbolds for that, like \times or \cdot.	The picture hast the size of $\begin{array}{l}512 \times 384\end{array}$ pxiels. The product is defined as $\begin{array}{l}a \cdot b\end{array}$ .	The picture hast the size of $\begin{array}{l}512 x 384\end{array}$ pxiels. The product is defined as $\begin{array}{l}a * b\end{array}$ .
Indicate special Terms by using italic. (\textit{...})
Provide a better overview in long paragraphs by using bold font for the main terms. (\textbf{...})
Software and Code Variables should be put in typewriter font. (\texttt{...})	my_function_name, foo, bar	my_function_name, foo, bar

Formulas & Mathematical Symbols

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Symbols in different formulas must be separated by words.

Consider $\begin{array}{l}Sq\end{array}$ , where $\begin{array}{l}q < p\end{array}$ .

Consider $\begin{array}{l}Sq\end{array}$ , $\begin{array}{l}q < p\end{array}$ .

Don’t start a sentence with a symbol.

The polynomial $\begin{array}{l}x^n - a\end{array}$ has $\begin{array}{l}n\end{array}$ distinct zeroes.

$\begin{array}{l}x^n - a\end{array}$ has $\begin{array}{l}n\end{array}$ distinct zeroes.

Don’t stop a sentence with a colon before an equation. The equation is part of the sentence!

The eigenvalues of the circulant matrix are calculated as solutions of

$\begin{array}{l}\displaystyle w^N -1 = 0.\end{array}$

The eigenvalues of the circulantmatrix are calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{l}\displaystyle w^N -1 = 0\end{array}$

The equation shall be treated as a regular part of a sentence!

The eigenvalues of the circulant matrix are calculated as solutions of the equation

$\begin{array}{l}\displaystyle w^N -1 = 0,\end{array}$

where

$\begin{array}{l}N\end{array}$ denotes the length of the sequence.

Don’t use the symbols! Replace them by the corresponding words.

The statement just preceding a theorem, algorithm, etc., should be a complete sentence or should end with a colon.

We can now prove the following result.

Theorem. The function $\begin{array}{l}H(x)\end{array}$ defined in (5) is continuous.

We now have the following Theorem. $\begin{array}{l}H(x)\end{array}$ is continuous.

Don’t omit “that” when it helps the reader to parse the sentence.

Assume that $\begin{array}{l}A\end{array}$ is a group.

Assume $\begin{array}{l}A\end{array}$ is a group.

Vary the sentence structure and the choice of words, to avoid monotony. But use parallelism when parallel concepts are being discussed.

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method.

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed.

Small numbers should be spelled out when used as adjectives, but not when used as names (i.e., when talking about numbers as numbers).

Method 2 is illustrated in Fig. 1; itrequires 17 passes. The count was increased by 2. The leftmost 2 in the sequence was changed to a 1.

The method requires 2 passes.

You do not have to live with small brackets there are big ones too. Use \left( and \right)

$\begin{array}{l}\left(\frac{\sum^N_{i=1} x^2}{\frac{a}{b} - 42}\right)\end{array}$

$\begin{array}{l}(\frac{\sum^N_{i=1} x^2}{\frac{a}{b} - 42})\end{array}$

Some Final Words:

Avoid Alliteration. Always
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid cliches like the plague. They‘re old hat.
Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
Be specific.
Writers should never generalize.
Be consistent!
Don‘t be redundant; don‘t use more words than necessary; it‘s highly superfluous.
Who needs rhetorical questions?
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

Bereichsverknüpfungen

Seitenhierarchie

General Notes

Title

Narrative point of view

Good

Bad

General Writing Style

References

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Bad

Figures & Plots

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Bad

Latex

Good

Bad

Formulas & Mathematical Symbols

Good

Bad

Some Final Words: