Writing Research paper, Structuring Manuscript to enhance its readability and Art of Reading Research Paper, Publish it in Reputed journl

Dr. Venkatesh
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering
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9-Apr-25 Dr. Venkatesh- Research Paper Writing Insights
Research, Write Research paper, Publish it
an orientation program for beginners

Content of Presentation
• Research: Definition, Objectives, Motivations
• Types of Research, Types of Research papers
• Art of reading Scientific Research paper
• Structure your manuscript or research paper
• Find the right journal for your research
• Publishing in Reputed Journals
• Understand Quality Indicators, Ranking of Journals
9-Apr-25 Dr. Venkatesh- Research Paper Writing Insights 2

Research: Definition
• A scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a
specific topic.
• Research is the art of scientific investigation
• Careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts
in any branch of knowledge. { Ref: Learner’s Dictionary of Current English }
• Systematized effort to gain new knowledge {Ref: Redman and Mory}
• Research comprises defining and redefining problems, proposing
solutions; collecting, organising data and evaluating solutions through
experiments; making deductions and reaching conclusions;

Objectives of Research
• The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions by
applying scientific procedures.
• To find out the truth that is hidden and has not yet been discovered.
• To achieve new insights into it (exploratory research);
• To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation or group (descriptive research studies);
• To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else (diagnostic research
studies);

Motivations for Research
• Desire to get a research degree
• Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems
• Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work
• Desire to be of service to society.
• Desire to get respectability.
Significance of Research.
• Doubt leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention.
• Complex nature of business and social issues in government.
Research, as an aid to economic policy, understands the needs of the
people and the availability of revenues.

Types of Research
• Descriptive Research: includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries.
• Analytical research, use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a decision or inference or critical evaluation.
• Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem
facing a society or an industrial/business organisation.
• Fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalisations and
with the formulation of a theory.
• Field-setting research OR laboratory research OR simulation research
• Simulation research: computer models to mimic real-world systems
and study their behaviour under various conditions.

Types of Research Papers
• Experimental paper- Inclusive
of social Experiments
• Analytical paper
• Argumentative or persuasive
paper
• Cause and effect paper
• Definition paper
• Survey paper
• Report paper
• Compare and contrast papers
• Interpretative paper
• Case Study
• Case Reports
• Policy Papers
• Letters and Short
Communications

Experimental Research Paper
• An experimental research paper is designed to investigate and analyze
a specific problem or phenomenon. Its primary purpose is to explore
cause-and-effect relationships and come up with solutions
• Experimental papers find their application in fields such as:
• Biology
• Psychology
• Physics
• Computer Science

Analytical Research Papers
• It summarize information, in analytical papers, we analyze data
and theories concepts to uncover insights and draw conclusions
• Give justifications for the analysis based on evidential judgment
and existing research.
Examples
• Analyzing the impact of social media on interpersonal
communication skills.
• Exploring the factors influencing the human behaviour
• Examining the effectiveness of different teaching methods in
improving student performance

Argumentative or Persuasive Research
Papers
A persuasive or argumentative paper presents a clear stance on a specific
issue and supports it with well-reasoned arguments. The purpose is to
persuade readers to adopt the author's viewpoint by providing strong
evidence and logical reasoning.
Argumentative papers are commonly used in fields such as:
• Social sciences
• Humanities
• Education
• Science and technology, Law and criminal justice

Cause and Effect Research Paper
• A cause-and-effect research paper investigates the relationships
between events, actions, or phenomena and specific effects or
outcomes.
• The purpose of this type of paper is to explore the underlying
mechanisms behind certain occurrences and to demonstrate
how one factor influences another.
In a cause-and-effect paper, one
• Identify the primary cause(s) and effect(s) under study
• Analyze the factors contributing to the observed effects

Definition Paper
• Definition research papers provide clear and factual explanations of
a topic without the author's personal opinions.
• By gathering information from different sources, they help readers
understand the topic better and serve as a basis for further
discussion and analysis.
• Common areas where definition papers are utilized include:
• Science and Mathematics
• Technology and Computer Science
• History and Politics
• Healthcare and Medicine
• Engineering

Survey Research Paper
• In survey papers, collect and analyze data from a sample
population through surveys or research questions.
• This type of paper includes gathering information about
attitudes, opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular
group of people.
• The collected data needs analysis; the paper should always
present the findings.
Here are the survey types that are commonly practised:
• Qualitative Surveys
• Quantitative Surveys

Case Study
• In research papers, a case study looks closely at a particular
subject, event, or phenomenon in real life.
• It gives detailed insights into the complexities of the case.
• Case studies use various sources like interviews, observations,
documents, and records.
Case studies are used in the following research types:
• Exploratory Research
• Explanatory Research
• Descriptive Research
• Comparative Research

Policy Papers/ Policy Briefs
• Most policy papers are written in the form of a white paper, which
offer authoritative perspective on or solutions to a problem.
• White papers are in business and technical fields.
• white papers are often used as a marketing or sales tool where the
product is pitched as the “solution” to a perceived need within a
particular market.
• In the world of policy, white papers guide decision makers with
expert opinions, recommendations, and analytical research.
• It provides a decision maker with an overview of an issue or problem,
targeted analysis, and, often, actionable recommendations.

Letters, Short paper, short communication
• Short reports should be limited to three type written pages on
current research, a short introduction, methodology and results
should be written under the same heading followed by brief
comments and six to ten references.
• A snippet of experimentation or a trend with substantial
evidence theoretically or at least an idea with justification of
surveys is a letter or a short communication.

Art of Reading Scientific Papers
• Reading a research paper which every researcher has to do a lot
• Unlike textbooks, they are highly technical, and condensed, know the
area well can understand it easily.
• Understanding requires multiple readings, contextual knowledge, and
strategy.
• Understand the scientific contributions the authors are making.
• Apply simple guidelines that once you learn and apply them
• There is no correct way of reading research papers.
• Simple strategy that has three stages: Engage, Siege and Conquer!

Structure of research paper
• Title & Authors: Key idea and credibility.
• Abstract: Compressed summary of the paper : what is in it and allows
readers to see if it is relevant to them.
• Keywords: Core terms which describes papers’ ‘general subject, specific
• Introduction: Problem, motivation, contributions.
• Methods: Approach, algorithms, data, models.
• Results: Experiments, evaluation metrics, highlights the findings.
• Discussion: elaborate upon findings, and explain implications of their
findings are, limitations, comparison.
• Conclusion: reviews the problem and outlines the key ideas and main
contributions of the study.
• References: A bibliographic list of citations, documenting all of the sources
that is used for this research.

Stage1: Engage (Evaluate the paper’s relevance)
• Start with the Introduction (do not read the Abstract initially).
• Glance through figures, diagrams, and conclusion.
• Ask yourself number of questions : (not during reading text book)
• What problem is being addressed?
• Why is it significant?
• What is the proposed solution or method?
• What are main contribution, important findings
• If you were to tackle this same problem, could you think of better solutions?
• Output: make a note and describe the paper using few sentences
based on our answers to above questions (brief overview of the
paper (one paragraph of 150 to 200 words)

Stage2 : Siege! ( Understand the paper holistically).
• Read the paper in full (skip complex equations, theorems proof for now).
• Write comments and highlight, circle words you do not know, put ?
• Ask yourself some questions to extract:
• Does the paper propose a method, is it sound? does it work
• Core contributions, main assumptions, strength/novelties, limitation
• How authors demonstrate/prove that their solutions work?, method evaluated,
any experimental/analytical errors.
• What are the findings?
• How are the findings unique/new/unusual
• What is the most important figure/table , observations
• What are future direction of this research?
• What are some of the specific applications of the ideas presented here?
• Can the research results be applied to another context?
• Output : summary note at this stage as well.

Step 3 Conquer (examine technical depth)
• To understand a paper, you often need to go through step 1 and 2;
• read the paper more carefully, trying to work through all the nitty-
gritty details. (i.e., important aspects or practical details of a subject)
• Take note as you read; work out the math, make flowchart/sketches,
draw figures, visualize the procedures, supplementary materials.
• If it is available, possible run the code and redo the experiment
• Read the paper as reviewers: you need to evaluate the paper in term
of its contribution, originality, strength and weaknesses.
• Remember: simply do not understand paper. Dont be afraid to ask
questions to people who may know, read paper several times, months

Structure of a Research Paper

Structure of an Implementation Paper in
Computer Science and Allied Domains
• Abstract
• Introduction
Motivation
Contribution
Organization
• Related Work or Literature Survey
• Proposed Methodology/ Proposed System Architecture
• Implementation
• Results and Performance Evaluation
• Conclusions
• References

Writing Research Manuscript/Paper
 Writing a Research Paper must not be considered a burden and it is no Rocket Science.
Technical Paper Writing must be considered more a hobby rather than a mandatory
Requirement for career progression.
 Research papers can be categorized into Conference Papers, Journal Papers, Survey and
Review Papers, and Papers that can take their place as Book Chapters.
 Firstly Identify the domain that you are interested in. Further, start a comprehensive study
on the recent research trends, and finalize a topic of choice.
 If one is not able to fixate on a topic, then take the help of your Professors or even
friends. Form a research peer group and go ahead.
9-Apr-25
Dr. Venkatesh- Research Paper Writing Insights
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11 Rules to Write a More Impactful Paper
1. Choose your Conference or Journal Carefully
2. Construct a story
3. Be clear what your message is
4. Tailor your paper to your Journals Audience
5. Omit needless words
6. No Spelling Mistakes or Grammatical Errors
7. Make Compelling Figures
8. Stick to a Journals/ Conference Style Guidelines
9. Select a Good Title
10. Absolutely No Plagiarism
11. Write a Good Cover Letter (if it is a Journal).

Structuring Manuscript
• Completed your experiments it is time write it up into a coherent and
concise paper. Researchers are busy people and so it is imperative
that research articles are quick and easy to read.
• Structure of the body of research manuscripts
• Title and Abstract
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusions

Writing order-Manuscript
• Recommended strategy is to write your manuscript in the following order:
1. Materials and Methods
2. Results These can be written first
3. Introduction
4. Discussion Write these sections next
5. Conclusion
• analyzed your results, have a sense of their impact and decided on the
journal.
6. Title
7. Abstract

Title , Abstract and Keywords
• The title of your manuscript introduce readers (and reviewers) to your
work.
• An effective title should:
• Convey the main topics of the research
• Highlight the importance of the research
• Be concise, grabs attention, accurately describes the contents of your
manuscript
• Attract readers, makes people want to read further
• A title that is too long will seem clumsy, annoy readers, and probably
not meet journal requirements.

Example: Title
• Does Vaccinating Children and Adolescents with Inactivated Influenza Virus
Inhibit the Spread of Influenza in Unimmunized Residents of Rural
Communities?
This title has too many unnecessary words.
• Influenza Vaccination of Children: A Randomized Trial
This title doesn’t give enough information about what makes the
manuscript interesting.
• Effect of Child Influenza Vaccination on Infection Rates in Rural
Communities: A Randomized Trial
This is an effective title.

Abstract and Keywords
The Abstract is:
• A summary of the content of the journal manuscript
• A time-saving shortcut for busy researchers
• A guide to the most important parts of your manuscript’s written content.
Abstract should answer these questions about your manuscript:
• What was done?
• Why did you do it?
• What did you find?
• Why are these findings useful and important?
Note: Journals often set a maximum word count for Abstracts, often 250 words,
and no citations. Full Abstract appears in indexing services.

Keywords
• Keywords are a tool to help indexers and search engines find relevant
papers.
• Increase the number of people reading your manuscript, and likely
lead to more citations.
• Keywords: To be effective, Keywords must be chosen carefully.
• Represent the content of your manuscript
• Be specific to your field or sub-field
Example
Manuscript title: Direct observation of nonlinear optics in an isolated carbon
nanotube
• Poor keywords: molecule, optics, lasers, energy lifetime
• Better keywords: single-molecule interaction, Kerr effect, carbon nanotubes,
energy level structure

Introduction, Methods and Results
• The Introduction should provide readers with the background
information needed to understand your study, and the reasons why
you conducted your experiments. Answer the question: what
question/problem was studied
writing the background, make sure your citations are:
• Well balanced: If experiments have found conflicting results on a
question, have you cited studies with both kinds of results?
• Current: aim to cite references that are not more than 10 years old if
possible. Cite the first discovery or mention in the literature even if it
older than 10 years.
• Relevant: The studies you cite should be strongly related to your
research question.

Materials and Methods
This section provides the reader with all the details of how you
conducted your study. You should:
• Use subheadings to separate different methodologies
• Describe what you did in the past tense
• Describe new methods in enough detail that another researcher can
reproduce your experiment
• Describe established methods briefly, and simply cite a reference
where readers can find more detail
• State all statistical tests and parameters
• TIP: Check the ‘Instructions for Authors’ for your target journal to see how manuscripts should
present the Materials and Methods.

Results
• In the Results section, simply state what you found, but do
not interpret the results or discuss their implications.
• Use subheadings to separate the results of different experiments.
• Results should be presented in a logical order, not necessarily the
order in which the experiments were performed.
• Use the past tense to describe your results; however, refer to figures
and tables in the present tense.
• Do not duplicate data among figures, tables, and text. Use the text to
summarize what the reader will find in the table, or mention one or
two of the most important data points.
• Include the results of statistical analyses in the text, usually by
providing p values wherever statistically significant differences are
described.

Discussion and Conclusions
• Your Discussion and Conclusions sections should answer the question:
What do your results mean
• Discussion and Conclusions sections should be an interpretation of your
results.
• Discuss your conclusions in order of most to least important.
• Compare your results with those from other studies: Are they consistent? If
not, discuss possible reasons for the difference.
• Mention any inconclusive results and explain them as best you can. Briefly
describe the limitations of your study.
• Discuss what your results may mean for researchers in the same field as
you, researchers in other fields, and the general public.
• State how your results extend the findings of previous studies.
• If your findings are preliminary, suggest future studies

Find the right journal for your research

Publishing in Reputed Journals
Importance of Publishing in Reputed Journals
• Publishing in reputed journals ensures that your research:
• Reaches a wider academic audience
• Is recognized and trusted by scholars, funding agencies, and institutions
• Helps build your academic reputation and career progress
• Leads to more citations, increasing the impact of your work
• Academic benefits include:
• Eligibility for PhD submission, grants, and promotions
• Fulfills requirements by regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE, DST, etc.

Publishing in Reputed Journals -II
Role of Indexing Databases in Research Visibility
• Indexing databases are online (curated) collections of high-quality
research publications
• They:
• Make your work searchable and accessible globally
• Improve discoverability by other researchers
• Ensure the authenticity and legitimacy of journals
• Indexing filters out predatory journals and maintains academic
standards

Scopus and Web of Science Journals
Introduction
• Journals that are part of the Scopus database
• It is a valuable tool for institutions and libraries to assess the quality and
impact of journals in their collections.
• Indicator of a journal's quality and impact in the academic community
• Scopus :
Largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature
Covers: Journals, Conference Proceedings, Books
Managed by Elsevier
Subject areas: Science, Technology, Medicine, Social Sciences, Arts &
Humanities

Web of Science
• Citation indexing service maintained by Clarivate Analytics
• Covers: Journals, Conference Proceedings, Patents
• Includes databases like SCI, SSCI, AHCI
• Strong focus on high-impact, quality research

Impact Factor
• The journal impact factor (JIF) is a metric that measures the
frequency with which articles in a journal are cited.
• Average number of citations received by articles published in a
journal over a specific period (yearly)
• Reflecting the journal's influence and importance within its field. It's
calculated and published by Clarivate.
• Impact Factors in the InCites Journal Citation Reports database, which
is integrated with the Web of Science.
• Limitations: Focus on journal, not article, not impact/application:

h-index, i10-index
• The h-index is a metric for evaluating the cumulative impact of an author's
scholarly output and performance.
• It measures quantity with quality by comparing publications to citations
• The h-index is a metric that measures both the productivity and impact of a
researcher's publications
• The h-index is the highest number "h" such that "h" of a researcher's
papers have each been cited at least "h" times.
Example:
If a researcher has 5 papers, each cited at least 5 times, their h-index is 5.
If a researcher has 10 papers, with 8 papers cited at least 8 times, and the
other 2 papers cited less than 8 times, their h-index is 8.
• The i10 index is a metric that measures how many of an author's
publications have been cited at least 10 times.

CiteScore

CiteScore
Find CiteScore for a specific journal:
• Step 1. Go to Scopus and click "Sources" at the top of the page.
• Step 2. Under "Title", type in the journal title in the search box and
click "Find sources".

Cite Score

CiteScore

Quality Indicators, Publish in Indexed Journals
• Peer Review process
• Journal ranking (Quartile: Q1 to Q4)
• Citation metrics: Impact Factor, CiteScore, h-index
• Editorial board and publication ethics
Why Publish in Indexed Journals?
• Higher visibility and credibility
• Recognized by academia and funding agencies
• Increases citations and research impact
• Essential for academic promotions and PhD evaluation

Identify Indexed Journals
• Visit Scopus website: https://www.scopus.com/sources
• Visit Web of Science Master Journal List: https://mjl.clarivate.com
• Check publisher’s website for indexing claims Avoid predatory
journals
Tips for Publishing
• Choose relevant and reputed journals
• Read author guidelines carefully
• Ensure ethical practices (no plagiarism, data integrity)
• Revise and proofread thoroughly before submission

Journal Ranking
• Journal quartiles provide a standardized ranking system used
to assess the relative performance of journals within specific subject
areas.
• Journals classified into four equal groups based on their citation
performance.
• Journals with higher citation counts are placed in higher quartiles,
indicating high impact and visibility within their respective fields.

Ranking Criteria
• Metrics used:
• Impact Factor (Web of Science)
• CiteScore, SJR, SNIP (Scopus) {SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP)}
• Journals are grouped within each subject category
• Rankings are updated annually.
Q1 Journal
• Belongs to top 25% of journals in a specific field
• High impact, rigorous peer review, prestigious editorial board
• Examples: IEEE Transactions on Computers, Nature, Lancet

Journal Ranking: Understanding Quartiles
(Q1 to Q4)
• Helps in evaluating quality, impact, and reputation
• Used for academic promotions, funding, and research assessment
• Journals are ranked and grouped into four quartiles
• Based on metrics like Impact Factor, CiteScore, SJR (Scimago Journal
Rank)
• Q1: Top 25% of journals in a subject category
• Q2: 25% to 50%
• Q3: 50% to 75%
• Q4: Bottom 25%

Find Quartile Rankings
To find Quartile Rankings
• Scopus / SJR (Scimago Journal & Country Rank):
🌐 https://www.scimagojr.com
• Web of Science Journal Citation Reports (JCR):
🌐 https://jcr.clarivate.com
• Steps:
• Search the journal name
• Check subject category
• See quartile rank (Q1–Q4)

Quartile Rankings

Quartile Information for Applied Soft
Computing

Quartile Information for Multimedia Tools and
Applications

Core: International Conference ranking
collaboration named

Find Conference Alert

Ethical and Good Practices in Research
• Ensure the Similarity Index through a good similarity software like
Turnitin or iThenticate or IEEE CrossChech must be <10%
• Avoid the use of AI bots and tools to frame your paper, it is always
better to frame the paper based on your cognitive capability.
• Research is not about numbers, it is about finding and depicting
evidential and revolutionary theories in a specific area.
• Focus on High Quality journals and Impactful Conferences, go for a
good IEEE or Springer Conference.
• Never Surpass Peer Reviews, Retractions are Happening due to
Editorial Issues of Cancellation of Peer Special Issues

Reviews, Rejection email

“Research is not about How many Papers Have you
Written, but How much Impact a paper has
created in a scientific Domain”

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