Advice on Research and Writing

A collection of advice about how to do research and how to communicate effectively (primarily for computer scientists).

Writing and Publishing

How to Organize your Thesis, by John W. Chinneck.
Advice to Authors of Extended Abstracts, by William Pugh.
Hints on good mathematical writing, by David Goss
A primer on mathematical writing, by Steven L. Kleiman
How To Have Your Abstract Rejected, by van Leunen and Lipton.
An Evaluation of the Ninth SOSP Submissions, or, How (and How Not) to Write a Good Systems Paper by Roy Levin and David D. Redell
How to Get a Paper Accepted at OOPSLA, by Alan Snyder.
- Includes comments from an OOPSLA program committee.
Advice for 1996 POPL submissions

Research Skills

Graduate Study in the Computer and Mathematical Sciences: A Survival Manual, by Dianne O'Leary
How to be a Good Graduate Student/Advisor, by Marie desJardins
A Letter to Research Students, by Duane A. Bailey
How to do Research in the MIT AI Lab, ed. David Chapman
The IUCS Graduate Student Survival Guide.
- Includes Survival Skills for Graduate Women
- and The Assistant Professor's Guide to the Galaxy.

Speaking

How to Give a Good Research Talk, by Simon Peyton Jones et al.
How to Present a Paper in Theoretical Computer Science, by Ian Parberry.

Career Development

Networking on the Network by Phil Agre
Computer Science Faculty and Research Positions
The Young Scientists' Network
CRA Committee on the Status of Women in Research
- Includes a Graduate School Information Kit for Women in Computer Science and Engineering
- and the Distributed Mentor Project for female undergraduates.
ACM SIGMOD academic careers information
- Includes transcripts from the Workshop on Academic Careers for Women.

Related Topics and Resources

Information resources for graduate students by Jennifer Myers.
A Guide for New Referees in Theoretical Computer Science, by Ian Parberry.
On Being A Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research, from the National Academy of Sciences
Papers on women in computer science.
- Includes Why Are There So Few Female Computer Scientists?, by Ellen Spertus.
Study, Research, and Writing Skills web page from the American Communication Association.
Information for current and prospective graduate students by Timothy Finin.
A Guide for Applying to Graduate Schools by Piroz Mohseni.
Ivan Sutherland, "Technology and Courage," in CMU Computer Science: A 25th Anniversary Commemorative, ed. Richard F. Rashid. ACM Press, 1991.
Alan Jay Smith, "The task of the referee," IEEE Computer, April 1990, pp. 65-71.

Dissertation Advice

Dissertation News, published by The Association for Support of Graduate Students.
Resources for dissertation research (gopher)
How to cope with "burnout", by Andreas Gehmeyr.
How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation, by David Sternberg. St. Martin's Press, New York. ISBN 0-312-39606-6
How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, by Alan Lakein. Signet Books. ISBN 0-451-16772-4
Procrastination: Why you do it, what to do about it, by Jane Burka and Lenora Yuen. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-55089-X

Humor

mleone@cs.cmu.edu