Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Writing for Computer Science is an introduction to doing and describing - search. For the most part the book is a discussion of good writing style and effective research strategies. Some of the material is accepted wisdom, some is controversial, and some is my opinions. Although the book is brief, it is designed to be comprehensive: some readers may be interested in exploring topics further, but for most readers this book should be suf?cient. The ?rst edition of this book was almost entirely about writing. This e- tion, partly in response to reader feedback and partly in response to issues that arose in my ownexperiences as an advisor, researcher, and referee, is also about research methods. Indeed, the two topics writing about and doing research are not clearly separated. It is a small step from asking how do I write? to askingwhatisitthatIwriteabout? As previously, the guidance on writing focuses on research, but much of the material is applicable to general technical and professional communication. Likewise, the guidance on the practice of research has broader lessons. A pr- titioner trying a new algorithm or explaining to colleagues why one solution is preferable to another should be con?dent that the arguments are built on robust foundations. And, while this edition has a stronger emphasis on research than did the ?rst, nothing has been deleted; there is additional material on research, but the guidance on writing has not been taken away."

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• 1 Introduction Kinds of publication Writing, science, and skepticism Using this book Spelling and terminology
• 2 Good styleEconomy Tone Examples Motivation Balance Voice The upper hand Obfuscation Analogies Strawmen Reference and citation Quotation Acknowledgements Grammar Beauty
• 3 Style specificsTitles and headings
• Theopening paragraphs Variation Paragraphing Ambiguity Sentence structure
• Tense Repetition and parallelism Emphasis Definitions Choice of words
• Qualifiers Misused words Spelling conventions Jargon Cliche and idiom Foreignwords
• Overuse of words Padding Plurals Abbreviations Acronyms Sexism
• 4 Punctuation Fonts and formatting Stops Commas Colons and semicolons Apostrophes Exclamations Hyphenation Capitalization Quotations Parentheses Citations
• 5 Mathematics Clarity Theorems Readability Notation Ranges and sequences Alphabets Linebreaks Numbers Percentages Units of measurement
• 6 Graphs, figures, and tables Graphs Visualization of results Diagrams Tables Captions and labels Axes, labels, and headings
• 7 AlgorithmsPresentation of algorithms Formalisms Level of detail Figures Notation Environment of algorithms Performance of algorithms Asymptotic complexity
• 8 Editing Consistency Style Proofreading Choice of word-processor An editing checklist
• 9 Writing up The scope of apaper Telling a story Organization
• The First draft Fromdraft to submission Prepublication
• Theses A writing-up checklist Doing researchBeginnings Shaping a research project
• Students and advisors Finding research literature Reading Research planning
• Hypotheses Defending hypotheses Evidence Good and bad science Reflections on research A research checklist
• 11 ExperimentationDesigning experiments Measurements and coding Describing experiments Variables Statistics Intuition An experimentation checklist
• 12 Refereeing Responsibilities Contribution Evaluation of papers Referees' reports A refereeing checklist
• 13 EthicsPlagiarism Self-plagiarism Misrepresentation Authorship Confidentiality and conflict of interest Anethics checklist
• 14 Giving presentations Content Organization The introduction The conclusion Preparation Delivery Question time Slides Slide tools Text slides Figures A presentations checklist Examples of slides
• Afterword
• Bibliography Exercises
• Index