Problem Statement and References Maram Bani Younes Search

Problem Statement and References. Maram Bani Younes

Search for Problems • Search for something that you are really interested in • Write down your ideas and discuss them with friends, colleagues, and supervisors • Be comprehensive and try to identify many different research projects • Know the steps that need to be taken for your work

Focusing the Problem • Focus the research problem on a particular aspect of the design, development, or evaluation process • Research in developing new methods or applying existing methods to new applications • Establish research parameters • Identify limitations

Search for Problems • Is it a common problem? • Is it critical? • Is there any realistic constraints?

Steps for Defining Problems 1. Statement of the problem in a general way 2. Understand the nature of the problem 3. Survey the available literature 4. Develop the ideas through discussions 5. Rephrase the research problem into a working proposition

Problem Statement • Formulate the research problem in one statement • Give clear and complete description of the research questions • Describe the research objectives • Give clear and complete description of the research propositions • Indicate the importance of the problem • Describe the limitations and assumptions

Questions • Do we have the expertise? • How long will it take? • How much will it cost? • Is it interesting to me? • Does it solve a real issue?

General Paper Structure • Abstract • Describes the main idea of the paper in one paragraph • Introduction • Provides more details about the paper idea and its importance • Related Work • Describes and evaluates other research in the area and • System or Model • Describes the system model and assumptions • Results and Evaluation • Displays results from simulation or experiments • Evaluates results and compares to existing work • Conclusions • Summarizes the main findings • References • Bibliography

Read Pervious Works Where to find pervious work?

INFORMATION SOURCES Where to find information? • Textbooks • Journal papers • Conference proceedings • Technical Reports • Websites

Text Books • A good starting position • Look for well-recognized books in the area of interest • Provide basic and general information • Somewhat easy to understand • Use table of contents to read interesting chapters • Understand the basic theory and established models in the area

Journal Publishers • Be selective in the journals that you read • There are many junk publications on the net • Some journals do not have proper review process and publish for profit only • Focus on the following well-established publishers • Elsevier (Science Direct) : http: //www. sciencedirect. com/ • IEEE : http: //ieeexplore. ieee. org/ • Springer : • Taylor and Francis

Journal Publishers Open Access Journal • Open access (OA) journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the reader "without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. “ • They remove price barriers (e. g. subscription, licensing fees, pay-per-view fees) and most permission barriers (e. g. copyright and licensing restrictions). • While open access journals are freely available to the reader, there are still costs associated with the publication and production of such journals. Some are subsidized, and some require payment on behalf of the author.

Journal Publishers Peer Review Journal • Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people of similar competence to the producers of the work (peers). • It constitutes a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. • Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards of quality, improve performance, and provide credibility. • In academia, scholarly peer review is often used to determine an academic paper's suitability for publication. Peer review can be categorized by the type of activity and by the field or profession in which the activity occurs,

Journal Publishers Impact Factor • The impact factor (IF) of an academic journal is a measure reflecting the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal. • It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field; – journals with higher impact factors are often deemed to be more important than those with lower ones. • Impact factors are calculated yearly starting from 1975 for those journals that are listed in the Journal Citation Reports.

Journal Publishers Journal Citation Reports (JCR) • Other names: – Thomason Report, – Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) • Journals listed on this database are well qualified papers that have been peer reviewed before getting published.

Conference Proceeding • Critique the papers yourself before you accept all the facts presented • Focus on conferences with good review process, such as IEEE • Look for conference publications in the last 4 years only If more, then work is probably published in a journal • Know that conference information is probably more recent than journals

Internet Search • Google vs. Google Scholar • Google search engine provides many links • Provides links to websites and articles • Some might be useful for general information and introduction to research topic • Might give links to commercial products and companies • Many search results might not be helpful for research work • Google scholar focuses the search results on journal + conference publications. • Some might be available as complete pdf files for free

General Paper Structure • Abstract • Describes the main idea of the paper in one paragraph • Introduction • Provides more details about the paper idea and its importance • Related Work • Describes and evaluates other research in the area and • System or Model • Describes the system model and assumptions • Results and Evaluation • Displays results from simulation or experiments • Evaluates results and compares to existing work • Conclusions • Summarizes the main findings • References • Bibliography

Always Credit Previous Studies by Reference How to reference source materials?

REFERENCING • The most widely used standards are: • IEEE Standard • Harvard Standard

IEEE Referencing Standards Books Basic Format: [1] J. K. Author, “Title of chapter in the book, ” in Title of His Published Book, xth ed. City of Publisher, Country if not USA: Abbrev. of Publisher, year, ch. x, sec. x, pp. xxx–xxx. NOTE: Use et al. when three or more names are given. Examples: [1] B. Klaus and P. Horn, Robot Vision. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986. [2] L. Stein, “Random patterns, ” in Computers and You, J. S. Brake, Ed. New York: Wiley, 1994, pp. 55 -70.

IEEE Referencing Standards Periodicals Basic Format: [1] J. K. Author, “Name of paper, ” Abbrev. Title of Periodical, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx, Abbrev. Month, year. NOTE: When referencing IEEE Transactions, the issue number should be deleted and month carried. Examples: [1] R. E. Kalman, “New results in linear filtering and prediction theory, ” J. Basic Eng. , ser. D, vol. 83, pp. 95 -108, Mar. 1961. [2] Ye. V. Lavrova, “Geographic distribution of ionospheric disturbances in the F 2 layer, ” Tr. IZMIRAN, vol. 19, no. 29, pp. 31– 43, 1961 (Transl. : E. R. Hope, Directorate of Scientific Information Services, Defence Research Board of Canada, Rep. T 384 R, Apr. 1963).

Periodicals (Con. ) [3] E. P. Wigner, “On a modification of the Rayleigh–Schrodinger perturbation theory, ” (in German), Math. Naturwiss. Anz. Ungar. Akad. Wiss. , vol. 53, p. 475, 1935. [4] E. H. Miller, “A note on reflector arrays, ” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. . . , to be published. ** [5] C. K. Kim, “Effect of gamma rays on plasma, ” submitted for publication. ** [6] W. Rafferty, “Ground antennas in NASA’s deep space telecommunications, ” Proc. IEEE vol. 82, pp. 636 -640, May 1994 ** Always use this style when the paper has not yet been accepted or scheduled for publication. Do not use “to appear in. ”

IEEE Referencing Standards • Basic Format: • [1] J. K. Author, “Title of paper, ” in Unabbreviated Name of Conf. , City of Conf. , Abbrev. State (if given), year, pp. xxx-xxx. • For an electronic conference article when there are no page numbers: • J. K. Author [two authors: J. K. Author and A. N. Writer ] [three or more authors: J. K. Author et al. ], “Title of Article, ” in [Title of Conf. Record as ], [copyright year] © [IEEE or applicable copyright holder of the Conference Record]. doi: [DOI number] For an unpublished papr presented at a conference: J. K. Author, “Title of paper, ” presented at the Unabbrev. Name of Conf. , City of Conf. , Abbrev. State, year.

IEEE Referencing Standards • WWW • Basic Format: • [1] J. K. Author. (year, month day). Title (edition) [Type of medium]. Available: http: //www. (URL) • Example: • [1] J. Jones. (1991, May 10). Networks (2 nd ed. ) [Online]. Available: http: //www. atm. com

IEEE Referencing Standards Patents • Basic Format: [1] J. K. Author, “Title of patent, ” U. S. Patent x xxx, Abbrev. Month, day, year. • Example: [1] J. P. Wilkinson, “Nonlinear resonant circuit devices, ” U. S. Patent 3 624 125, July 16, 1990. NOTE: Use “issued date” if several dates are given.

IEEE Referencing Standards Theses (M. S. ) and Dissertations (Ph. D. ) Basic Format: [1] J. K. Author, “Title of thesis, ” M. S. thesis, Abbrev. Dept. , Abbrev. Univ. , City of Univ. , Abbrev. State, year. [2] J. K. Author, “Title of dissertation, ” Ph. D. dissertation, Abbrev. Dept. , Abbrev. Univ. , City of Univ. , Abbrev. State, year. Examples: [1] J. O. Williams, “Narrow-band analyzer, ” Ph. D. dissertation, Dept. Elect. Eng. , Harvard Univ. , Cambridge, MA, 1993. [2] N. Kawasaki, “Parametric study of thermal and chemical nonequilibrium nozzle flow, ” M. S. thesis, Dept. Electron. Eng. , Osaka Univ. , Osaka, Japan, 1993. [3] N. M. Amer, “The effects of homogeneous magnetic fields on developments of tribolium confusum, ” Ph. D. dissertation, Radiation Lab. , Univ. California, Berkeley, Tech. Rep. 16854, 1995. *** The state abbreviation is omitted if the name of the university includes the state name, i. e. , “Univ. California, Berkeley. ”*** [4] C. Becle, These de doctoral d’etat, Univ. Grenoble, France, 1968.

General Paper Structure • Abstract • Describes the main idea of the paper in one paragraph • Introduction • Provides more details about the paper idea and its importance • Related Work • Describes and evaluates other research in the area and • System or Model • Describes the system model and assumptions • Results and Evaluation • Displays results from simulation or experiments • Evaluates results and compares to existing work • Conclusions • Summarizes the main findings • References • Bibliography

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