Writing a Publishable USENIXSAGE Technical Paper Joshua S

Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper Joshua S. Simon <jss@colltech. com> Collective Technologies March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper

Quickest way to get published u Bribe the Committee u We may be easy u But we’re not cheap! March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 2

Overview u Why? u What the Committee looks for u Increasing your chances March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 3

Why me? u Attendee & busybody u LISA 1994 -1999 u USENIX 1995 -1999 (2000? ) u Program Committee, LISA 1997 u Practicum Track advisor, LISA 1998 u Program Committee, LISA 1999 u Program Committee, LISA 2000 March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 4

Why you? u Why not? u Companies want their name associated with published papers u Managers need justification to send people to conferences u Good for your recognition in the field u Good for your career March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 5

What the Committee looks for u Extended abstract u Relevance u Presentation u Quality u Overall u Comments March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 6

Extended abstract u Maximum 5 pages u Can be in outline format u but include paragraphs! u Can you write clearly about your topic? u Can you organize your thoughts well? u Can you convey sufficient information to readers? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 7

Extended abstract (continued) u Include graphs, figures, & tables u if central to the paper u don’t count against the page limit u Include March 4, 2000 notes to the Committee Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 8

Relevance u Is the paper appropriate for a USENIX conference? u Marketing papers u The Australian emu’s mating habits u Is the work of interest to some or all of the attendees? u Will some or all of the attendees want to attend a talk on this paper? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 9

Presentation u Is the paper readable? u Is the language understandable? u Is the problem well-stated? u Are the goals of the solution well-stated? u Are the tests of the solution well-stated? u Are the results well-stated? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 10

Quality u Does the abstract briefly & clearly state the goals and conclusions u Is the work technically correct? u Is the work any good? u. A new sort algorithm running in O(n 5) isn’t u A new sort algorithm running in O(1) is u Are March 4, 2000 the references sufficient? Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 11

Overall u Should we accept this paper? u Not an average of the previous 3 values u Presentation, Relevance, and Quality can be improved between abstract and final paper u Fudge factors for intangibles allowed u Is it “fun”? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 12

Comments u Qualifications of the reviewer u Written feedback for the author u Comments for the Committee only March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 13

Questions we ask u What are the weakest and/or least understandable parts of this work u with respect to its presentation? u with the technical aspects? u Are the goals correct? u if not, how should they be changed? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 14

More questions we ask u If you think this paper should not be accepted, what needs to be done to it to change your mind? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 15

Statistics: Papers & Attendance u LISA 96—Accepted 29 of 76 (38%) u 1, 058 of >1, 650 attendees were “new” u LISA 97—Accepted 23 of 56 (41%) u LISA 98—Accepted 30 of 63 (48%) u 1, 985 u LISA 99—Accepted 27 of 69 (39%) u 1, 825 March 4, 2000 attendees total Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 16

Increasing your chances u Be clear & concise u Have an outline of the paper u Include the introduction u Include graphs, figures, & tables u Include references u Answer the questions the Committee asks u Bribe the Committee March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 17

LISA 2000 conference info u Extended abstracts due: June 6 u Notification to authors: July 10 u Final papers due: October 11 u Technical sessions: December 6 -8 u Location: New Orleans, Louisiana March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 18

Incentives u Intangible u Recognition in the field u More “fudge factor” in future submissions u Tangible u Cash awards: Best Paper & Best Student Paper u One author of each paper gets complementary registration to the technical sessions March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 19

Online resources u USENIX web site, http: //www. usenix. org/ u LISA 2000 CFP, http: //www. usenix. org/events/lisa 2000/cfp/ u LISA 2000 Topics, . . . /cfp/topics. html u LISA 2000 Submission Guidelines, . . . /cfp/guidelines. html u Submitting March 4, 2000 an abstract, . . . /cfp/submit. html Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 20

Questions u Who are you? u What do you want? u Why are you here? u Do you have anything worth living for? u Who do you serve? u And who do you trust? March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 21

Questions March 4, 2000 Writing a Publishable USENIX/SAGE Technical Paper 22