Writing for Computer Science: the Art of Effective Communication

Scientific papers are an important tool for communicating ideas, of copying thoughts between minds. Public mistakes not only make a scientist look foolish, but they can hurt a career as well. As such, publications should be as free as possible from distortion; this generally means writing with clarity and simplicity, and constructing the thoughts into a clear presentation to omit ambiguity and frustration of reading. Writing for Computer Science is an introduction to the style and presentation of scientific reports with computing or mathematical content. Aimed at students and researchers, this book deals in a concise way with topics such as article design, writing style, illustrations, algorithms, as well as the scientific process itself. With a focus on writing for the mathematical sciences, it: . shows how to design an article; gives practical guidelines for writing style; explains punctuation in a no nonsense way; gives tips for the presentation of mathematics; presents best practice for graphs, figures, and tables; guides on the presentation of algorithms, hypotheses, and experiments; explains about editing and refereeing. Seminar presentation, a section on spelling conventions, and a detailed bibliography complete this handy guide to style and presentation.