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Recommendation for project report length and content
Written on 06.02.2024 08:56 by Ingmar Weber
Dear all,
We'll also briefly mention this in the seminar today (Tue), but I also wanted to put this in writing:
Your project reports should be similar in scope to a "short paper" at a CS conference, with a few more details on the data and data processing, as that was one of the main points of the seminar. In terms of length, a "short paper" typically means 4 pages (plus 1 page for references) in a very dense 2-column format. However, more than the page length, the content should serve as an example. Realistically, it will be _easier_ to write a longer paper. Writing a shorter paper requires even more clarity of message and removal of any redundancy.
Here are some examples of short papers you could look at for inspiration/reference:
Host-Centric Social Connectedness of Migrants in Europe on Facebook, https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/22224/22003
Automated Hate Speech Detection and the Problem of Offensive Language, https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/14955/14805
Analyzing the Targets of Hate in Online Social Media, https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/14811/14661
In these reference papers, the data details might be relatively short. That is one important detail where we'd expect more content from you.
You don't have to follow the structure in any of these papers. For general advice on how to write a paper I'd recommend watching "How to Write a Great Research Paper", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP-FkUaOcOM
The single most common "mistake" students make (IMHO) is that they write a list of "here's what we did". Related to this, there is a tendency to include every possible analysis and diagram to show "we did a lot". - But what is better (and harder!) is to write a story where the key points of the story are clearly communicated and also visually illustrated. This also requires a reflection of what is important and what is not.
Happy to discuss more in person later today. And don't hesitate to get in touch with questions.
Best regards,
Ingmar