RM & IPR

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION

Syllabus

Meaning of Research, Objectives of Engineering Research, and Motivation in Engineering

Research, Types of Engineering Research, Finding and Solving a Worthwhile Problem. Ethics in
Engineering Research, Ethics in Engineering Research Practice, Types of Research Misconduct,
Ethical Issues Related to Authorship.

MEANING OF RESEARCH

 Research refers to a careful, well-defined (or redefined), objective, and systematic

method of search for knowledge, or formulation of a theory that is driven by
inquisitiveness for that which is unknown and useful on a particular aspect so as to make
an original contribution to expand the existing knowledge base.
 Research involves formulation of hypothesis or proposition of solutions, data analysis,
and deductions; and ascertaining whether the conclusions fit the hypothesis.
 Research is a process of creating, or formulating knowledge that does not yet exist. Thus
research is an art of scientific investigation

OBJECTIVES OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH

The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific
procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not
been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own specific purpose, we may think
of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad groupings:

1. Exploratory or Formulative research studies: To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to

achieve new insights into it
2. Descriptive research studies: To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group

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3. Diagnostic research studies: To determine the frequency with which something occurs or
with which it is associated with something else
4. Hypothesis-testing research studies: To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables

The objective of engineering research is

 To solve new and important problems, and since the conclusion at the end of one‘s
research outcome has to be new, but when one starts, the conclusion is unknown.
 Research objectives can sometimes be convoluted and difficult to follow. Knowing where
and how to find different types of information helps one solve engineering problems, in
both academic and professional career.
 Lack of investigation into engineering guidelines, standards, and best practices result in
failures with severe repercussions. As an engineer, the ability to conduct thorough and
accurate research while clearly communicating the results is extremely important in
decision making.
 The main aim of the research is to apply scientific approaches to seek answers to open
questions, and although each research study is particularly suited for a certain approach
 The objectives of engineering research should be to develop new theoretical or applied
knowledge and not necessarily limited to obtaining abilities to obtain the desired result.
 The objectives should be framed such that in the event of not being able to achieve the
desired result that is being sought, one can fall back to understanding why it is not
possible, because that is also a contribution toward ongoing research in solving that
problem.

MOTIVATION IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

The possible motives may be the result of one or more of the following desires:

 Studies have shown that intrinsic motivations like interest, challenge, learning, meaning,
purpose, are linked to strong creative performance;
 Extrinsic motivating factors like rewards for good work include money, fame, awards,
praise, and status are very strong motivators, but may block creativity. For example:

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Research outcome may enable obtaining a patent which is a good way to become rich and
famous.
 Influences from others like competition, collaboration, commitment, and encouragement
are also motivating factors in research. For example: my friends are all doing research
and so should I, or, a person that I dislike is doing well and I want to do better.
 Personal motivation in solving unsolved problems, intellectual joy, service to community,
and respectability are all driving factors.

The following factors would be a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic aspects:

 Wanting to do better than what has been achieved in the world

 Improve the state of the art in technology
 Contribute to the improvement of society
 Fulfillment of the historical legacy in the immediate socio-cultural context.

Several other factors like government directives, funding opportunities in certain areas, and
terms of employment, can motivate people to get involved in engineering research.

TYPES OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH

Descriptive versus Analytical:

 Descriptive research includes comparative and co relational methods, and fact-finding

inquiries, to effectively describe the present state of art. The researcher holds no control
over the variables; rather only reports as it is.
 Descriptive research also includes attempts to determine causes even though the variables
cannot be controlled.
 On the contrary, in analytical research, already available facts for analysis and critical
evaluation are utilized. Some research studies can be both descriptive and analytical

Applied versus Fundamental:

 Research can either be applied research or fundamental (basic or pure) research.

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 Applied research seeks to solve an immediate problem facing the organization, whereas
fundamental research is concerned with generalizations and formulation of a theory.
 Research concerning natural phenomena or relating to pure mathematics are examples of
fundamental research.
 Research to identify social or economic trends, or those that find out whether certain
communications will be read and understood are examples of applied research.
 The primary objective of applied research is to determine a solution for compelling
problems in actual practice, while basic research is aimed at seeking information which
could have a broad base of applications in the medium to long term.

Quantitative versus Qualitative:

 Quantitative research uses statistical observations of a sufficiently large number of

representative cases to draw any conclusions
 While qualitative researchers rely on a few non representative cases or verbal narrative in
behavioral studies such as clustering effect in intersections in Transportation engineering
to make a proposition.

Conceptual vs. Empirical

 Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory.

 It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones.
 On the other hand, empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often
without due regard for system and theory.
 It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified
by observation or experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of research.
 In such a research it is necessary to get at facts firsthand, at their source, and actively to
go about doing certain things to stimulate the production of desired information.
 In such a research, the researcher must first provide himself with a working hypothesis or
guess as to the probable results. He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove or
disprove his hypothesis.

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 He then sets up experimental designs which he thinks will manipulate the persons or the
materials concerned so as to bring forth the desired information.
 Such research is thus characterized by the experimenter‘s control over the variables under
study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effects.
 Empirical research is appropriate when proof is sought that certain variables affect other
variables in some way. Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies is
today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.

ENGINEERING RESEARCH PROCESS

Research process consists of series of actions or steps necessary to effectively carry out research
and the desired sequencing of these steps.

The chart indicates that the research process consists of a number of closely related activities, as
shown through I to VII. But such activities overlap continuously rather than following a strictly
prescribed sequence

1. Formulating the research problem: There are two types of research problems, viz.,
those which relate to states of nature and those which relate to relationships between

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variables. At the very outset the researcher must single out the problem he wants to study,
i.e., he must decide the general area of interest or aspect of a subject-matter that he would
like to inquire into.
2. Extensive literature survey: Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary of it
should be written down. It is compulsory for a research worker writing a thesis for a
Ph.D. degree to write a synopsis of the topic and submit it to the necessary Committee or
the Research Board for approval. At this juncture the researcher should undertake
extensive literature survey connected with the problem.
3. Development of working hypotheses: After extensive literature survey, researcher
should state in clear terms the working hypothesis or hypotheses. Working hypothesis is
tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences.
Hypothesis should be very specific and limited to the piece of research in hand because it
has to be tested. The role of the hypothesis is to guide the researcher by delimiting the
area of research and to keep him on the right track. It sharpens his thinking and focuses
attention on the more important facets of the problem.
4. Preparing the research design: The research problem having been formulated in clear
cut terms, the researcher will be required to prepare a research design, i.e., he will have to
state the conceptual structure within which research would be conducted. The preparation
of such a design facilitates research to be as efficient as possible yielding maximal
information. In other words, the function of research design is to provide for the
collection of relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money.
5. Determining sample design: The researcher must decide the way of selecting a sample
or what is popularly known as the sample design. In other words, a sample design is a
definite plan determined before any data are actually collected for obtaining a sample
from a given population. Sampling can be done choosing a particular unit, random unit
selection, systematic pattern, homogenous group (stratified sampling), quota, cluster or
area, multi stages and sequential.
6. Collecting the data: In dealing with any real life problem it is often found that data at
hand are inadequate, and hence, it becomes necessary to collect data that are appropriate.
There are several ways of collecting the appropriate data which differ considerably in

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context of money costs, time and other resources at the disposal of the researcher.
Primary data can be collected either through experiment or through survey. If the
researcher conducts an experiment, he observes some quantitative measurements, or the
data, with the help of which he examines the truth contained in his hypothesis. But in the
case of a survey, data can be collected by any one or more of the following ways by
observation, through personal interview, through telephonic interview, by mailing the
questionnaire etc
7. Execution of the project: It is a very important step in the research process. If the
execution of the project proceeds on correct lines, the data to be collected would be
adequate and dependable. The researcher should see that the project is executed in a
systematic manner and in time. A careful watch should be kept for unanticipated factors
in order to keep the survey as much realistic as possible.
8. Analysis of data: After the data have been collected, the researcher turns to the task of
analyzing them. The analysis of data requires a number of closely related operations such
as establishment of categories, the application of these categories to raw data through
coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical inferences. The unwieldy data should
necessarily be condensed into a few manageable groups and tables for further analysis.
Thus, researcher should classify the raw data into some purposeful and usable categories.
9. Hypothesis-testing: After analyzing the data as stated above, the researcher is in a
position to test the hypotheses, if any, he had formulated earlier. Do the facts support the
hypotheses or they happen to be contrary? This is the usual question which should be
answered while testing hypotheses. Various tests, such as Chi square test, t-test, F-test,
have been developed by statisticians for the purpose. The hypotheses may be tested
through the use of one or more of such tests, depending upon the nature and object of
research inquiry. Hypothesis-testing will result in either accepting the hypothesis or in
rejecting it.
10. Generalizations and interpretation: If a hypothesis is tested and upheld several times, it
may be possible for the researcher to arrive at generalization, i.e., to build a theory. As a
matter of fact, the real value of research lies in its ability to arrive at certain
generalizations

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11. Preparation of the report or the thesis: Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report
of what has been done by him. Writing of report must be done with great care keeping in
view the following:
 The layout of the report should be as follows: (i) the preliminary pages; (ii) the main text,
and (iii) the end matter.
 In its preliminary pages the report should carry title and date followed by
acknowledgements and foreword. Then there should be a table of contents followed by a
list of tables and list of graphs and charts, if any, given in the report.
 The main text of the report should have the following parts:
(a) Introduction: It should contain a clear statement of the objective of the research and
an explanation of the methodology adopted in accomplishing the research. The scope of
the study along with various limitations should as well be stated in this part.
(b) Summary of findings: After introduction there would appear a statement of findings
and recommendations in non-technical language. If the findings are extensive, they
should be summarized.
(c) Main report: The main body of the report should be presented in logical sequence and
broken-down into readily identifiable sections.
(d) Conclusion: Towards the end of the main text, researcher should again put down the
results of his research clearly and precisely. In fact, it is the final summing up.
 At the end of the report, appendices should be enlisted in respect of all technical data.
Bibliography, i.e., list of books, journals, reports, etc., consulted, should also be given in
the end. Index should also be given specially in a published research report.

FINDING AND SOLVING A WORTHWHILE PROBLEM

 A researcher may start out with the research problems stated by the Supervisor or posed
by others that are yet to be solved. Alternately, it may involve rethinking of a basic
theory, or need to be formulated or put together from the information provided in a group
of papers suggested by the Supervisor.
 Research scholars are faced with the task of finding an appropriate problem on which to
begin their research. Skills needed to accomplish such a task at the outset, while taking
care of possible implications are critically important but often not taught

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 Once the problem is vaguely identified, the process of literature survey and technical
reading would take place for more certainty of the worthiness of the intended problem.
 However, an initial spark is ideally required before the process of literature survey may
duly begin.
 Sometimes, an oral presentation by somebody which is followed by asking questions or
introspection provides this perspective which reading papers do not.
 At other times, a development in another subject may have produced a tool or a result
which has direct implications to the researcher‘s subject and may lead to problem
identification.
 A worthwhile research problem would have one or more attributes.
 It could be non-intuitive/counterintuitive even to someone who knows the area,
something that the research community had been expecting for some time, a major
simplification of a central part of the theory, a new result which would start off a new
subject or an area, provides a new method or improves upon known methods of doing
something which has practical applications, or a result which stops further work in an
area.
 The researcher has to be convinced that the problem is worthwhile before beginning to
tackle it because best efforts come when the work is worth doing, and the problem and/or
solution has a better chance of being accepted by the research community.
 Not all problems that one solves will be great, and sometimes major advancements are
made through solutions to small problems dealt with effectively. Some problems are
universally considered hard and open, and have deep implications and connections to
different concepts.
 The reality is that most researchers in their lifetime do not get into such problems.
However, hard problems get solved only because people tackle them.
 The question a researcher has to grapple with whether the time investment is worth it
given that the likely outcome is negative, and so it is a difficult personal decision to
make.
 At the same time, even in the case of failure to solve the intended hard problem, there
may be partial/side results that serve the immediate need of producing some results for

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the dissertation. George Pólya (1887–1985) suggested a 4-step procedure for

mathematical problem-solving, which is relevant to engineering researchers as well.

The recommended steps to solve a research problem are

 Understand the problem, restate it as if it‘s your own, visualize the problem by drawing
figures, and determine if something more is needed.
 One must start somewhere and systematically explore possible strategies to solve the
problem or a simpler version of it while looking for patterns.
 Execute the plan to see if it works, and if it does not then start over with another
approach. Having delved into the problem and returned to it multiple times, one might
have a flash of insight or a new idea to solve the problem.
 Looking back and reflecting helps in understanding and assimilating the strategy, and is a
sort of investment into the future.

ETHICS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH

 Ethics generally refers to a set of rules distinguishing acceptable and unacceptable

conduct, distinguishing right from wrong as such
 Most people learn such norms in their formative years, but moral development continues
through different stages of growth. Although everyone recognizes some common ethical
norms, but there is difference in interpretation and application.
 Ethical principles can be used for evaluation, proposition or interpretation of laws.
Although ethics are not laws, but laws often follow ethics because ethics are our shared
values.
 International norms for the ethical conduct of research have been there since the adoption
of the Nuremberg Code in 1947.
 According to Whitbeck, the issues related to research credit dates back to the
establishment of the British Royal Society (BRS) in the seventeenth century to refine the
methods and practices of modern science. This event altered the timing and credit issues
on the release of research results since BRS gave priority to whoever first submitted
findings for publication, rather than trying to find out who had first discovered.

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 Whitbeck raised two simple but significant questions to address the tricky issue of
authorship in research:
o Who should be included as an author and
o The appropriate order of listing of authors.
 In an increasingly interconnected world, the issue of co-authorship is very relevant to all
researchers. There are issues around individuals who may be deeply involved during the
conduct of the research work, but may not contribute in the drafting phase
 Government bodies and universities worldwide have adopted certain codes for research
ethics. Research ethics and the responsible conduct of research are often erroneously used
interchangeably.
 Research ethics examines the appropriate application of research outcomes, while
responsible conduct of research deals with the way the work is undertaken.

ETHICS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH PRACTICE

 Technological developments raise a whole range of ethical concerns such as privacy

issues and data related to surveillance systems, and so engineering researchers need to
make ethical decisions and are answerable for the repercussions borne out of their
research as outcomes.
 The reason that ethics matter in data used in engineering research is usually because there
is impact on humans. Certain practices may be acceptable to certain people in certain
situations, and the reasons for unacceptability may be perfectly valid.
 We have unprecedented access to data today, and unprecedented options for analysis of
these data and consequences in engineering research related to such data. Are there things
that are possible to do with this data, that we agree we should not do?
 Engineering ethics gives us the rule book; tells us, how to decide what is okay to do and
what is not. Engineering research is not work in isolation to the technological
development taking place.
 Researchers make many choices that matter from an ethical perspective and influence the
effects of technology in many different ways:
o By setting the ethically right requirements at the very outset, engineering
researchers can ultimately influence the effects of the developed technology.

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o Influence may also be applied by researchers through design (a process that

translates the requirements into a blueprint to fulfill those requirements). During
the design process, decision is to be made about the priority in importance of the
requirements taking ethical aspects into consideration.
o Thirdly, engineering researchers have to choose between different alternatives
fulfilling similar functions.
 Research outcomes often have unintended and undesirable side effects. It is a vital ethical
responsibility of researchers to ensure that hazards/risks associated with the technologies
that they develop, are minimized and alternative safer mechanisms are considered.
 If possible, the designs should be made inherently safe such that they avoid dangers, or
come with safety factors, and multiple independent safety barriers, or if possible a
supervisory mechanism to take control if the primary process fails.

TYPES OF RESEARCH MISCONDUCT

Engineering research should be conducted to improve the state-of-the-art of technologies.

Research integrity encompasses dealing fairly with others, honesty about the methods and
results, replicating the results wherever possible so as to avoid errors, protecting the welfare of
research subjects, ensuring laboratory safety, and so forth. In order to prevent mistakes, peer
reviews should take place before the research output is published.

There may be different types of research misconduct as described, which can be summarized as
follows:

 Fabrication (Illegitimate creation of data): Fabrication is the act of conjuring data or

experiments with a belief of knowledge about what the conclusion of the analysis or
experiments would be, but cannot wait for the results possibly due to timeline pressures
from supervisor or customers.
 Falsification (Inappropriate alteration of data): Falsification is the misrepresentation
or misinterpretation, or illegitimate alteration of data or experiments, even if partly, to
support a desired hypothesis even when the actual data received from experiments
suggest otherwise.

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Falsification and fabrication of data and results, hamper engineering research and cause
false empirical data to percolate in the literature, wreck trustworthiness of individuals
involved, incur additional costs, impede research progress, and cause actual and
avoidable delays in technical advancement.
Misleading data can also crop up due to poor design of experiments or incorrect
measurement practices.
 Plagiarism (Taking other’s work sans attribution): Plagiarism takes place when
someone uses or reuses the work (including portions) of others (text, data, tables, figures,
illustrations or concepts) as if it were his/her own without explicit acknowledgement.
Verbatim copying or reusing one‘s own published work is termed as self-plagiarism and
is also an unacceptable practice in scientific literature.
The increasing availability of scientific content on the internet seems to encourage
plagiarism in certain cases, but also enables detection of such practices through
automated software packages. How are supervisors, reviewers or editors alerted to
plagiarism?
(i) Original author comes to know and informs everyone concerned.
(ii) Sometimes a reviewer finds out about it during the review process.
(iii) Or, readers who come across the article or book, while doing research.

Although there are many free tools and also paid tools available that one can procure
institutional license of, one cannot conclusively identify plagiarism, but can only get a
similarity score which is a metric that provides a score of the amount of similarity
between already published content and the unpublished content under scrutiny.
However, a low similarity score does not guarantee that the document is plagiarism free.
It takes a human eye to ascertain whether the content has been plagiarized or not.
It is important to see the individual scores of the sources, not just the overall similarity
index. Setting a standard of a maximum allowable similarity index is inadequate usage of
the tool. Patchwork plagiarism is more difficult to evaluate.
There are simple and ethical ways to avoid a high similarity count on an about to be
submitted manuscript. Sometimes, certain published content is perfect for one‘s research
paper, perhaps in making a connection or fortifying the argument presented. The
published material is available for the purpose of being used fairly.

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One is not expected to churn out research outcomes in thin air.

However, whatever is relevant can be reported by paraphrasing in one‘s own words, that
is, without verbatim copy.
One can also summarize the relevant content and naturally, the summary invariably
would use one‘s own words. In all these cases, citing the original source is important.
However, merely because one has cited a source, it does not mean that one can copy
sentences (or paragraphs) of the original content verbatim.
A researcher should practice writing in such a way that the reader can recognize the
difference between the ideas or results of the authors and those that are from other
sources. Such a practice enables one to judge whether one is disproportionately using or
relying on content from existing literature.
 Other Aspects of Research Misconduct: Serious deviations from accepted conduct
could be construed as research misconduct. When there is both deception and damage, a
fraud is deemed to have taken place. Sooner or later ethical violations get exposed.
Simultaneous submission of the same article to two different journals also violates
publication policies.
Another issue is that when mistakes are found in an article or any published content, they
are generally not reported for public access unless a researcher is driven enough to build
on that mistake and provide a correct version of the same which is not always the primary
objective of the researcher.

ETHICAL ISSUES RELATED TO AUTHORSHIP

 Academic authorship involves communicating scholarly work, establishing priority for

their discoveries, and building peer-reputation, and comes with intrinsic burden of
acceptance of the responsibility for the contents of the work. It is the primary basis of
evaluation for employment, promotion, and other honors.
 There is several important research conduct and ethics related issues connected to
authorship of research papers and are summarized herewith in the context of engineering
research.
 Credit for research contributions is attributed in three major ways in research
publications: by authorship (of the intended publication), citation (of previously

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published or formally presented work), and through a written acknowledgment (of some
inputs to the present research).
 Authorship establishes both accountability and gives due credit. A person is expected to
be listed as an author only when associated as a significant contributor in research design,
data interpretation, or writing of the paper. Including ―guest‖ or ―gift‖ (co-authorship
bestowed on someone with little or no contribution to the work) authors dilutes the
contribution of those who actually did the work, inappropriately inflates credentials of the
listed authors, and is ethically a red flag highlighting research misconduct.
 Sometimes, the primary author dubiously bestows co-authorship on a junior faculty or a
student to boost their chances of employment or promotion, which can be termed as
Career-boost authorship.
 There is also an unfortunate malpractice of co-authorship that can be described as
―Career-preservation authorship‖ wherein a head of the department, a dean, a provost, or
other administrators are added as Coauthors because of quid pro quo arrangement
wherein the principal author benefits from a ―good relation‖ with the superiors and the
administrator benefits from authorship without doing the required work for it.
Sometimes, an actual contributor abstains from the list of authors due to no disclosed
conflict of interest within the organization. Such co-authorships can be termed as ghost
co-authorship. Full disclosure of all those involved in the research is important so that
evaluation can happen both on the basis of findings, and also whether there was influence
from the conflicts.
 In another type of questionable authorship, some researchers list one another as coauthors
as a reciprocal gesture with no real collaboration except minimal reading and editing,
without truly reviewing the work threadbare.
 Some authors, in trying to acquire a sole-authored work, despite relying on significant
contribution to the research work from others, recognize that effort only by an
acknowledgment, thereby misrepresenting the contributions of the listed authors.
 The unrecognized ―author‖ is as a consequence, unavailable to readers for elaboration.
 All listed authors have the full obligation of all contents of a research article, and so
naturally, they should also be made aware of a journal submission by the corresponding
author.

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 It is imperative that their consent is sought with respect to the content and that they be
agreeable to the submission.
 In case of misconduct like inappropriate authorship, while the perpetrator is easier to
find, the degree of appropriate accountability of the coauthors is not always obvious.
Being able to quantify the contributions so as to appropriately recognize and ascertain the
degree of associated accountability of each coauthor, is appealing.
 Double submission is an important ethical issue related to authorship, which involves
submission of a paper to two forums simultaneously. The motivation is to increase
publication possibility and possibly decrease time to publication. Reputed journals want
to publish original papers, i.e., papers which have not appeared elsewhere, and strongly
discourage double submission.

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MODULE 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND TECHNICAL READING,

ATTRIBUTIONS AND CITATIONS

Syllabus

Literature Review and Technical Reading, New and Existing Knowledge, Analysis and
Synthesis of Prior Art, Bibliographic Databases: Web of Science, Google and Google Scholar,
Effective Search: The Way Forward, Introduction to Technical Reading, Conceptualizing
Research, Critical and Creative Reading, Taking Notes While Reading, Reading Mathematics
and Algorithms, Reading a Datasheet.

Attributions and Citations: Giving Credit Wherever Due, Citations: Functions and Attributes,
Impact of Title and Keywords on Citations, Knowledge Flow through Citation, Citing Datasets,
Styles for Citations, Acknowledgments and Attributions, What Should Be Acknowledged,
Acknowledgments in, Books Dissertations, Dedication or Acknowledgments.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND TECHNICAL READING

 The primary goal of literature review is to know the use of content/ideas/approaches in

the literature to correctly identify the problem that is vaguely known beforehand, to
advocate a specific approach adapted to understanding the problem, and to access the
choice of methods used.
 It also helps the researcher understand clearly that the research to be undertaken would
contribute something new and innovative.
 The quality of such review can be determined by evaluating if it includes appropriate
breadth and depth of the area under study, clarity, rigor, consistency, effective analysis.

NEW AND EXISTING KNOWLEDGE

 New knowledge in research can only be interpreted within the context of what is already
known, and cannot exist without the foundation of existing knowledge.

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 The new knowledge can have vastly different interpretations depending on what the
researcher‘s background, and one‘s perception of that new knowledge can change from
indifference to excitement (or vice versa), depending on what else one knows.
 The significance can normally be argued from the point of view that there is indeed an
existing problem and that it is known by looking at what already exists in the field.
 The existing knowledge is needed to make the case that there is a problem and that it is
important.
 One can infer that the knowledge that is sought to be produced does not yet exist by
describing what other knowledge already exists and by pointing out that this part is
missing so that what we have is original. To do this, one again needs the existing
knowledge: the context, the significance, the originality, and the tools.
 Normally, one finds this knowledge by reading and surveying the literature in the field
that was established long ago and also about the more recent knowledge which is in fact
always changing.
 With this foundation in place, the new knowledge that one will make will be much more
difficult to challenge than without that strong foundation in place which is ensured with
lots of references to the literature.
 Often, but not always, the textbooks contain the older established knowledge and the
research papers the newer work. Reading the textbooks on one‘s topic provide the
established knowledge and the background to be able to read the newer work usually
recorded in the research papers
 The research paper is written for other researchers out on the edge of knowledge and it
assumes that the reader already knows a lot in that field
 The review process must explain how a research item builds on another one. An effective
review of literature ensures a firm foundation for advancing knowledge, facilitates
theoretical growth, eliminates as areas that might be of interest, and opens new avenues
of possible work
 Generally, a good literature survey is the first expectation of a supervisor from the
research student, and when done well can create a good impression that the state of art in
the chosen field is well understood

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 A good literature review would not draw hasty conclusions and look into the individual
references to determine the underlying causes/assumptions/mechanisms in each of them
so as to synthesize the available information in a much more meaningful way
 A good literature survey is typically a two-step process as enumerated below:
o Identify the major topics or subtopics or concepts relevant to the subject under
consideration.
o Place the citation of the relevant source (article/patent/website/data, etc.) in the
correct category of the concept/topic/subtopic
 It could be that as one is reading and comes across something that one considers to be
very important for one‘s work. Naturally, one highlights that section or underlines it, or
put an asterisk in the margin, so that one could come back to it later. Effectively, one is
saying that it is important and hence the marking so as not to forget it.
 A comprehensive literature survey should methodically analyze and synthesize quality
archived work, provide a firm foundation to a topic of interest and the choice of suitable
research methodologies, and demonstrate that the proposed work would make a novel
contribution to the overall field of research.

ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS OF PRIOR ART

 After collecting the sources, usually articles, intended to be used in the literature review,
the researcher is ready to break down each article and identify the useful content in it, and
then synthesize the collection of articles (integrate them and identify the conclusions that
can be made from the articles as a group).
 A researcher should analyze the relevant information ascertained in below table by
undertaking the following steps:
o Understanding the hypothesis,
o Understanding the models and the experimental conditions used,
o Making connections,
o Comparing and contrasting the various information, and
o Finding out the strong points and the loopholes.

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 A literature survey grid of N topics and M sources is shown above to help crystallize the
information in different categories.
 It is always good to be suspicious of the claims made in the sources that have been
thoroughly reviewed, especially in the case of tall claims.
 If one is amenable to easily accept whatever is available in the literature, one may find it
difficult to go beyond it in one‘s own work and may also fail to carefully analyze with a
suspicious bent of mind one‘s own results subsequently.
 The goal of literature survey is to bring out something new to work on through the
identification of unsolved issues, determine the problems in the existing models or
experimental designs, and present a novel idea and recommendations.
 No matter where one gets the available information, one needs to critically evaluate each
resource that the researcher wishes to cite. This methodology analyzes available materials
to determine suitability for the intended research.
 Relying on refereed articles published in scholarly journals or granted patents can save
the researcher a lot of time.
 Here are a few criteria that could help the researcher in the evaluation of the information
under study:
o Authority: What are the author‘s credentials and affiliation? Who publishes the
information?
o Accuracy: Based on what one already knows about the topic or from reading
other sources, does the information seem credible? Does the author cite other
sources in a reference list or bibliography, to support the information presented?
o Scope: Is the source at an appropriate comprehension or research level?

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BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES

 ―Bibliographic databases‖ refer to ―abstracting and indexing services‖ useful for

collecting citation-related information and possibly abstracts of research articles from
scholarly literature and making them available through search.
 Performing simultaneous searches through such large databases may allow researchers to
overtly rely on any one database and be limited by the intrinsic shortcoming of any one
of them for quality research.
 A researcher should be able to quickly identify the databases that are of use in the idea or
problem that one wishes to explore.

Web of Science

 Web of Science (formerly known as ISI or Thomson Reuters) includes multiple

databases, as well as specialized tools.
 It is a good search tool for scholarly materials requiring institutional license and allows
the researcher to search in a particular topic of interest, which can be made by selection
in fields that are available in drop down menu such as title, topic, author, address, etc.
 The tool also allows sorting by number of citations (highest to lowest), publication date.
 Put quotes around phrases, add more keywords, or use the ―Refine Results‖ panel on the
left to narrow down the search by keyword, phrases in quotation marks, type of material
such as peer-reviewed journal articles, date, language, and more.
 ―Cited reference search‖ option enables a researcher to trace articles which have cited a
formerly published paper. Using this element, it is possible to find how a familiar idea
has been applied, improved, or extended subsequently.
 A structured search like this that enables narrowing and refining what one is looking for
is effective to ensure that the results throw up relevant sources and time spent in studying
those is likely to be well utilized.
 Based on the researcher‘s need the search result can be broadened or narrowed down
using the built-in fields provided in this website.
 When clicked on any of the search results, this website provides the title of the paper,
authors, the type of journal, volume, issue number and year of publication, abstract,

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keywords, etc., so that the researcher has enough information to decide if it is worthwhile
to acquire the full version of the paper.

Google and Google Scholar

 Google is a great place to start one‘s search when one is starting out on a topic. It can be
helpful in finding freely available information, such as reports from governments,
organizations, companies, and so on. However, there are limitations:
o It‘s a ―black box‖ of information. It searches everything on the Internet, with no
quality control—one does not know where results are coming from.
o There are limited search functionality and refinement options.
 Google Scholar limits one‘s search to scholarly literature. However, there are limitations:
o Some of the results are not actually scholarly. An article may look scholarly at
first glance, but is not a good source upon further inspection.
o It is not comprehensive. Some publishers do not make their content available to
Google Scholar.
o There are limited search functionality and refinement options.
 There are search operators that can be used to help narrow down the results. These help
one to find more relevant and useful sources of information.
 Operators can be combined within searches. Here are some basic ones that one can use:
o OR - Broadens search by capturing synonyms or variant spellings of a concept.
o Brackets/Parentheses ( ) - Gather OR‘d synonyms of a concept together, while
combining them with another concept.
o Quotation marks ― ‖ - Narrow the search by finding words together as a phrase,
instead of separately.
o Site - limits the search to results from a specific domain or website.
o File type - limits the search to results with a specific file extension one could look
for pdf‘s, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, and so on.
 The Search Tools button at the top of the Google results gives you a variety of other
options, such as limiting the results by date.
 To find the best resources on a topic, one should search in academic databases, in
addition to Google.

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 Databases provide access to journal articles and conference proceedings, as well as other
scholarly resources.
 One gets more relevant and focused results, because they have better quality control and
search functionality. One should choose a database based on subject area, date coverage,
and publication type. Interfaces vary between databases, but the search techniques remain
essentially the same.

EFFECTIVE SEARCH: THE WAY FORWARD

 A scholarly publication is one wherein the published outcome is authored by researchers

in a specific field of skill. Such work cites all source contents used and is generally peer
reviewed for accuracy and validity before publication.
 Essentially, the audience for such works is fellow experts and students in the field. The
content is typically more complex and advanced than those found in general magazines.
 While most of the engineering researchers need to refer articles that appear in scholarly
journals, books or other peer-reviewed sources, there is also a substantially useful content
in more popular publications. These are informal in approach and aim to reach a large
number of readers including both the experts in the field and also amateurs, but the
content focuses on news and trends in the field.
 Research outcomes are not typically first disseminated here but are usually meant for
general reading. A researcher should use all search tools for comprehensive search.
 A researcher must consider what type of information is needed, and where it could be
found. Not all information is available online. Some information is only available in
print.
 It can take time for scholarly and peer-reviewed information to be published. One might
not be able to find scholarly information about something currently being reported in the
news. The information may not be available, or studies on a topic of interest to the
researcher have not occurred.
 Searching is an iterative process:
o Experiment with different keywords and operators
o Evaluate and assess results, use filters
o Modify the search as needed; and

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o When relevant articles are found, look at their citations and references.
 After the search is complete, the researcher needs to engage in critical and thorough
reading, making observation of the salient points in those sources, and summarize the
findings.
 A detailed comparison and contrast of the findings is also required to be done.
 This entire process may be needed to be done multiple times.
 The conclusion of the entire process of literature survey includes a summary of the
relevant and important work done, and also the identification of the missing links and the
challenges in the open problems in the area under study.
 One must note that the literature survey is a continuous and cyclical process that may
involve the researcher going back and forth till the end of the research project.
 It is very important to not lose sight of the purpose of an extensive search or literature
survey, for it is possible to spend a very significant amount of one‘s time doing so and
actually falsely think that one is working hard.
 Nothing will come of it unless one is an active reader and spends sufficient time to
develop one‘s own ideas build on what one has read.
 It is not as if literature survey ends and then research begins, for new literature keeps
appearing, and as one‘s understanding of the problem grows, one finds new connections
and related/evolving problems which may need more search.

INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL READING

 It is obvious that the number of papers relevant to a particular researcher is very few,
compared to the actual number of research papers available from peer-reviewed technical
sources.
 It is also important to know where to read from; relying on refereed journals and books
published by reputed publishers is always better than relying on easily available random
articles off the web.
 While reading an engineering research paper, the goal is to understand the technical
contributions that the authors are making. Given the abundance of journal articles, it is
useful to adopt a quick, purposeful, and useful way of reading these manuscripts.

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 It is not the same as reading a newspaper. It may require rereading the paper multiple
times and one might expect to spend many hours reading the paper.
 Amount of time to be spent will get ascertained after an initial skimming through the
paper to decide whether it is worth careful reading.
 There will also be papers where it is not worth reading all the details in the first instance.
It is quite possible that the details are of limited value, or simply one does not feel
competent to understand the information yet.
 Start out the skimming process by reading the title and keywords (these are anyways;
probably what caught the initial attention in the first place). If on reading these, it does
not sufficiently seem to be interesting; it is better to stop reading and look for something
else to read.
 One should then read the abstract to get an overview of the paper in minimum time.
Again, if it does not seem sufficiently important to the field of study, one should stop
reading further.
 If the abstract is of interest, one should skip most of the paper and go straight to the
conclusions to find if the paper is relevant to the intended purpose, and if so, then one
should read the figures, tables, and the captions therein, because these would not take
much time but would provide a broad enough idea as to what was done in the paper.
 If the paper has continued to be of interest so far, then one is now ready to delve into the
Introduction section to know the background information about the work and also to
ascertain why the authors did that particular study and in what ways the paper furthers the
state of the art.
 The next sections to read are the Results and Discussion sections which is really the heart
of the paper. One should really read further sections like the Experimental
Setup/Modeling, etc., only if one is really interested and wishes to understand exactly
what was done to better understand the meaning of the data and its interpretation.
 A researcher will always need to be searching for the relevant literature and keeping up to
date with it. If one is busy with a small project, the advisor might just give a single
important paper to read. But with a larger one, you will be searching for one‘s own
literature to read. For this one will need a strategy as there is just too much work out there
to read everything.

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CONCEPTUALIZING RESEARCH

 The characteristics of a research objective are that it must have new knowledge at the
center and that it must be accepted by the community of other researchers and recognized
as significant.
 Besides being original and significant, a good research problem should also be solvable
or achievable. This requirement already asks us to think about the method and the tools
that could be used to obtain that new knowledge.
 Now, the significance and the originality and all the theory that we read and tools and
methods that we need to take on a problem, all of these normally come from the existing
recorded literature and knowledge in the field.
 Coming up with a good research objective, conceptualizing the research that meets all of
these requirements is a tough thing to do. It means that one must already be aware of
what is in the literature. That is, by the time one actually has a good research objective,
one is probably already an expert at the edge of knowledge else it is difficult to say with
confidence that one has a good research objective.
 So, when working at the research (Ph.D) level, one needs to be prepared to become that
expert, one needs to be continually reading the literature so as to bring together the three
parts:
o Significant problem,
o The knowledge that will address it, and
o A possible way to make that new knowledge.
 How these three aspects would come together will be different for every person doing
research and it will be different in every field, but the only way to be that expert is by
immersing oneself in the literature and knowing about what already exists in the field.
 However, if one is working on a research project that is of a smaller scope, then
conceptualizing the research is possibly too tough to do, and one does not have the time
that it takes to become that expert at the edge of knowledge.
 In this case, the researcher needs the help of someone else, typically the supervisor who
may already be an expert and an active researcher in that field, and may advise on what a
good research objective might be.

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 An established researcher in any field should be able to immediately point to the

landmark literature that one should read first. Otherwise one would need to spend a lot of
time reading the literature to discover.

CRITICAL AND CREATIVE READING

 Reading a research paper is a critical process. The reader should not be under the
assumption that reported results or arguments are correct. Rather, being suspicious and
asking appropriate questions is in fact a good thing.
 Have the authors attempted to solve the right problem? Are there simpler solutions that
have not been considered? What are the limitations (both stated and ignored) of the
solution and are there any missing links? Are the assumptions that were made
reasonable? Is there a logical flow to the paper or is there a flaw in the reasoning? These
need to be ascertained apart from the relevance and the importance of the work, by
careful reading.
 Use of judgmental approach and boldness to make judgments is needed while reading.
 Flexibility to discard previous erroneous judgments is also critical.
 Additionally, it is important to ascertain whether the data presented in the paper is right
data to substantiate the argument that was made in the paper and whether the data was
gathered and interpreted in a correct manner.
 Critical reading is relatively easy. It is relatively easier to critically read to find the
mistakes than to read it so as to find the good ideas in the paper. Anyone who has been a
regular reviewer of journal articles would agree to such a statement.
 Reading creatively is harder, and requires a positive approach in search. In creative
reading, the idea is to actively look for other applications, interesting generalizations, or
extended work which the authors might have missed? Are there plausible modifications
that may throw up important practical challenges? One might be able to decipher
properly if one would like to start researching an extended part of this work, and what
should be the immediate next aspect to focus upon.

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TAKING NOTES WHILE READING

 A researcher reads to write and writes well only if the reading skills are good.
 The bridge between reading and actually writing a paper is the act of taking notes during
and shortly after the process of reading.
 There is a well-known saying that the faintest writing is better than the best memory, and
it applies to researchers who need to read and build on that knowledge to write building
on the notes taken.
 Many researchers take notes on the margins of their copies of papers or even digitally on
an article aggregator tool.
 In each research paper, there are a lot of things that one might like to highlight for later
use such as definitions, explanations, and concepts.
 If there are questions of criticisms, these need to be written down so as to avoid being
forgotten later on. Such efforts pay significantly when one has to go back and reread the
same content after a long time.
 On completing a thorough reading, a good technical reading should end with a summary
of the paper in a few sentences describing the contributions.
 But to elucidate the technical merit, the paper needs to be looked at from comparative
perspective with respect to existing works in that specific area.
 A thorough reading should bring out whether there are new ideas in the paper, or if
existing ideas were implemented through experiments or in a new application, or if
different existing ideas were brought together under a novel framework.
 Obviously, the type of contribution a paper is actually making can be determined better
by having read other papers in the area.

READING MATHEMATICS AND ALGORITHMS

 Mathematics is often the foundation of new advances, for evolution and development of
engineering research and practice. An engineering researcher generally cannot avoid
mathematical derivations or proofs as part of research work.
 In fact, these are the heart of any technical paper. Therefore, one should avoid skimming
them.

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 By meticulous reading of the proofs or algorithms, after having identified the relevance
of the paper, one can develop sound understanding about the problem that the authors
have attempted to solve.
 Implementation of an intricate algorithm in programming languages such as C, C++ or
Java is prone to errors.
 And even if the researcher is confident about the paper in hand, and thinks that the
algorithm will work, there is a fair chance that it will not work at all. So one may wish to
code it quickly to check if it actually works.

READING A DATASHEET

 Researchers in different fields of engineering will need to read certain types of

documents. For example, mechanical and civil engineers would need to read drawings
related to mechanical parts and buildings. Researchers in the field of electronics need to
read datasheets.
 On occasions, researchers in other fields may also need to incorporate a certain electronic
part in which case careful reading of the datasheet is imperative.
 The same principles like initial skimming of the datasheet are required to ascertain
whether further careful reading is needed.
 Datasheets are instruction manuals for electronic components, which (hopefully) details
what a component does and how one may use it. Datasheets enable a researcher (or a
working professional) to design a circuit or debug any given circuit with that component.
 The first page of the datasheet usually summarizes a part‘s function and features, basic
specifications, and usually provides a functional block diagram with the internal
functions of the part.
 A pin out provides the physical location of a part‘s pins, with special mark for pin 1 so
that the part can be correctly plugged into the circuit. Some parts also provide graphs
showing performance versus various criteria (supply voltage, temperature, etc.), and safe
region for reliable operation which should be carefully read and noted by the researcher.
 One should be also in the lookout for truth tables which describe what sort of inputs
provide what types of outputs, and also timing diagrams which lay out how and at what
speed data is sent and received from the part.

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 Datasheets usually end with accurate dimensions of the packages a part is available in.
This is useful for printed circuit board (PCB) layout. When working with a new part, or
when deciding which part to use in the research work, it is recommended to carefully
read that part‘s datasheet to come up with a bit of shortcut that may potentially save many
hours later on.

ATTRIBUTES AND CITATION: Giving credits wherever due

 Academic writing, by definition, must follow certain rules and conventions.

 Among the most important of these are the rules and conventions about citing,
referencing, attributing, and acknowledging the works of others.
 That means giving proper credit wherever due.
 Citing is the practice of quoting from, referring to other authors‘ works and ideas in the
text of our work in such a way that the context is clear to the reader.
 Referencing is the listing of the full publication details of a published work that is cited
so as to give background information to the readers.
 Acknowledgment in research publications indicates contributions to scientific work.
 However, acknowledgment, attributions, and citations differ in the manner of their
application.

CITATIONS: FUNCTIONS AND ATTRIBUTES

 Citations (references) credit others for their work, while allowing the readers to trace the
source publication if needed.
 Any portion of someone else‘s work or ideas in papers, patents, or presentations must be
used in any new document only by clearly citing the source.
 This applies to all forms of written sources in the form of texts, images, sounds, etc. and
failure to do may be considered plagiarism
 When a bibliography of previously published patents or papers is placed in the new
works of a researcher, a connection is established between the new and previous work.
 As per relevance to context, the researcher provides due credit through the use of a
citation.

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 Citations help the readers to verify the quality and importance of the new work and
justification of the findings. It is a way to tell readers that certain material in the
researcher‘s present work has come from another source and as an ethical responsibility;
appropriate credit has been given to the original author or writer.
 Materials that can be cited include journal papers, conference proceeding, books, theses,
newspaper articles, websites, or other online resources and personal communication.
 Preferably, citations should be given at the end of a sentence or the end of a paragraph as
can be seen even in this particular paragraph. Citation must contain enough details so that
readers can easily find the referenced material.
 A researcher needs to cite each source twice:
(i) in-text citation, in the text of the article exactly where the source is quoted
or paraphrased, and
(ii) a second time in the references, typically at the end of the chapter or a
book or at the end of a research article
 LaTeX, a document preparation system often used by engineering researchers to
automatically format documents that comply with standard formatting needs, is very
effective to track and update citations
 There are three main functions of citation:
(i) Verification function: Authors have a scope for finding intentional or
unintentional distortion of research or misleading statements. Citation
offers the readers a chance to ascertain if the original source is justified or
not, and if that assertion is properly described in the present work
(ii) Acknowledgment function: Researchers primarily receive credit for their
work through citations. Citations play crucial role in promotion of
individual researchers and their continued employment. Many reputed
organizations and institutes provide research funding based on the
reputations of the researchers. Citations help all researchers to enhance
their reputation and provide detailed background of the research work.
(iii) Documentation function: Citations are also used to document scientific
concepts and historical progress of any particular technology over the
years

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 Citations are the currency that authors would wish to accumulate and the technical
community gives them credit for these contributions. When other authors make citations,
they honor those who initiated the ideas
 Authors should cite sources to indicate significance of the work to the reader. Relevant
citations help authors develop an easily understandable argument and prevent the need to
navigate through work irrelevant to the reader‘s interest areas
 There are certain cases when references do not fulfill the actual goal of citations and
acknowledgments, and thus do not benefit the reader.
o Spurious citations: In certain cases, when citation is not required or an appropriate
one is not found, if the author nevertheless goes ahead with including one
anyways, it would be considered as a spurious citation
o Biased citations: When authors cite the work of their friends or colleagues despite
there being no significant connection between the two works, or when they do not
cite work of genuine significance because they do not wish to give credit in the
form of citation to certain individuals, then such actions can be classified as
biased citations.
o Self-citations: There is nothing wrong in citing one‘s prior work if the citation is
really relevant. Self-citation of prior papers is natural because the latest paper is
often a part of a larger research project which is ongoing
o Coercive citations: Despite shortcomings, impact factors remain a primary
method of quantification of research. One side effect is that it creates an incentive
for editors to indulge in coercion to add citations to the editor‘s journal

IMPACT OF TITLES AND KEYWORDS ON CITATION

 The citation rate of any research paper depends on various factors including significance
and availability of the journal, publication types, research area, and importance of the
published research work.
 Other factors like length of the title, type of the title, and selected keywords also impact
the citation count. Title is the most important attribute of any research paper.
 It is the main indication of the research area or subject and is used by researcher as a
source of information during literature survey.

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 Title plays important role in marketing and makes research papers traceable.
 A good title is informative, represents a paper effectively to readers, and gains their
attention. Some titles are informative but do not capture attention of readers, some titles
are attractive but not informative or related to the readers‘ research area.
 The download count and citation of a research paper might be influenced by title.
 There are three different aspects which provide a particular behavior to the title:
o Types of the title,
o Length of the title, and
o Presence of specific markers
 Longer titles mainly include the study methodology and/or results in more detail, and so
attract more attention and citations
 In general, titles containing a question mark, colon, and reference to a specific
geographical region are associated with lower citation rates, also result-describing titles
usually get citations than method-describing titles.
 Additionally, review articles and original articles usually receive more citations than
short communication articles.
 At least two keywords in the title can increase the chance of finding and reading the
article as well as get more citations.
 Keywords represent essential information as well as main content of the article, which are
relevant to the area of research. Search engines, journal, digital libraries, and indexing
services use keywords for categorization of the research topic and to direct the work to
the relevant audience.

KNOWLEDGE FLOW THROUGH CITATION

 Knowledge flows through verbal communications, books, documents, video, audio, and
images, which plays a powerful role in research community in promoting the formulation
of new knowledge.
 In engineering research, knowledge flow is primarily in the form of books, thesis,
articles, patents, and reports. Citing a source is important for transmission of knowledge
from previous work to an innovation

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 Knowledge flow happens between co-authors during research collaboration, among other
researchers through their paper citation network, and also between institutions,
departments, research fields or topics, and elements of research

 If paper A is cited by paper B, then knowledge flows through citation networks across
institutions.
 The complex interdisciplinary nature of research encourages scholars to cooperate with
each other to grab more advantages through collaboration, thereby improving quality of
the research
 The below figure shows a relationship between co-authorship and different types of
citations. Three articles (X, Y, and Z) and five references (X1, X2, X3, Y1, and Y2) of
article X and Y, respectively, are considered. A, B, and C are authors of article X, and D,
E, F, G, and also A are authors of article Y. Article Z has two authors H and E.
References X1, X2, X3, Y1, and Y2 have authors (A, P), (H, R), (D), (Q, B, F), and (R),
respectively.

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CITING DATASETS

 The nature of engineering research has evolved rapidly and now relies heavily on data to
justify claims and provide experimental evidences and so data citations must fetch proper
credit to the creator of the dataset as citations of other objects like research articles.
 Data citations should have provisions to give credit and legal attribution to all
contributors, enable identification and access, while recognizing that a specific style may
not apply to all data.
 Ascertaining the ownership of data can be a complicated issue especially with large
datasets, and issues of funding can also make it a difficult matter.
 A researcher should obtain necessary permission for using data from a particular source.
 Citations related to datasets should include enough information so that a reader could find
the same dataset again in the future, even if the link provided no longer works.
 It is proper to include a mixture of general and specific information to enable a reader to
be certain that the search result is the same dataset that was sought.

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STYLES FOR CITATION

 Citation styles differ primarily in the order, and syntax of information about references,
depending on difference in priorities attributed to concision, readability, dates, authors,
and publications.
 Some of the most common styles for citation
ASCE style (American Society of Civil Engineers)

IEEE style (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND ATTRIBUTION

 Acknowledgment section is a place to provide a brief appreciation of the contribution of

someone or an organization or funding body to the present work.
 If no particular guideline is available for the intended publication, then it can be
introduced at the end of the text or as a footnote.
 Acknowledgment is a common practice to recognize persons or agencies for being
responsible in some form or other for completion of a publishable research outcome.
 Acknowledgment displays a relationship among people, agencies, institutions, and
research. In some case, certain individuals may help in the research work but may not
deserve to be included as authors. As a sign of gratitude, such contributions should be
acknowledged
 Acknowledgments and attributions are also very important in the publications of journal
or conference papers. Giving proper credit wherever it is due is very important and even
if the contribution is minor, it should not be neglected.
 In engineering research, acknowledgments are meant for participating technicians,
students, funding agency, grant number, institution, or anyone who provide scientific
inputs, shared unpublished results, provided equipment, or participated in discussions.

WHAT SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED

 Every author should know that what should/should not be acknowledged.

 Author should acknowledge quotation, ideas, facts, paraphrasing, funding organization,
oral discussion or support, laboratory, and computer work.
 Quotation: In technical writing such as in the field of engineering, quotes are used very
rarely. Quotations are of two types:
o Direct quotations are used when author use actual words or sentences in the same
order as the original one. Author should use quotation marks for the words or
sentences with proper acknowledgment.
o Indirect quotation summarizes or paraphrases the actual quote. In such cases, it is
important to acknowledge with proper name and date.

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 Authors should acknowledge people who give appropriate contribution in their research
work. Non-research work contributions are not generally acknowledged in a scientific
paper but it may be in a thesis. Persons must be acknowledged by authors, who gave a
scientific or technical guidance, take part in some discussions, or shared information to
author. Authors should acknowledge assistants, students, or technicians, who helped
experimentally and theoretically during the research work.
 If the researcher received grant from a funding agency and if those funds were used in the
work reported in the publication, then such support should always be acknowledged by
providing full details of the funding program and grant number in the acknowledgment
section. The authors should also gratefully acknowledge use of the services and facilities
of any center or organization with which they are not formally affiliated to.
 An example of acknowledgment of grant received is as follows:

 Many technical journals explicitly discourage authors to thank the reviewers in their
article submissions. This could be construed as favoritism or an attempt to encourage
reviewers to accept their manuscript for reasons other than scientific merit.
 Acknowledging that results have been presented elsewhere: If the results were presented
as an abstract in a journal, then there should be a suitable citation. If the results were
presented as part of scientific meeting, symposium, or other gathering, then some
relevant information should be provided.
 At the very least, the name of the gathering and year should be cited. Other helpful items
include the location of the gathering (city and state or country) and the full date of the
occasion.
 By acknowledging all help received in one‘s research work, the author(s) demonstrate
integrity as a researcher, which in turn encourages continued collaboration from those
who helped out in different ways.

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 Failure to acknowledge funding may result in the discontinuation of current funding

and/or ineligibility to receive future funding for a certain number of years or indefinitely.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN BOOKS / DISSERTATION

 A page of acknowledgments is usually included at the beginning of a thesis/ dissertation

immediately following the table of contents.
 These acknowledgments are longer than the one or two sentence statements in journal
papers or articles in conference proceedings.
 These detailed acknowledgments enable the researcher to thank all those who have
contributed in completion of the research work. Careful thought needs to be given
concerning those whose inputs are to be acknowledged and in what order.
 Generally, one should express appreciation in a concise manner and avoid emotive
language.
 The following are often acknowledged in these types of acknowledgments: main
supervisor, second supervisor, peers in the lab, other academic staff in the department,
technical or support staff in the department, colleagues from other departments, other
institutions, or organizations, former students, family, and friends

DEDICATION OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 Dedication is almost never used in a journal paper, an article in conference proceedings,

or a patent, and it is used exclusively in larger documents like books, thesis, or
dissertations.

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 While acknowledgments are reserved for those who helped out with the book in some
way or another (editing, moral support, etc), a dedication is to whomever the author
would like it to be dedicated to, whether it is the author‘s mother, the best friend, the pet
dog, or Almighty God. And yes, it is possible to dedicate something to someone while
also mentioning them in the acknowledgments.
 For example, one may dedicate a book to one‘s spouse, but acknowledge them for being
the moral support and putting up with when one gets stressed.
 The acknowledgments in technical books can be sometimes as brief as the ones in journal
articles.
 The acknowledgment section of a technical report may be a paragraph that is longer than
a journal paper but shorter than dissertations.
 Generally, the length of the acknowledgment may have some correlation with the length
of the document.

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