The Novice Writer: How to write a technical paper?

HOW TO WRITE A TECHNICAL PAPER?

There are a lot of different definitions of technical writing. But, the one given by Jeff Grabill from Georgia State University, best defines the process. He says and I quote, "Technical writing is writing that helps users solve problems with technologies and technical subject matter."

The main purpose of technical writing is to make complex things look simpler thus aiding the customer to understand the product to the core. A paper that can explain a "layman" about the various aspects of a product irrespective of him having any prior information about the topic is considered to be a good technical paper.

Writing technical papers will help you share your knowledge with others. This sharing and disseminating technical knowledge benefits the growth in the industry, your company, and your career as well.

However, being an engineer you may not be good at writing, but do not worry we have the information you need to write a good technical paper.

So, let's figure out what makes a paper stand out:

Concise Title
Standard Outline
Coherent Writing Style
References to your work showcased in the paper. Although you will be referring to the prior work in the field on which you are about to write but that should not stop you from presenting your contribution to the field. This leads to our next point.
State Significant New and Innovative Information. Innovative ideas form a key success when presenting a paper in conference program committee or journal review committee.

Once you are done with this the next important aspect of the paper is the Abstract that you provided for your paper. An abstract is a concise summary of your paper's topic. It should be around 350 words and should explain the uniqueness of your paper. Include significant, new, and innovative information in brief. Do mention the purpose and conclusion of your paper. This is the one point where you can grab the committee into your paper. An abstract can boost your chances of success or drastically decrease them depending on how you construct this part of the paper.

In the Abstract, state the objectives and scope, describe methods used, summarize your results, and state the principal conclusions.

In the Introduction section, describe your contribution. Clearly, present the nature and scope of the problem investigated. Review the pertinent literature and state your method of investigation and your justification.

The Materials and Methods section is necessary for both theoretical, case study, and experimental types of paper. In theoretical papers, this section must include hypothesis, assumptions, theoretical developments and arguments to demonstrate applicability. In experimental or case study papers, this section should include the purpose of experiments or case study, describing of apparatus/ equipment procedures, present data and observations, and finally the inferences based on the data presented.

The core of your paper will be the Results section. Use representative data but avoid using redundancies and too many tables and figures.

Begin with the Conclusion when you are planning the content of your paper because by describing and focusing on the description of the methodology you proceeded to reach the results. This will make it easy for you to go through the paper.

A good paper starts with a good planning and collecting of information. Relate the paper to the scope of the meeting or journal, thus presenting useful information. Explaining methodology is an important aspect as this is the place you will provide the crux of your technically sound information. To get an effective response support your theory with valid and solid shreds of evidence be it in the form of graphs, tables, or graphics.

Do's and Dont's of Writing a Technical Paper:

Do -

Organize your thoughts.
Compose simple sentences.
Use common language. Industrial terminology is acceptable but steer away from the company lingo or using the in-house jargons.
Have proper and valid evidence.
Make sure your theory is technically sound.
Clearly, show the contribution your paper will make.
Remember the ABC's -

Attraction - includes title, abstract, conclusion, headings, and graphics.
Balance - between technical content and writing quality.
Content - includes perfect amount of details that should be sufficient enough to explain your methods and practical application to your situation.

Don't -

Making grammatical or spelling errors.
Include commercial or sales pitches.

Continue the refurbishment of your paper by asking these 7 Questions:

What lessons have you learned?
What should the reader understand from your work?
How does your work differ from similar papers?
What useful information did you derive from the literature survey?
Why did you conduct the project?
What did you contribute to the industry?
Who is your target audience? Why should the audience listen to you? Will they make a profit from your idea or save money because of it?

Once you have finished writing the paper start evaluating yourself. Ask a colleague who did not work on the project to read it; then, ask a colleague who did work on the project to read it. Note down any feedback they might have on how to improve your paper. Edit your paper accordingly, if you ask any writer they will surely tell you that the first draft is nowhere near the final draft. Do remove any extraneous information that might be present at the time of editing.

Throughout the writing process keep one thing in mind "Avoid Plagiarism". To avoid plagiarism, cite your sources.

Types of technical writing: