Write The Manuscript On LaTeX/Overleaf
I recommend to use Overleaf to save time for LaTeX environment setup, and to keep track of up-to-date progress among collaborators.
Handy Packages
- zebra-goodies for inline note-taking macros (
\todo,\note) to explicitly highlight writing tasks. - changes for manually markup changes of text, such as additions, deletions, or replacements. This will be helpful for journal submission that needs the “marked changes” revision.
Best Practices
- Use
sections/folder to organize the manuscript. A CS/AI manuscript typically has the following sections:- Introduction
- Related Work
- (Optional) Study Design
- Methods
- Experiments
- Conclusion
- The
Study Designsection is optional, but highly recommended when a novel dataset or research task is proposed (see my BIBM’25 paper EpicAge). It typically contains:- A brief introduction to data source and cohort (samples used in the study)
- A formal mathmatical problem definition
- Use macro
\modelnameto define the proposed model’s name\newcommand{\modelname}[0]{\textsc{EpiCAge}\xspace}. We often find that the\modelnamecan be changed time-to-time. - Use
figures/folder to store all figures in the manuscript. Prefer.pdfformat for vector graphics to ensure quality in publication.
How to Write A Lot
- Begin with the outlines of the manuscript (e.g., a list of subsections for each section), and then fill in the details.
- Do not worry about the quality of writing at the beginning. The most important thing is to get the main ideas down on paper, and then refine the writing later.
- Begin with the
Study Design,MethodsandExperimentssections, which are typically more straightforward to write. Then move on to theIntroductionandConclusion, which often require more creativity and polish. - Write each paragraph’s punch line for the
Introductionto convey the main message. This will be helpful when discussing with co-authors.