Guidance for CSCI4163 Term Papers

There is an option to submit a term paper rather than write a final exam in CSCI4163.  Students must choose exactly one of those options; students who do not submit a term paper will be graded on their exam.

The term papers are expected to be more like research reports than the basis for ongoing graduate research.  For example, it could be on the topic of how to improve … some product; but the essay must be grounded in human-computer interaction, not just personal observations and speculation.  It should be 10–15 pages long (not including the title page, references, and any other ancillary material).  The details of the title page format, etc. are in the syllabus.  Alternatives to the traditional written essay will be accepted; if you will be submitting in a non-traditional format, please tell your professor as soon as you can.

Outline for a literature review research report

A literature review is only one of  the types of term paper you might choose to submit.

1. Title page (see syllabus)
2. Table of contents (recommended but not required)
3. §Introduction
   1. Motivation (1–2 sentences)
   2. Describe the structure and purpose of your essay
      • Tell the reader what you will be doing, e.g. a review of the research literature with the intention to ….
      • The articles are organized by theme or by topic or by time or some other way that makes sense in the context of your stated purpose.
4. §Methodology

   It would be great if you can show easily and clearly that you have covered all of the literature within sensible limits.

   1. Explain how you organised the literature (research articles) you summarise, for example by topic or by approach.  If you can make a case that you have covered all approaches that would be great.
   2. Describe briefly how you choose which research articles to read and then to write about.  An example could be I chose articles published in the most recent two years with the following keywords or about these topics (and then list them).  Searches can further be limited by which database you use to search them (the ACM Digital Library is a good choice if you want to use only one database).
   3. Explain, or justify, the limits you imposed on your search.  Something simple like for feasibility (or practicality) I limited the search to the last two years of articles in this field (e.g. human visual cognition or cultural heritage) published by ACM.
5. §Findings
   • This is where you summarise the articles.
   • It is usually better to organise them by theme than article by article but either way can work.
6. §Summary
   • Compare the results from the articles if you can;
   • Re-state the most important and interesting points;
   • If possible tie it all back to the purpose from the Introduction.
7. References

   This is where you will have all of the bibliographic detail for the articles you cited in-line in the body of the essay.

8. Appendix / Appendices

   If there is more that you feel you must  include then put it here.