You must now write a paper on the topic you selected in your proposal. The purpose of the research report is for you to become an expert on the topic you selected. The research report should be written so that it conveys information to the reader. When grading the paper Dr. Neuman will ask himself whether other students in the class might learn about the topic you choose by reading your paper. The paper should contain original analysis of the papers you choose to cover, and ideally suggest directions for future research on the topic.
In writing your paper you should use the several assigned readings from the course as a guide of what is expected of you and what a finished paper would look like. In particular, the length and level of detail should be about that of the typical paper from your readings. The real constraint on the length, though, is that your paper should be as long as is necessary to get across the material you wish to convey, and not longer. The best way to accomplish this is to write your paper without concern for its length, then go through the paper sentence by sentence and ask yourself whether the sentence adds information that is relevant to your topic. If not, delete the sentence, or shorten it. You should also use the papers in the readings as a guide to what is expected in terms of properly citing other works.
We realize that some of the students in CSci530 have not been required to submit research papers in other classes that they have taken. For those of you who have not written a research paper before, we urge you to utilize the resources of the Engineering Writing Center or the USC Writing Center.
Please note that the official due date for the paper is Friday 1 December because the university does not allow us to make assignments due after the final lecture period for the class. No penalty will be assessed for papers submitted before 5:00 PM on Friday December 8. The papers must be submitted in printed form. Electronic submissions will NOT be accepted or graded.
You may turn in your paper in person to either instructor or to the TA's through the last lecture. Do NOT slide the paper under the door of the instructors as the paper may be lost, and following the final lecture, the instructors will likely not be using their campus office until the following semester.
For those turning in the paper after the final lecture, you must make sure that it is delivered to Dr. Neuman at ISI. It is your responsibility to see that the paper reaches Dr. Neuman. Papers may be mailed to Dr. Neuman at the address below:
Prof. Clifford Neuman
USC Information Sciences Institute
4676 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 822-1511
If hand delivering the paper, the paper may be submitted in an
envelope addressed to Dr. Neuman left with the receptionist on the
10th floor of ISI (at the address above) by 5:00 PM. You may also
mail your paper so that it is postmarked by 5:00 PM on December 8th
AND received at Dr. Neuman's address by close of business on Tuesday,
December 12th. It is your responsibility to ensure that it is
actually received (a delivery confirmation from the postal serice,
Federal Express, etc is acceptable). Lost or misdirected mail will be
considered as late.