{"id":693,"date":"2025-05-13T17:14:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/?p=693"},"modified":"2025-05-13T17:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:14:27","slug":"cs-paper-checklist-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/blog\/cs-paper-checklist-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"CS Paper Checklist for Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This checklist is a practical, opinionated guide for sanity-checking the writing quality, structure, and presentation of CS papers\u2014especially for conference (and journal) submissions. While some items are subjective, the goal is to provide concrete reminders and highlight common pitfalls. It is a living document and will continue to be updated based on feedback.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. \ud83c\udfaf Title and Abstract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#1--title-and-abstract\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a01.1 Title is \u2264 15 words. Check for generic phrasing (e.g., \u201cA Novel Framework&#8230;,\u201d which conveys little information) and overly narrow focus (which may reduce the paper\u2019s audience)\u2014aim for concise but informative.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a01.2 Title clearly reflects both the\u00a0<strong>problem<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0<strong>solution<\/strong>, and includes at least one technical keyword (e.g., jailbreak, OOD detection, graph learning).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a01.3 Title avoids rare or ambiguous abbreviations. Terms like LLM, AI, and ML are acceptable in CS venues, but avoid abbreviations like AD (which could refer to advertisement or anomaly detection).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a01.4 Abstract includes at least four key components: (1) problem\/task definition, (2) proposed method or idea, (3) main results, and (4) broader impact or significance (some may be combined).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a01.5 Abstract avoids undefined abbreviations and vague descriptors (e.g., \u201cimportant,\u201d \u201cnovel,\u201d \u201cstate-of-the-art\u201d without context).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a01.6 Bonus: Abstract includes at least one concrete, quantitative result or insight to make the work stand out. For instance, \u201cour method achieves 11.2\u00d7 acceleration in test-time inference for jailbreak detection.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. \ud83d\udcda Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#2--introduction\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a02.1 The main problem or task is clearly defined within the first two paragraphs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a02.2 Motivation includes either (a) real-world use cases or (b) citations to prior work\u2014ideally both.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a02.3 The introduction ends with a brief overview of the proposed method and its name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a02.4 Contributions are explicitly itemized (e.g., \u201c(1) first framework for &#8230;, (2) new dataset for &#8230;, (3) extensive evaluation on &#8230;\u201d).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a02.5 Each contribution is specific and verifiable\u2014avoid vague claims such as \u201cwe provide insights\u201d or \u201cwe improve understanding.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a02.6 Bonus: Include a compelling figure on the first page\u2014e.g., comparison to prior work, performance highlight, or visual explanation of the core idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. \ud83d\udd0d Related Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#3--related-work\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a03.1 All cited works are connected to your method, baseline, or task.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a03.2 At least one baseline from the top-3 most cited recent papers on the topic is mentioned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a03.3 Related work does not exceed 1.5 pages (unless survey-style paper).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a03.4 You may use LLMs for searching the related work, but double triple check each of the paper &#8212; do not trust LLMs!!!!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a03.5 Bonus: use related work section to introduce baseline algorithms &#8212; show a table for your proposal better than the existing ones<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. \ud83e\uddea Method<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#4--method\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a04.1 All symbols are defined before use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a04.2 Each equation is referenced with inline explanation (e.g., \u201cEq. (3) defines the loss over\u2026\u201d). If an equation is never referenced, consider making it inline to save space.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a04.3 All modules or components of the method are illustrated or described in text or figures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a04.4 Each subsection ideally aligns with parts of the overview figure. Add a short summary paragraph before diving into subsections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a04.5 You do not need both overview figure and pseudo code in the main text &#8212; move the pseudo code to the appendix<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a04.6 The method is reproducible without referring to the appendix or external code\u2014reviewers should understand everything from the main text.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a04.7 Bonus: Can anything be removed from this section without reducing clarity? Do not hesitate to cut: more math \u2260 better paper.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. \ud83d\udcca Experiments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#5--experiments\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a05.1 At least 3 datasets are used (unless the paper introduces a new dataset).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.2 At least 3 baseline methods are compared. Are they state-of-the-art? Justify why these baselines are chosen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.3 At least 1 ablation study is included.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.4 Standard deviation or confidence intervals are reported where appropriate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.5 Hardware environment, software libraries, and hyperparameter settings are described.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.6 Negative results (if any) are explained, not omitted\u2014failure cases are valuable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.7 Evaluation metrics are clearly defined and justified.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.8 All figures and tables are referenced in the main text.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.9 Beyond showing numbers and saying \u201cwe perform well,\u201d at least one deeper insight or analysis is provided (e.g., why it works, where it fails).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a05.10 Bonus: Think about how easy others can reproduce your work? If you have any &#8220;dirty tricks&#8221; &#8212; remove them pls.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. \ud83e\uddfe Writing Quality and Style<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#6--writing-quality-and-style\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a06.1 All abbreviations are defined at first use (even ML, LLM, etc.) &#8212; do not redefine them again and again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a06.2 No sentence exceeds 25 words without a comma or period.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a06.3 No paragraph exceeds 10 lines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a06.4 Passive voice usage &lt; 30% of the total number of sentences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a06.5 Bonus: Have you noticed that your paper are full of the fancy LLM words, like encompass, intricate, etc?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. \ud83d\uddbc\ufe0f Figures and Tables<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#7-%EF%B8%8F-figures-and-tables\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a07.1 Each figure\/table has a caption \u2265 2 lines that includes interpretation or context. Do not just place it without explanation\u2014reviewers will get lost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a07.2 Font size in all figures is \u2265 8pt and all labels are fully visible (not cropped).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a07.3 Plots use colors that remain distinguishable when printed in grayscale\u2014some reviewers will print your paper.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a07.4 Each method mentioned in the results appears in either the legend or table column headers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a07.5 Figures appear at the top of pages rather than mid-text or at the bottom (soft rule, but improves readability).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a07.6 Figures and tables are not redundant\u2014each provides new or complementary information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a0Bonus: All figures are in\u00a0<strong>lossless formats<\/strong>\u00a0(e.g., PDF for vector graphics). Absolutely no low-resolution images allowed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8. \ud83e\uddf1 Structure and Formatting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#8--structure-and-formatting\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a08.1 All LaTeX warnings and bad boxes have been resolved.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a08.2 Section headers follow the standard paper structure (e.g., Introduction, Method, Experiments, etc.).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a08.3 All appendix sections are explicitly referenced in the main text (e.g., \u201cAppendix B.2 shows\u2026\u201d).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a08.4 No\u00a0<strong>orphan lines<\/strong>\u00a0anywhere in the paper\u2014avoid single-line section headers or short lines at the top\/bottom of columns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a08.5 No two figures or tables are placed consecutively without explanatory text between them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">9. \ud83d\udcce References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#9--references\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a09.1 All references are in the correct format for the target venue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a09.2 All datasets, toolkits, and models used are cited.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a09.3 At least one paper from the target venue (conference\/journal) is cited.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a09.4 Self-citations \u2264 20% of total citations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a09.5 BibTeX file has been deduplicated and spell-checked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">10. \ud83d\uded1 Citation Sanity Check (LLM-Generated Risk)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#10--citation-sanity-check-llm-generated-risk\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a010.1 All citations were\u00a0<strong>manually verified to exist<\/strong>\u2014title, authors, venue, and year match a real, published paper.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a010.2 No hallucinated references from LLM tools are included.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a010.3 If a citation was generated by ChatGPT, Copilot, or similar, it has been cross-checked on\u00a0<strong>Google Scholar<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Semantic Scholar<\/strong>, or publisher sites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">11. \ud83e\udde0 Sanity Checks Before Submission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/yzhao062\/cs-paper-checklist#11--sanity-checks-before-submission\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a011.1 PDF compiles in Overleaf\/TeX with no errors or bad boxes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a011.2 File name follows the submission guideline format (e.g., no underscores or author names if anonymized).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a011.3 No author-identifying information exists in metadata, supplementary files, or file names. Check your code repository and images too.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a011.4 The paper length complies with the page limit, including references and appendices (if counted).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a011.5 The paper has been read start-to-finish by someone not on the author list, without them needing to stop for clarification.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a011.6 All co-authors are listed and properly acknowledged\u2014this is surprisingly often overlooked.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a011.7 Bonus: After submission, log in from a different device and OS (e.g., Mac, Windows) to verify that the uploaded version renders correctly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Credit goes to Dr. Yue Zhao<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This checklist is a practical, opinionated guide for sanity-checking the writing quality, structure, and presentation of CS papers\u2014especially for conference (and journal) submissions. While some items are subjective, the goal is to provide concrete reminders and highlight common pitfalls. It is a living document and will continue to be updated based on feedback. 1. \ud83c\udfaf [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-cs-paper-checklist"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Sayed Mohsin Reza","author_link":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/author\/smreza\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/category\/blog\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Blog<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"This checklist is a practical, opinionated guide for sanity-checking the writing quality, structure, and presentation of CS papers\u2014especially for conference (and journal) submissions. While some items are subjective, the goal is to provide concrete reminders and highlight common pitfalls. It is a living document and will continue to be updated based on feedback. 1. \ud83c\udfaf&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions\/694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smreza.com\/profile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}