Advice

This is not meant to be an exhaustive guide to graduate research advice. Just try a search for "advice for graduate students" on Google... 7.3M results. However, I bet you can pretty much figure out the pattern after reading the first 2 or 3. The problem with these is that they tend to be very general and say what you probably know already (though learning to act on the advice takes some practice). What I have tried to do with this page is collect a smaller annotated subset of articles that are targetted at the CS grad. student with an emphasis on advice given in specific areas. Even if you don't work in a particular sub-field, take a look at the pointers. Sometimes the differences are as illuminating as the similarities.

I will have certainly missed many good references so if you have some please email me (thanks to all those who have already sent me recommendations).

-Eytan Adar, December, 2006 (some links updated Apr. 2009)

General

How to Succeed in Grad School, Marie desJardins,
One of the better all-encompasing (and concise) papers on being a graduate student. If you've never read an advice page on grad school, start here.
Graduate Study in the Computer and Mathematical Sciences: A Survival Manual, Dianne O'Leary,
Another good general paper.
Advice to a Young Investigator, Ramon Y Cajal.
This is a short book written by the Nobel winning researcher (in Medicine). It is somewhat dated and the focus is a little different, but it is a fascinating and useful read.
How to Have a Bad Career In Research/Academia, David Patterson (other versions/advice).
Ten Lessons I wish I Had Been Taught, Gian-Carlo Rota

Money & Proposals

One of the pieces of advice you will see is that you should outline, in writing, what you're going to work on. This is a useful skill because a) you'll commit to do something, and b) you'll get practice and develop a very important skill for the future.
How to write a good research proposal, Simon Peyton Jones and Alan Bundy (slides).

Research Skills: Reading & Writing

Area-specific advice is below
How to Read A Research Paper (originally at: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/student.services/phd/phd-advice/research_paper)
Suggested Guidelines for Finding Materials to include in the "Related Work" Sections of Conference Papers, Gail Kaiser
Three Sins of Authors in Computer Science and Math, Jonathan Shewchuk
I hate to admit it, but I've probably commited these a few times
Wordwright: the Right Rite of Writing, Course at CMU
A CS PhD targeted course on writing papers. Has various sample paper structures for different types of papers. (slight software engineering bias)
I've tried to include CS focused (online) articles for this. There are plenty of guides on writing research papers (there are also lots of useful style guides that you should take a look at for practical nitty-gritty advice).

Speaking & Conferences

How to Give a Bad Talk, John Ousterhout, Tom Anderson, Dave Patterson,...(channeled by Mike Dahlin)
Has a few systems/networks specific jokes, but it's generally useful.
How to give a good research talk, Simon Peyton Jones, John Launchbury, John Hughes (presentation, video).
Networking on the Network, Phil Agre

Reviewing

Area-specific advice below
The Task of the Referee, Alan Jay Smith
Rules for Referees, Bernard K. Forscher.
This is an older Science article but is generally useful.

Area Specific

While the sources below are biased by a particular discipline's world view, they generally have something useful for everyone.

AI

How to do Research in the MIT AI Lab, ed. David Chapman
Has a strong MIT component, but is more generally useful.

Architecture

What Should Graduate Students Know Before Joining a Large Computer Architecture Project?, Shubhendu Mukherjee

Databases

Chair's Message, Rick Snodgrass
A discussion on Least Publishable Units (LPU).
The Specificity Factor, Stefano Ceri, Peter Apers, Kotagiri Ramamohanarao, Richard Snodgrass, and Paolo Atzeni,
Instructions for Reviewers - VLDB 2001
An Interview with David DeWitt
Impact of Double-Blind Reviewing on SIGMOD Publication Rates, Samuel Madden and David DeWitt
Impact of Double Blind Reviewing on SIGMOD Publication: A More Detailed Analysis, Anthony Tung
How to Get Even with Database Conference Program Committees, Frank Manola (anyone have a copy?)

Graphics

How to get your SIGGRAPH Paper Rejected,Jim Kajiya
Things I Hope Not to See or Hear at SIGGRAPH, Jim Blinn

HCI

Guide to Successful Papers Submission, William Newman, Kate Ehrlich, John Tang, Robin Jeffries and Jock Mackinlay
Guide to A Successful HCI Archive Submission, CHI 2007
Why don't more non-North-American papers get accepted to CHI?, Ellen Issacs and John Tang
UIST 2006 Guide for Authors, Passed from year to year
Implications for Design, Paul Dourish,
More of a lament about the state of the CHI world

Languages

How to Get a Paper Accepted at OOPSLA, Alan Snyder.
How to Get a Paper Accepted at OOPSLA, Panel.
Advice for 1996 POPL submissions
What it's like to be a POPL referee, M. N. Wegman

Networks

A Referee's Plea, Mark Allman
A Personal Note on How to Start Research in Computer Networks: Seven Steps on the Road to Success, Ahmed Helmy
How to Increase the Chances Your Paper is Accepted at ACM SIGCOMM, Craig Partridge (originally at: http://www.sigcomm.org/conference-misc/author-guide.html)
Take a look at the Systems section too

Systems

An Evaluation of the Ninth SOSP Submissions, or, How (and How Not) to Write a Good Systems Paper Roy Levin and David D. Redell
What Kinds of Papers Does USENIX Publish?
Writing Systems and Networking Articles, Henning Schulzrinne

Software Engineering

Writing Good Software Engineering Research Papers, Mary Shaw
What Makes Good Research in Software Engineering?, Mary Shaw
Designing Good Research Projects in Software Engineering...and getting results accepted for publication, Mary Shaw
Types of ICSE 2002 Papers
Experimental Validation in Software Engineering, Marvin V. Zelkowitz, Dolores Wallace
A paper that compares methods of scientific validation, software engineering bias, but see below in the Philosophy of CS section for other related papers.

Theory/Algorithms

How to Present a Paper in Theoretical Computer Science: A Speaker's Guide for Students, Ian Parberry
A Guide for New Referees in Theoretical Computer Science, Ian Parberry
This is actually a great general paper for all CS disciplines, but some of the examples are targetted at the theory literature. A related form is also available (though this greatly varies by discipline, reviewing software, PC, venue, etc.)
Lance Fortnow's Blog
A very general source about theory news, but has some interesting discussions on research methods such as "Quality versus Quantity," and "Theory and Systems."
Some Hints on Mathematical Style, David Goss
Writing a Math Phase Two Paper, Steven L. Kleiman
Advice to a Beginning Graduate Student, Manuel Blum
Somewhat more general than just theory, but makes some theory references.
Essays and Opinions by Oded Goldreich,
Anything from Critique of some trends in the TCS community to a post On "rejection"

More Resources

Other Long Lists (OLLs) & More General Advice

A Letter to Research Students, Duane A. Bailey
Graduate School Superstars
Short. The gist: be visible, willing to work hard, reflect program values, have a true interest in research, develop relationship with a mentor.
Research Methods in CS, Course in Oregon State
Jason Hong's Advice Page
Advice Collection
A really long list at PSU.
Graduate Research, Writing, and Careers in Computer Science
A very long list of resources and references.
The Researcher's Bible, Alan Bundy, Ben du Boulay, Jim Howe and Gordon Plotkin
Jeff Offutt's Lectures for PhD Courses
Douglas Comer's Essays

Thesis & Paper Writing

Advice to Authors of Extended Abstracts, William Pugh.
How To Have Your Abstract Rejected, van Leunen and Lipton.
How to write a great research paper, Simon Peyton Jones (video).
Dissertation Advice, Olin Shivers
Also a good read, Olin's Acknowledgement section from the Scheme Shell Reference Manual
How to Organize your Thesis, John W. Chinneck.
There are literally dozens of papers, books, and other places to look for advice on this. It's useful to remember that this is your eventual goal, but is probably not crucial as you're getting started.

Burnout

How to Cope with Burnout, Andreas Gehmeyr
Burnout Prevention and Recovery, MIT (mostly a joke)

Philosophy of CS

EWD 709: My hopes of computing science E. Dijkstra
On the role of scientific thought. E. Dijkstra
Turing Award Lectures,
Though these tend not to be heavy on advice to graduate students, they have lots of life lessons on success and failure.
You and Your Research, Richard Hamming
In the same vein as above
Technology and Courage, Ivan Sutherland
Should Computer Scientists Experiment More? 16 Reasons to Avoid Experimentation, Walter Tichy
Again, a slight SE bias
Experimental Evaluation in Computer Science: A Quantitative Study, Paul Lukowicz, Ernst A. Heinz, Lutz Prechelt, and Walter F. Tichy
Lots of useful references to other sources, esp. Peter Denning's series of papers on Experimental Computer Science
The Computer Scientist as Toolsmith II, Fred Brooks
Fred brooks acceptance speech for the Allen Newell Award. The Science/Engineering dichotomy

For Later

Advice for New Faculty Members, Robert Boice
The recommendation I received was that the first 1/3 was worth reading and then it gets a little repetitive.

Humor

Structured Procrastination, John Perry
I can't quite tell which section this should go in, but it made me smile so it goes here.
To a young scientist, Joel Cohen
PhD Comics
Epigrams in Programming, Alan Perlis

Last updated: Dec. 29, 2006