• ES Español
• EN English

5.23. Research Methodology (Mandatory)

5.23.1. Justification ↑ Back to top

This course aims to teach students how to conduct scientific research in the field of computer science. The course instructors will determine a specific study area for each student and provide relevant bibliography for analysis. Based on this and additional bibliographic sources researched by the student, the student should be able to construct a survey-type article on the assigned topic.

5.23.2. Generales Goals ↑ Back to top

1. Learn how to initiate scientific research in computer science with methodological rigor.
2. Know the main academic bibliographic sources: IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Google Scholar, and arXiv.
3. Critically analyze existing proposals on a topic and relate them coherently in a literature review.
4. Write technical documents in computer science using LaTeX with IEEE and ACM conference templates.
5. Reproduce existing results in a topic through implementation and experimentation.
6. Build a survey-type article with taxonomy, synthesis, and comparison of existing approaches.
7. The deliverables for this course are:

8. [Partial Progress:] Mastery of the article topic and preliminary bibliography in LaTeX article format.
9. [Final:] Completed survey-type article, optionally containing experimental results of the studied technique(s). description

5.23.3. Contribution to Outcomes ↑ Back to top

AG-C08) Problem Analysis: Identifies, formulates, and analyzes complex computing problems. (Assessment)

AG-C09) Design and Development of Solutions: Designs, implements, and evaluates solutions for complex computing problems. (Assessment)

AG-C04) Communication: Communicates effectively in complex computing activities. (Assessment)

AG-C02) Ethics: Applies ethical principles and commits to professional ethics and the standards of professional computing practice. (Assessment)

AG-C05) Project Management: Applies management principles in computing to manage projects. (Assessment)

5.23.4. Content ↑ Back to top

5.23.4.1. Foundations of Scientific Research in Computer Science (8 hours) [Skills AG-C05,AG-C08] ↑ Back to top

Bibliography: (IEEE-Computer Society, 2008; ACM, 2008)

Topics

1. Types of research in computer science: empirical, theoretical, constructive, and evaluative.
2. The scientific method applied to research in computer science.
3. Main academic databases: IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv.
4. Bibliographic search strategies: Boolean operators, citation tracking, and systematic search.
5. Reference managers: Zotero, Mendeley, and BibTeX integration.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the types of research in computer science and their methodological differences. [Familiarity]
2. Use the main academic databases to find relevant literature on a given topic. [Usage]
3. Organize bibliographic references using reference managers and BibTeX format. [Usage]

5.23.4.2. Critical Reading and Analysis of Scientific Literature (8 hours) [Skills AG-C08,AG-C09] ↑ Back to top

Bibliography: (IEEE-Computer Society, 2008; ACM, 2008; CiteSeer.IST, 2008)

Topics

1. Structure of a scientific article: abstract, introduction, related work, methodology, results, and conclusions.
2. Techniques for efficient reading of scientific articles (three-pass reading).
3. Critical evaluation: identifying contributions, limitations, and open problems.
4. Building a reading matrix and comparative tables of related works.
5. Classification and taxonomy design of existing approaches on a topic.

Learning Outcomes

1. Read and critically evaluate scientific articles identifying their contributions and limitations. [Usage]
2. Build an organized reading matrix that synthesizes multiple works on a given topic. [Usage]
3. Design a preliminary taxonomy of approaches for an assigned research area. [Assessment]

5.23.4.3. Research Ethics and Academic Integrity (6 hours) [Skills AG-C02,AG-C04] ↑ Back to top

Bibliography: (IEEE-Computer Society, 2008; ACM, 2008)

Topics

1. Academic integrity: plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication, and falsification.
2. Ethics in computer science research: privacy, algorithmic bias, and human subjects studies.
3. Open access, licenses (Creative Commons, GPL), and intellectual property in software.
4. Good citation and authorship attribution practices in collaborative work.
5. The peer review process: role of the reviewer and responsibilities of the author.

Learning Outcomes

1. Distinguish forms of academic misconduct and apply correct citation practices. [Usage]
2. Analyze ethical dilemmas in computational research applying integrity principles. [Assessment]
3. Explain intellectual property rights and relevant licenses in computer science. [Familiarity]

5.23.4.4. Technical Writing and Scientific Writing Tools (10 hours) [Skills AG-C04,AG-C09] ↑ Back to top

Bibliography: (IEEE-Computer Society, 2008; ACM, 2008)

Topics

1. LaTeX\ structure: preamble, sections, equations, figures, tables, and cross-references.
2. Conference and journal templates: IEEE and ACM.
3. Academic writing style in computer science: clarity, precision, and active voice.
4. Writing each section of the article: abstract, introduction, related work, methodology, results, and conclusions.
5. Document version control with Git for LaTeX projects.
6. Bibliography management with BibTeX and JabRef.

Learning Outcomes

1. Write a complete technical article in LaTeX using IEEE or ACM templates. [Usage]
2. Apply academic writing conventions of the computer science community. [Usage]
3. Evaluate the writing quality of an article based on clarity and structure criteria. [Assessment]

5.23.4.5. Systematic Literature Review and Survey Articles (10 hours) [Skills AG-C04,AG-C08,AG-C09] ↑ Back to top

Bibliography: (IEEE-Computer Society, 2008; ACM, 2008; CiteSeer.IST, 2008)

Topics

1. Types of reviews: narrative, systematic, mapping study, and meta-analysis.
2. Systematic literature review (SLR) protocol: research questions, search strategy, and selection criteria.
3. PRISMA guidelines: flowchart for selection of primary studies.
4. Synthesis techniques: narrative synthesis, vote counting, and thematic analysis.
5. Taxonomy design and classification schemes for a survey.
6. Structure and writing of a survey-type article.

Learning Outcomes

1. Design and execute a systematic literature review protocol for a computer science topic. [Usage]
2. Apply PRISMA guidelines to document and report the study selection process. [Usage]
3. Write a survey article with taxonomy, critical synthesis, and comparison of approaches. [Assessment]

5.23.4.6. Presentation and Dissemination of Research Results (6 hours) [Skills AG-C02,AG-C04,AG-C05] ↑ Back to top

Bibliography: (IEEE-Computer Society, 2008; ACM, 2008)

Topics

1. Oral presentation techniques for scientific audiences: structure, time management, and Q&A sessions.
2. Poster design for research conferences and symposia.
3. Responding to reviewers: addressing comments constructively and with evidence.
4. Research project planning: schedule, milestones, and deliverables.
5. Collaboration and co-authorship practices in scientific research.

Learning Outcomes

1. Prepare and deliver an oral presentation of research results to an academic audience. [Usage]
2. Develop a work plan for a research project with schedule and milestones. [Usage]
3. Respond constructively to reviewer comments in the publication process. [Assessment]

5.23.5. Bibliography ↑ Back to top

IEEE-Computer Society (2008). Digital Libray. IEEE-Computer Society. http://www.computer.org/publications/dlib.

ACM (2008). Digital Libray. Association for Computing Machinery. http://portal.acm.org/dl.cfm.

CiteSeer.IST (2008). Scientific Literature Digital Libray. College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University. http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu.