Here are some tips for academic writing in computer science, which you sould follow for the paper in this course.
Papers are usually organized as follows. The sections of your paper might not follow this structure exactly, but all of this should be addressed.
Informal language and slang should be avoided.
Avoid personal language. Do not provide personal motivation for the research. Avoid using the singular first person altogether, and use plural first person if it is unavoidable (“we” instead of “I”). Take this sentence as an example:
I found that algorithm A is faster than algorithm B.
It would be better to void the first person entirely:
The results of timing analysis show that algorithm A is faster than algorithm B.
Use the default LaTeX citation style, which uses a number in square brackets for a citation, and the number refers to the corresponding entry in the bibliography.
If you are using a URL reference, include the most recent date that the page was accessed.
When possible, try to summarize ideas from sources in your own words rather than using direct quotations. If you do directly quote from a source, place the quotation in quotation marks if it is short, or use \begin{quote} and \end{quote} in LaTeX for a larger quote block. Whether you quote directly or paraphrase, you should still cite the source.
If you are using a term that is not common knowledge in the field, define it when it is first used.
If you are going to use an acronym, give the complete phrase the first time you use the acronym and place the acronym in parantheses after the phrase. From then on you can use the acronym alone. For example, you might talk about a queue being a first-in first-out (FIFO) data structure. Now you can use FIFO elsewhere in the paper.
See the following presentation on common general errors/typos in writing: presentation of common errors.