Useful templates (LaTeX, Python, ROOT) and general guidance here: JTS Public Dropbox

• Use a citation manager:
  • Readcube Papers ($$)
  • Endnote ($$)
  • Zotero ($0+)
  • Mendeley ($0+)
  • Jabref ($0)
• How to access journals through the MSU library off campus
  • long way: MSU Library
  • short way (the proxy server):
    • say you want to access: https://journals.aps.org/prc/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevC.94.025501
    • substitute all the periods for dashes and append “.proxy2.cl.msu.edu” and then enter your NetID credentials
    • example: https://journals.aps.org/prc/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevC.94.025501
• Download the citation file directly from the journal and into your citation manager
• Start a literature review using LaTeX where you can store notes on this paper and, crucially, related papers:
  • MikTeX (Windows)
  • TeXShop (Mac)
  • Overleaf - note: I pay for all the features for Overleaf so ask me to join as a project owner to provide you with access to all the features
• The content of the paper is just as important as how that paper fits into the greater scientific literature on that topic
• Do not read the paper word for word on your first pass (unless it is very short and does not follow the conventional format)!
  • Pass 1: Read the title, author list, abstract, introduction, section headings, figure captions, and conclusions
  • Pass 2: Scan the references for any papers that you've already read and scan the list of papers that have cited this paper
  • Pass 3: Determine the three things that you want to extract from the paper and then skim the paper looking for those three things
  • Add this paper to your literature review by (1) paying close attention to how this paper fits into the bigger picture, (2) noting what you learned, and (3) noting three things that still don't make sense
  • Pass 4+: if necessary, read the paper word for word - but - have an agenda for the information that you are looking for

• Guidance on writing abstracts is here
• Sample presentations:
  • Bad example (PDF)
  • Good example (PDF)
  • EDM talk (PPTX)
  • SAM poster (PPTX)
  • SAM talk (PPTX)
• How to start writing a talk/presentation
  • General guidance on the structure of the narrative is here: 2022-03-01-hints-how-to-scientific-presentations-jts
  • Presentations should be 1 slide per minute (roughly and this includes the title slide and conclusion slide)
  • Pass 1: The title of each slide should be a complete sentence (with proper grammar and punctuation) that indicates the main take away message for that slide that is suitable for the intended audience
  • Pass 2: Think about the figure (see below) that best illustrates that sentence and put in a placeholder
  • Pass 3: Add supporting text
  • Pass 4+: iterate with constructive feedback and revise for legibility and visibility

LaTeX templates in PRL format and Technote format are in the appropriate Dropbox subfolders: JTS Public Dropbox

The basic parts of any paper/technical note are the following (using leakage current measurements as an example):

• Motivation
  • Why do we want to measure leakage currents?
• Background
  • What is a leakage current and what are some of its basic properties?
  • Estimates of leakage currents based on theory or data sheets
• Method
  • Diagram that shows leakage current measurement setups
  • Tables of the experimental parameters and settings
  • Description of how the data acquisition works
  • Steps used to acquire data
• Analysis \& Uncertainty Quantification
  • How is leakage current extracted from the raw data?
  • What is the uncertainty on our leakage current measurements?
• Observations
  • Tables of leakage current measurements under different conditions/paths
• Interpretation
  • Which leakage current measurements were the most reliable and why?
• Conclusion
  • What is the final more reliable for leakage current?
  • What are the main lessons about how to measure leakage currents reliably?
  • What are the open questions
• Works cited

Examples of different types of technical notes with varying degrees of completeness are here: https://people.nscl.msu.edu/~singhj/docs/

• Learn a tool for making publication quality figures (diagrams and plots)
• A diagram shows how the experiment was carried out
  • Adobe Illustrator ($$)
  • Inkscape ($0)
  • Save the diagram in EPS or SVG format so that it does not look pixelated when changing sizes
  • Some things to consider when designing a diagram: 2019-10-02-conceptual-diagrams-phy-451-jts
  • Designing a diagram is an iterative process which requires constructive feedback: 2017-08-08 Blog Post
  • Another example of the iterative process from the PHY 451 Advanced Lab Class is below:
    • pictures of Diode Laser Spectroscopy Experiment:
    • first pass student diagram:
    • first pass JTS diagram (page 2 of PDF): 2019-10-04-first-pass-conceptual-diagrams-jts
  • An example of a professional publication quality diagram is Fig. 1 from PRL 113, 013001 (2014) (see below, made with Illustrator):
• A plot shows the data extracted from the experiment
  • ROOT and Python+matplotlib are both free and excellent tools
  • Save the diagram in EPS or SVG format so that it does not look pixelated when changing sizes and can be manipulated in an illustrattion software (see above)
  • Basic required elements of a 2D plot:
    • x-axis title label and units in parentheses, units should be chosen such that the x-values are between -100 and +100
    • x-axis labels values are large and legible, should be the same size
    • y-axis title label and units in parentheses, units should be chosen such that the y-values are between -100 and +100
    • y-axis labels values are large and legible, should be the same size
    • title of plot should describe the relevant conditions under which the data was taken and possibly include the timestamp of the dataset
    • data markers should be closed red circles
      • if the data density is high (the points overlap), then the data markers should be open red circles
      • if there are two data sets, then the second data set should be blue crosses
      • if there are multiple data sets, then the color of each data set should encode information about the variable that was varied between data sets
    • data markers should include uncertainties in the y-values and possibly the x-values if relevant
    • data markers should not be connected with lines just to guide the eye
    • if you use curve fitting to model the data, then you must plot both the (data vs fit) as well as the residual (data-fit)
    • example Python code is here: Python Curve Fitting
    • examples ROOT code are here: ROOT example

• Here is a write-up of advice, tips & tricks, and some philosophies about writing a resume/CV. It was written in September 2024. The example CV has not been included, so some additional notes were added or examples given where necessary for context.