Background

Draft Page: This page is in docs/drafts/ and is considered a draft. It may be incomplete or subject to change. If you have feedback, feel free to open a pull request or issue on GitHub.

Background#

  • Goal: Provide background information the reader needs to understand the context of the paper. Give a general understanding of topics as necessary, and refer to further reading.
  • Length: Up to 1.5 pages

A background section should only be as long as absolutely necessary, and not all papers require one. If included, it should provide information that is required to understand the research and its context, but cannot be assumed to be common knowledge for the paper’s audience. Keep it short and simple, and attempt to make it as engaging as possible by highlighting the importance or impact of the given information.

Don’t:

  • Cover areas that are not immediately relevant for your research
  • Go into more detail than required for understanding your research
  • Start at the very beginning - the readers of your paper will likely be knowledgeable in computer science and security/privacy
  • Include facts without a credible source
  • State things as fact that are disputed in the research community - leave them out, or if especially important point out the conflict and give information on all points of view.

Structure#

Possible structure of a background section:

  • Introductory sentence(s): Describe what topics the section covers (1-2 sentences)
  • Brief paragraphs: Summarize background information by topic, citing sources for each fact (1 paragraph/topic)

Credible Sources#

Information that is presented as fact in the background section must be supported by citations of credible sources. Credible sources include published peer-reviewed works such as conference, journal, and workshop publications, as well as books. Websites, blogs, and news articles can generally also be used in a background section, but must be carefully reviewed for their credibility.

While a background section will also include citations as sources for the given information, it will not go into details about these works, and cited sources must not be closely related to the research you present. Instead, it will focus on quickly and concisely relaying information and knowledge on a specific topic to educate the reader.

Previous Introduction Related Work Next