3. Writing Related Work, Background, Problem Description, and Preliminaries

In academic writing, Related Work, Background, Problem Description, and Preliminaries play crucial roles in establishing the foundation for your research. These sections collectively explain the research context, justify its necessity, and provide the groundwork for understanding the proposed contributions. However, not all papers require all these sections; their inclusion depends on the research focus and target audience. This guide explains the purpose, writing methods, and when to use or omit these sections.

3-1. Related Work

3-1-1 Purpose

• Provides a review of prior studies to contextualize the research.
• Highlights the limitations of existing approaches and establishes the gap your research addresses.
• Demonstrates the novelty and contribution of your work compared to previous studies.

3-1-2 How to Write

1. Summarize and Categorize Existing Studies

   • Organize related works into themes or methodologies.
   • Summarize each study’s objectives, methods, and findings.
   • Example:
     "Previous translation models primarily focused on word-level mappings, with limited attention to contextual information."

2. Identify Limitations

   • Pinpoint the unresolved issues or shortcomings of prior works.
   • Example:
     "These models fail to capture cross-linguistic contextual similarities, leading to suboptimal translation quality."

3. Highlight Your Research's Novelty

   • Explain how your approach differs from or improves upon previous methods.
   • Example:
     "This paper proposes a transformer-based model designed to address these challenges by learning multilingual contextual similarities."

3-1-3 When to Use

• Include When:
  • Your research builds on or contrasts with existing work.
  • Readers require a comprehensive understanding of the research landscape.
• Omit When:
  • Your study explores a completely novel topic with no prior research.
  • The related work is minor and can be briefly addressed in the Introduction.

3-2. Background

3-2-1 Purpose

• Provides foundational knowledge and context to help readers unfamiliar with the domain understand the paper.
• Explains the historical evolution or theoretical underpinnings leading to the current research.

3-2-2 How to Write

1. Introduce the Field and Key Concepts

   • Explain the basics of the research area, key models, and terminologies.
   • Example:
     "Transformer models have revolutionized natural language processing by efficiently capturing contextual dependencies."

2. Connect to Current Research

   • Transition smoothly from foundational knowledge to the specific problem addressed by your research.
   • Example:
     "While transformers excel in monolingual tasks, their application to multilingual translation remains limited due to inadequate contextual integration."

3-2-3 When to Use

• Include When:
  • Your paper addresses a specialized topic that requires background explanation for clarity.
  • Readers may lack the necessary technical or conceptual knowledge.
• Omit When:
  • The paper’s audience is already well-versed in the field.
  • Background details can be integrated into other sections, such as Related Work or Problem Description.

3-3. Problem Description

3-3-1 Purpose

• Clearly defines the problem your research addresses.
• Frames the research focus and establishes the objectives.

3-3-2 How to Write

1. Describe the Problem Context

   • Explain the broader implications and importance of the problem.
   • Example:
     "In multilingual translation, neglecting contextual similarities can result in inaccurate outputs, hindering global communication."

2. Provide Concrete Examples

   • Use real-world examples or data to illustrate the problem's severity.
   • Example:
     "For instance, the English word 'bank' is often translated as 'financial institution,' ignoring its alternate meaning of 'riverbank,' depending on context."

3. Define the Problem Precisely

   • Present the problem as a measurable or solvable task.
   • Example:
     "The objective is to develop a model ( f(X) ) that maximizes contextual similarity between multilingual input ( X ) and output ( Y )."

3-3-3 When to Use

• Include When:
  • The research focuses on solving a well-defined issue requiring a precise description.
  • Quantitative or mathematical modeling is central to the study.
• Omit When:
  • The problem can be briefly explained in the Introduction.
  • It overlaps heavily with content from other sections.

3-4. Preliminaries

3-4-1 Purpose

• Defines technical terms, mathematical notations, or foundational concepts that readers need to understand your work.
• Establishes the theoretical groundwork for your methodology.

3-4-2 How to Write

1. Define Key Terms and Symbols

   • Clearly define all terms, symbols, and notations used in the paper.
   • Example:
     "In this study, a graph ( G = (V, E) ) represents a network, where ( V ) is the set of nodes and ( E ) is the set of edges."

2. Introduce Mathematical Concepts

   • Provide essential mathematical definitions or assumptions.
   • Example:
     "The Attention mechanism is computed as follows:
     [
     Attention(Q, K, V) = softmax\left(\frac{QK^T}{\sqrt{d_k}}\right)V
     ]"

3. Use Examples for Clarity

   • Include real-world examples or scenarios to make abstract concepts more relatable.
   • Example:
     "For instance, ( V ) could represent research papers, and ( E ) could represent citation relationships, forming an academic network."

3-4-3 When to Use

• Include When:
  • The study involves complex mathematical or technical details that readers may not be familiar with.
  • Notations or symbols are frequently used throughout the paper.
• Omit When:
  • The concepts are simple or self-explanatory.
  • Preliminaries can be integrated into the Methodology or Problem Description sections.

3-5. Summary

Each section serves a distinct purpose and should be included based on the nature and complexity of the research:

• Related Work: Essential for contextualizing the research and highlighting its novelty.
• Background: Necessary when foundational knowledge is critical for understanding.
• Problem Description: Crucial for defining the research scope and objectives.
• Preliminaries: Required when technical or mathematical clarity is needed.

When to Combine or Omit Sections:

• Combine: If the paper is concise or the audience is familiar with the field, merge Background and Related Work or Problem Description and Preliminaries.
• Omit: If the content overlaps with the Introduction or Methodology, or is unnecessary for understanding the study.