Paper Presentations for ICOMS 2010 will be either:
FULL PAPERS or SHORT PAPERS

Full Papers

Short Papers

Four general types of papers, commonly presented at ICOMS, have been identified:

(a)     Theoretical/Research Papers (including models)

(b)     Case Studies

(c)     Theory plus Case Study (Applied R&D)

(d)     Review Papers

(e)     Short Papers

Some guidelines apply to all types of papers, whilst others are specific to one or more types of paper.

Common Guidelines

1.       The sequence of sections in any paper is important to readers trying to follow the logic and description of another’s work. Matters which the authors assume to be well known may not be familiar to, or agreed by all readers and so must be clearly stated as background/assumptions to the study.

2.       A proposition becomes a hypothesis only when a logical and plausible explanation has been devised for its support.  A hypothesis becomes a theory when supported by the evidence of at least one Case Study.  A theory can be undone by just one contrary Case Study, so should never be regarded as the last word on the subject.  Only confirmed data can be regarded as facts.

3.       The following Section heads should be considered for all papers. Those marked with an asterisk are considered particularly important and should not be omitted without good reason. Those with two asterisks are compulsory for ICOMS. The exact wording of headings may be varied.

Abstract or Summary*

*Keywords** (up to 6)

Introduction* (Explain the purpose and outline how and what was achieved)

Literature Review* (include authors’ own previous relevant work)

Description of Work Done*

*Theory (This can come later if theory formation followed from analysis of data)

Data*

Analysis of Results*

*Conclusions**

*Acknowledgements

References*

Bibliography

4.      From 2009 a new type of paper presentation has been incorporated in the ICOMS Asset Management Conference 2010.   These short papers should be used to highlight efforts that might be in an early stage but are important for the asset management community to be made aware of, present novel theories for discussion, or illustrate systems or case studies that can be described sufficiently in a limited space.   Abstract papers are restricted to 2 pages, inclusive of all text, illustrations, graphs and references.

Theoretical/Research Papers (Including models)

1.       Authors must show by means of a thorough literature survey that the theory really is new and what it owes to previous work by the authors and others.

2.       Theory must be explained in terms intelligible to a graduate engineer.

3.       Proposals for testing the new theory must be included.

4.       Examples to illustrate the operation of the logic or mathematics shall be given.  It is acceptable to rework old data or to use fabricated data for these examples, but sources must be clearly stated.

5.       If any example is real and new, then the paper is re-classified as Theory plus Case Study.

6.       A paper is no less theoretical if it is expressed in words rather than algebra, or both; it must be logically developed and not just an opinion.

7.       Experimental methods and analysis techniques must describe what was done and what happened in sufficient detail for the experiments and/or analysis to be repeated by another person or team.  Data used and the testing environment must be fully described.

Theory Plus Case Study Papers  (Applied R&D)

Case Studies

Review Papers