There have been many fine papers at the SEP-FEP conference this year. In this post I thought I would distill some of the paper-delivering ‘best practice’ from the past three days and combine it with other advice I have been given and picked up over the years. These reflections are a personal digest of what I have seen done well, and I’m sure that others would come up with a very different list. There is more than one way to skin this particular cat.

Planning and writing the paper

• Don’t try to say too much (usually try to say one thing well, even if you say it in different ways).
• Make EVERYTHING explicit. The audience have two things against them when it comes to understanding your paper: 1) they are not as close to the material as you are, and 2) they are trying to grasp your point after hearing it…