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The USENIX Special Interest Group for Sysadmins

Guidelines for Writing a White Paper

Getting Started  |  Submitting Your White Paper

A white paper is a 2- to 20-screen document that details a sysadmin technique, experience, analysis, or result. It might tell the story of moving your machine room, share the results of your analysis of 18 backup systems, explain how you can manage 150 DNS servers from a single console, or discuss any of a myriad topics SAGE members might like to hear about.

Even if you haven't written much, you shouldn't let that stop you. White papers are a great way to contribute to the community, and your experience and expertise will make the process relatively painless. As soon as you have a clear outline of what you want to say, you can present your information in a way that's will be welcomed by our information-hungry audience.

Besides, our experienced editorial staff can give you as much assistance as you want. We can review the outline (often offering suggestions on how to emphasize important points or include omitted material), review the first draft of the paper, copyedit a final draft, and give you pointers if work is still needed. If you're stuck or just unsure of something, just ask us.

Your white paper will be posted on the SAGE Web site, and fame will make its way to you for years and years—especially if you decide to update the paper at suitably spaced intervals.

Getting Started

A typical paper has introductory text, two or more sections of discussion, and a conclusion.

Within that framework, you might go through the following steps for the main body of a paper:

  • Explain an existing problem
  • Dissect the possible solutions and how they work
  • Discuss the framework for evaluating solutions
  • List each solution's strengths and weaknesses (in the light of the evaluation scheme)
  • Make any further important points

Your paper doesn't have to be long to be valuable. Very short papers can often be expanded easily: send us your one-pager for possible suggestions for turning it into something more substantial.

What about tone? You're writing for an audience of your peers. The emphasis is on conveying your information clearly and simply. When you read your paper aloud, it should sound as if you're speaking to a colleague.

A basic outline of what you're going to write before you start writing is almost always useful. Don't omit the subtle things:

  • What background information will a reader need to know?
  • Will graphs or other illustrations help to convey your points?

Be sure to explain concepts and terms your audience can't be assumed to be familiar with already. This will enable you to avoid a problem in many technical documents: the authors understand their subject so well that they don't realize that what seems obvious to them is opaque to someone new to the subject.

Consider providing links to further information, or a bibliography.

White papers abound on the Web. Try searching for a white paper on a topic like yours as a source of ideas. (Of course, you don't want to plagiarize it.)

Submitting Your White Paper

It's best to send your document to us in plain text (ASCII), in HTML, or in a simple version of a Microsoft Word document. Don't use Word illustrations, though; provide them in a portable, Web-friendly format (JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP . . .).

You own the copyright to your paper, but you grant SAGE and USENIX the right to publish it online. If you arrange to have your paper reprinted elsewhere, please include the line "Reprinted from the White Papers section of the SAGE Web site, http://www.sage.org/pubs/whitepapers/."

When you're ready for us to start helping, send your outline or paper to us at whitepapers@sage.org. We'll review it and give you feedback promptly.