Evan Brueggemann
AT 419
In the semester of Fall of 2019, I worked in a group creating a project involving unmanned aerial systems. The project used the creation of 3D models with comparing development time between the alternatives. This semester our group is tasked with creating a white paper over the research collected from the previous semester. We have an option however of creating a more traditional research in place of the white paper. This assignment’s purpose is for us to individually determine which type of paper we should write. In this assignment I will cover what makes a white paper, differences between a white paper and peer-reviewed literature, and preparing three critiques of individual white papers.
White papers are documents that are generally text heavy with the purpose of fully informing the reader of the certain topic. These papers should make it easy for a reader to understand and interpret the ideas being presented. Readers should be able to feel that they have received ample information in order to make their own informed conclusions. According to instructionalsolutions.com, businesses write white papers for marketing and to record expertise with the audience being anyone outside of said business.
With businesses trying to get their ideas across, it is important to understand why white papers are more attractive in the business world. Peer-reviewed articles are scientific papers that have been reviewed and accepted by other scientists. Other scientists like peer-reviewed articles but outside of that it does not seem to be the case. According to Sandra Porter from digitalworldbiology.com, businesses prefer white papers because of the low cost and ease with producing them. For businesses, they do not want to take the time to revise their information which could mean a lower return on investment. The white paper on the other hand does not need to be peer-reviewed and can be widely distributed for a lower cost. This leads us to the pros and cons of white papers.
White papers are not perfect and does have its drawbacks. One advantage is the time and money saved during production. It was briefly discussed in the previous paragraph that businesses cannot take the time to have articles reviewed and revised. Businesses often need an easy method of delivering their technical data in an easy to understand format that are not just formal reports. Another great advantage is that all the content within a white paper is reusable. Other white papers may cite information from yours which can bring in more readers. Now to move on to the disadvantages of white papers. According to James Anderson from toprankblog.com, a large con of white papers is that once they are created they just cannot be left to sit. One must continually make the effort to generate traffic to the white paper in order to have a greater return on investment. Another notable disadvantage is that white papers can sometimes be boring and disinterest the reader. To avoid this, one must include helpful data like graphs and different examples throughout to keep the reader intrigued.
I will now provide three critique of different white papers. The first white paper relates to gas detection from underground coal fire by drone fly over. In this paper, it has charts and graphs throughout to help explain the information and keep to the reader on track. One noticeable difference from traditional writing is that this white paper is very straight to the point with no nonsense. The next white paper I reviewed covers the vertical profiles of lung deposited surface concentration of particulate matter measured via a drone. This white paper is very similar to the previous one. Both these papers have descriptive titles that are not trying to be kept concise. This differs from the traditional approach of making a catchy title to pull the readers in. In more traditional literature, graphs and pictures do not often take up an entire page. In this white paper it regularly uses large graphs that take up most of the page in order to show the proper details that are needed. Finally, my last critique covers the white paper discusses range based algorithms for precise localization of terrestrial objects using a drone. This paper was also similar to both previous papers mentioned. It includes images that take up most the area leaving little white space. This white paper is more text orientated which made it harder for me to understand the concepts as I was reading.
In order for our group to continue moving forward in the production of our white paper, we still need to conduct further research. We hope to be able to gather enough research that we can use to make a thorough white paper that can be published and be included on our resume for future opportunities.
Works Cited
Betti Sorbelli, F., Das, S., Pinotti, C., & Silvestri, S. (2018). Range based algorithms for precise localization of terrestrial objects using a drone. Pervasive and Mobile Computing, 48, 20-42.
Dunnington, L., & Nakagawa, M. (2017). Fast and safe gas detection from underground coal fire by drone fly over. Environmental Pollution, 229, 139-145.
Kuuluvainen, H., Poikkimaki, M., Jarvinen, A., Kuula, J., Irjala, M., Dal Maso, M., . . . Ronkko, T. (2018). Vertical profiles of lung deposited surface area concentration of particulate matter measured with a drone in a street canyon. Environmental Pollution, 241, 96-105.
