When do you use superscript affiliations and when not?

Question

I am submitting a paper to a journal. This journal allows authors' affiliations to be indicated either with superscripts or by listing the authors from each institution on its own line. I am trying to decide which of these to choose.

I normally submit papers with superscript affiliations because this is less wasteful in terms of space. But, the layout of my current paper is amenable to both formats (the author order doesn't matter, and this alternate format seems clearer). My experience is mostly with LaTeX with the revTex class, so it's just whether the "superscriptaddress" is listed in the beginning of the document or not.

In the absence of guidance from the journal, what factors should one consider when deciding which style to use?

Answer 1

If many authors share the exact same affiliation, use the superscript form.

If one or more authors each have multiple affiliations, use the superscript form.

If authors come from departments whose names indicate distinct disciplines, and these multiple expertises are relevant for the multidisciplinary aspects of the paper, do not use the superscript form.

Use these rules as rules of thumb, not as ironclad rules. In the end, this is a matter of personal style and opinion.

Answer 2

Which way to do the superscripts really just depends on what the journal/conference says the is the way to do it. Either try to find the style guide for the journal, their latex template if they have one, or have a look at some of the recent papers that they have published to see which way they do it.