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So the question is simple: What is the common way of saying something in parentheses in a journal paper like engineering or mathematics.

Assume you are talking about a mathematical approach, but in the middle you want to point out to something else, or mention an special case. I give an example:

...our approach is based on the following linear equations....

Eq.(1).....

(now here I want to make a big parenthesis or a break to discuss about something regarding the approach which is not too long to be considered as an Appendix, maybe only one paragraph )

One can think of the other approach such as .....

So the question is it, how this feature is normally handled in papers, and what is the latex function to do so.

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  • I think it would be more appropriately typeset as a footnote (or endnote).
    – Martin - マーチン
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 9:25
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    Can you show an example in an actual paper? I'm having trouble understanding what you are trying to do. If you want to use parentheses, you don't need any special formatting; you just type parentheses around the text. The bit about a "big parenthesis" puzzles me, since I don't recall ever having seen someone use extra large parentheses in ordinary text. In any case, putting a whole paragraph in parentheses can be awkward, so Martin's suggestion may be preferable.
    – Anonymous Mathematician
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 9:30
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    Have you thought about doing it without parentheses?
    – Nobody
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 9:30
  • It basically has a footnote functionality, but one paragraph is too much for a footnote and too little to be considered as an Appendix. that's why I'm confused. It would be better to put it in the middle of the text than in footnote I think as it involves equations as well not only text.
    – user3327426
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 9:30
  • The word parenthesis here is semantic and generic. When you say something in parenthesis mean that you want to say something extra and if the reader skips that piece, nothing will happen because the rest of the paper will never use or refer to that piece.
    – user3327426
    Commented Jan 20, 2015 at 9:33

2 Answers 2

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There are sometimes "remark" blocks that some authors use for discussing aspects that are of substantial interest to some readers but do not strictly belong to the core of the story that you are telling. If you are preparing your document with LaTeX, then such text blocks are called "environments".

An example is given in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science guide for preparing papers, page 4 at the bottom.

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When it is the right thing to do, I am comfortable with putting a whole paragraph in a footnote and have done so. The ideal option, however, which some journals will let you do, is to have a sidebar or boxout. This has the same segregating effect as an appendix, but keeps the material closer to its reference.

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