Questions tagged [formatting]
Concerning how to format content in academic writing.
210
questions
19
votes
6answers
5k views
Why do some journal proofs insert dozens of typesetting mistakes? [on hold]
Why do some journals change the final software and do not provide a template for the final draft(e.g. contains the same font as in the gallery proof)?
I often hear that some of my colleagues get ...
0
votes
2answers
140 views
Referring to a result that comes later
So in writing a math paper, if I am writing a proof of a theorem and I need to refer a lemma that comes later in the same paper. What is the proper way
to say that? For example if I am proving a ...
2
votes
2answers
320 views
Why is the two-column format so popular?
At least in the field of computer science, I have noticed this to be a common practice.
Why exactly is this done? I find it harder to read and follow.
0
votes
3answers
95 views
Where do I place citations
I'm writing a math paper using TexShop that is almost entirely original but I got help with a trig proof; I found a formula in a book that I improved upon, and then got help finding a number series ...
1
vote
1answer
126 views
When is it appropriate to wrap text around an image in a scientific paper?
I am working on a paper and the prescribed style dictates that we should use a single column of text; however, we have some relatively tall and thin images. If they are included in the paper in line ...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
how to format computer code in APA style
If a psychological methods journal only specifies that the entire manuscript has to be in APA style, how should I format computer code snippets in the manuscript to be submitted? I see nothing ...
7
votes
1answer
347 views
Outcome of LaTeX template differs from published papers – should I worry about this?
I am in the process of submitting my first paper to a journal for publication and I would like the style to be flawless. I have used the AEA LaTeX template to prepare my manuscript, but I notice some ...
0
votes
1answer
24 views
Does APA style satisfy AEA style requirements?
I see the AEA templates as well as APA guidelines. I'm in the process of assessing the question myself, but I'm wondering if anyone has a quick answer: If I format my paper according to APA guidelines ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there a way to prevent the production team from messing up my paper?
After reading this post and this post, and after I also encountered a production team that made many unwanted edits in my paper (such as changing words and numbers in the text itself, removing ...
1
vote
1answer
30 views
APA reference same author, one dated, one not dated: which order? [closed]
If I have the same author twice in my reference list, and one work is dated and the other is not, which comes first in the list?
E.g.:
Lastname, F., (n.d.). Title [etc.]
Lastname, F., (2019). ...
0
votes
2answers
176 views
What do camera ready figures mean nowadays?
A journal I am submitting to requires camera-ready figures. What does this term mean nowadays? Does it imply high resolution? My figures are in png format and have 96 dpi. Enlarging it can produce ...
-1
votes
2answers
175 views
Is there a “best format” for CVs? [closed]
There are so many ways to compose CVs now. I try to keep my CV updated in LaTeX, Markdown/HTML, ASCII, and Word just in case someone needs a specific file format.
If an application doesn't specify a ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
Chicago Manual of Style chapter and section title capitalization
Ploughing through Chicago Manual of Style Online, I can't seem to find any concrete reference to whether chapter and section/subsection titles are capitalized in headline style or sentence style.
It ...
-2
votes
2answers
188 views
Publisher requests figure in vector format [closed]
I've recently sent an article to a conference, and now I've received this technical revision:
figure 3 should be in vector format
What does it mean exactly? My diagram is in PNG format. Which ...
1
vote
4answers
108 views
How to have a system of referencing citations so that it is short and well-styled
I am familiar with writing the citation part (in different styles). However, I have typically just used superscripts like Wikipedia to reference the citation, like this[1] sort of thing. I would like ...
3
votes
2answers
162 views
How important is the orthographic/typographic rigor? [closed]
Science and Orthographic/Typographical Errors
Some people appreciate the attention to have their orthographic/typographical errors corrected/pointed out.
Others find it uncool to just point formal ...
-1
votes
1answer
139 views
How to denote remainder in a paper in science? [closed]
I want to write a result in a scientific paper that contains the remainder of X (a real number) divided by R (another real number), i.e. X - [X/R]R, where [X/R] is the floor function. Is there an ...
2
votes
2answers
48 views
How do you properly cite an advertisement from a website online in APA formatting?
I can't find an answer to this question anywhere. How do you properly cite an advertisement from a website online in APA formatting?
Is it just:
Company. (Year, Month Day of Ad Retrieval). Ad ...
2
votes
3answers
127 views
What formatting guidelines should I follow for my bachelor's thesis if some of them are not specified by the university?
I am writing my bachelor's thesis at a university of applied sciences in the Netherlands.
The university has provided me with a document outlining some of the guidelines I should follow (like what ...
5
votes
1answer
175 views
Bad typesetting
I would like to ask community how do you deal with unsatisfactory typesetting. I have extremely bad experience with 2 journals: i) Scientific Reports of the Nature family and ii) Physica Status Solidi ...
0
votes
4answers
312 views
I am not sure whether this is a serious typos in a published article
Just now i found few short form typos in my published articles few years ago.The mistakes is almost like this: If I declare my first sentences Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is one of the most important ...
1
vote
1answer
109 views
How can I make my engineering MSc dissertation look professional?
Obligatory apology if this is off topic...
I'm struggling to make my MSc dissertation look professional.
I've been told that academic documents such as PhD theses are often written in/using TeX, but ...
0
votes
1answer
128 views
How can I refer to multiple equations with “Eq. (i)” style?
Assume the manuscript format for referencing the equations is as "Eq. (i)". How can I properly refer to multiple equations at once? For example which of the followings is more acceptable?
In Eq. (1), ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
How to cite a bookchapter that is accepted and To appear?
I have a book chapter that is accepted and I want to cite it on a conference paper that I should upload its camera ready today. What is the best way to cite it ? here is my bibtex.
@inbook{...
0
votes
1answer
476 views
Mendeley Harvard reference format [closed]
Does anyone know where I can find a correct Harvard reference format to upload on Mendeley Desktop and use it with the Mendeley Word plug-in?
It seems that the ones available are not correct.
Thanks
7
votes
2answers
741 views
Can I demand re-submission of a manuscript that has an odd document layout?
I am assigned to review a paper that has an extremely strange page layout (the pages are squares, single column with about 150 characters per line), making it very impractical to print or read. It is ...
0
votes
2answers
59 views
Should the listings be included in the contents page [closed]
I have a thesis template that does not put the List of Figures, List of Tables etc. in the contents page.
What is the normal practice and what is the normal order for the front matter?
Currently it ...
0
votes
1answer
126 views
More or less sections/subsections in a journal article?
When writing an academic paper, sections help organize the paper and make it more navigable for the reader. I can imagine a number of pros/cons of having more or less sections in a paper, but I'm not ...
4
votes
1answer
93 views
Italicization of mathematical symbols: quantity symbols vs units symbols
The SI conventions state that variables and quantity symbols should be italicized, while unit symbols should be roman (see, e.g., this useful reference/cheat sheet). For example,
Here the proton ...
2
votes
2answers
493 views
Print Phd thesis in A4 or A5? [closed]
I would like to ask those in Academia who supervise PhD students and get to read their Phd theses. When checking on previous theses submitted to the library, I found some printed not in the more ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views
How to cite when I want to use a direct quote in the same sentence as an in-text citation with no parenthesis in APA?
For example, I want to describe a paper with a direct quote from it. Would this be OK:
Pieters and Wedel (2007) “revealed goal control of attention even during a few seconds of self-paced ad ...
5
votes
1answer
84 views
Can I refer readers to link to a large figure?
I am preparing a journal paper and I have a very large figure in the SVG format that I would like to include in the paper. However, the figure is very hard to fit it inside the paper without affecting ...
38
votes
4answers
4k views
Central dot as decimal point in top journal
The Lancet, one of the top medical journals in the world, requires 'Type decimal points midline (ie, 23·4, not 23.4)'. Does anyone know why this is? As a mathematician, I'll always read 23·4 as 92. ...
2
votes
2answers
851 views
What is a concise citation format for grant proposals given constraints on page counts?
Many grant applications have page limits. They also often allow the writer to chose their preferred format for references.
Thus, I was wondering:
What is a good concise referencing system that ...
8
votes
2answers
4k views
What is the advantage of the two-column journal format?
I am a mathematician whose work often connects with physics, so I often have to read papers in physics journals. I find that the two-column format popular with physics journals annoying, and based on ...
1
vote
2answers
85 views
Should article submissions be formatted in draft format, or in the format of a particular journal? [duplicate]
Some journals do not require article submissions to be in any particular format. Would it still be better to try and copy that journals usual format, or use a generic draft format? Would you as an ...
29
votes
5answers
5k views
Is there a convention on how to write pseudocode in scientific papers?
I've found questions answering where or when to write pseudocode in scientific papers, but I haven't found any addressing any sort of convention for pseudocode, such as syntax, what type of symbols or ...
1
vote
1answer
172 views
Is it considered okay to mention all the correction in an accepted article which is typeset by the press
Let's say that I got a paper accepted to a nice journal (feels so good!), in fact of a very reputed publisher. Then, the press / editorial office asks me to submit all the source files for preparing ...
-3
votes
8answers
1k views
Unconventional fonts [duplicate]
Most articles and books are written in the conventional fonts like Computer Modern Roman, Times New Roman, etc. which are similar to each others. Why aren't more fonts used?
I wrote my course this ...
0
votes
1answer
132 views
Scientific paper format / layout
If you were to write a scientific paper which must include a section on 'Basic definitions', would you put this section after the Abstract and the Introduction, or before the Introduction?
What do ...
1
vote
1answer
595 views
“Computers & Security” journal latex template? [closed]
The following links explains the "Guide for Authors" for the "Computers & Security" journal:
https://www.elsevier.com/journals/computers-and-security/0167-4048/guide-for-authors
However, I ...
23
votes
6answers
3k views
Difficulty reading scientific papers in two columns
It sounds stupid, but I came to realize that it's significantly more difficult for me to read scientific papers when they are typeset in two columns than papers in which the text appears in one column....
7
votes
1answer
155 views
How to refer to a source with “minor” typos in the title?
This questions supplements the existing: how to refer to a source with typos in the title, where OP spotted grammar mistakes in the title of papers mentioned in the reference list and wondered whether ...
0
votes
1answer
124 views
Master thesis - rules for italicizing
I am writing my master thesis in English and I understand that usually italics are used to put emphasis on a word, because it is an important or a newly introduced technical term. But I still ask ...
2
votes
3answers
84 views
Should I follow-up with the editor about formatting issues on a published article?
I just received an email from the editor of a monograph series letting me know the issue where my article is included is now live. I went through normal things recently to get it published, like a ...
1
vote
1answer
111 views
Does every single table in a thesis need to be numbered?
In my thesis I'm analyzing the results of a linguistic survey in which a large number of words are discussed. I provide a small table with details of the statistical analysis for each word. All the ...
1
vote
0answers
285 views
Where'd this layout come from?
In the past, I experimented a lot with the layout of my thesis. Until I managed to find a PDF of a standard book layout of some publisher, which attracted me so much that I copied it for my thesis.
...
8
votes
2answers
204 views
How often do publishers change/tweak articles to achieve visually appealing results?
When reading this question it seems the theoretical answer is that LaTeX is not perfect and manual/human intervention is required. In the TeX Book Knuth says:
But the problem of page make-up is ...
21
votes
5answers
3k views
Why do journals reformat your submissions?
When submitting to (computer science) conferences, you usually have full control over the layout and are able to submit a camera-ready version that will be published as submitted.
For journals, ...
1
vote
0answers
104 views
Citations in a Postdoc Research Statement (Humanities)
In a research statement for a postdoc application, is it common or expected to provide formal citations (footnotes) for claims, especially in regards to existing scholarship?
