Questions tagged [formatting]

Concerning how to format content in academic writing.

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Is it worth telling a PhD about his manuscript typos and mathematical mistakes once already published?

In the scope of the first weeks of a postdoctoral position in a company where one has the task to read a thesis manuscript written in this same company, suppose that one finds typographical mistakes (...
JKHA's user avatar
  • 190
3 votes
2 answers
175 views

Guidelines for labeling axes of inset plots

What are the recommended guidelines for labeling the axes of an inset displaying a magnified or reduced view of the primary plot? Should an inset include labels if the main plot is in linear scale ...
df7's user avatar
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-3 votes
3 answers
706 views

Using ChatGPT to format references in manuscript being submitted to peer-reviewed journal

I have a list of references in a pre-print article that I'm getting ready to submit to a peer-reviewed journal. I will need to change the format of the references according to the journal that I ...
Alison Paprica's user avatar
33 votes
11 answers
13k views

Is LaTeX an implicit prerequisite in Undergraduate Mathematics?

I am expected to start my first semester in college next spring as a math major. While preparing for undergraduate studies I heard from my peers that I should study this language/program called LaTeX ...
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1 vote
3 answers
192 views

How to prepare/modify a CV for a PhD application?

I'm going to email a potential supervisor for a PhD opportunity in aerospace engineering (astrodynamics curriculum) for introducing myself and getting more information about the PhD. I would like ...
g_don's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
125 views

What are the most reasonable side margins for a (math) preprint?

When disseminating your research with a preprint, is there ever a disadvantage to using (almost) the full printable page area? I see overwhelming advantages to using the entire page: The page count ...
Ambicion's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
620 views

Where did the old Editors' Suggestion sign of Physical Review journals come from?

Physical Review journals used to indicate Editors' Suggestions with this sign: In an editorial announcement they state that: The icon contains the printer’s mark that at one time appeared on the ...
adriaanJ's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
417 views

Math symbols at line begin

This question is a duplicate of this one I asked on graphicdesign.stackexchange.com, where commenters suggested to ask it here instead. I am facing the following typography/formatting/spelling/...
marc's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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Proof of a corollary

Suppose we have a Corollary 1.3 evidently implied by Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.2. How should one go about proving Corollary 1.3? Can we say: Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.2 evidently imply the following ...
user227351's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
169 views

How to use the linking word "e.g.", meaning "for example"?

Talking from one field in the human sciences. When giving examples in parentheses illustrating one notion ‘the subject agrees in number with the verb (e.g. "it belongs")’, or providing ...
Starckman's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
117 views

Can figures and tables go past page limits? [closed]

I'm writing a paper for a conference, and the tables and figures go past the page limit, but they end up in the references section. That is, our text does not go past the page limit, just a few tables....
Pro Q's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
212 views

What is the name of that white, dark blue/purple, and black slideshow presentation format/template?

What is the name of that dark blue/purple border, white background, black sans serif text (except for the heading text, which is white on a dark blue/purple background) slideshow presentation format/...
shiba-inu's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
219 views

How do you call the small numbers close to coauthors in an article?

In a scientific paper, how do you call the small numbers or symbols close to coauthor names that link to their institutions or e-mail addresses, etc.? Do you call them "calls"....? I don't ...
Vicent's user avatar
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29 votes
9 answers
4k views

What is the de facto standard while writing equation in a short email to professors?

In a research field that math is frequently used, while sending a long note/paper, attaching a pdf is of course the best. But for a short email that only involves few equations, a pdf file might be ...
dodo's user avatar
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19 votes
5 answers
7k views

When citing your advisor's past work, how can I proceed when their papers are poorly written?

I am reviewing the MsC. dissertation of a friend of mine before it is submitted to the evaluation board. I started looking for formatting errors, badly written parts, malformed citations, typos, ...
Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
274 views

What is the fastest way of completing my post viva thesis correction edits?

I have written my thesis using Word and Endnote. I have three months of corrections. Any general tips based on previous experience on how to streamline the edits would be welcome. The document is too ...
jon101's user avatar
  • 21
0 votes
1 answer
178 views

How can I state my collaborations in my thesis?

During my PhD I had the opportunity to collaborate with people with many different affiliations. Now that I am ending my Thesis I would like to read sum hint on how to compactly mention them, their ...
Daniele Cuomo's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
204 views

What's the correct way to write units of measure about time and angles in scientific document?

I have a question on how to write units of measure of angles and times in my MSc thesis. What is the correct form between "13.2 degree" and "13.2 degrees"? A similar question about ...
g_don's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
94 views

Is it good practice to have hyperlinks to acronyms in captions of a MSc thesis?

I have inserted hyperlinks to acronyms list (by using the command \gls{acronym:NASA} in my LaTex project) in captions of figures and tables (see images below as example), in this way, if the reader ...
g_don's user avatar
  • 261
3 votes
2 answers
250 views

How many times to repeat the expandend form of acronyms in a Master's Degree thesis?

I premise that my University does not indicate a precise guideline for the typographic rules to be adopted; so I'm wondering if it is a good practice to expand the acronyms only in the abstract and ...
g_don's user avatar
  • 261
1 vote
1 answer
213 views

How correctly write ordinal numbers in a scientific thesis?

I'm wrtiting my Master of Science thesis in Aerospace Engineering and I've a doubt about wrtiting of ordinal numbers? Let' us consider the following alternatives:$i$th, $i$-th. What is the correct ...
g_don's user avatar
  • 261
1 vote
2 answers
143 views

Round Results Up or to Even [closed]

In 20+ years of research, I believed rounding of results should follow the "round up at 0.5" rule, while internal rounding during computation may follow other rules such as "round to ...
Joachim Wagner's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
210 views

How do you indicate changes (deletions specifically) in a manuscript without using tracked changes or strikethrough?

I have a manuscript accepted with minor changes. I had to delete and rewrite some texts as the reviewers suggested. The journal specifically asked "Please highlight the changes to your manuscript ...
Linwei He's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
399 views

What tool is better for journal-quality plots: matplotlib or Matlab? [closed]

I make my plots in Matlab and they turn out looking reasonably good. However, I'm contemplating porting to more open-source tools and hence, I wish to make use of Python's matplotlib. My priorities ...
Corgi Fan's user avatar
5 votes
6 answers
3k views

Which academic writing style allows extensive explanatory footnotes?

I am writing an essay which involves many concepts supposedly unfamiliar to the reader. It has been suggested to me that the explanations of these terms be in the footnotes as this way they wouldn’t ...
Egoless's user avatar
  • 67
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

What information to list in opening slide for conference?

Silly question, but I figured I'd ask. What information should be present in the opening slide of my presentation to a conference and how do I format it? Should it be like this: Interesting picture ...
flen's user avatar
  • 187
2 votes
1 answer
964 views

How to sign a professional email as a retired professor in two departments . .

Wise colleagues, I am in need of your counsel, please. I am a retired professor requiring clarification on how to sign a professional email. Although I am happily retired, there remain certain ...
Prof.DA62's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
300 views

What is the 'correct' way to caption stacked images for comparison? [closed]

I am editing my thesis, and cannot find any resources on the best way to caption multiple images stacked side-by-side or top-to-bottom for comparison. I quickly put together an example of how I think ...
user27771's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
232 views

What are advantages and disadvantages of "chapter abstracts" [closed]

What are advantages and disadvantages (totally not implying that there is a rule) of "chapter abstracts", i.e., short summaries of the content of the following chapter, which are placed ...
Sebastian E's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Conventional left and right margins

I realized that in some public academic proposals, on each page, the left margin and right margin are not equal (e.g., the left margin is greater than the right margin). Does anyone know what's the ...
SoftTimur's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
1k views

Unit Symbols for Equations

This question falls in the general category of another question from 5.5 years ago with the addition of the explicit request from the reviewer. A comment from a reviewer requested that units of all ...
Aly Abdelaziz's user avatar
9 votes
5 answers
5k views

How can I use parentheses when there are math parentheses inside?

I want to write the following sentence: The space O(X) (O(Y)) has functions defined on it as g(x)–f(x) (g(x)–f(x)). By which I mean: The space O(X) has functions defined on it as g(x)–f(x) and the ...
wooohooo's user avatar
  • 229
0 votes
4 answers
839 views

Is it ok to have different decimal places when presenting different data in a paper?

I want to present my data with standard errors. The two might not be in the same order. Can I use different decimal places in one paragraph/paper like the below example? Or should I keep the same ...
Elizabeth's user avatar
  • 637
-3 votes
2 answers
859 views

Does the font matter when putting a manuscript on arXiv?

I have a research paper that I want to upload on arXiv. Almost all the papers I have seen on arXiv are written in Times New Roman. I understand scientific papers are written in that font mostly. But I ...
user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
3k views

Where are historical research papers stored?

I have been reading some historical papers in the field of computer science, economics and game theory. I have noticed that some of the really old ones such as Equilibrium points in n-person games by ...
Surobaki's user avatar
  • 331
2 votes
2 answers
637 views

How to improve quality of figures after reviewers have mentioned it? [closed]

The paper we are working on was accepted and we got a comment saying "Quality of Figures could be improved". All the figures that are given have been exported from matplotlib and have all ...
Sanx's user avatar
  • 165
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Which software is appropriate for drawing complicated block diagrams in academic papers?

What sort of software can I use to make block diagrams, such as those used in machine learning papers? For example, this graph: From the paper: https://aclanthology.org/2020.emnlp-main.676.pdf
user900476's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
815 views

Indicating an en dash in arXiv submission's metadata [closed]

As indicated here, arXiv metadata fields (e.g., title or abstract) only accept ASCII input, but there are ways of making other symbols appear. My question is, what is the "best" or "...
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
204 views

Can I put an accepted article in Elsevier with IEEE latex format in arxiv?

I know that Elsevier policies say: Authors can share their accepted manuscript: by updating a preprint in arXiv or RePEc with the accepted manuscript But in the definition of the accepted manuscript,...
user137927's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
36 views

Should I use strikethrough while the article revision? [duplicate]

I got an email from a reputed journal of Taylor & Francis pointing to the Major Revision of our systematic review article. As an author, I started the revision work by colouring the revised text &...
Md Abrar Jahin's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does 'pagination' refer to page numbers only or line numbers as well?

With reference to manuscripts, does 'ensuring pagination' only mean that each page is numbered, or does it mean that lines are numbered as well? Is there an equivalent word/phrase for numbering lines? ...
AppliedAcademic's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
47 views

How are more sub-figures with letters usualy cited?

We are writing a book so we want to establish some guidelines, so I am looking for how this is most usualy done in scientific papers. What would be the rules for citing more sub-figures with letters? ...
Tomas's user avatar
  • 1,009
-5 votes
1 answer
277 views

Would it be acceptable to write a paper in dark mode? [closed]

To those who don't know what dark mode is, it's basically using a black background, and for a paper it would mean that the background is black while the words are white. I noticed that most papers ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
33 votes
12 answers
9k views

Could I use colors to distinguish variables in a paper?

Often when distinguishing one variable from another we use different characters or if using the same character different subscripts. For instance we might use x for one variable, and y for another, ...
Anders Gustafson's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
393 views

What format do scientific research papers use? [duplicate]

I was wondering what kind of association format scientific researchers use to publish their work/papers. Is it MLA or APA? Which is more commonly used? If I wanted to write a research paper, on, say, ...
AdiBak's user avatar
  • 107
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

What kind of fonts can I use for academic presentation? [closed]

Many videos and documents say that we should use Arial as the font for academic presentation. However, I think Arial is really ugly. Certainly, there are other fonts suitable for academic ...
ZhangLiao's user avatar
  • 121
0 votes
0 answers
475 views

How to deal with large figures in draft of a paper

I am working on a draft of a paper and I have large figure that does not fit into 1 page. I can split the figure into two, but I wonder what is the appropriate way of doing it. Two ways that I ...
1muflon1's user avatar
  • 690
0 votes
1 answer
720 views

Which is Highest Content Level of Academic Papers: Chapter or Section?

Is there a rule or common agreement on which one to use on Academic Papers? Chapters > Sections > Subsections ...; or simply Sections > Subsections > ... ? Is it the case that chapters ...
Eduardo Reis's user avatar
6 votes
6 answers
4k views

Large table formatting ideas in dissertation

I have a quite large table (45 columns x 15 rows). Columns include comparisons groups and each row represents a measure. I can only think about putting the table on multiple pages but this does not ...
qw45ty's user avatar
  • 73
3 votes
2 answers
351 views

Where should I place the citation in this sentence?

I have the following sentence, where the citation refers to the first part of the sentence. Because of how it appears in the formatting of my paper, and how it reads, I would like to have the citation ...
John's user avatar
  • 39

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