Plus style guide

Punctuation

  • Keep punctuation to a minimum
  • Only use quotation marks for genuine quotes (repeating someone else’s words) and use double (“) quotes
  • Use no dot for abbreviations: eg , etc , ie  Only use these abbreviations within brackets, otherwise use the phrase in full within the main sentence.

 

Capitalisation

  • Keep capitalisation to a minimum, only for names, places and titles. For titles, only capitalise the first word (e.g. Letters to a young mathematician rather than Letters to a Young Mathematician)

 

Spelling

  • Use British spelling (realise rather than realize, colour rather than color, etc.)

 

Numbers 

  • Units (e.g. lengths, weights, also mathematical numbers) should be numerals. Others should be written out up to twelve, and numerals above. So: 1 metre, five people, 25 apples, the point 0 on the number line.

 

Equations and maths

  • It’s totally fine to use equations but they must be explained in full. If you can’t then that means the equation shouldn’t be there.
  • Metaphors are a great way of getting difficult concepts across, but be aware that they can mislead.
  • It’s fine to simplify but if you are make sure you say that that’s what you’re doing
  • Don’t use equation numbers. If they become necessary it’s probably a sign that there are too many equations in the text
  • Don’t use Definition 1, Theorem 1, etc. Don’t use formal definitions at all, and theorems only when absolutely necessary.
  • Never say that something is “obvious” unless it is glaringly obvious
  • Don’t assume that people know that n usually stands for a natural number and epsilon for a very small one, etc.

 

Technical terms

  • Avoid jargon at all cost
  • Only introduce technical terms when absolutely necessary and explain their meaning straight away.
  • Indicate that something is a technical term by italicising it (not by using quotes) and do not capitalise. E.g. “this is a triangular number” rather than “this is a ‘Triangular Number’ “
  • Always explain acronyms and avoid them if possible.  If you are going to use something many times throughout the article, give the phrase in full the first time it is used followed by the acronym in brackets, and use the acronym from then on.  For example the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can thereafter be referred to as the LHC.

 

People

  • Only name-check people when absolutely necessary for the story. E.g. it’s not necessary to say who exactly proved a minor result, but when talking about Fermat’s last theorem mentioning Andrew Wiles might add to the story.
  • Refer to people by their full names, e.g. Grigory Perelman the first time they are mentioned, and use surnames from then on.
  • Leave out titles and affiliations
  • Do not use expressions like “et al”

 

References and footnotes

  • No footnotes, no academic-style references

Image captions

  • If creative commons, mention author (with link) and the tupe of licence, ie Image: David Benbennik, CC BY-SA 2.0
  • If it's from stock photography you don't need to credit the source
  • If it's an image crated by  someone whose work we reported on, credit the person who created it and include "used by permission"

 

Colloquialisms

  • Colloquial language is ok within reason
  • It’s ok to use “don’t”, “won’t”, “can’t” etc

 

Language

  • Do not  use sexist language. So it’s “humankind” rather than “mankind”,etc. Don't use "he" as a default when referring to someone whose gender is unknown.
  • Generally use active rather than passive voice, as this is more dynamic, e.g. “We can understand this equation by looking at the graph” rather than “this equation can be understood by looking at the graph”
  • Generally use verbs rather than nouns, e.g. “The researchers investigated” rather than “The researchers conducted an investigation”
  • Look out for words like “very”, “actually”, “notwithstanding”. Often they are unnecessary and a sentence is better off without them, though of course they do sometimes work well for effect.

And you can find more useful tips here in our writing guide!