Questions tagged [scientific-publishing]
This tag should be used for style guides, ethics and common practices relating to publishing of papers in a scientific context.
77
questions
1
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0answers
36 views
What is the preferred way of writing small numbers in academic writing?
I need to represent small numbers in multiple tables. I am wondering which is the preferred way:
1.235e-3, or 1.235x10^-3?
The issue is that the latter requires more width than the former. Hence, most ...
3
votes
1answer
47 views
When writing a scientific report, is it better to define every letter each time an equation is introduced or only for the new letters?
Of the two examples, which is better:
(A)
a = b + c, (1)
where a is ..., b is ..., and c is ...
[some paragraphs]
d = a / e (2)
where d is ...,...
0
votes
1answer
39 views
Capitalize “million” when using as a unit
When you write "1 Million", should it be "1 Million" or "1 million"?
I would assume capital based on the symbol for mega being 'M'.
0
votes
1answer
25 views
Should there be a space between quantitative units?
I understand that the SI standard for units is to have a space between the number and unit:
Unit of measurement and formatting
https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/checklist.html
But, does this apply ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
How to write less like a student and more like a researcher?
I'm writing my first academic paper, and the feedback I got from my supervisors was that my writing sounds more like a student report than a scientific paper.
What advice would you give a student when ...
1
vote
2answers
36 views
When to use simple past or present perfect in scientific papers?
What are the best rules for scientific papers to decide whether to put a sentence in simple past or present perfect tense?
Example
Shapiro et al. (2012) use present perfect in the following sentence:
...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
Citing sources within table and figure legends
I have a figure and a table within my results section that contains data I used software to collect. I have already cited this software within my paper, but to allow my figures to stand on their own I ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
Separating two separate bits of information in parenthesis
I have this excerpt of text from a scientific paper:
... such as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA; maternally inherited) or non-recombining regions of Y-chromosomal DNA (paternally inherited), ...
Where I ...
2
votes
1answer
50 views
List of symbols in dissertation with wide range of topics
Currently, I am writing a dissertation in computer science, which covers a relatively wide range of topics.
When creating the List of symbols I have the problem that many symbols appear several times. ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views
Can I publish both with Apple Books and Amazon?
I want to publish my book both through Apple Books and Amazon. Is this allowed? Or if I choose to provide my book through Apple, then I am obligated to not sell it through any other platform?
1
vote
4answers
102 views
Why is writing so hard? Are there any self-help books for scientific writing? [closed]
Not to make this a post complaining about my inability to write, but I'd like to understand the universal challenges people face when writing and overcome some of these common challenges. Maybe ...
2
votes
2answers
41 views
Does a glossary make sense in a computer science thesis
I am currently writing my master thesis in computer science, more specifically on voice activity detection, a sub-area of automatic speech recognition using neural networks. I asked my supervisor if I ...
2
votes
2answers
22 views
Scientific report and capitalization
I'm writing a master's thesis in English, which is my second language. I have understood that I should capitalize Section, Chapter, Figure, etc., but should I also capitalize other elements that refer ...
3
votes
2answers
72 views
How to include figures and images in body text
I am writing a text (following MHRA style if that makes a difference) that refers to several images throughout, but I am unsure how to include them in my body text in terms of writing style.
Does it ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
Is it appropriate to add a new reference in revising a manuscript?
Is it appropriate to add a new reference in the revised version of a manuscript?
0
votes
2answers
89 views
Past or present tense when describing a well-known method in the description of an experiment?
I am describing an experiment for a scientific paper. In this experiment, I use a very well-known technique which I briefly describe, similar to the following variant (#1):
In this experiment, we ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Should I re-introduce acronyms in important section and write them out in the section's title?
I am writing a paper about a super machine (SM). In the introduction section I am briefly introducing the concept and also the acronym. Then, later in the text, I have a full section which explains SM ...
2
votes
2answers
77 views
Republishing a poem from a lost journal
I am not a professional poet. A few years a poem of mine was published and reviewed by the South Asian Ensemble journal. This journal no longer exists, I cannot find it online and neither in print. I ...
1
vote
1answer
31 views
In an academic Paper, should you mention/reference stuff like Definitions or Theorems? Or are they part of the “text flow”?
I'm not sure if my question is entirely subjective or not. I'm asking because maybe there is a "standard" way of doing it. I haven't found anything about this because it's kind of difficult to search ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
Explicit scientific syntax for academic writing (like a programming language but for scientific reports and publishing)?
This is a project I am thinking of working on in the future.
Is anyone familiar with attempts to codify and create an explicit syntax for reporting science?
E.g. like you would have specific ...
4
votes
2answers
129 views
Subfigures in a figure, how to label?
So if I later refer to figure 2 (i) or figure 2 (ii) would it be better for the figure to be labelled as is Figure 2: Figure (i) shows cycle C? or
Figure 2: (i) shows cycle C or
Figure 2: ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Computer science academic conference paper using “randvar” instead of “random variable”
I am reviewing a computer science submission to an academic conference. The authors use "randvar" instead of "random variable" (as well as "logvar" instead of "logical variable").
I am wondering if, ...
6
votes
2answers
118 views
In scientific writing, what is the protocol for shortening nouns?
I often see place or species names shortened in scientific journal articles and would like to know what the correct protocol is.
Can I shorten "Gough Island" to just "Gough"? Or "leatherback turtle" ...
4
votes
3answers
183 views
Scientific Reports - Significant Figures
I'm currently writing a report where I have a table stating certain parameter values and their errors. Obviously I want the report to look nice, but since the errors of certain parameters vary by ...
5
votes
1answer
66 views
en dash with space for non-integer?
I have a simple question. What's the correct writing style?
1.1–8.4%
or
1.1 – 8.4%
Without space around an en dash looks much better for my eyes. But I read somewhere that if it is a decimal number (...
13
votes
1answer
1k views
How to respond to overenthusiastic copy-editing
I was approached by a science magazine to write a long-form critical essay, and I gave them a 6000-word piece with extensive endnotes. After two months of being with the editorial team it comes back ...
6
votes
5answers
86 views
Should I cite a source that cites an older source?
I am writing a scientific research paper and one of the sources I am using introduced a concept which I am using within the paper. The source I read (published in 1969) credits this concept as being ...
1
vote
2answers
51 views
What means of publishing yields best reputation in scientific community?
If a post-graduate student has three unpublished studies, one of which is expected to have a high impact index, and the rest low impact, what should the student reserve his/her best work for, in order ...
2
votes
2answers
71 views
Should an academic paper contain all text at the same structuring depth?
I'm not sure whether or not this is standard practice, but I've been taught that between two different-level headings, there shouldn't be any text. For example, the following would not be permitted (...
2
votes
2answers
381 views
equation referencing in parentheses
My PhD examiners have asked me to refer to equations using Eq. (6) rather than Eq. 6. This seems simple enough, but often I have sentences of the form:
"This is a fact related to an equation you ...
3
votes
0answers
119 views
How can I help a friend self-publish an incorrect scientific paper? [closed]
I have a friend who for various reasons does not have access to the Internet. We communicate by snail mail.
He has written a paper about a scientific topic. His paper claims that the mainstream view ...
3
votes
2answers
194 views
Cite a book in general and then a chapter in particular
The question is in the context of a paper and a thesis in the area of computational science, computer science and chemistry. I manage my references with Mendeley, and import them into a LaTeX file ...
3
votes
4answers
111 views
How to improve a “dry” scientific review article?
I am seeking suggestions to improve my "dry" writing style.
I recently submitted a manuscript that was intended to be a review article on a particular scientific topic in the field of biomedical ...
6
votes
1answer
88 views
If I quote part of an article that itself contains a quote, what do I cite?
In an article I'm writing, for a conference in engineering education, I would like to quote the following:
They do so “freely, with a full sense of volition and without the necessity of
material ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
How do I express that others and I were unable to find literature about a topic?
Given this question of mine I wondered: If one wants to publish a new result which
one couldn't find any information where the result could have possibly been covered (and neither could one's ...
2
votes
1answer
52 views
What is the best way to take a theorem from another paper?
I would like to include a theorem from a paper, say Alice et al. [12], in my own manuscript.
Which option is the most readable one?
Theorem 6 [[12]]. Every even number can be divided by two without
...
0
votes
1answer
81 views
How to write a scientific journal?
For a long time I've been searching for some reference on how to write a scientific journal but failed to find one. I specifically want to write a scientific journal to be used as my personal ...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
What is a DF manuscript? [closed]
I apologize if this is obvious, but what is a D.F. manuscript? See this link for an example of the term's use.
3
votes
2answers
87 views
How do I include two prerequisite ideas without a non-sequitur?
This question is about scientific writing. Scientific projects often bring together a problem from one field and an approach from another. When it comes time for me to write about the project, the ...
4
votes
1answer
133 views
Scientific article: How to say that with our result something could be done but hasn't
I am writing something similar to a review article about a scientific insight that connects and streamlines a number of seemingly different previous results.
In the introduction, I give an example of ...
0
votes
1answer
334 views
Which citation format do I use when multiple style options apply to the same source?
I want to cite the following pdf in Turabian style, but I have no idea how to cite it because it is technically multiple things at once. It looks like a paper, but its extension is a pdf, and its ...
3
votes
2answers
243 views
Is active or passive voice more common in scientific writing?
I am choosing between two sentences:
We display the values of X in Table 1.
The values of X are displayed in Table 1.
The first is more action-oriented, the second is more passive but focuses on the ...
1
vote
1answer
60 views
presenting a plethora of technical parameters in a thesis
I'm writing my masters thesis at the moment. The topic of my thesis is the evaluation of one classification algorithm. Due to its technical nature I have to give a lot of context for each experimental ...
4
votes
2answers
56 views
Are citations the same as references in IEEE?
It appears that the word citation and references are use interchangeably. Are they the same thing?
https://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf
7
votes
3answers
7k views
Single author scientific paper, 'we' or 'I'?
I am authoring a single author paper. Usually when referring to oneself in a paper, 'we' is used. In single author papers I found both 'we' and 'I' (e.g., 'here we/I report xyz').
Which one is ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
For publishing negotations I would like to know what a publishing company makes in profit?
I did a little research but blogs are never enough. I would like expert advice or even sample contracts which spell out everything if possible.
0
votes
3answers
75 views
Overusing “with the aim of…” in a scientific paper
I'm currently writing a scientific report and repeatedly found myself sneaking sentences like "with the aim of..." or "with the purpose of" in my text. Despite how trivial this problem may seem, it ...
3
votes
2answers
307 views
Bachelor thesis indentation
Are there any rules for proper indentation in thesis?
I am physicist so my thesis includes number of images and equations.
Now I think you should not indent first paragraph after:
Title of chapter,...
3
votes
2answers
15k views
What is the image size in scientific paper if indicated as “a single, 1.5 or 2-column fitting image”?
I would like to submit my manuscript in ecology, containing Figures. However, in Author guidelines, I found that I have to
Indicate per figure if it is a single, 1.5 or 2-column fitting image.
...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Writing a scientific name in an italized phrase?
If I use a scientific name (Python regius) in a phrase that is already in italics, should the scientific name then be written normally or underlined? Does anybody know the rule?
