Style Guides for Physics & Computer Science Texts

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the existence and nature of style guides for writing in physics and computer science. Participants explore whether there are official or unofficial guides and the implications of different editorial preferences in academic writing.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants inquire about the existence of separate style guides for physics and computer science texts, questioning if they are official or unofficial but widely accepted.
  • It is noted that individual journals typically have their own style guides, which dictate editorial choices such as the use of first or third person, unit references, and typesetting, often accompanied by LaTeX stylesheets for formatting.
  • A participant suggests looking into The Chicago Manual of Style as a potential resource for writing guidance.
  • Another viewpoint emphasizes the importance of clarity and simplicity in writing, cautioning against emulating outdated styles from classic papers, which can lead to unreadable work. This participant also points out that many journals have limited editorial resources, which may affect the scrutiny of writing style.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying opinions on the existence and utility of style guides, with some agreeing on the importance of journal-specific guidelines while others highlight the challenges of adhering to outdated writing styles. No consensus is reached regarding the best approach to style in academic writing.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of specific examples of style guides for physics and computer science, and the dependence on individual journal requirements, which may vary significantly.

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If not official, then unofficial, but widely accepted? If yes, are there some separate style guides for physics and computer science texts?
 
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Generally each journal will have it's own style guide.
Both editorially, if they want third or first person, how they want units references given etc. and typesetting - they often supply a latex stylesheet to do this part automatically
 


Thanks.

Maybe I should look into The Chicago Manual of Style?
 


I would just concentrate on trying to clearly and simply explain what you are trying to show. And have other people who are familiar with the field but not directly with your work review it.

There are some seriously unreadable papers because people are trying to emulate the style of classic papers, or trying to write papers as they did 100years ago. There are also a couple of journals that seem to delight in doing this.

Most journals today are on such tight margins that there is no real editorial effort to spare so they aren't going to question your split infinitives.
 

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