Gail Palmer

Mechanics and Style

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Mechanics and Style

Consistency

Capitalization

Italics

Abbreviations

Acronyms and initializations

Numbers

Enumeration

Equations

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Consistency

Capitalization

Italics

Abbreviations

Acronyms and initializations

Numbering sequences

Symbols

Equations

Spelling

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Capitalization

Capitalize the first word in a sentence

Capitalize proper nouns

Capitalize titles of books, periodicals, published and unpublished reports, articles, and document sections according to IEEE guidelines

Capitalize references to specific figures, tables, chapters, sections and equations

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Italics

Italicize titles of journals, books, newsletters, and manuals

Italicize letters, words, terms, and equation symbols

Italicize foreign words

Italicize words or phrases being emphasized

Italicize names of specific vessels

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Abbreviations

Abbreviate terms and words in graphics and bibliographies

Abbreviate certain words and phrases in your text

Abbreviate standard units of measure

Avoid inventing abbreviations

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Acronyms and Initializations

Capitalize acronyms and do not use periods. (When acronyms become integrated into the language as common nouns, e.g., laser or radar, they are no longer capitalized.)

Spell out the phrase and follow it with the acronym or initialization in parentheses when using the acronym for the first time. Then use the acronym by itself:Hypertext markup language (HTML) is a common programming language. Most graduate students are familiar with HTML.

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Acronyms and Initializations (2)

Provide a list of terms in the front matter of the document (if numerous acronyms and initializations appear in the document)

Form the plural of an acronym by adding –s without an apostrophe:GTAs

PALs

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Numbers

Spell out a number if it begins a sentenceFour students made 100 on the test.

Fifteen students will give their presentations today.

Spell out the pronoun oneOne is expected to give five oral presentations.

When one speaks, it is important to make lingering eye contact with the audience.

Use numerals for dates, time of day, pages, figures, and notes

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Numbers (2)

Use Arabic numerals followed by a percent sign (%) to express percentages (except at the beginning of a sentence):His number of filler words decreased by 17%.

Ninety-five percent of all students will improve their oral presentation scores on their final presentation.

Spell out the first number when one number immediately follows another in a sentence: The circuit used two 2-bit adders.

The circuit used three 2-bit adders.

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Numbers (3)

Use the following guidelines for forming American and British numbers:

Form integers of two to four digits without any punctuation or spacing:

• 74 741 7415

Use a period (.) to indicate the decimal point and use an initial zero (0) for numbers less than 1.0:

• 74.5 7.452 0.254

Form numbers of five digits or more by using a comma (,) to mark off groups of three digits, starting at the decimal point:

• 27,451 70,000 700,254.51

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Numbers (4)

Use the following guidelines for forming international numbers:

Form integers of two to four digits without any punctuation or spacing:

• 74 741 7415

Use the comma (,) to indicate the decimal point and use an initial zero (0) for numbers less than 1.0:

• 74,5 7,452 0,254

Separate numbers of five digits or more by using a period (.) to mark off groups of three digits, starting at the decimal point:

•27.451 70.000 700.254,51

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Numbers (5)

Adopt one of the following formats for writing numbers:

Use Arabic numerals instead of words for both cardinal and ordinal numbers:

• 4 chips 4th chip

Write out numbers between one and ten and two-word fractions that do not follow an integer:

• Four chips 1 ½ hours one-half hour

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Enumeration

Use enumeration in documents to identify sequences of chapters, sections, page numbers, figures and tables, equations, footnotes, and appendixes.

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Chapter/Section/and Outline Enumeration

1 1.1

1.2• 1.2.1• 1.2.2

2 2.1

2.2

3

3.1

3.2

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Pagination

Front matter: use lower case Roman numerals ( i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.)

Body: use Arabic numerals sequentially throughout starting with page 1 (do not show the page number on page 1)

End matter: continue the sequential Arabic numerals begun in the body of the document

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Figures

Number sequentially using Arabic numerals (no decimals)

Capitalize the word figure when a number follows it

Do not abbreviate the word figure

Follow the figure number with a period (.), skip a space, and begin the title with a capital letter

Begin the figure title at the left edge of the figure

Put the figure title under the figure

Put the figure title inside the lines surrounding the figure

Write the title as though it were a sentence – capitalize only proper nouns and the first letter of the first word

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Tables

Number sequentially using Arabic numerals (no decimals)

Capitalize the word table when a number follows it

Do not abbreviate the word table

Follow the word table with a period (.), skip a space, and begin the title with a capital letter

Center the table title at the top of the table

Put the table title inside the lines surrounding the table

Capitalize only proper nouns and the first letter of the first word in the title

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Equations

Number sequentially all equations discussed in the text

Do not number equations that are part of a series of intermediate steps and that are ot specifically discussed

Use the abbreviation Eq. followed by an Arabic numeral to number equations

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Equations (2)

Integrate equations into the body of the document by including in the text one or more explicit references to each equation

Include only the primary equations in the body of the document (detailed derivations and calculations correctly belong in appendices)

Set off equations from the text by displaying them centered on the longest line, and with equation numbers

The number of the equation is set flush right and is enclosed in parentheses

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References

Number references chronologically (according to the order in which they appear in the text)

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