Mechanics and Style

2. Mechanics and Style • Consistency • Capitalization • Italics • Abbreviations • Acronyms and initializations • Numbers • Enumeration • Equations

3. Consistency • Capitalization • Italics • Abbreviations • Acronyms and initializations • Numbering sequences • Symbols • Equations • Spelling

4. 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the first word in a sentence • Capitalize proper nouns • Capitalize titles of books, periodicals, published and unpublished reports, articles, and document sections according to IEEE guidelines • Capitalize references to specific figures, tables, chapters, sections and equations

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. Numbers • Spell out a number if it begins a sentence • Four students made 100 on the test. • Fifteen students will give their presentations today. • Spell out the pronoun one • One 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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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 numberwith 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. References • Number references chronologically (according to the order in which they appear in the text)