Barrick Lab :: Manuscript Style Guide

---+ Barrick Lab Style Guide

---++ Writing a Scientific Paper

   * [[http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1176][Twenty Steps to Writing a Research Article]] (Tomorrow's Professor Mailing List Archive #1176)

---++ General Formatting

   * Use a single space after a period between sentences.
   * Use 1/4" indentions to start new paragraphs.

---++ Citations

   * Use [[http://www.mendeley.com/download-mendeley-desktop/][Mendeley]] to organize your citations and insert them into word processing documents.
   * If you aren't formatting for submission to a specific journal, use the __Nature Reviews Genetics__ style.
   * To add italics to species names in downloaded citations, add HTML italics tags around them.
      * e.g. Escherichia coli to &lt;i&gt;Escherichia coli&lt;/i&gt;
   * You will generally need to manually correct the journal names from downloaded paper to their standard abbreviations. 
      * e.g. _Journal of Bacteriology_ to _J. Bact._
      * Find the standard abbreviation using [[http://cassi.cas.org][CAS]] or [[http://www.library.illinois.edu/biotech/j-abbrev.html][other resources]].

---++ Figures and Graphs

   * Create Figures in a vector graphics program (e.g., Adobe Illustrator).
   * Always include a legend for symbols within a figure, NOT just in the figure caption.
   * Unlike the defaults in Microsoft Excel:
      * Enclose the data frame of a graph in a full box.
      * Generally, do not include any grid lines on graphs.
      * Do not use shadow effects.
   * Use 95% confidence intervals, rather than standard deviations for error bars.

---++ Symbols

Use Unicode symbols instead of symbol font. They work much better cross-platform. You can generally copy-paste from this website.

Main: [[http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/][Unicode Website]] | [[http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/search.html][Search]] %BR%
Groups of symbols: [[http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/general_punctuation.html][Punctuation]] | [[http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/arrows.html][Arrows]] | [[http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/miscellaneous_mathematical_symbols_a.html][Math]]
This topic: Lab > WebHome > ProtocolList > ProtocolsStyleGuide
Topic revision: r4 - 2012-06-11 - JeffreyBarrick