×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Formatting Equations

Formatting Equations

Formatting Equations

(OP)
I have been lurking in an editor's group in Facebook. An interesting question came up.

In a document with equations, variables are formatted as italic. The variables are formatted as italic when they are referred to in the regular text paragraphs. This seems to be done systematically in all the books I was able to quickly locate.

Is there a standard or a style guide somewhere that specifies this? Is anything like this taught in school today? My schooling pre-dates word processors.

--
JHG

RE: Formatting Equations

My go-to reference for these sorts of questions is usually the TeX or LaTeX resources. In establishing an electronic typesetting system, predominately for technical documents, considerable thought has been given to conventions and styles for mathematical and scientific notation.

This page might provide useful reading:

http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/58098/what-...

In particular, the third and final response includes this paragraph:

Quote:

In many math texts since (at least?!) the middle or late 18th century (Euler's influence?), variables and letter-like symbols are typeset by convention in a slanted or, rather, italicized style.

If you're after some sort of authoritative style guide that actual states this (rather than just knowing it as a convention), check out the various journal submission guidelines. For example, such as the one from the American Mathematical Society (AMS), seem to require compliance with "Mathematics into type" by Ellen E. Swanson.

RE: Formatting Equations

Yup most are italic. And I agree on referring to TeX.
The only reference I can think of is the ASME research journal standards.

RE: Formatting Equations

(OP)
LiteYear,

Thanks. I actually use LaTeX for stuff.

--
JHG

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources