Suggestion for drafts - bhym/wiki GitHub Wiki

Formatting and kayout

Use wide line spacing and big fonts.

1.5 line spacing and 12-15 words per line, single column

Use continuous line numbering.

Provide inline figures and legends.

Writing

Avoid subjective wording.

It is best to present your results with few adjectives, and let the readers make up their minds about the magnitude of the scientific advancement

Avoid acronyms and abbreviations.

A good rule of thumb is to use a shortener when a term is used five or more times in your paper. Avoid, if is possible, inventing shorteners that are unique to your paper

Use a declarative title.

A good title

• states, rather than suggest;
• provide a sense of the main conclusions of your paper;
• focus on the paper’s actual findings rather than potential implications.

Data and figures

Define uncertainties.

Consider statistics.

When possible, include a statistical or numerical data analysis.

Show and provide underlying data.

• If possible, display all data, rather than simply providing summaries.
• Bar charts can obscure statistical nuances.
• Consider using scatter plots for small data sets or box plots or violin plots for larger data sets

Follow a colour code.

• Try to use colours in a way that won’t create problems for the many readers with visual conditions.
• In particular, avoid rainbow colour schemes — they are problematic for a number of reasons.
• Use divergent colours when appropriate

Simplify figures.

Remove anything that doesn’t contribute to information transfer. Extraneous effects, such as 3D, shadowing and unnecessary colours, should be eliminated.

Provide short titles for figure legends.

• make the title declarative, or provide one or two sentences in the legend that highlight the figure’s main conclusions.