Reviewing and editing scientific papers part 2: Correct use of scientific symbols and signs
It’s not a pleasure to read scientific articles or posts written by researchers who make incorrect use of symbols and signs. I understand it, since this knowledge is not commonly taught in the classrooms of engineering or science careers. My advice to the students and novel researchers is that they need to dedicate some spare time to learn the correct usage of the symbols or signs.
In my point of view, I consider that the use of dashes is a common error in scientific articles. Among the main dashes are the following four:
Image created by @ritch. License: Public domain.
1. Introduction
My students know that misusing the symbols for quickly handing me their research work will only delay them because I will not revise it until they have accomplished with that point. Once they learned how to use symbols correctly, they are happy to see how their manuscripts, theses, and reports look more aesthetic and professional. In the end, they are always grateful to have learned to use the symbols and signs at the beginning of their careers, since it is a valuable knowledge that they will use during their entire academic career.
I recommend that you be careful not to place empty spaces between the dash and the text or number. Now, I can share with you some examples of when it is evident more than one mistake in the use of symbols and signs:
❶ Original: 1x10-9 m. Revised: 1×10−9m
❷ Original: -5 oC. Revised: −5 °C
❸ Original: 610 - 987 cm-1. Revised: 610–987 cm−1
Can you appreciate the differences?
2. Use of Unicode
Regarding html, we will use the same character code and add the following characters so that they appear in Steemit's publications. It is necessary to use the code for html in the following table and follow this format: <p>html code</p>. You can find more information and more hexadecimal Unicode codes in this link . [3]. I share a list of scientific symbols and signs that I consider important:
Table 1: Unicode and html codes of the most common symbols used in research papers.
Name |
Symbol |
For Word |
For HTML |
---|---|---|---|
Angstrom |
Å |
212B + Alt+X |
Å |
Degree |
° |
B0 + Alt+X |
° |
Hyphen |
‐ |
2010 + Alt+X |
‐ |
En dash |
– |
2013 + Alt+X |
– |
Em dash |
— |
2014 + Alt+X |
— |
Minus |
− |
2212 + Alt+X |
− |
Approximately equal to |
≈ |
2248 + Alt+X |
≈ |
Almost equal to |
∼ |
223C + Alt+X |
∼ |
Micro |
µ |
B5 + Alt+X |
µ |
Copyright |
© |
A9 + Alt+X |
© |
Arrow to the right |
→ |
2192 + Alt+X |
→ |
Cross Arrows |
⇌ |
21CC + Alt+X |
⇌ |
Alpha |
α |
3B1 + Alt+X |
α |
Beta |
β |
3B2 + Alt+X |
β |
Gamma |
γ |
3B3 + Alt+X |
γ |
Tetha |
θ |
3B8 + Alt+X |
θ |
Eta |
η |
3B7 + Alt+X |
η |
Lambda |
λ |
3BB + Alt+X |
λ |
Ohm |
Ω |
2126 + Alt+X |
Ω |
Multiplication |
× |
00D7 + Alt+X |
× |
Middle dot |
⸱ |
2E31 + Alt+X |
⸱ |
Plus-Minus |
± |
B1 + Alt+X |
± |
Pi |
π |
03C0 + Alt+X |
C0; |
Registered mark |
® |
AE + Alt+X |
&#AE; |
Among these symbols, be careful with the use of the degree, since sometimes you could think of using the "o" or the number "zero" as a superscript to indicate the degree, but the reader can misinterpret it. If we compare them, we would have that oC y 0C are not the same as Celsius degree °C. Another confusing symbol is the use a simple tilde ~ or double tilde ≈ to refer to an approximate value of a number, the difference is that the double tilde refers to a value more accurate than the simple tilde (less exact).
Finally, when referring to a multiplication it is necessary to use the correct symbol, see in the previous table. Most of the time the authors use an "x" instead of the multiplication sign ×. The middle dot (word separator) is important in the area of chemistry to indicate that a compound is hydrated, for example: cobalt nitrate hexahydrate, Co(NO3)2⸱6H2O.
Conclusion
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Best regards,
Ricardo @ritch
(Discord: Ritch#6321)
[1] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%ADmbolo. Access on June 29, 2019.
[2] https://support.office.com/es-es/article/insertar-s%C3%ADmbolos-y-caracteres-ascii-o-unicode-basados-en-el-alfabeto-latino-d13f58d3-7bcb-44a7-a4d5-972ee12e50e0. Access on June 29, 2019.
[3] https://www.w3schools.com/charsets/ref_utf_symbols.asp. Access on June 29, 2019.
If I may give a small remark: I personally would not put research papers and posts on Steem on the same footings, to be honest. :)
Thanks @lemouth for your comment. I'll follow your recommendation in my next publications.
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I was not really recommending anything. I was more surprised that you were putting scientific publications and articles on Steem on a same footing.
Excelente trabajo mi estimado Ricardo, sigue así. El equipo mexicano esta dando su apoyo y te mandamos un abrazo. :)
Gracias por el apoyo de todo su equipo. Saludos!
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