FURTHER TIPS FOR WRITING MATH
Tevian Dray
2012

• Include a clear, concise description of the problem.
• All symbols should be clearly explained.
• All (tricky bits of the) calculations should be explained.
• Your reasoning should be easy to follow.
• Correctly use mathematical reasoning, language, and symbols.
• Your computations should be correct.
• Include clearly-explained figures.
• Use correct spelling and grammar.
• Always use complete sentences.
• Both inline and displayed equations must be grammatically correct parts of sentences.
• Say what you mean!
• Avoid words such as "this", "that", "it" unless the context is crystal clear.
• Avoid redundant wording.
• A definition should be useful.
• Be careful when using words with both a technical and a common meaning.
• You should use clear, precise language, but balance precision and clarity.
• Each figure should have a label, such as "Figure 1", and should be referred to as such in the text.
• Every source should be referenced briefly in the text.

  Any reasonable style is acceptable. Some common conventions are to number your references in square brackets, e.g. [1], or to put the names of the author(s) in parentheses, e.g. (Dray) or (Dray 2006).
  It is easiest to cite URLs by number; otherwise, use a reasonable descriptive name.

• Full citation details for each reference should be given in the bibliography.

  Again, any reasonable style is acceptable. Citation details include author(s), title, publisher, year. For websites, in addition to the URL you should provide a title, an author if possible, and the date you viewed the site.

• Your draft may be double spaced, but this is not necessary. Your final version should not be double spaced.
• The primary focus of the introduction should be to describe what you will do.
• A history lesson is usually not a good place to start. Such material probably belongs in the second section on "background", or possibly towards the end of the introduction, after talking about what you will do.
• It is a good idea to read your work aloud — preferably to a friend — to make sure it says what you think it does.
• If you regard "Taxicab Geometry" as the name of the (model of the) geometry, then both words should be capitalized. If not, then it's "taxicab geometry"; "Taxicab geometry" is incorrect except at the beginning of a sentence.

  "Euclidean" should always be capitalized, even in the middle of a word, such as "non-Euclidean".