General Style. This must be written as a formal document, and you
should extend your style; for example, consult Strunk and White (op cit).
Your report must be done with a word processor, or with LaTex.
A dot matrix printer is
discouraged, but if you use one, make sure it has a good ribbon, preferably
new. Text must be a 12pt font (not 10, which is sometimes standard), and
it must be spaced at least 1.5 (not single-spaced). Figures must
be drawn neatly (or done by computer). Pages must be numbered, except page
1, which follows the
abstract. Carefully proofread your own paper for spelling, grammar, etc.
You are encouraged to read at least one other student's report (before the
final due date) in order to help each other with final proofreading. It is
imperative you s t r e t c h your communication skills!
Form. The cover page is different from that of the proposal. It
has a Table of Contents, and it does not have an abstract. Here is what it
should look like:
Mathematics and the Environment
by
Harvey J. Greenberg
Math 4000: Senior Seminar
December 4, 1995
Table of Contents
Abstract
-
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. Main Results
3.1
...
4. Avenues for Further Study
Appendices
References and Bibliography
Contents. The table of contents describes the organization of
your report. Here are some details about each section.
- Abstract
-
The purpose of an abstract is to communicate what the paper
is about. State the problem, or problem area, and highlight
your main results. Avoid special symbols, replacing
mathematical notation with words, and do not give any
citations. It should appear on a separate page (after the
cover) and have about 75-100 words.
- 1. Introduction
-
The purpose of an introduction is to tell the reader what you
are going to say. This is a succinct description that not
only gives guidance to prepare the reader for what follows,
but also offers motivation for the reader to want to read the
rest of the report. It begins on a separate page (following
the abstract), which is page number 1.
- 2. Background
-
This can be viewed as a technical introduction with citations
that give a review of the relevant literature. Each citation
has a reference (see below). In addition, this section
contains basic terms and notation that are used in presenting
the main results.
- 3. Main Results
-
Divide this into subsections as appropriate. The last
subsection should be a summary and/or conclusions (this could
also be a separate section; it's a matter of taste).
- 4. Avenues for Further Study
-
Give avenues that include things you wish you had time to
explore.
- Appendices
-
Use this for extended background or lengthy proofs that would
interfere with the flow of text.
- References and Bibliography
-
Use any acceptable format (as you learned in high school),
but be consistent. References are associated with the
citations in the text (mainly in the Background section).
Additional bibliography may include references you explored
but deemed irrelevant to your work. You are urged to include
this, perhaps with some annotation. You may separate
References from Additional Bibliography, the former being
cited in the text and the latter annotated (say why each
entry is included but not cited - for example, it might have
seemed relevant from the title, but it turned out otherwise).