Physics Department Citation Style Recommendation
Journals differ slightly in their stylistic conventions, particularly on how to format footnotes. The Physical Review is the major archival journal of physics, so as a general rule we encourage students to follow its style guide. A few minutes looking at a copy of the journal probably will answer most questions about style. One can find answers to more complicated stylistic questions in the Physical Review’s on-line style guide (http://publish.aps.org/STYLE/). The American Institute of Physics also publishes a useful style manual (http://www.aip.org/pubservs/style/4thed/toc.html).
In any field of scholarship one must cite sources properly, using footnotes or endnotes. In all cases one must cite any material that one quotes or copies from another source, whether a journal article, a textbook, a webpage, or anybody else’s work. The only exceptions to this rule would be commonly used phrases (e.g. “conservation of energy”) or equations common to physics (e.g. the Schrödinger Equation).
When preparing a manuscript describing new scientific results (such as an honors thesis) one has an ethical obligation to cite any related work, even if one has not directly used quotations or ideas from that work. For example, if a student is writing an honors thesis describing a particular experiment, the student is expected to cite any papers describing similar experiments, or experiments which lay the foundation for the present work, even if the student has not directly referred to those papers in writing the thesis. Unpublished ideas one obtains from another individual should be cited as a “private communication.” We encourage students to look at articles published in the Physical Review for examples of proper citation. For a lab report or a problem set in a course this higher standard does not apply and one need only cite sources used in preparing the report. Similarly a textbook writer, who clearly is not claiming originality, does not need to provide such a detailed accounting of the origin of ideas.
Writing Guidelines
Q. How should a paper be presented on the page? Are there rigid guidelines for form (as in scientific lab write-ups) or are students free to experiment?
A.The goal of most scientific writing is to convey information as clearly and as precisely as possible. The Physics Department has no set format for lab reports, problem sets, or other written work. We encourage students to consult textbooks for examples of stylistic details that make scientific exposition understandable. The texts by Griffiths (used in our upper level courses) provide excellent examples of lively, yet clear and precise, scientific writing.
Since figures are an important part of physics writing, students should pay attention to the formatting of graphs and other figures. Always label axes clearly and include proper units.
Q. What do you look for in grading a student paper?
A.When grading student papers, the Physics faculty looks for substance and for evidence that the student understands the material thoroughly. While style and format are not our primary concerns, it is difficult to convey substance without organizing one’s ideas logically, using proper grammar, and paying attention to proper style. One must first think clearly about something in order to write clearly about it. Thus a well-organized and stylistically correct paper will receive higher marks than a poorly written paper.