Article Qualities Revisited
As mentioned a bit earlier, the articles we dig tend to be of the following kinds:
Well-developed ideas related to higher mathematics, with high readability being a definite plus.
Refreshing insights wrapped in a standalone package. Both deep and comprehensive.
Original materials in the form of new or republished articles. Note that authorship is required in both cases.
Where is Your Outline?
If you have a final draft ready...
then your article should already have several sections separated by headings and sub-headings.
As a rule of thumb, reserve H1 heading for the article's title, and use H2, H3 and H4 headings for sectional titles when needed.
If your outline is conspicuously absent from your writing...
then perhaps it's time to go back to the drawing board — regardless of the stage of writing you're in!
After all, having a robust outline mapped out in advance will make virtually everything you do later easier or unnecessary!
How is Your Sentence Structure?
In general, a sentence shouldn't be too underdeveloped — or overdeveloped.
If a sentence is too short, consider expanding it or elaborating upon it.
Conversely, if a sentence is hard to read in one glance, consider cutting the sentence in two so that each idea can have a space of its own!
Ideally, your sentences should flow logically from one to another, thereby bringing the readers into a state of flow.
So that if your sentences take several readings to be understood, that could be a sign that they need to be further rephrased or restructured!
Is Your Work Skimmer-Friendly?
Some of the readers get intimidated if an article is excessively-dense or convoluted, so it's better to take that into account as well.
Since higher math tends to lend itself to ultra-specific details, it's generally a good rule of thumbs to keep a paragraph within 5 lines or less.
In other words, if your paragraphs consistently exceed 10 lines or more, it can make the readers' life miserable!
Avoid the use of paragraphs when ideas can be presented in a better way:
- When procedures are involved, use numbered lists instead of long-winded paragraphs.
- To mention multiple items, use bullet points or parentheses.
Spice up your content by including an image every few paragraphs or so, and if you have animations or videos, that's even better!
(Caution: Make sure that the media files you use are void of copyright issues. If not, this can get you and us into big troubles!)
Quick Notes on LaTeX
Our site is powered by MathJax, which means that most of the time, you can insert LaTeX codes as you usually do in a LaTeX document.
1
For math expressions
Enclose your code within the usual $ for
inline mode, and ∖[ .... ∖] for displayed mode.
2
For math environments
Make sure to put the entire code in a single line (i.e., without hitting the ENTER key).
3
MathJax is no full LaTeX
Not all LaTeX commands and environments will be supported, but we'll be doing our best to help you out.
For a reference guide on math symbols and their LaTeX code, you might want to refer to our Comprehensive List of Math Symbols for more.
Linking and Author Box
While linking to external sites for reference purpose is encouraged, try keeping the "self-links" within the article to 2 or less.
After all, you are always free to feature your own links in the author box below your article!
And while we're on the topic, if you have any social media handle from Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin,or Instagram, let us know and we'll include them for you!
Oh. Did we mentioned that if you sign up on Gravatar and upload an avatar there, then that avatar will be displayed in your author box?
Author's Right and Editing
Unlike major publishers, we believe in author's sovereignty over their creative content. This means that we prefer to keep article editing to a minimum whenever possible.
But then, that's only possible if the article is top-notch from the get-go. To that end, we'd recommend that you proofread the article at least once from the beginning to the end, and run through the following questions while doing so:
Remember, the more legit and focused your article is, the more you'll impact the mathematical community in the long run!
More Powers to You!
In life, people chase after valuable things, so if your writing is really solid, then people will find ways to promote it without you even asking!
Here's some heads-up: once your article is selected and published, it will — as with any other post of our own — be featured in our email newsletter, social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin) and search results in Google!
And if people dig your content, you'll get doubly the exposure, thereby making you a badass mathematics writer of some sort!
Ready for Submission?
Hey. If you've made it this far, you're most likely a hero! In which case, just send over your idea/draft through the contact form below and you should be good. And if your article is chosen, we'll send an editor your way!