Grammar, Punctuation and Capitalization - Handbook for Technical ...

Chapter 3. Punctuation Page 64A colon is not used after that is, for example, or such as.Likewise, letters used as letters are italicized:The operator presses the letter n to indicate "no" and the letter y to indicate "yes."Letters indicating shape (V-tail, L-shaped), letter designations (case A, appendix C), and letters indicatingsubdivisions (figure 1(a), equation (2c)) are not italic. Sans serif letters may be used to indicate shape, but romantype is also acceptable.Note that the plurals of italic words used as words and italic letters used as letters are formed with roman s's:and's, if's, and but'si's and o's3.9.4. Italics for SymbologyMost mathematical symbols and letter symbols representing a physical concept are italic, whether within roman oritalic text. Chemical symbols, computer symbols, and abbreviations are not italic. Symbols representing vectors,tensors, and matrices may be set in boldface roman type if available.In typewritten text, we recommend double spacing around symbols to distinguish those that would normally beitalic.3.9.5. Conventional Uses for ItalicsThere are several items that are italicized by convention:• Titles and subtitles of books, reports, 5 compilations, newspapers, and periodicals are italicized, but not titles ofarticles, meeting papers, theses, papers in compilations, or patents:Slater, Philip N. 1980: Remote Sensing---Optics and Optical Systems. Addison-Wesley Publ.Co., Inc.Elterman, L. 1970: Vertical-Attenuation Model With Eight Surface Meteorological Ranges 2 to 14Kilometers. AFCRL-70-0200, U.S. Air Force, Mar. (Available from DTIC as AD 707 488.)Bowker, D. E.; Davis, R. E.; Von Ofenheim, W. H. C.; and Myrick, D.~L. 1983: Estimation ofSpectral Reflectance Signatures From Spectral Radiance Profiles. Proceedings of the SeventeenthInternational Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume II, EnvironmentalResearch Inst. of Michigan, pp. 795--814.Allen, William A.; and Richardson, Arthur J. 1968: Interaction of Light With a Plant Canopy. J.Opt. Soc. America, vol. 58, no. 8, Aug., pp. 1923--1928.5 Most authorities on style do not indicate whether or not to italicize report titles; Tichy and Fourdrinier (1988)recommend italics for titles of long reports. We prefer italic report titles.