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The Author’s Guides are prepared for the reference of contributors who submit journal articles and technical papers (under Tech Edge section) for publication in POINTER.
Author’s Guide for submission of general articles
Author’s Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for the contents and correctness of materials submitted. Authors are responsible for:
- the accuracy of quotations and their correct attribution
- the accuracy of endnotes and bibliographic listings
- the legal right to publish any material submitted
Preparation of Manuscript
Submissions should be between 2000-4000 words. The manuscript, including quotations, notes, references, tables, legends should be typed on singled sided, A4 paper, using 12-point Times New Roman font. The word count of the article (including endnotes) should be reflected below the title on the first page of the article.
Use endnotes, not footnotes. Notes should be grouped together at the end of the article under the heading of “Endnotes”.
Tables, maps, figures, graphs are to be numbered and to have headings/captions (in italics). There must at least be one reference to the illustrations in the text to draw the reader’s attention to it. An example is provided below.
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Style
Quotations
Short quotations of three lines or less should be enclosed within double quotation marks. Quotations exceeding three lines should be set from the text by indenting 1 cm from the the left and right margins and omitting quotation marks.
Materials added by the author should be enclosed in [ ] , not parentheses ( ). Omissions in a quotation are indicated by ellipses, using three spaced periods ( . . . ), sometimes preceded or followed by other punctuations.
Abbreviations
Use abbreviations for military or academic titles: LTA - Lieutenant, CPT - Captain, Assistant Professor - Asst. Prof. etc., and given names: Prof. D.E. Full.
Write in full the names of countries. Use abbreviations only as adjectives eg.,
the United States
the U.S. Air Force
Dates
Specific dates or references to time periods are to be written as follows:
18 December 1992
in the 1990s
in the nineties
2002-03
Numbers
Spell out whole numbers from one to ten, and any number beginning a sentence:
One hundred and twenty SAF personnel were deployed.
Or
In all, 120 SAF personnel were deployed.
Use numerals in technical or scientific context, or in a discussion involving their frequent use:
21 km (in kilometres)
from 5 to 10 percent
25 men, 14 women, and 20 children
Spelling
British spelling is used in POINTER. For consistency of spelling, please refer to the Oxford English Reference Dictionary. In quoted materials, however, original spelling is left unchanged.
[Note: The information and examples given in this style guide is adapted from the ISEAS Style Manual.]
Author's Guide for submission of technical articles
Author's Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for the contents and correctness of materials submitted. Authors are responsible for:
- the accuracy of technical information presented
- the accuracy of endnotes and bibliographic listings
- the legal right to publish any material submitted
Preparation of Manuscript
Technical papers presenting the results of scientific research should be written in a way similar to research reports. Authors should bear in mind to write for the intended audience i.e., POINTER''s core readership of SAF officers. Hence, it is important for authors to present information from the reader's point of view. To do this, the manuscript must not only present details of experimentation and test results, it must also address the relevancy of the research to the SAF, its applicability, and potential uses and limitations.
Submissions should preferably not exceed 4000 words. The manuscript, including abstracts, notes, references, tables, legends should be typed on singled sided, A4 paper, using 12-point Times New Roman font. The word count of the article (including endnotes) should be reflected below the title on the first page of the article.
Use endnotes, not footnotes. Notes should be grouped together at the end of the article under the heading of "Endnotes".
Tables, figures, graphs are to be numbered and to have headings/captions (in italics). There must at least be one reference to the illustrations in the text to draw the reader's attention to it. An example is provided below.
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Style
Tenses
As a rule of thumb, use past tense to describe your experimental work and results. Use present tense for other writings of hypotheses, theories, facts and other general truths.
Technical Terms & Jargons
Use technical terms and jargons sparingly and only when necessary. Differentiate actual technical terms from the big, important-sounding words. For example:
Instead of amorphous, use shapeless
Instead of anomalous, use abnormal
Instead of minuscule, use tiny
In the use of technical terms, be mindful that different terms hold different meanings. For example, drones are remote-control aircraft to military personnel but male honeycomb to biologists and sounds of bagpipes to Scotmen.
Numbers
Spell out whole numbers from one to nine, except when the numbers are used with units of measure, age, time, dates, page numbers, percentages, money, proportions etc., and when two or more numbers are presented in the same sentence. For example:
nine flights of laser-guided bombs
10 times greater
1 million
page 2
3 pm
4 percent
5:1
6 men, 7 women and 8 children were part of the control test group
Equations
For lengthy equations, number the equations on a separate line. For example:
The general first-order linear equation is
dy/dx = p(x)y + q(x)
and the general second-order equation is
d²y/dx² = p(x)dy/dx + q(x)y + r(x)
Where symbols are used in an equation, define the symbols within the text instead of making reference to appendix or glossary. For example:
To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, use
°F = 1.8(°C) + 32°
where F is degrees Fahrenheit and C is degrees Celsius.
Spelling
British spelling is used in POINTER. For consistency of spelling, please refer to the Oxford English Reference Dictionary. In quoted materials, however, original spelling is left unchanged.
[Note: The information and examples given in this style guide is adapted from Blake, G. & Bly, Robert W., The Elements of Technical Writing, NY: Longman Publishers (1993).]
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Last updated on 03 Dec 2007
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