In general, you can communicate more
effectively if you use plain English and don't try to be impressively erudite.
Many of the readers of Forestry publications work out in the field and
need to get information quickly, so making it easy to understand benefits
them. Also English is not the first or primary language of many prospective
readers. Your chances of reaching either group of readers is best if you
write clearly, with minimal jargon and without complicated sentence structure.
Abbreviations: The same set of letters may mean several things, so spell words out to define the abbreviation the first time you use it. For the few terms that are more familiar (to lay people as well as specialists) as abbreviations than spelled out, like TNT and DNA, use the abbreviations.
Use periods only if the abbreviation might be mistaken for a word (e.g., "no." for "number" and "in." for "inch").
In tables, figures, or parenthetical remarks, use US Postal Service abbreviations for states (OR, WA), making sure they're the right ones.
Dates: The order of dates should be day month year, with no commas (e.g., 15 March 1994). On figures or tables, when it is necessary to abbreviate the date, use the 3-letter abbreviation of the month name in the convention dd mmm yyyy (or yy if space is tight and the context is clear).
Sexist and otherwise offensive language: Avoid using language that will offend or alienate your readers. (The more controversial your subject, the more important this is.)
Avoiding sexism does not mean automatically substituting "person" for "man" or using "he/she" constantly. It does mean using gender-neutral terms, such as "firefighter" rather than "fireman". Instead of constantly referring to "him or her", you can often rewrite a sentence in plural form and refer to "them", being careful that you use the plural forms throughout. However, if you are talking about a particular worker, that person has a gender and it is not just permissible but sensible to refer to "him" or "her".
Avoiding offensive language also means keeping in mind that people with disabilities are above all people; the terms for their disabilities, such as "blind", are modifiers, not nouns. Therefore it is appropriate to refer to "blind people" rather than "the blind".
Symbols: With a numeral, generally use the symbols "<" and ">" as modifiers rather than spelling out "less than" and "greater (or more) than". When used as modifiers, the symbols are jammed against the numeral; when used as verbs (x < y), there is a space on either side of the symbol.
Use the virgule (e.g., "1/x") rather than negative superscript (e.g., "x-1") for division.
If chemical names occur repeatedly in the manuscript, use standard chemical symbols in text as well as tables and figures. Spell them out at first use, as is done for abbreviations and acronyms.
For radionuclides, the number follows the name when it is spelled out (e.g., uranium-238) as in text; the number precedes the symbol as a superscript (e.g., 238U) where an abbreviation is necessary (tables or figures).
Trademarks: You need not use the ® symbol for any trademarks referred to. If you refer to a name that is probably a trademark, capitalize it and follow it with the generic term (e.g., Kleenex facial tissue). Provide information about brands and companies where necessary (generally for products specifically mentioned in a methods section). In other cases, use only the generic name for the product, not the brand.
Units: Abbreviate units that appear with a numeral; if a unit appears without a numeral or with a number spelled out (as at the beginning of a sentence), spell out the unit (e.g., several acres, not several ac). Abbreviate "liter" as "L", so it won't be confused with the numeral "1".
Either SI (metric) or English units may be standard; as author, you decide which applies, according to your professional conventions and expected audience (US versus anyone else), and use that throughout. However, a box of conversions should appear somewhere in the publication; its exact content depends on what is most meaningful for your manuscript.
If the manuscript has some measurements in metric and some in English, use both everywhere, with English in parentheses after the metric.
Specific terms
aboveground, belowground (one word)
Douglas-fir (hyphenated)
groundwater (one word)
lat 43°15'09"N, long 16° 40'34"E (no spaces)
surface water (as two words)
x-fold (hyphenated with numeral)
% (symbol in text as well as tables and figures)
26° C (no space between number and degree sign or between degree sign and scale)
Use "US" without periods when the term is used as a modifier; spell out "United States" otherwise. In referring to the USDA Forest Service, it is not necessary to spell out USDA even at its first appearance.
Treat the terms "media" and "data" as plural (if there's only one, use medium or data point). If readers are apt to be confused, rewrite the sentence.
In referring to decades, do not use an apostrophe (e.g., 1980s, not 1980's).
Standard abbreviations
etc. et cetera, and so forth
et al. et alia, and others
vs. versus, against, as an alternative to
e.g. exempli gratia, for example
i.e. id est, that is
Although these Latin abbreviations are standard, in many cases the phrase can be edited out, which is a means of eliminating confusion.
ac acre(s)
a.i./ac active ingredient per acre
AM, PM (morning, afternoon)
bd-ft board-foot, board-feet
cm centimeter(s)
cm3 cubic centimeter(s)
day day(s)
DBH diameter at breast height
ft foot, feet
ft2 square foot, square feet
g gram(s)
gal gallon(s)
gpa gallon(s)/acre(s)
ha hectare(s)
hr hour(s)
in. inch(es)
kg kilogram(s)
km kilometer(s)
L liter(s)
lb pound(s)
m meter(s)
MC moisture content (in %)
mL milliliter(s)
mg milligram(s)
mi mile(s)
min minute(s)
mm millimeter(s)
mo month(s)
oz ounce(s)
Pa pascal(s)
sec second(s)
wk week(s)
yd yard(s)
yr year(s)
m m micrometer(s),
micron(s)
