Wikipedia:Technical terms and definitions: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:39, 10 August 2005

Revision as of 17:59, 11 September 2005

Line 5:

When writing technical articles, it is usually the case that a number of '''technical terms''' or ''jargon'' specific to the subject matter will be presented. These should be defined or at least alternative language provided, so that a non-technical reader can both learn the terms and understand how they are used by scientists. It is also the case that such an article can cover a range of related subjects that might not each justify a separate article or Wikipedia page, and therefore making technical terms stand out in the text is the first level in a sequence from definition to subtitle to separate article. On the other hand, do not treat every “scientific” word as a technical term. Ask the question: Is this the only article or one of a very few where the term might be encountered in Wikipedia? Consider the examples presented below.

There are three basic markups used to make technical terms stand out; these are ''obliqueitalic'' (also termed ''italicoblique'' with [[sans-serif]] fonts), '''bold''', and '''''bold obliqueitalic'''''. The following uses of these styles are recommended for technical articles:

''ObliqueItalic'' (<nowiki>rendered as ''obliqueitalic''</nowiki>); used for:

*Binomial names of organisms (''Genus species'') are always <i>italicized</i>; the genus name is first-letter capitalized, the species name is not. Higher taxonomic levels are not italicized, but both the classification term and its name are first-letter capitalized: Family Poaceae, never family ''Poaceae''.

*Foreign language words that are not generally used in English: ''hidari'' (Jp: "left") but usually not gauche (Fr: "left").

*Technical or scientific terms that are defined above in the same article (and appear there in '''''bold obliqueitalic'''''; see below) to demonstrate use of the term, or emphasize that use to the reader. Although it is standard practice in text books to put in italics or bold font those words likely to be new to the reader only the first time the word appears, it is helpful to the learning process if newly defined terms that reappear are rendered in ''obliqueitalic'' font elsewhere in a Wikipedia article.

*Terms that are not defined at that point in the text, but are nonetheless "technical", although will likely appear in numerous other articles in Wikipedia. Here, the "emphasize only the first time used on a page" rule could apply. Example (from [[Plant]]):

::Groups at this level of organization, collectively called ''bryophytes'', include….

Line 20:

::In [[electricity]], '''current''' is any flow of [[charge]], usually through a metal wire or some other electrical [[conductor (material)|conductor]]. '''Conventional current''' was defined early in the history of electrical science as a flow of positive charge, although we now know that, in the case of metallic conduction…..

'''''Bold obliqueitalic''''' (<nowiki>rendered as '''''bold obliqueitalic'''''</nowiki>); used for:

*First time introduction of a technical term. This should be part of a definition sentence or immediately followed by a non-technical substitute in parentheses. Example (from [[Fern]]):

::A fern is defined as a [[vascular plant]] that reproduces by shedding [[spores]] to initiate an [[alternation of generations]]. New fronds arise by '''''[[Vernation|circinate vernation]]''''' (unrolling leaf formation).