Wikipedia:Technical terms and definitions: Difference between revisions
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SMcCandlish (talk | contribs) m tech. terms and jargon are not synonymous |
SMcCandlish (talk | contribs) Cleaned up lead. Also, broadened scope to include legal as well as scientific, since issue is exactly the same for such articles. More legal examples might be helpful. |
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When writing technical (scientific, medical, legal, etc.) articles, it is usually the case that a number of [[Technical terminology|'''technical terms''' or '''terms of art''']] and ''[[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 ''italic'' (also termed ''oblique'' with [[sans-serif]] fonts), '''bold''', and '''''bold italic'''''. The following uses of these styles are recommended for technical articles:
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::Groups at this level of organization, collectively called ''bryophytes'', include….
*Words as words: <code>''Deuce'' means ''two''</code>, or <code>"deuce" means "two"</code>, whichever will be clearer in context (consider an article with many quotations, or an article full of italicized foreign terms). See [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Words as words|Wikipedia:Manual of Style: "Words as words" subsection]] for more information.
*Legal case names are always italicized: ''Plessy v Ferguson''.
*See also [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Captions|Wikipedia:Manual of Style: "Captions" subsection]] and [[Wikipedia:Cite your sources]] for other uses of italicized (oblique) text.
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