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I'm currently working on a more unusual article, for me at least, and I need to put numbers in the article. I need to include positive numbers and negative numbers. So far, I've just typed them as +1 and -1. Do they need to italicized or anything? I can't really find anything about how these should be correctly added to an article. I know in theory I should probably just use 1, instead of +1, but it's too confusing you don't make the distinction. I'm sort of feel like I should abandon it -- maybe it's too much of a hassle...

Can you share a sentence or two so we can put it into context?

For example, I wouldn't say that the temperature in California was +70 degrees yesterday while Colorado had temperatures of -10 degrees. I'd just say 70 degrees and -10 degrees.

On the other hand, if I was talking about scientific results, I might need to make that distinction but I'm not sure it would be necessary to add the + for positive numbers.

I wouldn't abandon it -- it's a simple (or not so simple) formatting issue, and once you figure it out/make a decision, you'll have your answer, now and for the future. Especially if it's an article you want to write, no need to throw it away because of an issue like this.

I don't see a reason to italicize those numbers. I work with technical (e.g., medical, accounting) articles all the time and I've never come across the need for italics (used the way you mention). As for whether to use the "+" -- it depends. As Celeste suggested, can you post a sentence or two?

Another thought: in some cases, and this may be one of them, there aren't hard-and-fast rules about these things. The important thing is to decide on a format and use it consistently throughout the article.

Thanks for the quick responses, guys! Sorry I didn't explain it better initially.

The article is about card counting. Some of the cards are designated to have a positive value of one while others have a negative value of one. Some have a neutral value, so they're just assigned a zero.

"Of any suit, cards Two through Six are given a value of +1, cards Seven to Nine equal 0, and cards Ten to Ace are -1. If you can add and subtract values of one, then you can count cards."

Does that look awkward? I kept the + on the positive numbers because when you count cards you usually say "plus seven." It makes things less confusing during practice, but it looks weird to me in text. Also, I've always been told that you write the name of any number smaller than ten, although I've heard about 9 million different rules since then.

I won't abandon it, but I may stick it away for a while

In that context, I think using the + is fine, even preferable. It makes sense to distinguish between the positive and negative values that way.

The thing that's bothering me, though, is the "cards Two through Six." I just did some quick checking on the internet, and it seems the convention is to use numerals to refer to cards. I would tend to go that way.

In both cases, I think it's up to you. Those are my preferences above, but you wouldn't be breaking any rules doing it differently. As for rules about which numbers to spell out, it entirely depends on the style guide you're using or on your own choice. For example, the widely used Chicago Manual of Style spells out numbers from one through one hundred, whereas the American Psychological Association only spells out one through nine.

Again, the important thing is whatever style you choose, be consistent, at least within a single article. But that doesn't mean being overly rigid. In your case, consistency could mean using numerals for all number cards, and spelling out all numbers less than ten.

Hope this is helpful!

Sounds like an interesting article -- good luck with it!

4rumid wrote:The thing that's bothering me, though, is the "cards Two through Six." I just did some quick checking on the internet, and it seems the convention is to use numerals to refer to cards. I would tend to go that way.

I think maybe that's what looked so awkward to me. I looked online, but all I found was that cards were capitalized -- King, Ace, Hearts, etc. I'll stick with just "2 through 6" and make sure everything is consistent. Thank you so much -- it was really helpful and I really appreciate being able to bounce ideas and problems off of people.

Thanks, again! Have a good night

I agree. I'd use card numbers 2, 3, 4, etc. Also, because you are actually refering to numbers rather than quantities, I think using the number rather than the word is appropriate. In this context, I think a "value of +1" makes sense. You could also say, "a value of positive one, zero, or negative one."

Celeste Stewart wrote:I agree. I'd use card numbers 2, 3, 4, etc. Also, because you are actually refering to numbers rather than quantities, I think using the number rather than the word is appropriate. In this context, I think a "value of +1" makes sense. You could also say, "a value of positive one, zero, or negative one."

I think you both are so right about the numbers. Even in the short posts they look better!

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out. I may be back with more questions later, but I'm good for now. You guys saved me a lot of running in circles and second guessing myself.

Thanks again for the advice! I finished it up, submitted it, and ED accepted it -- so your suggestions were spot on. I can't say it's the best article, but it was fun to write something different and out of my comfort zone.

Congrats on the acceptance! See? Aren't you glad you didn't abandon it?

Very happy to offer whatever input I may have. Glad it worked for you!