LibGuides: ASME Style Guide: Writing Conventions

Title of the Paper - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

The title of the paper should be concise and definitive.

Author Names and Affiliations - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

It is ASME policy that all those who have participated significantly in the technical aspects of a paper be recognized as co-authors or cited in the acknowledgments. Author name should consist of first name (or initial), middle initial, and last name. The author affiliation should consist of the following, as applicable, in the order noted:

university or company (with department name or company division)
mailing address
city, state, zip code
country name (other than the U.S.)
e-mail (university or company email addresses should be used whenever possible)

Writing in the First Person - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

The use of the first person, I, me, my, and reference to individuals should be made in such a manner as to avoid personal bias.

In-Text Notations - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

Within the text, references should be cited in numerical order according to their order of appearance. The numbered reference citation within text should be enclosed in brackets.

Example: It was shown by Prusa [1] that the width of the plume decreases under these conditions.

All references must include a DOI.

In the case of two citations, the numbers should be separated by a comma [1,2]. In the case of more than two references, the numbers should be separated by a dash [5-7].

Note: ASME primarily uses the Chicago Manual of Style for reference format. Authors are encouraged to seek out precise instructions via: http://www.ChicagoManualofStyle.org. ASME does not allow references to Wikipedia.

Block Quotations - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

Block quotations should be avoided. Whenever possible long quotations should be avoided by referring to the source.

Acronyms - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

Acronyms must be spelled out on their first use. Put the acronym in parentheses immediately after the spelled-out term, e.g. the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS).

Equations - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

Equations should be kept to a reasonable minimum, and built-up fractions within sentences should be avoided.

Equations should be numbered consecutively beginning with (1) to the end of the paper, including any appendices. The number should be enclosed in parentheses and set flush right in the column on the same line as the equation. It is this number that should be used when referring to equations within the text. Equations should be referenced within the text as "Eq. (x)." When the reference to an equation begins a sentence, it should be spelled out, e.g., "Equation (x)."

Formulas and equations should be created to clearly distinguish capital letters from lowercase letters. Care should be taken to avoid confusion between the lowercase "l"(el) and the numeral one, or between zero and the lowercase "o." All subscripts, superscripts, Greek letters, and other symbols should be clearly indicated.

In all mathematical expressions and analyses, any symbols (and the units in which they are measured) not previously defined in nomenclature should be explained. If the paper is highly mathematical in nature, it may be advisable to develop equations and formulas in appendices rather than in the body of the paper.

Units of Measure - based upon ASME's Journals Digital Submission Tool Guidelines and Information

In the paper, any mention of units of measure must be expressed in SI (International System of Units). The metric system, also known as SI is used in the majority of the world, with the major exception of the United States of America.

Click here for SI:

National Institute of Standards and Technology - SI Basics
The SI rests on a foundation of seven (7) defining constants: the cesium hyperfine splitting frequency, the speed of light in vacuum, the Planck constant, the elementary charge (i.e. the charge on a proton), the Boltzmann constant, the Avogadro constant, and the luminous efficacy of a specified monochromatic source. NIST provides values and a searchable bibliography for the fundamental physical constants. Definitions of all seven (7) SI base units are expressed using an explicit-constant formulation and experimentally realized using a specific mises en pratique (practical technique).