This is an abbreviated version of the Physics World style guide. The detailed PDF document is available online.

Inclusive language

IOP Publishing follows the C4DISC Guidelines on Inclusive Language and Images in Scholarly Publishing.

Make sure you use inclusive language and bear in mind cultural and other sensitivities. Using the right terminology is important for accuracy as well as because words reflect our attitudes and beliefs. Disparaging language may not only cause offence, but can be deeply upsetting and can reinforce stereotypes.

Spelling

Use UK English. Follow the first spelling preference given in Chambers English Dictionary – available free online.

Spell proper names according to the country of origin (e.g. Pearl Harbor, Australian Labor Party, National Tritium Labeling Facility), except where this goes against common UK usage (e.g. Munich not München).

Grammar

Use standard British English grammar.

Use an en rule (–) with a space either side around clauses, not a hyphen (-) or em rule (—), e.g. “The procedure – discovered by Sanchez in 1971 – was employed in this case to great effect.”

Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity (little used car?), generally for compound adjectives, e.g. high-frequency sound; low-voltage power.

Use singular not plural for organizations, groups and teams, e.g. The Institute of Physics is … / The research team is … (but John Smith and his team are … / data are …).

Use double quotes throughout, except in headlines.

Titles

Job titles should be lower case (e.g. editor of the Guardian, president of the ITER Council).

Aside from capitalization, punctuation should be followed as per the original, so if they use "&" rather than "and" or numbers as figures, follow that.