Academic Writing Style Guide (Typst)
Table of Contents
- Core Principles
- Sentence Length Guidelines
- Paragraph Structure
- Academic Vocabulary
- Transition Words
- Citation Integration (Typst Syntax)
- Common Section Patterns
- Typst-Specific Formatting
Core Principles
1. Clarity Over Complexity
- One idea per sentence
- Avoid nested clauses when possible
- Define terms on first use
2. Precision Over Vagueness
- Use specific numbers instead of "several" or "many"
- Quantify claims whenever possible
- Avoid hedging without evidence
3. Active Voice (When Appropriate)
- ✅ "We propose a novel method..."
- ✅ "This paper presents..."
- ❌ "A novel method is proposed by us..."
Sentence Length Guidelines
| Type | Word Count | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Short | 10-15 | Key findings, transitions |
| Medium | 15-25 | Most content |
| Long | 25-40 | Complex relationships |
| Very Long | >40 | ⚠️ Consider splitting |
Paragraph Structure
Topic Sentence
First sentence states the main point.
Supporting Sentences
- Evidence, examples, or elaboration
- 3-5 sentences typical
- Clear logical flow
Transition
Connect to next paragraph if needed.
Academic Vocabulary
Reporting Verbs (Neutral)
- states, notes, observes, reports, describes
Reporting Verbs (Strong Agreement)
- demonstrates, shows, proves, confirms, establishes
Reporting Verbs (Tentative)
- suggests, implies, indicates, proposes, hypothesizes
Reporting Verbs (Critical)
- claims, argues, asserts, alleges, maintains
Transition Words
Addition
- Furthermore, Moreover, Additionally, In addition
Contrast
- However, Nevertheless, Conversely, On the other hand
Cause/Effect
- Therefore, Consequently, As a result, Thus
Example
- For instance, For example, Specifically, In particular
Sequence
- First, Second, Subsequently, Finally
Citation Integration (Typst Syntax)
Integral (Author as Subject)
typst
@smith2020 demonstrated that...
According to @jones2021, the method...Non-Integral (Content Focus)
typst
Deep learning has shown remarkable success @smith2020 @jones2021 @wang2022.Paraphrase (Preferred)
Restate the idea in your own words with citation.
Direct Quote (Sparingly)
Only for definitions or exceptionally well-phrased ideas.
Anti-Citation-Stacking Rules (Introduction & Related Work)
Stacking 3+ references without individual discussion is a common AI writing pattern and is unacceptable in top-tier venues. These rules apply to both Introduction and Related Work sections.
Rules:
Max 2 clustered citations without discussion per sentence
- ❌ "Many methods have been proposed @smith2020 @jones2021 @wang2022 @li2023 @chen2024."
- ✅ "@smith2020 proposed X for scenario A. Building on this, @jones2021 extended the approach to B, while @wang2022 addressed limitation C."
Every cited work must earn its citation with at least one of:
- A summary of its core contribution (1 clause minimum)
- A comparison with another cited work
- A specific limitation that motivates your work
Narrative over parenthetical in Introduction and Related Work:
- Use integral citations (author as subject) for key works: "@smith2020 demonstrated..."
- Reserve non-integral citations for well-established facts only: "Gradient descent is widely used @smith2020 @jones2021."
Funnel-appropriate density (Introduction):
- Background paragraph (broad context): up to 2 clustered citations for established facts
- Problem statement paragraph: each citation must be individually discussed
- Gap/motivation paragraph: every cited limitation must reference a specific paper
Categorical discussion (Related Work):
- Group works by methodology/approach, not chronologically
- Within each group, discuss each work's specific contribution and limitation
- Use comparative language between works: "Unlike @smith2020, @jones2021 addresses..."
Positive patterns (Introduction):
typst
@smith2020 proposed method X, achieving Y% accuracy on dataset Z.
However, their approach assumes A, which limits applicability to B.
@jones2021 relaxed this assumption by introducing C, but at the cost of D.
In contrast, our method addresses both limitations by...Positive patterns (Related Work):
typst
*Transformer-based methods.* @vaswani2017 introduced the self-attention
mechanism for sequence modeling. @li2019 adapted this architecture for
time series, but their method requires $O(n^2)$ memory. @zhou2021 proposed
ProbSparse attention to reduce complexity to $O(n log n)$, though at the
cost of approximation error.Negative patterns (FORBIDDEN):
typst
Many researchers have studied this problem @a2020 @b2021 @c2022 @d2023 @e2024.
Several methods have been proposed @f2020 @g2021 @h2022 @i2023 @j2024 @k2024.Common Section Patterns
Introduction
- General context → Specific problem
- Gap in existing work
- Contributions of this work
- Paper organization
Related Work
- Categorize existing approaches
- Compare and contrast
- Position your work
Methodology
- Overview of approach
- Detailed steps
- Justification for choices
Results
- Experimental setup
- Quantitative results
- Qualitative analysis
- Comparison with baselines
Conclusion
- Summary of contributions
- Limitations
- Future work
Typst-Specific Formatting
Headings
typst
= Introduction // Level 1
== Background // Level 2
=== Related Work // Level 3Emphasis
typst
*bold text* // Bold
_italic text_ // Italic
`code text` // Code/monospaceLists
typst
// Unordered list
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Nested item
// Ordered list
+ First item
+ Second item
+ Nested itemMath
typst
// Inline math
The equation $x^2 + y^2 = z^2$ shows...
// Display math
$ x^2 + y^2 = z^2 $
// Numbered equation
$ x = (a + b) / 2 $ <eq:mean>Figures and Tables
typst
// Figure
#figure(
image("figure.png", width: 80%),
caption: [Description of the figure.]
) <fig:example>
// Table
#figure(
table(
columns: 3,
[Header 1], [Header 2], [Header 3],
[Data 1], [Data 2], [Data 3],
),
caption: [Description of the table.]
) <tab:example>Cross-references
typst
As shown in @fig:example, the method...
Table @tab:example presents the results...
Equation @eq:mean defines the average...