Writing research papers, articles, and other academic works often requires including numbers in the text. While numbers are a crucial part of conveying facts, figures, and statistical data, directly typing out numbers can disrupt the flow of writing and be unattractive on the page. Therefore, it is important to understand the proper rules and techniques for typing numbers in formal written works.
Including Numbers in Text
There are a few basic rules to follow regarding typing out numbers in the body of an essay, research paper, article, or other written work:
Numbers one through nine are usually typed out as words (“five,” “eight,” etc.), while numbers 10 and above are usually typed as figures (10, 15, 100, etc.). This improves readability for the reader.
If a number appears at the beginning of a sentence, it should always be typed out as a word, not a figure. For example, it would be “Five students participated in the study,” not “5 students participated in the study.”
When a number is part of a range (“between 5 and 10 students”), hyphenate the number (“between five and 10 students”) for continuity and clarity.
Numbers that are related to units of measurements (“2 inches,” “42 pounds”) and exact times/dates should be typed as figures, not words (“It happened at 4:30pm on October 5th”).
Fractions should be typed out (“one-quarter,” not “1/4”) unless they include very large numbers or decimals.
Monetary values should always be typed as figures (“$15”), not words (“fifteen dollars”), and cents should be typed with a figure and the word cents (“$7.50 cents”).
Numbers Typed at the Start of a Sentence
As stated above, numbers that start a sentence should always be typed out as words to improve readability and proper grammar. There are some exceptions to this rule:
When the number is the year, it’s acceptable to type it as a figure (“1985 was a pivotal year.”).
In highly technical or mathematical writing where figures are more appropriate for clarity. Even then it’s best to restructure the sentence to avoid starting with a number if possible.
With common ordinal numbers like “first,” “third,” etc. These can be typed as figures (“3rd place”) or words (“third place”) depending on the style guide or publication rules.
Spacing and Punctuation with Numbers
Numbers also have specific spacing and punctuation rules to follow:
Do not put spaces between an number and units/symbols like %, °C, ft2 unless the number is a compound modifier (“5 % increase” but “an increase of 5%”).
Include commas in numbers of four digits or more (” over 10,000 participants”) to aid readability.
Decimal points should have zeroes before them if the place value is less than one (“0.25 pounds”) for clarity and uniformity.
When numbers appear in parentheses, add parentheses around the whole number, including commas (“over (10,000) participants”).
With ages, always include both the number and unit (“5 years old” not “5 years”).
Formatting Large Numbers
When dealing with very large or complex numbers, consider reformatting them differently for visual clarity:
For numbers over 999,999, use a hyphen or en dash between each group of three digits (“1,234–567 people”).
For long strings of numbers like statistical values or dollar amounts, separate them into discrete paragraphs or use tables/figures for legibility.
Extremely long number values may be simplified by rounding where appropriate or converting to scientific notation within the text for brevity.
Monetary values over $1 million are sometimes formatted with commas and the word “dollars” (“$1,234,567 dollars”) so high figures remain visually distinct.
Numbers in Tables, Figures & Captions
While numbers in the main body of writing generally follow the above rules, numbers specifically within tables, figures, graphs, or their captions have some variation:
All numbers, including ones under 10, should be typed as figures, not words. This improves readability of data across multiple categories.
Commas are not necessary in four-digit numbers for the sake of brevity and visual simplicity within figures.
Decimal points and leading zeros are still used (“0.25” not “.25”) for consistency throughout the document.
Captions should include the relevant units for measurements where applicable (“Figure 3: Population sizes from 1980-2020 in thousands”).
Conclusion
Careful and consistent formatting of numbers, whether typed out as words or figures, aids in readability and reduces visual distractions in longer written works. Knowing the general rules is helpful, but authors should also reference their specific publisher’s style guide for more detailed guidance on numbers. Mastering these techniques allows numbers to seamlessly support written descriptions, statistics, and analyses across academic and professional articles, research papers, reports, and other formal documents.