BIO 190—Scientific Communication I

Outline format (for older web browsers)

III. The classical outline has a set format. The first level is
     numbered by Roman numerals. The ancient Romans wrote numbers
     with these cumbersome numerals; our modern numerals come from
     the Arabs.
    
     A. The second level is numbered with upper case letters (also
        called capitals, or majuscules). If you needed letters
        past "Z", you would use "AA", "AB", and so on.

     B. By convention, there must be at least two entries at each
        level. If there is only one, it should be combined with
        the higher level that includes it. In this part of the
        outline, I'll ignore that rule, so that I can show you the
        numbering at each level. 

        1. The third level is numbered with Arabic numerals.
        
           a. The fourth level is numbered with lower case letters
              ("small", or minuscule). 
        
              i. The fifth level is numbered with lower case Roman
                 numerals (ironically, the Romans didn't have lower
                 case letters). 
        
             ii. After the fifth level, you're on your own. 
        
     C. Classical outlines are of two forms. 

        1. Sentence outlines consist of complete sentences (ending
           with periods). 

        2. Topic outlines consist of words or phrases, not complete
           sentences. 

Return to BIO 190 - Making an outline.