Which one is the better choice of writing numbers?

Asked Apr 30 '19 at 14:26

Active Apr 30 '19 at 18:44

Viewed 45 times

In a scholarly paper, which of the following is the right way of writing down numbers?

The country is the first in the region, fourth in the continent, and sixteenth globally.

The country is 1st in the region, 4th in the continent, and 16th globally.

edited Apr 30 '19 at 18:44

Laurel

15,632
3
42
73

asked Apr 30 '19 at 14:26

Sasan

2,068
5
31
54

Possible duplicate of First, Second, Third, Fourth or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th? One, Two, Three or 1, 2, 3? – Caroffrey Apr 30 '19 at 14:46
1

As with many details about written English, there is no universal "better". For a scholarly paper, there will almost certainly be an official style manual either from your sponsoring institution or from whichever journal you are submitting to. We can argue that you should use one form or the other, but ultimately your editors and your readers will be the ones judging your output. – choster Apr 30 '19 at 15:06
@choster Right. Is "1st" correct, or "the 1st"? – Sasan Apr 30 '19 at 15:16

Which one is the better choice of writing numbers?

0 Answers0