Below are resources about various written genres in mathematics. Most of these resources were gathered by undergraduate webcontent specialist Maria-Sophia Fedyk. If you know of additional resources to recommend, please contact us!
Expository Papers
- For examples of expository papers, see the Bulletin of the AMS.
- Pomona College’s page on “Expository Papers in Mathematics”.
- Although about expository writing rather than the genre of expository papers, in “The Role of Expository Writing in Mathematical Problem Solving” Tracy Craig discusses the effectiveness of writing as a tool for improving student engagement with math.
Undergraduate Thesis
- “Advice on Writing a Senior Thesis” from the Harvard Mathematics Department.
- “Guidelines for Writing a Thesis” by UNSW Sydney’s School of Mathematics and Statistics.
Graduate Thesis
- “How to write a good PhD thesis and survive the viva” by Stefan Ruger provides advice for writing a thesis in computer science in the UK, with many tips that are applicable to mathematics.
- “How to Write Up a Ph.D. Dissertation (for computer scientists and the like)” by Jason Eisner.
- “A Mathematician’s Survival Guide: Graduate School and Early Career Development” by Steven Krantz provides general tips for mathematics graduate students, including thesis tips.
- “Information about Research Theses” by UNSW Sydney’s School of Mathematics and Statistics.
Research Proposals
- “Communicating Mathematics in a Research Proposal.” This AMS Early Career notice by Emily Clader gives writing tips and explains what makes a mathematical research proposal compelling.
- An annotated sample research proposal from the University of Queensland.
Abstracts
- “A Guide to Writing an Abstract.” MAA pamphlet by Robert Vallin.
- This resource from Colorado Mesa University provides examples of abstracts that can be discussed with students.
Research Papers
- “How to Write a Clear Math Paper: Some 21st Century Tips” by Igor Pak
- “How to Write Your First Paper.” AMS Notice by Steven Krantz (2007)
- “Writing a Research Paper in Mathematics” by Ashley Reiter discusses how to structure a mathematical paper and the process behind the writing. (1995)
- “How to Write Mathematical Papers” by Bruce C. Berndt
- “The Art of Writing Introductions” by John Etnyre is an AMS Early Career Notice which discusses how to write a compelling introduction for a paper.
- A reading assignment designed to teach students features of the research article genre, by Susan Ruff and Peter Shor
- See also the page Resources about Writing, since many of these resources are at least implicitly about writing research papers.
Referee Reports
- “Writing, and Reading, Referee Reports,” AMS Early Career Notice by Arend Bayer
Textbooks
- “To Write or Not to Write… a Book, and When?“, AMS Early Career Notice by Joseph Silverman.
- “Remarks on Expository Writing in Mathematics” by Robert Ash. This resource provides tips for expository writing, specifically for mathematicians wishing to write textbooks.
Posters
- How to prepare a poster, by Sven Hammarling and Nicholas J. Higham of SIAM
- Mathematics at the 2010 SACNAS National Conference
This page includes a video and pictures that illustrate what an undergraduate math poster session is like. - Making a math conference poster with Inkscape, by Felix Breuer
This webpage includes a beautiful math poster that can be used as a template. - “Design and Construction of Mathematical Posters.” AMS Early Career Notice by Anya Michaelsen.
- The Joint Math Meetings include an undergraduate student poster session. The MAA provides tips on poster design for this session.
Online Math Resources
- “Communicating Mathematics in the Media.” This resource discusses communicating mathematics in the media, with specific guidelines for getting an op-ed or letter to the editor of an online newspaper.
- “Curating Online Mathematical Resources.” This AMS Early Career Notice by Pieter Belmans discusses how to create online mathematical resources, with an emphasis on collaborative mathematical textbooks or repositories such as the Stacks project.
- “Communicating Mathematics Using Social Media.” This AMS Early Career Notice by David Richeson provides advice for mathematicians wishing to establish a social media presence, and explains how social media can be leveraged for professional development.
