Writing Guide – Feature articles

Features from Maths Society are where we discuss mathematics, its puzzles, problems and impacts.

If you are interested in writing a feature article for our blog, we recommend you read this page in full.

The process of writing a feature article, from beginning research to finishing writing, should take 1-4 hours.

Summary

Feature articles are where Maths Society contributors share a story, figure, puzzle, problem, proof, theory, conjecture, paradox or anything else from the world of maths they are interested in with our community and the world.

It is still our aim for our feature articles to be both the most detailed and easy-to-understand sources on the internet. While being partly educational, these articles are more about being an interesting and fun read while sharing something interesting about mathematics.

We run a number of feature series as well as standalone articles.

Topic

For your article, you may choose any topic that interests you or one of the titles from the suggestion lists below. These include articles for feature series we are running as well as suggestions for standalone features. If you would like to cover any of the topics below, please contact us to discuss the exact contents of the article.

Million Dollar Question (The Millennium Prize Problems)Standalone articles
Poincaré ConjectureTop 10 most famous mathematical equations
P versus NP ProblemWhere can mathematics take you?
Navier–Stokes Existence and SmoothnessHow do mathematicians think?
Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer ConjectureTop 10 most prestigious maths competitions
Hodge Conjecture
Yang–Mills Existence and Mass Gap

Structure

Feature articles should be around 500-700 words.

They should be stories written in a pyramid structure, beginning with the summary and important details of the article before elaborating in more and more detail.

The majority of the article should be explaining the topic, however referencing the history of the topic, its relevance (if any) to the wider world, and any takeaways the reader could have from the topic, are worth including to make the article more engaging.

Writing

Good feature articles:

  • Are humorous, engaging, and teach the reader something they did not know beforehand
  • Read like an entertaining short story
  • Cover the topic in a reasonable level of depth and detail, and avoid the reader asking how and why questions
  • Explain at a level that can be understood by an intelligent 12-year-old (it is assumed the reader has secure knowledge of primary/elementary school level mathematics)
  • Attempt to explain concepts in the first sentence (or paragraph if necessary) before going into further detail
  • Are written in the third person and scientific voice
  • Have engaging and relevant images and diagrams
  • Have opportunities to link to other articles and features on the Maths Society website
  • Have good use of different levels of headings, bullet point lists, and paragraphing to make the article more readable

References and Accuracy

  • All statements, assertions and formulae should be thoroughly checked to be accurate
  • British terms used by the United Kingdom’s National Curriculum should be used by default but where alternative terms are used internationally they should be made clear
  • A list of sources is not necessary but may improve the chance of an article being published

Please note that we advise against extensive use of AI chatbots in the writing of articles. There are many reputable sources and resources both online and in print for your research and inspiration.

If after reading this guide you still have any questions, or want to get in touch with suggestions to improve this guide, please contact us.

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