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GSC Guide to Authors Parentheses
Parenthesis means literally 'an insertion beside: something outside the basic
meaning of the sentence'. The sentence is logically and grammatically complete
without the material contained within the parentheses (round brackets).
Parentheses are used in these cases:
- to set off words of explanation or comment, or an afterthought:
Access to the area is by plane (the landing strips are not always usable),
helicopter, or pack horse.
The study by Hopkins (1949) is the best one completed to date.
A complete sentence that stands alone in parentheses starts with a capital
letter and ends with a period:
The speaker gave a synopsis of the stratigraphy of the six new formal members.
(Detailed measured sections are given in Appendix 5.)
- to enclose letters or numbers designating items in a series, either at the
beginning of a paragraph or within a paragraph:
The objectives of this study are 1) to provide vitrinite reflectance profiles,
2) to provide time-temperature histories, and 3) to assess conditions of
bitumen reflectance evolution.
- For the use of parentheses in systematic paleontology, see 'Paleontology'.
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