What is the standard/recommended font to use in papers?

I looked around but did not find that anyone has asked this before, but what are the fonts that are standard/recommended while writing academic reports/papers?

109k 50 50 gold badges 422 422 silver badges 476 476 bronze badges asked Aug 7, 2014 at 10:04 583 1 1 gold badge 5 5 silver badges 8 8 bronze badges

No need to search for the perfect font. You just download the latex/word template that the journal / conference provides and you stick to it.

Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 10:12 In my case there isn't a template, that is the problem. Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 10:12

@O.R.Mapper yes very true, although I assume if the OP was looking for the standard font of every language in the world for academic publishing, we could close it as "too broad"

Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 15:35

People stick with the Computer Modern default in LaTeX so much that I once had someone tell me a paper where I intentionally chose a different serif font "looked unprofessional."

Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 17:32

Please do not be "that person" who has the only paper in the journal or proceedings with a different font from the others.

Commented Aug 8, 2014 at 8:42

4 Answers 4

If there's no template, then the choice is yours. However, you should make sure to pick a font that's easy to read. The usual standards in academia tend to be the Times, Helvetica/Arial, and Computer Modern families. This doesn't restrict you from using fonts like Book Antiqua, Myriad Pro, Goudy Old Style, or Garamond, but they're definitely not standard.

answered Aug 7, 2014 at 10:24 174k 34 34 gold badges 419 419 silver badges 744 744 bronze badges

As to Helvetica/Arial: I think conventional wisdom is that serif fonts are preferred for large bodies of text, while sans serif should be reserved for short chunks like labels, headings, etc. I've certainly never seen a published paper set entirely in Helvetica. Then again, in my field everyone uses LaTeX, so unless you make a special effort, everything comes out in Computer Modern.

Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 15:52

@NateEldredge: You are correct that serif fonts are easier to handle in large doses, but Helvetica is the "default" font for most "official" documents and reports throughout most of Europe. And this extends to preprints when not done in LaTeX.

Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 15:56 Eurghhhhhhhhhhh. Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 16:14

@NateEldredge: This is not undisputed. @ aeismail: It’s rather Arial due that popular operating system (which does not make this any better; not because of serif vs. sans-serif, but because I do not want to see that font anymore to the extent that I tweaked my browser to auto-replace any resembling fonts).

Commented Aug 8, 2014 at 8:35

@Wrzlprmft: True, it is normally Arial that is specified; fortunately the differences are small enough that I use Helvetica and no one complains. (And actually I'm starting to see more references to Helvetica nowadays.)

Commented Aug 8, 2014 at 12:00

For an academic paper each publisher journal have their standards. These do not affect or are affected by the manuscripts sent in to the journal. Some journals specify fonts, commonly standard Times Roman, for their manuscripts. If the journal specifies something, follow that specification. Otherwise use a font that is easy to read. There is no need to use anything but a standard font for whatever typesetting/word processor system.

answered Aug 7, 2014 at 10:25 Peter Jansson Peter Jansson 73.6k 12 12 gold badges 207 207 silver badges 347 347 bronze badges

There isn't any.

Focus on the content, write using your favorite writing software's default font, and let the journal's typesetting staff worry about the looks of the published version.

For the subset of journals that do not take care of typesetting, first make sure they are legitimate, then use the template they provide.

If no template is provided discuss with your supervisor and colleagues whether the journal is really worth your time, if it is then use your favorite software's default font.

answered Sep 19, 2017 at 7:30 27.2k 8 8 gold badges 98 98 silver badges 151 151 bronze badges

As others have mentioned, the standard font varies, but is usually a serif font such as Times New Roman, although sans serif fonts such as Arial and Helvetica seem to be gaining traction as well. Their is major disagreement over which is easier to read--serif or sans serif fonts, with no clear consensus on the outcome. For example, see this paper.

Font size is typically twelve point. Follow the guidelines on this one, and make sure to keep your font consistent. Nothing is more likely to get you minus points than some obvious monkeying with the font size, whether to lengthen your manuscript (most commonly seen in undergrad papers) or to fit your text into the page limit (the rest of us!).

answered Aug 7, 2014 at 16:34 J. Zimmerman J. Zimmerman 8,777 2 2 gold badges 29 29 silver badges 67 67 bronze badges

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