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APA Style Guidelines for Numbers | Words or Numerals?

Published on August 7, 2015 by Sarah Vinz . Revised on July 23, 2023.

Numbers can be written either as words (e.g., one hundred) or numerals (e.g., 100). In this article we follow the guidelines of APA Style , one of the most common style guides used in academic writing .

In general, words should be used for numbers from zero through nine, and numerals should be used from 10 onwards. This is true for both cardinal numbers (e.g., two, 11) and ordinal numbers (e.g., second, 11 th ). However, there are some important exceptions to this rule.

Note that other style guides, such as Chicago Style,  address numbers differently (for example, in Chicago, you use words for numbers up to 100). Regardless of what style guide you follow, the most important thing is to be consistent in how you treat numbers throughout your document.

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Table of contents

Writing percentages, reporting statistical results that include numbers, writing numbers that are accompanied by measurements, writing long numbers, consistency may not be obvious, other interesting articles.

Use numerals for numbers from zero to nine that are followed by a precise unit of measurement.

The samples measured 7 cm in diameter. (“cm” is a unit of measurement)

But: These three samples were subjected to further testing.

Use words for any number that is used to start a sentence, with the exception of years.

Seventy-two thousand ink cartridges are sold every day.

Nineteenth-century novels often feature complicated plot lines.

But: 2008 saw record olive crops throughout the Mediterranean.

Use words for common fractions and set expressions.

According to the survey, two thirds of the employees are dissatisfied.

Understanding the Five Pillars of Islam is a critical first step.

The Fourth of July is traditionally marked by a firework display.

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With percentages, the standard is to use numerals and “%” (not “percent”).

According to the report, 45% of the workforce is employed in the service sector. Only 6% currently work in agriculture.

The main exception is if you are using a percentage to begin a sentence. In this case, use words to express the entire percentage.

Thirteen percent of the patients reported that their symptoms improved after taking the experimental drug.

If your paper includes quantitative research, you probably have data to report. Statistics, mathematical functions, ratios, and percentages are all written using numerals. This is true regardless of whether they are included within a table or as part of the actual text. Keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Report most statistics to two decimal places (such as M = 5.44).
• Report statistics that could never exceed 1.0 to three decimal places (such as p < .001).
• If a value has the potential to exceed 1.0, use the leading zero. If a value can never exceed 1.0, do not use the leading zero.
• Italicize values that are not Greek letters (such as M , SD , p , and F ).
• Include spaces before and after =, >, and <.

The average IQ of the participants was relatively high ( M = 137.33, SD = 4.54).

The results of the second test were statistically significant, t (12) = 4.11, p < .05.

There are further detailed guidelines about reporting statistics in APA .

If a number comes immediately before a unit of measurement, use numerals.

Each patient received  5 mg  of the experimental drug.

The tallest participant was 2.03 m .

Also use numerals for precise ages, times, dates, scores, points on a scale, and amounts of money.

The final score of Ghana 2, Brazil 1 did not represent a decisive victory.

Children under 8 years receive a $50 discount.

But: Most girls start reading when they are about five years old. (“about” makes the number imprecise)

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Longer numbers follow specific rules:

• Use a period to indicate a decimal point.
• Starting with 1,000, use commas to separate every three digits.

The region has an average of 43.75 doctors for every 10,000 people.

Some predict that the number of users will reach 2 billion by 2020.

One of the main reasons why writing numbers is complicated is that consistently applying the rules may lead to a text that actually seems very in consistent. Consider the following paragraphs:

At about the age of seven , the girl’s height was 1.47 m. This placed her in the fifth percentile, although her weight placed her in the top 7% of her class. By the time she was 9 years old, she was taller than half of the boys in her year. Five years later, she was still ranked 15 th .

Thirteen thousand viewers watched the performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the park, while another 2,000 watched from the surrounding buildings and 1.2 million watched it on television. As one  out of every 11 residents saw at least part of the play, this one event can definitely be considered a success.

These texts may look awkward because so many different number formats have been used, but don’t be deceived – the above guidelines have all been followed.

If you are not required to strictly follow a particular style (such as APA format ), you may have some flexibility to modify the guidelines presented in this article. Just be sure to apply any modifications you make throughout your entire document.

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When to Spell Out Numbers in Writing: Guide and Examples

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The Rules for Writing Numbers in English 

You may have noticed a theme when it comes to the English language: most rules are not standardized. This (somewhat frustrating) fact is especially true when it comes to spelling out numbers. Should you write them out in words or leave them as numerals? To write numbers properly, you will also need to identify potential differences between major style guides (such as MLA , APA , and Chicago , to name a few) because these guides often outline different rules for using numbers in writing.

To make it easier, let's use an example. Say you're working on a paper evaluating the importance of the local public library in your community. The document will make use of small numbers, large numbers, decades, and statistics. Each type of number may follow a different rule.

Thankfully, when using numbers in writing, you can count on a few conventions that apply to most situations; just be sure to consult your specific style guide if one has been assigned. If you don't have time to review each number yourself, a professional editor or proofreader can ensure that your numbers are written correctly.

Writing Small and Large Numbers

A simple rule for using numbers in writing is that small numbers ranging from one to ten (or one to nine, depending on the style guide) should generally be spelled out. Larger numbers (i.e., above ten) are written as numerals.

For example, instead of writing "It cost ten-thousand four-hundred and sixteen dollars to renovate the local library," you would write, "It cost $10,416 to renovate the local library."

The reason for this is relatively intuitive. Writing out large numbers not only wastes space but could also be a major distraction to your readers.

Beginning a Sentence with a Number

Here is a rule that you can truly rely on: always spell out numbers when they begin a sentence, no matter how large or small they may be.

Incorrect: 15 new fiction novels were on display.

Correct: Fifteen new fiction novels were on display.

If the number is large and you want to avoid writing it all out, rearrange the sentence so that the number no longer comes first.

Revised: There were 15 new fiction novels on display.

Whole Numbers vs. Decimals

Another important factor to consider is whether you are working with a whole number or a decimal. Decimals are always written as numerals for clarity and accuracy.

To revisit our library example, perhaps circulation statistics improved in 2015. If a number falls in the range of one to ten and is not a whole number, it should be written as a numeral.

Incorrect: The circulation of library materials increased by four point five percent in 2015.

Correct: The circulation of library materials increased by 4.5% in 2015.

Paired Numbers (Two Numbers in a Row)

When two numbers come next to each other in a sentence, be sure to spell out one of these numbers. The main purpose of this rule is to avoid confusing the reader.

Incorrect: There were 12 4-year-old children waiting for the librarian to begin story time.

Correct: There were 12 four-year-old children waiting for the librarian to begin story time.

Correct: There were twelve 4-year-old children waiting for the librarian to begin story time.

Decades and Centuries

Decades or centuries are usually spelled out, especially if the writing is formal.

Incorrect: The library was built in the '50s.

Correct: The library was built in the fifties.

If you are referring to a specific year (e.g., 1955), use the numeral.

Consistency Is Key When Using Numbers in Your Writing

Always strive for consistency, even if it overrides a previous rule. For example, if your document uses numbers frequently, it is more appropriate for all numbers to remain as numerals to ensure that usage is uniform throughout. Similarly, if a single sentence combines small and large numbers, make sure that all the numbers are either spelled out or written as numerals.

Incorrect: The library acquired five new mystery novels, 12 new desktop computers, and 17 new periodicals.

Correct: The library acquired 5 new mystery novels, 12 new desktop computers, and 17 new periodicals.

Style Guides May Have Slightly Different Rules for Writing Numbers in Words

Let's complicate things a bit, shall we?

If your work must follow the rules of a specific style guide, understand that various guides all have rules for spelling out numbers that may differ slightly from the rules listed above. For example, MLA style indicates that writers may spell out numbers if they are not used too frequently in the document and can be represented with one or two words (e.g., twenty-four, one hundred, three thousand ). APA style advises that common fractions (e.g., two-thirds ) be expressed as words. A number of specific rules for spelling out numbers are outlined in Section 9.1 of the Chicago Manual of Style.

Your ultimate authority will always be a style guide, but in the absence of one, following the rules outlined above will help you stay consistent in your use of numbers in writing.

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Writing numbers When to use words and when to use numerals

It can be difficult to know how to write numbers in academic writing (e.g. five or 5 , 1 million or 1,000,000 ). This section gives some guidelines on when to use words to write numbers, and when to use numerals . There are also some exceptions to the rule which are considered, i.e. times when you might expect to use words but should instead use numerals. There is also a checklist at the end, that you can use to check the use of numbers in your own writing.

When to use words

In general, words should be used for zero to ten , and numerals used from 11 onwards. The same rule should be applied to ordinal numbers, i.e. use words for first, second up to tenth, and numbers plus 'th' (or 'st') from 11th onwards. However, it is always best to check what the accepted practice is at your university (or in your department/on your course), and remember that some common referencing systems have their own, different requirements, as follows.

• MLA . Use words if the number can be written using one or two words (e.g. three , twenty-seven ).
• APA . Use words for numbers zero to nine.
• Chicago . Use words for numbers zero to one hundred.

Before looking at when to use numerals (which is almost all other situations, see next), it is useful to look at important exceptions.

(1) When the number begins a sentence , you should use words , whatever the size of the number (though if possible, rewrite the sentence so the number is not at the beginning).

• Fifty respondents agreed with the statement.
• There were 50 respondents who agreed with the statement. [ rewritten sentence ]
• 50 respondents agreed with the statement.

(2) When expressing part of a very large round number , e.g. million, billion, you should use words for that large number part (it is common to use abbreviations m for million and bn billion ).

• The population of the earth is now in excess of 7 billion people.
• The population of the earth is now in excess of 7bn people.
• The population of the earth is now in excess of 7,000,000,000 people.
• The population of the UK is approximately 70 million.
• The population of the UK is approximately 70,000,000.

Conversely, numerals should be used rather than words, whatever the size of the number, when large and small numbers are combined , since this makes comparisons easier.

• There were 2 respondents in the first category, and 22 in the second.
• There were two respondents in the first category, and 22 in the second.

When to use numerals

Numerals are used for almost all other situations. These include the following.

• Measurements (e.g. 6 kg, 3 cm, 10 min, 2 hr, 3 days, 6 years, 5 decades )
• Currency (e.g. $10, £50, £60 billion )
• Statistical data , including survey data (e.g. A survey of participants revealed that 4 out of 5 students worked. )
• Mathematical functions (e.g. v 2 = u 2 + 2as )
• Decimals (e.g. 2.5, 4.54 )
• Percentages (e.g. 75% )
• Ratios (e.g. 3:1 )
• Percentiles/quartiles (e.g. the 95th percentile, the 1st quartile )
• Times (e.g. 12.30 a.m., 6 p.m., 16:00 )
• Dates (e.g. Wednesday 25 December 2019 )
• Scores/points on a scale (e.g. This item scored 5 on a 9-point scale )

Other important points

The following are a few other points to remember when using numbers.

• Consistency. You should be consistent in how you write numbers; for example, if write a figure like 7bn in one place, do not write a figure like 5 billion in another.
• Use of commas. When giving numerals of 1,000 or larger, use commas for each thousand, e.g. 5,500, 8,326,500 .
• Use of hyphens. When displaying a range, use a hyphen, with no space, e.g. 30%–50%
• Expressing fractions. Fractions can be written either as numerals e.g. 2/3 or words e.g. two-thirds . If using words, use a hyphen.

American Psychological Association (2019a) Numbers Expressed in Words . Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers/words (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

American Psychological Association (2019b) Numbers Expressed in Numerals . Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers/numerals (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

Harvard Wiki (2019) Numbers . Available at: https://wiki.harvard.edu/confluence/display/HSG/Numbers . (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

University of Bristol (2015) Using numbers . Available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_33.htm (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

University of New England (nd) Numbers in academic writing . Available at: https://aso-resources.une.edu.au/academic-writing/miscellaneous/numbers/ (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

University of Oxford (2015) Style Guide . Available at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/University%20of%20Oxford%20Style%20Guide.pdf (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

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Below is a checklist for using numbers in academic writing. Use it to check your writing, or as a peer to help.

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Writers often need to discuss numbers and statistics in their manuscripts, and it can be a challenge to determine how to represent these in the most readable way. APA 7 contains detailed guidelines for how to write numbers and statistics, and the most common are listed below. These guidelines, however, are not exhaustive and writers may need to evaluate particular instances of numbers in their own writing to determine if the guideline applies or if an exception should be made for clarity.

Numbers 

Generally, you can spell out numbers below 10 in words (seven, three), and use numerals for anything 10 and higher (10, 42). 

• You should use Arabic numerals (1, 7) instead of Roman numerals (II, XI) unless the Roman numerals are part of established terminology in your field. 
• In numbers greater than 1,000, use commas to separate groups of three digits except in page numbers, binary code, serial numbers, temperatures, acoustic frequencies, and degrees of freedom. 
• Do not add apostrophes when writing a plural of a number (the 2000s, the 70s).

Use a numeral in these cases:

• a number 10 or higher anywhere in the paper
• a number right before a unit of measurement (3 m, 24 g)
• a number denoting: mathematical functions, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, percentiles (2:1 ratio, 5%)
• a number denoting: time, a date, an age, a point on a scale, an exact amount of money, or a numeral (the 3 key on your keyboard, 7 years old, a 5 on the test)
• a number indicating a place in a series or a part of a book/table, if the number is after a noun (i.e., Item 4, but words are used in cases like "the fourth item")

Spell the number out in words in these cases:

• a number from 0-9 anywhere in the paper, except the specific cases above
• a number that starts a sentence, heading, or title (though this should be avoided)
• a number that is a common fraction (one half, two thirds)
• a number that is part of a common phrase (Noble Eightfold Path)

When numbers are written next to each other in a sentence, one strategy to help readers parse the sentence is to combine words and numerals (3 two-year-old owls, four 3-step plans), but rewording to separate the numbers may be the best choice for clarity in some cases. Clarity for readers is always the most important consideration.

Ordinal Numbers 

Treat ordinal numbers (3rd, fourth) the same way as other numbers, using the guidelines above. You may use a superscript or not (1 st , 1 st ), but you should maintain the same usage throughout your paper.

Decimal Fractions 

In numbers less than 1, writers may include a leading 0 before the decimal point or not. This choice is based on the maximum possible amount of the statistic:

• If the statistic can be greater than 1, use a leading 0 (0.24 in)
• If the statistic cannot be greater than 1, do not use a leading 0 (p = .042)

APA's general principle for rounding decimals in experimental results is as follows, quoted here for accuracy: "Round as much as possible while considering prospective use and statistical precision" (7th edition manual, p. 180). Readers can more easily understand numbers with fewer decimal places reported, and generally APA recommends rounding to two decimal places (and rescaling data if necessary to achieve this).

Some more specific guidelines for particular values are listed below.

One decimal place:

• standard deviations

Two decimal places:

• correlations
• proportions
• inferential statistics
• exact p values (can be reported to two or three places; when p is less than .001, write p < .001)

Statistical Copy 

These rules cover presentation of data, not accuracy of data or the best way to conduct analysis.

You can represent data in the text, in a table, or in a figure. A rule of thumb is:

• <3 numbers → try a sentence
• 4-20 numbers → try a table
• >20 numbers → try a figure

Clarity is always paramount.

When discussing statistics in common use, you do not need to provide a reference or formula.

If the statistic or expression is new, rare, integral to the paper, or used in an unconventional way, provide a reference or formula.

The purpose of reporting statistics is usually to help readers confirm your findings and analyses; as such, the degree of specificity in reporting results should follow in line with that purpose.

When your data are multilevel, you should include summary statistics for each level, depending on the kind of analysis performed. When your data are reported in a table or figure, you do not need to repeat each number in the text, but you should mention the table or figure in the text when discussing the statistics and emphasize in-text key data points that help interpret your findings. 

Use words like "respectively" or "in order" to clarify each statistic mentioned in text and their referent.

For instance:

Confidence intervals should be reported: 90% CI [ LL, UL ], with LL as the lower limit and UL as the upper limit of the interval. You do not need to repeat confidence intervals in the same paragraph or in a series when the meaning is clear and the confidence interval has not changed. When CIs follow the report of a point estimate, you do not need to repeat the unit of measurement.

Statistics uses a great deal of symbols and abbreviations (when a term can be both, the abbreviation refers to the concept and the symbol indicates a numeric value).

You do not need to define these when they represent a statistic or when they are composed of Greek letters. You do need to define any other abbreviation (such as ANOVA, CFA, SEM) in your paper. If the analysis you are performing uses multiple notation styles for symbols and abbreviations, only use one consistently throughout your paper.

Some other statistical symbol guidelines include:

• use words rather than symbols in narrative text; when you report a stats term with other mathematical symbols like = or +, use the symbol
• population parameters use Greek letters while estimators use Latin letters in italics (usually)
• uppercase, italicized N indicates the total membership of a sample; lowercase, italicized n indicates the membership of a subgroup of a sample such as a treatment group or control group
• % and currency symbols like $ should only be used with numerals (15%, $25) or in table headings and figure labels to save space
• use standard type (no italics or bold) for Greek letters, subscript and superscript identifiers, and abbreviations that are not variables such as log
• use bold type for vector and matrix symbols
• use italics for all other statistical symbols

Mathematical Copy 

For ease of reading, use spaces between elements in a mathematical expression ( a + b = c ), except in the case of a minus sign indicating a negative number which uses a space before the minus but not between the minus and the numeral.

Use subscripts first and then superscripts, except in the case of key symbols like the superscript for prime.

All equations should be punctuated to fit in the syntax of the sentence, even if they are presented on their own line.

Short, simple equations can be written in a regular line of text, with a slash (/) for fractions. Parentheses, square brackets, and braces should be used (in that order, from innermost to outermost) to indicate order of operations. Equations that do not fit vertically in the line of text should be shown on their own line. 

All displayed equations (equations on their own line) should be numbered, similarly to tables and figures, so that they can be referred to later (and simple equations may be displayed rather than written in a line of text if they will need to be referred to later by number).

In text, equations should be referred to by name (Equation 1 or the first equation are both acceptable). The equation number does not need a special label, and instead should be displayed in parentheses toward the right margin of the page:

  If a symbol in your equation cannot be entered with your word processor, use an image; otherwise, type all equations exactly as you would like them to appear in the publication.

Writing Numbers: How to Write Numbers Correctly (Examples)

Are you confused about how to write numbers correctly in your writing? Should you spell them out or use numerals? After reading this article, you'll wonder no more.

You have several options when writing numbers: spell them out or use digits. Which one you go for will depend on common number writing conventions and the style guide you're using.

This article is part of our free online Grammar Book .

What Are the Different Types of Numbers?

Before diving in, let's review the different kinds of numbers. The two main types are cardinal and ordinal numbers.

• Cardinal numbers are what you think of when you think of numbers: one, two, three, etc. They tell you how many of something there is, and you use them for counting. 

Here are some examples of sentences that use cardinal numbers:

I have one dog and three cats. The concert was attended by over a thousand people. There were nine of us in the office this morning. 

• Ordinal numbers tell you what order things are in or their rank or position: first, second, third, etc . As the word 'ordinal' suggests, ordinal numbers allow you to put things in order.

Here are some examples of sentences that use ordinal numbers:

She came second in the competition.  I'm the third tallest girl in my class. Our offices are on the sixteenth floor.

There are also other types of numerals, such as nominal, iterative, multiplicative, and many more.

How to Write Numbers Correctly

Now that we've established what numbers are and the different types, let's learn how to write them.

You can either spell out a number as such:

Or you can write it in numerals , as such:

This can be a little tricky because different style guides follow different rules. Your best bet is always to consult your chosen style guide if you have one. If you don't , this article will provide some guidance in the form of commonly used conventions for writing numbers.

I'll use the words 'numeral, ' 'Arabic numbers,' 'digits,' and 'figures' interchangeably to refer to numbers ('1') and the terms 'spell out' and 'letters' to refer to words written out ('one').

Writing Cardinal Numbers

I'll start by outlining standard practice for cardinal numbers. Again, these are just general guidelines that are most commonly agreed upon, and you can feel free to deviate from these. The key is to remain consistent: pick a style and stick with it.

Spell the First Word

Firstly, it's standard practice to spell out a number if it's the first word in the sentence , which trumps any other rule. So, for example, even though dates are usually written in numerals, if it's the first word in the sentence, you should spell it out.

If you'd prefer to write it in numerals for better aesthetic and readability, you can always rephrase your sentence so the date isn't the first word.

For example:

Nineteen-ninety nine was a big year for us. A big year for us was 1999.

Small and Large Numbers

A good rule of thumb is to spell out numbers zero through nine and use numerals from there onwards. However, some style guides disagree with this, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, which suggests that you spell out the numbers zero through one hundred and use numbers from 101 onwards.

Just pick the rule that makes the most sense to you!

Years, Decades, and Centuries

Generally, it's best to write specific years in Arabic numerals.

I was born in 1972.

Spell out decades in formal writing, but know that it's also safe to write them in numerals. Just remember there's no apostrophe before the 's.'

I love the fashion in the sixties. I love the fashion in the 60s. I love the fashion in the 1960s.

The same rule applies to centuries: spell it out in formal writing, but numerals are acceptable the rest of the time.

This is the twenty-first century, you know . This is the 21st century, you know. 

Percentages

Write percentages in figures followed by the percent sign.

I'm about 80% certain this deal isn't going to go through .

Units of Measurement

Write units of measurement in figures:

I weigh 65kg. The park is 100m to the right. He ran the race in 3h45mn.

Write money in figures, too:

I've only got $1 to my name. The house is about 10 grand over my budget. You're 5 cents short.

Fractions and Decimals

Fractions aren't technically cardinal numbers, but we use a mixture of cardinal and ordinal numbers to spell them out. Depending on the context, they can be written in numerals or letters. Usually, if it's a scientific or mathematical text, the fraction will be written in figures, but if it's any other kind of text (such as an essay discussing research findings,  you'll most likely want to spell it out.

About one-fifth of the class is behind in Mathematics. 

Write decimals using numerals. If you have to spell it out, round it up to the closest number:

Unless it is half, then you can write:

one and a half.

Multiple Numbers in a Sentence

If your sentence has two numbers in a row, you should use different formats for each one so they don't get mixed up.

There are five 4-year olds in my class.

If a sentence has multiple numbers and one of them requires numerals, then use numerals for all of them, even those under 10.

The farm has 3 goats, 11 cows, 5 horses and 8 pigs.

Using Hyphens in Numbers

Sometimes when spelling out numbers, you'll need to use a hyphen . We use them to connect two-word numbers. Hyphenate all compound numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.

There are one thousand, three hundred and fifty-six children that go to this high school .

Als,o hyphenate fractions:

About two-thirds of the population have tried meditation at least once.

Writing Ordinal Numbers

Now we've covered how to write cardinal numbers, let's learn how to write ordinal numbers. First of all, you might want to know how to make them.

For the most part, you create ordinal numbers by adding 'th' to cardinal numbers.

That's with the exception of the following:

Other than those, it's pretty smooth sailing:

• fifteenth, and so on.

To write them in numerals, it's even easier: you add the last two letters of the written number to the end of the cardinal number:

• Fir st  → 1st
• Seco nd → 2nd
• Thi rd → 3rd
• Four th → 4th
• Fif th → 5th

So what are ordinal numbers used for? The answer is they are pretty much used for any kind of positioning or ranking. That could include floors of a building, dates, fractions, centuries, positions in line,e or lists.

When should you spell vs use numerals with ordinals? The answer is the same as with cardinal numbers: spell them out from 'first' to 'ninth,' and then after that, use numerals.

Concluding Thoughts

That concludes this article on writing numbers correctly. I hope you now feel more confident using numbers in your writing.

Let's summarize what we've learned:

• The two main types of numbers are cardinal and ordinal.
• You can either spell out or use numerals when writing numbers.
• It's generally agreed upon that you should spell out numbers zero through nine and then switch to digits.
• Different style guides have different rules.
• Stay consistent with the rules you decide to follow.

If you enjoyed this article, check out our Grammar Book , a free online database of articles to help you with your writing, just like this one. Check it out!

Learn More:

• Ellipses: When to Use Ellipses in Writing (Examples)
• ‘Ninty’ or ‘Ninety’: How to Spell the Number ‘90’ Correctly
• Simple Sentence: What Is a Simple Sentence? Definition and Examples
• Sentence Fragments: What Are Sentence Fragments? Definition and Examples
• Periods: When to Use Periods in Writing (Examples)
• Question Marks: When to Use Question Marks in Writing (Examples)
• Exclamation Points: When to Use Exclamation Points in Writing (Examples)
• Semicolons: When to Use Semicolons in Writing (Examples)
• Apostrophes: When to Use Apostrophes in Writing (Examples)
• Parentheses: When to Use Parentheses in Writing (Examples)
• Brackets: When to Use Brackets in Writing (Examples)
• Slash: When to Use Slash in Writing (Examples)
• Italics and Underlining: When to Use Italics and Underlining in Writing (Examples)
• ‘Holliday’ or ‘Holiday’: How to Spell ‘Holiday’ Correctly
• ‘Colum’ or ‘Column’: How to Spell ‘Column’ Correctly

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Writing academically: Numbers

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When using numbers in academic writing you need to decide if it’s more appropriate to use a numeral (e.g. 9) or to write the number in words (e.g. nine). It’s worth checking to see if your department has specific advice on this matter, because individual approaches do vary. In the absence of specific advice, here is some general guidance on the matter:

Basic numbers

• Numbers  up to nine  should always be written in  words,  anything higher than nine can be written in numerals. Alternatively, some guides suggest that if you can write the number in two words or fewer then use words rather than numerals. If you are going to take this approach then you should include a hyphen when writing numbers with two words, e.g. twenty-seven.
• For larger numbers, it is acceptable to use either numerals or words depending on context (e.g. a thousand people/1,000 people), but you should always use numerals in technical writing, e.g. 200,000 km. For less precise larger numbers, the written form is better (e.g. several thousand).

Measurements and decimals/fractions

• Use numerals for units of measurement or time, e.g. 500 km, 10 minutes.
• Always use numerals for decimals and fractions (e.g. 0.5 cm) unless the figures are vague (e.g. around half of the population).
• Units of measurement that modify a noun should be hyphenated, e.g. a 3-year-old child.

Dates, money and time

• Always use numerals for dates, e.g Monday 4 April, 2016.
• Use numerals for money (e.g. His pocket money was exactly £1.00 per week) unless the amounts are vague (e.g. He earned well over a million last year).
• Use numerals for indicating the precise time (e.g. 08:00), or words if the times indicated are vague (e.g. around eight o’clock). 

Combining numbers

• If you need to combine two numbers that run together then use words for the shorter number and numerals for the longer number, e.g. a tower of 1000 ten-pence pieces. 

Starting sentences with numbers

• Avoid starting a sentence with a numeral. Either write the number in words or rearrange your sentence. For example, “Three hundred and sixty-five days make one year” could become “There are 365 days in a year”. If you start a sentence with a year, write “The year” first e.g. “The year 1066 saw one of the most famous battles in English history”.
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Rules for Writing Numbers in an Essay

Rules for Using Numbers in APA Format

Four p.m. or 4 p.m.? 1950s or 1950’s? Writing an essay or paper can be challenging enough. Start to consider the various formatting rules that exist for including numbers in your essay, and you might find yourself overwhelmed by the conventions of writing. Fortunately, these rules are actually fairly straightforward and easy to remember. Review and practice them and they’ll soon become second nature, allowing you to spend less time thinking about guidelines and more time thinking about your writing.

Standard Numbers

When writing numbers in your essay, the general rule is that whole numbers below 10 should always be spelled out. You would assert that there are "three cars" or "eight baseballs." Numbers 10 and above should be written in numeral form: "21 bugs," "52 cards." When a number below 10 is grouped with a number above 10, the rule for the higher number takes precedence: "8 to 12 weeks."

Statistical Measures

Exact statistical measures, such as percentages, decimals, and mathematical operations, should always be written in numeral form. For example, “The success rate is 8%,” “Fill 5.5 cartons,” or “Divide the answer by 2.”

Use numerals for dates, times, and ages. For example, "October 27, 1986," "4 p.m.," or "37 years old." Spell out the number when writing out a time, such as "eleven o'clock."

Identification Numbers

Identification numbers should be written as numerals: "Room 7," District 4," "Channel 22."

Write years and decades in numeral form. Something might take place in 2005 or in the 1990s (decades do not use an apostrophe before the "s"). Centuries can be spelled out ("fifteenth century") or written in numeral form ("18th century").

Beginning of Sentence

Numbers that begin a sentence should always be spelled out: "Sixty-seven movies were released last month." However, for prose purposes, avoid using numbers at the beginning of sentences.

Inexact Numbers

Spell out rounded or inexact numbers. Also spell out common fractions. You might say there were "about a thousand" people at a gathering, or that "one-quarter of the audience found it funny."

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• Writing Rules: Spelling Out Numbers

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A transplanted New Yorker currently living in Boston, Kevin Ryan is a new face in the professional writing industry. He graduated with a Master of Arts in human development from Boston College, where he served as sports editor for The Observer and a columnist for The Heights, the school's premier independent student newspaper.

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Numbers In Academic Writing – APA Style Guidelines

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Numbers are an imperative part of academic writing , serving as vital tools to represent quantitative data, statistical data, or measures in an accurate and precise manner. Numbers are used across various fields, including sciences, humanities, and business. However, adherence to specific rules is necessary in terms of using numbers effectively in academia, which vary depending on the style guide followed. This article will provide insights into how numbers are used appropriately.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 Numbers in Academic Writing – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: Numbers in academic writing
• 3 Numbers in academic writing: Exceptions
• 4 Numbers in academic writing: Percentages
• 5 Numbers in academic writing: Statistical results
• 6 Numbers in academic writing: Measurements
• 7 Numbers in academic writing: Long numbers

Numbers in Academic Writing – In a Nutshell

• Academic writing uses numbers in distinct ways depending on style guide.
• Conventions apply to technical number writing and non-technical number writing.
• Numbers are usually written out from one to nine, and numerals are used from 10.
• Technical data and statistics should always appear as numerals for reference.

Definition: Numbers in academic writing

The APA Style is one of the most widely used academic writing styles and is largely adopted by the behavioral and social sciences. A number can be written both numerically or in words within this style.

Typically, a number from one to nine should be written out as words, while numbers from 10 and above should be written out numerically. This general rule also applies to ordinals (first, 10th). Some exceptions do apply, as found next in this article.

Other writing styles utilize different number rules. The Chicago style , for instance, requires numbers to be written out as words up to 100. The MLA style spells out all numbers that can be written within one or two words (three, one hundred, etc.).

Numbers in academic writing: Exceptions

Exceptions to the general rule above apply in the following cases:

1. All numbers should be represented numerically when they are detailing an exact unit of measurement.

• The rock was chiseled 6 cm deep.

2. Write out numerals as words when they begin a sentence, except when dealing with specific years.

• Eighteenth-century scientists advanced the practice of medicine
• 1921 marked the discovery of insulin.

3. A number should be written out when dealing with fractions, set expressions, or other known numeric titles.

• John Milton crafted the poem in 1626, also referred to as the Fifth of November poem.
• According to sources, one-third of the English population perished from the Black Death.
• Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in an alternative world in the year 1984 .

Numbers in academic writing: Percentages

When dealing with percentages in the APA Style, use numerals followed by the percent sign % , instead of “percent” or the abbreviations, “pct.”, “pct,”, or “pc”.

• The Spanish flu affected over 25% of the US population.

The same rule when beginning sentences with numerals applies to percentages, i.e., they should be written out as words when they start a sentence.

• Twenty-five percent of the US population was affected.

Numbers in academic writing: Statistical results

Reporting statistics in APA and papers that deal with technical numerical language in qualitative research have their own rules.

Here, all data is written in numerals to remain consistent and easily digested. This applies to the main body, tables, and figures sections of a paper.

Other statistical conventions include:

• Report the majority of statistics to two decimal places.
• Report statistics that can’t exceed 1.0 to three decimal places.
• For values that could exceed 1.0, use a leading zero. Those that can’t exceed 1.0 do not feature a leading zero.
• Italicize statistical values that aren’t Greek letters. E.g. SD .
• Spaces should be left before and after equal, more-than, and less-than signs.

Numbers in academic writing: Measurements

Always use numerals for units of measurement.

• Ampules contain 100 mg in 2 ml .

Numerals should be used for precise ages, timescales, dates, score lines, points of scale, and monetary sums.

• The final score was France 4 , and Croatia 2 .
• The students were aged 18 to 21 years in the study.

Imprecise ages and generalizations are not numbered but written out.

• She was roughly six years old based on his estimation.
• The outcome will be approximately seven times .

Numbers in academic writing: Long numbers

Longer numbers have their own set of rules. A period should be used to indicate a decimal point.

Commas are to be used to separate large figures every three digits after 1,000.

For sums exceeding 6 numerals, like 1 million and 1 billion, use a combination of numerals and written language.

• HBO Max had 73.8 million subscribers in 2022.
• This is a considerable growth from its 800,000 subscribers in 2015.

Should you write out numbers in academic writing?

As a general rule of thumb, numbers up to nine should be written out in the APA Style, while anything exceeding 10 should appear as numerals.

How are dates written in academic writing?

Dates are always written as numerals.

How are numbers expressed at the beginning of a sentence?

They are written out when they begin a sentence, except for dates and technical data.

Should I use the word "percent" or its symbol "%"?

The APA Style states that the symbol “%” should be used after numerals, while “percent” should be used for written-out figures.

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A Quick Guide to Numbers in MLA Style

• Nov 05, 2020
• Academic Editing
• Proofreading Tips
• Referencing and Citations

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Your client might not know all the details of MLA style. As an academic proofreader, then, your work may involve checking that documents follow MLA conventions. Thus, in this post, we’re looking at how to present numbers in academic writing according to MLA style.

Numbers in MLA: Numerals or Words?

MLA style sets out two approaches to numbers. In writing that involves few numbers , the MLA Handbook advises spelling out numbers that can be written as one or two words:

o ne, thirty-six, ninety-nine, one hundred, three million

It also says that plurals of spelled-out numbers should be treated as nouns:

fives, thirties

Other numbers, however, should be presented as numerals:

5¾, 305, 643, 2,798

For writing that uses numbers frequently , meanwhile, the MLA advises:

• Using numerals with units of measurement (e.g., 55 inches , 800 grams ) and other numbers presented alongside them (e.g., comparisons or reports of experimental data).
• Expressing larger numbers as a mix of numerals and words (e.g., 7 million , 1.4 billion ).
• Other numbers should be spelled out if they can be written as one or two words.

In both approaches, the MLA also advises using numerals for:

• Numbers used with abbreviations or symbols (e.g., 8lbs. , 6:00am , $7.90 ).
• Addresses (e.g., 635 New Street , 81 5 th Street ).
• Items in a numbered series (e.g., Year 5 , chapter 3 , volume 4 ).
• Dates (e.g., September 10, 2020 , August 5, 1996 ).
• Decimal fractions (e.g., 5.6 , 3.142 ).

In addition, in both styles, numbers should be spelled out at the start of a sentence (or the sentence should be rephrased to avoid starting with a number). When proofreading, then, make sure the guidelines above are applied consistently according to the document type.

Commas in Numbers

MLA style recommends placing a comma after every third digit in large numbers. For example:

However, commas are not used in page and line numbers , addresses , or four-digit years .

Page Ranges in MLA Style

For a range of page numbers in a citation or the Works Cited list, the MLA says to write the second value in the range in full for numbers up to 99. For example:

For larger numbers, though, only the last two digits of the second number should be given. The exception is when more are necessary for clarity:

The rules for years are a little different. If a range of years begins AD 1000 or later, MLA says to omit the first two digits of the second year if they are the same as the first two digits of the first year. Otherwise, though, you should make sure both years are written in full:

If the years discussed fall between AD 1 and 999, though, follow the general rules for inclusive numbers. And make sure ranges of years that begin before AD 1 are written in full.

Punctuating Number Ranges

In published work, MLA follows the convention of using an en dash for number ranges:

She spent her most productive period (1907 –1912) in Amsterdam.

However, for simplicity, MLA also permits a hyphen for number ranges in student writing:

She spent her most productive period (1907- 1912) in Amsterdam.

If you’re proofreading student work, then, there is no need to replace hyphens in number ranges. You can simply check that ranges are punctuated consistently.

Roman Numerals

Finally, the MLA Handbook also has a few rules for using Roman numerals :

• Capitalized Roman numerals are used for the primary divisions in an essay or book outline and as suffixes for the names of persons (e.g., Part I , Henry VII ).
• Lowercase Roman numerals are only used when citing pages that are so numbered (e.g., in the preface or introduction of a book), with ranges written out in full (e.g., xxv –xxviii , iv –xii ).

If you see Roman numerals in a document, make sure they follow these conventions.

Becoming A Proofreader

Here, we’ve seen what to look out for when proofreading numbers in a document that uses MLA style. But you can learn all about style guides, formatting, and proofreading in general with our Becoming A Proofreader course! Sign up for a free trial today to find out more.

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Commitment • high standards • excellence • ethics • results • leadership • focus, bite size grammar tip: how to write numbers in essays.

It is important for writers to recognize and to understand how to express numbers in formal writing, and to be able to determine when to write out numbers into words and when to use figures or numerical digits. Although the leading guides, The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook , offer differing approaches when it comes to American English grammar rules, as long as writers are consistent within their own writing, the expression of numbers in formal writing can be varied. Keep in mind that with each varying discipline, the number expression can also follow different rules.   Below are helpful rules for most writers to follow when engaged in formal writing.

Numbers Smaller Than Ten

• Spell out smaller numbers such as whole numbers that are smaller than ten. Especially in formal writing, it is important to spell out the numbers, otherwise it looks too informal.

One-Word Numbers vs. Two-Word Numbers

• Although there is no consensus on the application of this rule, here is a good rule of thumb to follow. For any one-word number, such as thirteen or thirty, it should be spelled or written out. For any two-word number, such as 36 or 42, the number should be expressed in figures.

Hyphenated Numbers and Fractions

• For compound or two-word numbers, use a hyphen for numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine. For example, “thirty-four students attended the club meeting” rather than “34 students attended the club meeting.”
• Hyphenate all fractions that are spelled out. For example, “My sister ate three-fourths of the pie.”

Time Periods

• When referencing time such as decades or centuries, these figures should be spelled out and they should not be capitalized. Use seventeenth century and the seventies , rather than 17 th and 70s , respectively.

Never Start a Sentence With a Numerical Figure

• If a writer begins a sentence with a number, then the number must be spelled out. For example, “Fourscore and seven years ago” should not be written as “4 score and 7 years ago.” If a sentence includes a larger number within the sentence, it can be written as digits. For example, “There were 50,000 fans who attended the concert.”

Recipes and Percentages

• For informal and daily writing, writers can use numerical digits to refer to percentages such as “15% of the students” and recipes such as “Add 3 cups of sugar.” For formal writing, percentages should be spelled out, such as “15 percent of teachers.”

Neighboring Numbers

• If the writing includes two numbers that are next to one another, spell out the number that has the least amount of letters when spelled out. It is confusing to readers if there are too many numbers written next to each other; therefore, write one of the numbers as a digit and the other spelled out. For example, write “four 18-year-olds” rather than “4 18-year-olds.”

Ordinal numbers

• An ordinal number is a number that defines an object or a thing’s position in a series such as “first,” “second,” or “third.” When using ordinal numbers, spell out the number. Write “The baseball player made it to second base” rather than “The baseball player made it to 2 nd base.”
• When using time markers such as midnight or noon , do not write out the number such as 12:00AM and 12:00PM.
• When writing about a time of day, write the numerical digits, such as 5:30p.m. or 1:30 sharp.
• AM and PM can also be written as A.M and P.M or a.m. and p.m. Some writers choose to place a space between the time and AM or PM (7 AM, 4:15 P.M., 3:30 p.m.) while others choose not to leave a space (7AM, 4:15P.M., 3:30p.m.).

When composing a formal piece of writing, consider now how you might express the use of numbers.

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Degree - This is the academic degree you are receiving. Your major is in addition to the degree; it can be added to the phrase or written separately.  Include the full name of your degree, major(s), minor(s), emphases, and certificates on your resume.

Double Majors - You will not be receiving two bachelor's degrees if you double major. Your primary major determines the degree (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science). If you're not fully sure which of your majors is primary, check CheckMarq or call the registrar's office.

Example: Primary Major: Psychology ; Secondary Major: Marketing

• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology & Marketing

Primary Major: Marketing ; Secondary Major: Psychology

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing & Psychology

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• In May 20XX, I will graduate with my Bachelor's degree in International Affairs.
• In December 20XX, I will graduate with my Master's degree in Counseling Education.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

Author Interviews

Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

Gig workers are writing essays for AI to learn from

• Companies are hiring highly educated gig workers to write training content for AI models .
• The shift toward more sophisticated trainers comes as tech giants scramble for new data sources.
• AI could run out of data to learn from by 2026, one research institute has warned. 

As artificial intelligence models run out of data to train themselves on, AI companies are increasingly turning to actual humans to write training content.

For years, companies have used gig workers to help train AI models on simple tasks like photo identification , data annotation, and labelling. But the rapidly advancing technology now requires more advanced people to train it.

Companies such as Scale AI and Surge AI are hiring part-timers with graduate degrees to write essays and creative prompts for the bots to gobble up, The New York Times reported . Scale AI, for example, posted a job last year looking for people with Master's degrees or PhDs, who are fluent in either English, Hindi, or Japanese and have professional writing experience in fields like poetry, journalism, and publishing.

Related stories

Their mission? To help AI bots "become better writers," Scale AI wrote in the posting.

And an army of workers are needed to do this kind of work. Scale AI has as many as tens of thousands of contractors working on its platform at a time, per the Times.

"What really makes the A.I. useful to its users is the human layer of data, and that really needs to be done by smart humans and skilled humans and humans with a particular degree of expertise and a creative bent," Willow Primack, the vice president of data operations at Scale AI, told the New York Times. "We have been focusing on contractors, particularly within North America, as a result."

The shift toward more sophisticated gig trainers comes as tech giants scramble to find new data to train their technology on. That's because the programs learn so incredibly fast that they're already running out of available resources to learn from. The vast trove of online information — everything from scientific papers to news articles to Wikipedia pages — is drying up.

Epoch, an AI research institute, has warned that AI could run out of data by 2026.

So, companies are finding more and more creative ways to make sure their systems never stop learning. Google has considered accessing its customers' data in Google Docs , Sheets, and Slides while Meta even thought about buying publishing house Simon & Schuster to harvest its book collection, Business Insider previously reported.

Watch: Nearly 50,000 tech workers have been laid off — but there's a hack to avoid layoffs

• Main content

• Solar Eclipse 2024

What the World Has Learned From Past Eclipses

C louds scudded over the small volcanic island of Principe, off the western coast of Africa, on the afternoon of May 29, 1919. Arthur Eddington, director of the Cambridge Observatory in the U.K., waited for the Sun to emerge. The remains of a morning thunderstorm could ruin everything.

The island was about to experience the rare and overwhelming sight of a total solar eclipse. For six minutes, the longest eclipse since 1416, the Moon would completely block the face of the Sun, pulling a curtain of darkness over a thin stripe of Earth. Eddington traveled into the eclipse path to try and prove one of the most consequential ideas of his age: Albert Einstein’s new theory of general relativity.

Eddington, a physicist, was one of the few people at the time who understood the theory, which Einstein proposed in 1915. But many other scientists were stymied by the bizarre idea that gravity is not a mutual attraction, but a warping of spacetime. Light itself would be subject to this warping, too. So an eclipse would be the best way to prove whether the theory was true, because with the Sun’s light blocked by the Moon, astronomers would be able to see whether the Sun’s gravity bent the light of distant stars behind it.

Two teams of astronomers boarded ships steaming from Liverpool, England, in March 1919 to watch the eclipse and take the measure of the stars. Eddington and his team went to Principe, and another team led by Frank Dyson of the Greenwich Observatory went to Sobral, Brazil.

Totality, the complete obscuration of the Sun, would be at 2:13 local time in Principe. Moments before the Moon slid in front of the Sun, the clouds finally began breaking up. For a moment, it was totally clear. Eddington and his group hastily captured images of a star cluster found near the Sun that day, called the Hyades, found in the constellation of Taurus. The astronomers were using the best astronomical technology of the time, photographic plates, which are large exposures taken on glass instead of film. Stars appeared on seven of the plates, and solar “prominences,” filaments of gas streaming from the Sun, appeared on others.

Eddington wanted to stay in Principe to measure the Hyades when there was no eclipse, but a ship workers’ strike made him leave early. Later, Eddington and Dyson both compared the glass plates taken during the eclipse to other glass plates captured of the Hyades in a different part of the sky, when there was no eclipse. On the images from Eddington’s and Dyson’s expeditions, the stars were not aligned. The 40-year-old Einstein was right.

“Lights All Askew In the Heavens,” the New York Times proclaimed when the scientific papers were published. The eclipse was the key to the discovery—as so many solar eclipses before and since have illuminated new findings about our universe.

To understand why Eddington and Dyson traveled such distances to watch the eclipse, we need to talk about gravity.

Since at least the days of Isaac Newton, who wrote in 1687, scientists thought gravity was a simple force of mutual attraction. Newton proposed that every object in the universe attracts every other object in the universe, and that the strength of this attraction is related to the size of the objects and the distances among them. This is mostly true, actually, but it’s a little more nuanced than that.

On much larger scales, like among black holes or galaxy clusters, Newtonian gravity falls short. It also can’t accurately account for the movement of large objects that are close together, such as how the orbit of Mercury is affected by its proximity the Sun.

Albert Einstein’s most consequential breakthrough solved these problems. General relativity holds that gravity is not really an invisible force of mutual attraction, but a distortion. Rather than some kind of mutual tug-of-war, large objects like the Sun and other stars respond relative to each other because the space they are in has been altered. Their mass is so great that they bend the fabric of space and time around themselves.

Read More: 10 Surprising Facts About the 2024 Solar Eclipse

This was a weird concept, and many scientists thought Einstein’s ideas and equations were ridiculous. But others thought it sounded reasonable. Einstein and others knew that if the theory was correct, and the fabric of reality is bending around large objects, then light itself would have to follow that bend. The light of a star in the great distance, for instance, would seem to curve around a large object in front of it, nearer to us—like our Sun. But normally, it’s impossible to study stars behind the Sun to measure this effect. Enter an eclipse.

Einstein’s theory gives an equation for how much the Sun’s gravity would displace the images of background stars. Newton’s theory predicts only half that amount of displacement.

Eddington and Dyson measured the Hyades cluster because it contains many stars; the more stars to distort, the better the comparison. Both teams of scientists encountered strange political and natural obstacles in making the discovery, which are chronicled beautifully in the book No Shadow of a Doubt: The 1919 Eclipse That Confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity , by the physicist Daniel Kennefick. But the confirmation of Einstein’s ideas was worth it. Eddington said as much in a letter to his mother: “The one good plate that I measured gave a result agreeing with Einstein,” he wrote , “and I think I have got a little confirmation from a second plate.”

The Eddington-Dyson experiments were hardly the first time scientists used eclipses to make profound new discoveries. The idea dates to the beginnings of human civilization.

Careful records of lunar and solar eclipses are one of the greatest legacies of ancient Babylon. Astronomers—or astrologers, really, but the goal was the same—were able to predict both lunar and solar eclipses with impressive accuracy. They worked out what we now call the Saros Cycle, a repeating period of 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours in which eclipses appear to repeat. One Saros cycle is equal to 223 synodic months, which is the time it takes the Moon to return to the same phase as seen from Earth. They also figured out, though may not have understood it completely, the geometry that enables eclipses to happen.

The path we trace around the Sun is called the ecliptic. Our planet’s axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic plane, which is why we have seasons, and why the other celestial bodies seem to cross the same general path in our sky.

As the Moon goes around Earth, it, too, crosses the plane of the ecliptic twice in a year. The ascending node is where the Moon moves into the northern ecliptic. The descending node is where the Moon enters the southern ecliptic. When the Moon crosses a node, a total solar eclipse can happen. Ancient astronomers were aware of these points in the sky, and by the apex of Babylonian civilization, they were very good at predicting when eclipses would occur.

Two and a half millennia later, in 2016, astronomers used these same ancient records to measure the change in the rate at which Earth’s rotation is slowing—which is to say, the amount by which are days are lengthening, over thousands of years.

By the middle of the 19 th century, scientific discoveries came at a frenetic pace, and eclipses powered many of them. In October 1868, two astronomers, Pierre Jules César Janssen and Joseph Norman Lockyer, separately measured the colors of sunlight during a total eclipse. Each found evidence of an unknown element, indicating a new discovery: Helium, named for the Greek god of the Sun. In another eclipse in 1869, astronomers found convincing evidence of another new element, which they nicknamed coronium—before learning a few decades later that it was not a new element, but highly ionized iron, indicating that the Sun’s atmosphere is exceptionally, bizarrely hot. This oddity led to the prediction, in the 1950s, of a continual outflow that we now call the solar wind.

And during solar eclipses between 1878 and 1908, astronomers searched in vain for a proposed extra planet within the orbit of Mercury. Provisionally named Vulcan, this planet was thought to exist because Newtonian gravity could not fully describe Mercury’s strange orbit. The matter of the innermost planet’s path was settled, finally, in 1915, when Einstein used general relativity equations to explain it.

Many eclipse expeditions were intended to learn something new, or to prove an idea right—or wrong. But many of these discoveries have major practical effects on us. Understanding the Sun, and why its atmosphere gets so hot, can help us predict solar outbursts that could disrupt the power grid and communications satellites. Understanding gravity, at all scales, allows us to know and to navigate the cosmos.

GPS satellites, for instance, provide accurate measurements down to inches on Earth. Relativity equations account for the effects of the Earth’s gravity and the distances between the satellites and their receivers on the ground. Special relativity holds that the clocks on satellites, which experience weaker gravity, seem to run slower than clocks under the stronger force of gravity on Earth. From the point of view of the satellite, Earth clocks seem to run faster. We can use different satellites in different positions, and different ground stations, to accurately triangulate our positions on Earth down to inches. Without those calculations, GPS satellites would be far less precise.

This year, scientists fanned out across North America and in the skies above it will continue the legacy of eclipse science. Scientists from NASA and several universities and other research institutions will study Earth’s atmosphere; the Sun’s atmosphere; the Sun’s magnetic fields; and the Sun’s atmospheric outbursts, called coronal mass ejections.

When you look up at the Sun and Moon on the eclipse , the Moon’s day — or just observe its shadow darkening the ground beneath the clouds, which seems more likely — think about all the discoveries still yet waiting to happen, just behind the shadow of the Moon.

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What Solar Eclipse-Gazing Has Looked Like for the Past 2 Centuries

Millions of people on Monday will continue the tradition of experiencing and capturing solar eclipses, a pursuit that has spawned a lot of unusual gear.

• Share full article

By Sarah Eckinger

• April 8, 2024

For centuries, people have been clamoring to glimpse solar eclipses. From astronomers with custom-built photographic equipment to groups huddled together with special glasses, this spectacle has captivated the human imagination.

Creating a Permanent Record

In 1860, Warren de la Rue captured what many sources describe as the first photograph of a total solar eclipse . He took it in Rivabellosa, Spain, with an instrument known as the Kew Photoheliograph . This combination of a telescope and camera was specifically built to photograph the sun.

Forty years later, Nevil Maskelyne, a magician and an astronomy enthusiast, filmed a total solar eclipse in North Carolina. The footage was lost, however, and only released in 2019 after it was rediscovered in the Royal Astronomical Society’s archives.

Telescopic Vision

For scientists and astronomers, eclipses provide an opportunity not only to view the moon’s umbra and gaze at the sun’s corona, but also to make observations that further their studies. Many observatories, or friendly neighbors with a telescope, also make their instruments available to the public during eclipses.

Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen, Fridtjof Nansen and Sigurd Scott Hansen observing a solar eclipse while on a polar expedition in 1894 .

Women from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and their professor tested out equipment ahead of their eclipse trip (to “catch old Sol in the act,” as the original New York Times article phrased it) to New London, Conn., in 1922.

A group from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania traveled to Yerbaniz, Mexico, in 1923, with telescopes and a 65-foot camera to observe the sun’s corona .

Dr. J.J. Nassau, director of the Warner and Swasey Observatory at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, prepared to head to Douglas Hill, Maine, to study an eclipse in 1932. An entire freight car was required to transport the institution’s equipment.

Visitors viewed a solar eclipse at an observatory in Berlin in the mid-1930s.

A family set up two telescopes in Bar Harbor, Maine, in 1963. The two children placed stones on the base to help steady them.

An astronomer examined equipment for an eclipse in a desert in Mauritania in June 1973. We credit the hot climate for his choice in outfit.

Indirect Light

If you see people on Monday sprinting to your local park clutching pieces of paper, or with a cardboard box of their head, they are probably planning to reflect or project images of the solar eclipse onto a surface.

Cynthia Goulakos demonstrated a safe way to view a solar eclipse , with two pieces of cardboard to create a reflection of the shadowed sun, in Lowell, Mass., in 1970.

Another popular option is to create a pinhole camera. This woman did so in Central Park in 1963 by using a paper cup with a small hole in the bottom and a twin-lens reflex camera.

Amateur astronomers viewed a partial eclipse, projected from a telescope onto a screen, from atop the Empire State Building in 1967 .

Back in Central Park, in 1970, Irving Schwartz and his wife reflected an eclipse onto a piece of paper by holding binoculars on the edge of a garbage basket.

Children in Denver in 1979 used cardboard viewing boxes and pieces of paper with small pinholes to view projections of a partial eclipse.

A crowd gathered around a basin of water dyed with dark ink, waiting for the reflection of a solar eclipse to appear, in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1995.

Staring at the Sun (or, How Not to Burn Your Retinas)

Eclipse-gazers have used different methods to protect their eyes throughout the years, some safer than others .

In 1927, women gathered at a window in a building in London to watch a total eclipse through smoked glass. This was popularized in France in the 1700s , but fell out of favor when physicians began writing papers on children whose vision was damaged.

Another trend was to use a strip of exposed photographic film, as seen below in Sydney, Australia, in 1948 and in Turkana, Kenya, in 1963. This method, which was even suggested by The Times in 1979 , has since been declared unsafe.

Solar eclipse glasses are a popular and safe way to view the event ( if you use models compliant with international safety standards ). Over the years there have been various styles, including these large hand-held options found in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 1979.

Parents and children watched a partial eclipse through their eclipse glasses in Tokyo in 1981.

Slimmer, more colorful options were used in Nabusimake, Colombia, in 1998.

In France in 1999.

And in Iran and England in 1999.

And the best way to see the eclipse? With family and friends at a watch party, like this one in Isalo National Park in Madagascar in 2001.

2024 Ethics Essay Contest winners announced

Claire Martino , a junior from New Berlin, Wis., majoring in applied mathematics and data science, is the winner of the 2024 Ethics Essay Contest for the essay "Artificial Intelligence Could Probably Write This Essay Better than Me."

The second place entry was from Morgan J. Janes , a junior from Rock Island, Ill., majoring in biology, for the essay "The Relevant History and Medical and Ethical Future Viability of Xenotransplantation."

Third place went to Alyssa Scudder , a senior from Lee, Ill., majoring in biology, for the essay "The Ethicality of Gene Alteration in Human Embryos."

Dr. Dan Lee announced the winners on behalf of the board of directors of the Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics, sponsor of the contest. The winner will receive an award of $100, the second-place winner an award of $50, and the third-place winner an award of $25.

Honorable mentions went to Grace Palmer , a senior art and accounting double major from Galesburg, Ill., for the essay "The Ethiopian Coffee Trade: Is Positive Change Brewing?" and Sarah Marrs , a sophomore from Carpentersville, Ill., majoring in political science and women, gender and sexuality studies, for the essay "Dating Apps as an Outlet to Promote Sexual Autonomy among Disabled Individuals: an Intersectional Approach to Change."

The winning essays will be published in Augustana Digital Commons .

The Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics was established to enrich the teaching-learning experiences for students by providing greater opportunities for them to meet and interact with community leaders and to encourage discussions of issues of ethical significance through campus programs and community outreach.

Dr. Lee, whose teaching responsibilities since joining the Augustana faculty in 1974 have included courses in ethics, serves as the center's director.

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