Canemah Nature Laboratory Technical Note Style Guide

Document ID: CNL-SG-2025-002
Version: 1.1
Date: December 6, 2025
Author: Michael P. Hamilton, Ph.D.

1. Overview

This style guide establishes standards for the Canemah Nature Laboratory (CNL) document series. These documents record research findings, protocol development, system specifications, experimental results, and internal working notes from the Macroscope project and related work.

2. Document Numbering System

2.1 Format

CNL-[TYPE]-[YEAR]-[SEQ]

Components:

• CNL: Canemah Nature Laboratory (fixed prefix)
• TYPE: Document type code (see below)
• YEAR: Four-digit year
• SEQ: Three-digit sequential number, zero-padded (001, 002, etc.)

2.2 Document Type Codes

2.3 Examples

• CNL-TN-2025-001 — First technical note of 2025
• CNL-SP-2025-003 — Third specification of 2025
• CNL-FN-2025-007 — Seventh document of 2025 (a private field note)
• CNL-PR-2026-001 — First protocol of 2026

2.4 Sequence Numbers

• Sequence numbers are assigned chronologically within each year
• Numbers do not reset by document type (all types share the same sequence)
• The CNL Archive system auto-assigns the next available sequence number
• When authoring documents, the sequence number may be omitted or left as placeholder; the archive importer will assign the correct number automatically

2.5 Document Visibility

Documents in the CNL Archive have one of two visibility levels:

Public

• Listed on the archive browse page
• Accessible via direct URL
• Indexed for search
• Appropriate for completed research, specifications, and documentation intended for external reference

Private

• Not listed on the archive browse page
• Accessible only to authenticated administrators
• Not indexed for public search
• Appropriate for internal notes, preliminary work, development logs, and sensitive documentation

Field Notes (FN) default to Private visibility. All other document types default to Public. Visibility can be changed in the admin interface regardless of document type.

3. Document Structure

3.1 Required Sections (Technical Notes)

1. Title Block

   • Document title
   • Subtitle (if applicable)
   • Document ID
   • Version number
   • Date
   • Author(s)

2. AI Assistance Disclosure (when applicable)

   • Specific AI tools used
   • Nature of AI contribution
   • Statement of author responsibility

3. Abstract

   • 150-300 words
   • Summarize objectives, methods, key findings, implications
   • No citations in abstract

4. Introduction

   • Context and motivation
   • Research questions or objectives
   • Scope of the work

5. Methodology

   • Sufficient detail for replication
   • Hardware and software specifications
   • Data sources and sampling procedures

6. Results

   • Present findings with appropriate tables/figures
   • Include sample sizes and statistical measures
   • Number tables and figures sequentially

7. Discussion

   • Interpret findings
   • Compare with prior work
   • Address implications

8. Limitations

   • Acknowledge constraints on generalizability
   • Note potential biases or confounds

9. Conclusion

   • Summarize key findings
   • State practical implications

10. References

    • Numbered citation format
    • Include DOIs or URLs where available

11. Appendices (optional)

    • Technical details
    • Supplementary data
    • Code listings

12. Document History

    • Version log with dates and changes

3.2 Field Note Structure (Abbreviated)

Field Notes have relaxed structural requirements, appropriate for internal documentation:

1. Title Block (required)

   • Document title
   • Document ID (auto-assigned by importer)
   • Date
   • Author

2. AI Assistance Disclosure (when applicable)

3. Abstract (required, may be brief)

4. Body Content (flexible structure)

   • Section headings as appropriate
   • No minimum section requirements

5. Document History (recommended)

3.3 Section Numbering

• Use decimal numbering: 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, etc.
• Maximum three levels (e.g., 2.3.1)
• Appendices use letters: Appendix A, Appendix B

4. Formatting Standards

4.1 Typography

4.2 Page Layout

• Paper size: US Letter (8.5" × 11")
• Margins: 1 inch (all sides)
• Line spacing: 1.15 or single
• Paragraph spacing: 6pt after paragraphs
• Alignment: Left-justified (ragged right) for body text

4.3 Headers and Footers

• Header (right-aligned): Document ID (e.g., CNL-TN-2025-001)
• Footer (centered): Page X of Y

4.4 Tables

• Number sequentially (Table 1, Table 2, etc.)
• Caption above table, bold
• Light gray header row (#E8E8E8)
• Light gray borders (#CCCCCC)
• Center-align numerical data
• Left-align text data
• Include units in column headers

4.5 Figures

• Number sequentially (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.)
• Caption below figure
• Minimum 150 DPI for images
• Prefer vector formats (SVG) for diagrams
• Include axis labels with units

5. Citation Format

5.1 In-Text Citations

Use numbered references in square brackets:

Previous work has shown logarithmic scaling [1]. Multiple studies confirm this finding [2,3]. As noted by Hamilton et al. [4], the pattern holds across domains.

5.2 Reference List Format

Journal Article:

[1] Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). "Title of article." Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. DOI

ArXiv Preprint:

[2] Author, A. A., et al. (Year). "Title of paper." arXiv:XXXX.XXXXX.

Book:

[3] Author, A. A. (Year). Title of Book. Publisher.

Website/Software:

[4] Organization (Year). "Title." URL (accessed Date).

5.3 Reference Examples

[1] Gemma Team (2025). "Gemma 3 Technical Report." Google DeepMind. arXiv:2503.19786.

[2] Lin, S., Hilton, J., & Evans, O. (2022). "TruthfulQA: Measuring How Models Mimic Human Falsehoods." Proceedings of ACL 2022.

[3] Ollama (2024). "Ollama: Run Large Language Models Locally." https://ollama.ai (accessed November 29, 2025).

6. AI Assistance Disclosure

6.1 Policy

Following guidelines from ACM, Springer Nature, and Taylor & Francis:

• AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) cannot be listed as authors
• AI assistance must be disclosed when used substantively
• Human author(s) take full responsibility for content

6.2 Disclosure Statement Template

Place after author information, in a bordered box:

AI Assistance Disclosure: This [document type] was developed with assistance from [AI tool name and version]. The AI contributed to [specific contributions: e.g., literature review, code development, data analysis, manuscript drafting, editing]. The author(s) take full responsibility for the content, accuracy, and conclusions.

6.3 What Requires Disclosure

Disclose:

• AI-generated text incorporated into the document
• AI assistance with study design or methodology
• AI-generated code used in analysis
• AI assistance with data interpretation
• AI serving as an evaluation tool (e.g., LLM-as-judge)

Does not require disclosure:

• Grammar/spell checking
• Standard word processing features
• Search engines

7. Scientific Notation and Units

7.1 Numbers

• Spell out numbers one through nine in prose
• Use numerals for 10 and above
• Use numerals with units (e.g., "5 km", not "five km")
• Use commas for thousands: 1,000; 10,000; 1,000,000
• Use scientific notation for very large/small: 3.2 × 10⁸

7.2 Units

• Use SI units where possible
• Include units in parentheses after first use: "temperature (°C)"
• Define abbreviations on first use

7.3 Statistical Reporting

• Report exact p-values to three decimal places (p = 0.023)
• For very small values: p < 0.001
• Include sample sizes: (n = 20)
• Report confidence intervals: 95% CI [0.32, 0.48]
• Include effect sizes where appropriate

8. Species and Technical Nomenclature

8.1 Species Names

• Italicize scientific names: Recurvirostra americana
• Full binomial on first use, may abbreviate genus thereafter: R. americana
• Common names lowercase unless proper noun: American avocet, California scrub-jay

8.2 Software and Systems

• Capitalize proper names: Python, MySQL, Ollama
• Use official capitalization: macOS, GitHub, JavaScript
• Include version numbers on first mention: Python 3.12, MySQL 8.4

9. File Naming Conventions

9.1 Document Files

CNL-TN-2025-001_Short_Title.docx
CNL-SP-2025-002_System_Specification.docx
CNL-FN-2025-007_Educational_AI_Notes.md

• Use document ID as prefix
• Add descriptive short title after underscore
• Use underscores, not spaces
• Use title case for description

9.2 Supporting Files

CNL-TN-2025-001_Fig1_accuracy_chart.png
CNL-TN-2025-001_Table1_results.csv
CNL-TN-2025-001_code.py

10. Version Control

10.1 Version Numbering

• Major versions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 (significant revisions)
• Minor versions: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 (corrections, additions)
• Drafts: 0.1, 0.2, 0.9 (pre-release)

The CNL Archive stores both a database sequence number (integer: 1, 2, 3) and a semantic version label (string: 1.0, 1.1, 2.0) to support both internal tracking and external display conventions.

10.2 Document History Section

Include at end of document:

## Document History

| Version | Date | Changes |
|---------|------|---------|
| 0.1 | 2025-11-28 | Initial draft |
| 0.9 | 2025-11-29 | Pre-release review |
| 1.0 | 2025-11-29 | Initial release |
| 1.1 | 2025-12-05 | Corrected Table 2 values |

11. Review and Approval

11.1 Review Process

1. Draft (v0.x): Working document, subject to revision
2. Review (v0.9): Complete draft for review
3. Release (v1.0): Approved for distribution
4. Revision (v1.x+): Post-release corrections

11.2 Quality Checklist

Before release, verify:

• [ ] Document ID assigned and registered
• [ ] All sections present and complete
• [ ] Tables and figures numbered correctly
• [ ] All references cited in text
• [ ] All citations appear in reference list
• [ ] AI assistance disclosed (if applicable)
• [ ] Spell check completed
• [ ] Version number and date correct
• [ ] Header contains document ID
• [ ] Footer contains page numbers
• [ ] Visibility set appropriately (public/private)

12. Registry

The CNL Archive database serves as the authoritative registry. The admin dashboard displays all documents with their:

• Document ID
• Title
• Series type
• Status
• Version
• Visibility (Public/Private)
• View and download counts

Appendix A: Document Templates

Templates for each document type are available at:

• /Macroscope/Documentation/Templates/

Appendix B: Revision History

End of Style Guide