Our standards

What we publish

Ink and Equations publishes stories, poems, satire, speeches and essays, each built around one real scientific idea, and Unpacked pieces that go deeper into the science behind another piece. The idea is never decoration: it is the reason the story turns or the joke lands.

Pieces marked Sample were prepared by the editorial team to show what the journal publishes. Pieces don’t carry bylines on the page; when you cite one, the reference names the writer where there is one.

Getting the science right

Our rule is bend the story, never the science. Characters, jokes and situations can be invented; the science in them can’t. Before a piece appears, an editor checks its scientific claims against reliable sources, such as textbooks, scientific organisations and published research, and the main sources are listed at the end of the piece. Where a piece simplifies something, it should say so.

We are a small, student-run team. Pieces are checked by the editors. They are not peer-reviewed, and we don’t currently work with outside scientific reviewers. If you are an expert and spot something we’ve got wrong, we especially want to hear from you.

Satire on the site is clearly satire. The situations and quotes in it are invented to make a point; the science it explains is real, and each satire ends with a fact check.

How pieces are chosen

The editors decide together what to publish, using three questions. Does the piece teach one real idea well? Is the science accurate? Would a curious reader want to finish it? A piece that is well written but bends the science is sent back for changes, not published.

Corrections

If you spot a mistake in any piece, use Spotted a mistake? at the end of it, or email the editors. If we agree, we fix the piece and add a dated note under Corrections at the end of it, saying what changed. We don’t quietly rewrite published pieces to hide errors. Every correction we’ve made is listed below.

Writing for us

Any student can send us a piece; Write for us explains how. Our contributor terms set out what happens next: you keep the copyright, we check the science with you, we won’t publish edits you haven’t agreed to, and you can ask us to take your piece down at any time.