We have been actively studying the ICO market over the past months, including the content design that blockchain startups choose. We will give some advice based on the results of these observations:

A good white paper will not help a bad project: if a team is trying to solve a nonexistent or not very important problem, if its members have little development experience and are new to the blockchain, then with a high degree of probability it will not be successful even when creating documentation according to all canons, and this must be understood.

The format should suit the team: the style of the scientific article chosen by the Filecoin and Aeternity projects differs from the more “popular” chosen by the Monetha project. In particular, a "scientific article" usually does not have a section describing the command - only a section on the site serves for this. To create a quality "scientific article", the author must have experience in writing such documents. If it is not there, it is better to follow the Monetha path and make a kind of presentation of the project.

It is important to take the audience into account: the style and format of the White paper is influenced by who will read it. If the goal is to attract a technically competent audience and scientists, then it is logical to present the information in the form they are used to. But if the goal is a wider audience, then you should not over complicate the document, you can even create two versions: a lighter version and a more technical one - for those who need details.