"Lecture notes in" or "Lecture notes on"

Question

I have seen both options used interchangeably, is there a reason why?

• Example with on: https://www.springer.com/series/15362

  Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies

• Example with in: https://www.springer.com/series/7818

  Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering

What would then be the correct use in this case:

1. Lecture notes on predictive control
2. Lecture notes in predictive control

Answer 1

american-english

"On" to me is a shorthand for "on the topic of," e.g. "Lecture Notes on (the topic of) Data Engineering and Communications Technologies," while "in" is a shorthand for "in the field of," e.g. "Lecture Notes in (the field of) Electrical Engineering."

You would not say * "the field of data engineering and communications technologies," nor * "the topic of Electrical Engineering" (except in certain unusual contexts), thus the reversed titles seem wrong to me:

* "Lecture notes in Data Engineering and Communications Technologies"
* "Lecture notes on Electrical Engineering"

Likewise, * "Lecture notes in predictive control" doesn't sound right to me, so I would use "on" in that context:

"Lecture notes on Predictive Control"

Answer 2

Ngrams shows both in use with comparable frequency