The Mistress-Court of Mighty Europe

CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES

Length of work: max. 5500 words, including endnotes.

Use endnotes for comments and references; use format shown under section on Notes [David Bettelson, The Lazy South (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), 90.; or, Bettelson, The Lazy South, 91.]

Add a list of Works Cited, e.g. Bettelson, David. The Lazy South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.

General

We recommend use of recognized reference books such as MLA and The Chicago Manual of Style.

• All margins must be at least 1¼" (3 cm) and remain consistent throughout the manuscript.
• Use 12pt Times Roman font throughout.
• Double space the entire manuscript (including endnotes).
• Do not justify the right-hand margin.
• Insert only one space after periods, colons, and all other punctuation marks.
• Use the hard return ("enter" key) only to separate headings, paragraphs, sections, or elements of a list.
• Do not insert extra lines between paragraphs (except to indicate a significant shift in ideas).
• Use only one tab to mark the beginning of a paragraph.
• Use indent commands to indicate an indented section or a block quotation.
• Use the decimal system (1, 1.1, 1.1.1, etc.) to indicate heading hierarchy, rather than underlining, boldface, centring, italics, etc. Although this system will not be retained in the final typesetting, it is useful in identifying structural problems and in providing typographical instructions to the typesetter.
• Indicate a dash by typing two hyphens (--) or inserting an m-dash, which should be flush with the words on either side (i.e., no space before or after the dash).
• Use underlining to indicate italics.
• Note numbers should follow the punctuation (except the dash).
• Notes (use endnotes, not footnotes) and bibliographies should be placed either at the end of the chapter. They should be the same character size, typeface, and spacing (i.e., double-spaced) as used for the main text.
• Any pagination should be placed top right. Do not insert any other header or footer.

Typography and Spelling

Spelling

• Follow one style of spelling consistently.
• For words ending in -or/-our, the -our variant is preferable.
• Use " -ize " endings, for example, organize, but not advertise, circumcise, supervise etc.
• No unnecessary apostrophe's, for example, 1990s (not 1990's)

Abbreviations

• Omit periods in initialisms (CBC, UOP) and acronyms (CUSO, UNESCO).
• Retain periods in geographical abbreviations (B.C., U.S.A.), abbreviations of academic degrees (M.A., Ph.D.) and abbreviations of the various systems of chronology (A.D., B.C.).
• The abbreviations "e.g." and "i.e." should be limited to parenthetical references. The words "for example" should be used in running text.

Capitalization

Capitalize the following:

• Names of world geographical divisions. Examples: the Far East, the Western Hemisphere, the New World
• Names of geo-political divisions. Examples: United Kingdom, Holy Roman Empire, Northwest Territories
• Names of compass points when they refer to a specific geographical entity. Examples: the Far North, the West
• Titles of persons when they precede a name or refer to the incumbent official. Examples: Premier Davis, the Premier; Prime Minister Chrétien, the Prime Minister; Member of Parliament; Queen Elizabeth, the Queen
• All words in titles of books or chapters, etc., except articles, co-ordinate conjunctions, and prepositions regardless of length, unless they are the first or last words of the title or subtitle.
• Parts of a book when they are referred to within the same book. Examples: See the Glossary at the end of this book for definitions.

Compound words and hyphenation

Hyphenate the following:

• Compound modifiers that precede a noun ("a well-known author"), but not those that follow a noun ("an author well known abroad").
• Phrases used as attributive adjectives. Examples: nineteenth-century thought, low-wage areas, defence-related markets
• Words containing a double vowel. Examples: re-enter, co-operative, micro-organism
• New or temporary words, but not established compound words. Examples: antibody, anticlimax, anti-everything
• Words that may be confusing if the hyphen were to be omitted. Examples: re-create, re-cover, co-author
• Spelling preferences antihero, counterattack, micro-organism, co-author, counter clockwise, midair, co-editor, extra-curricular, offside, co-ordinate, micro-electronic, re-emerge

Diacritical marks

In French, letters retain accents, cedillas, and diereses when capitalized. In the most foreign languages, diacritical marks are an integral part of the language. It is important that you transcribe these carefully when they appear in a quotation.

Indentation

The beginning of a paragraph or note should be indicated by a tab. There should not be additional spacing between paragraphs. In the case of a block indentation, use the word-processing commands equivalent to "begin indent" and "end indent".

Italics

Italicize foreign words and abbreviations when they are used in English texts. Do not italicize formerly foreign words or abbreviations that are now accepted in common English usage. Examples: raison d'être, Résumé, ibid. et al.

Notes

• Indicate note numbers by an Arabic numeral, followed by a period and one space. Subsequent lines of the note text begin at the left margin. Notes should contain only comments, explanations, or digressions.
• Number notes sequentially. Do not use the same number (e.g., 4, 4a, etc.) for more than one note.
• Ensure that the data in notes correspond to the bibliography.
• Use the full reference for the first bibliographic occurrence; short forms should be used thereafter. Example: David Bettelson, The Lazy South (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), 90. Bettelson, The Lazy South, 91.

Numerals

• Spell out numbers when they appear at the beginning of a sentence.
• Separate inclusive numbers by an en dash, and include all digits. Examples: 3-10; 100-104; 321-325; 1002-1006; 1982-1985
• Spell out centuries in full. Examples: twenty-first century
• Spell out numbers under one hundred, round numbers, and numbers followed by hundred, thousand, million, etc. are written in words, except in technical or statistical discussions involving their frequent use. Examples: seventy-seven; two thousand; fifteen kilometres
• In a series of numbers referring to similar elements, figures should be used. Examples: One booklet contained 36 pages, another 300, and the third 108 pages.
• When abbreviating units of measurement, use figures, followed by a space and the abbreviation. Periods should be used with imperial abbreviations, but not with metric. Examples: 6 m, 7 g, 9 in.
• In literary or non-scientific texts, write out the number and the word "percent" ("seventy-five percent"), except where percentages occur frequently or where decimals are used ("12.3 percent").

Punctuation

• The comma is used between elements and before the conjunction in a series of three or more elements. Examples: blood, sweat, and tears
• A comma always follows "e.g.," "i.e.," or "namely."
• A comma should never precede an opening parenthesis.
• Colons and semi-colons are placed outside closing quotation marks; all other punctuation is placed inside closing quotation marks. Examples: There were many "helpers"; few actually worked. There were no more requests for those "helpers."
• Note numbers should be placed after all punctuation except the dash.
• Leave a space between the initials of a name. Example: H. M. Tory; W. H. M. Smith
• Use an em dash or two hyphens to indicate a break in thought or sentence structure. Examples: Will he--can he--obtain the necessary funds? Bach, Beethoven, Mozart--these were the greatest composers.
• Use an en dash or a hyphen to indicate a range of numbers or dates. Examples: pp. 38-45; 1994-1995; May 3-7
• An en dash also connects two elements of a compound adjective, if one element consists of two words or a hyphenated word. Examples: Windsor-Quebec City corridor, post-World War II period
• A range of date may be indicated by means of an en dash or with words, but not a combination of the two. Examples: the period 1951-1952; from 1916 to 1972
• Use double quotation marks for quoted matter, for concepts, and for words used in a special sense.
• Use single quotation marks to enclose quotations within quotations. Examples: "There was clearly a 'Danger' sign outside," the witness testified.
• Use square brackets to set off author's or editor's interpolation within a quotation or in place of parentheses within parentheses. Examples: (compare with the first poem [pages 12 to 13])

Quotations

Quotations must correspond exactly to the original text. Unusual or incorrect spelling in a quotation should be followed by [sic] or [?]. The author is responsible for the accuracy of these quotations.

Short quotations: Quotations that run to less than three lines in the manuscript are incorporated into the main body of text and placed in quotations marks.

Long quotations: Quotations that run to three lines or longer are indented from the left margin. Quotations marks are not used. Each subsequent paragraph is also indented and a tab is used to further indent the first line of each paragraph. Stanzas of two lines or more of verse are treated as long quotations (i.e., indented from the left margin).

Interpolations: All additions and modifications are indicated within brackets. Omissions should be indicated by ellipsis points separated from surrounding text and from each other by one space (e.g., these ellipsis points indicate … an omission).

Punctuation: Commas and periods are placed before closing quotation marks. Use three spaced dots … to indicate omission within a sentence, and four spaced dots …. for omissions that end with a period or for omissions that follow a period. Examples: Then the lights flickered and went out…. The flight attendant announced … an emergency landing. I wondered what would become of us….

Reference numbers

Reference numbers within the text are placed after all punctuation except the dash and are normally indicated by a superscript Arabic numeral the same type size as the main text.

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Linda Jones
10 September 2004