Style Guidelines
You have been commissioned to write original material for
an encyclopedia by Sharpe Reference. Students and general
readers use encyclopedias to find quick answers to reference
questions, for background reading on a topic of interest, or
as a starting point for research. As a general matter,
people do not read encyclopedias from cover to cover for
entertainment, editorial opinion, or academic disputation.
Encyclopedias are organized, objective compendia of
essential information, "settled" knowledge, and current
perspectives by experts in the field. Please observe the
following guidelines as you prepare your submission.
Brief Guidelines and Instructions
Detailed Guidelines and Instructions
• Audience
• Informational Content
• Objectivity and Balance
• Organization and Structure
• Further Reading
• Format
• Tables, Figures, Graphics
• Submission
• Style: General Information
• Style: Alphabetization
• Style: Spelling
• Style: Dates and Times
• Style: Numbers
• Style: Punctuation
• Style: Capitalization
• Style: Italicization
• Style: Hyphenation
• Style: Internet Terms
• Style: Miscellaneous
• Style: Bibliographies
• Style: Bibliographic Samples
Brief Guidelines
All encyclopedia articles should contain the following
four content areas, in the following order:
Introduction
All encyclopedia articles should begin with an introductory
section covering the basic facts of the invention or discovery,
including what it is, when and where it occurred, and who was
behind it. If the article is about an invention or discovery
that occurred in stages, lay out the basic history of those
developments. In addition, the basic significance of the
invention/discovery for science and society should be discussed.
Where appropriate, explain the origins of the words for the
discovery, invention, or field of inquiry.
Science or Engineering
If discussing a discovery or invention, explain the science
or engineering involved. Discuss the meaning of the discovery
or how the invention works. If the article is about a field of
inquiry, such as paleontology, discuss how those working in the
field apply their understanding to the natural world. Also
discuss the methodology of those working in the field.
History of the Discovery, Invention, or Field of Inquiry
Begin with antecedents. What did people believe before the discovery
was made; discuss what people used before the invention was made.
Where appropriate, discuss the economic, social, and scholarly
forces that prompted the discovery, invention, or establishment of
the field of inquiry. Discuss early research, theories, or ideas
that preceded the final discovery or invention. Provide a narrative
history of the discovery, invention, or field of inquiry. Finally,
examine the state of the discovery, invention, or field of inquiry
as of the early twenty-first century or, where appropriate,
discuss how the invention or discovery has been supplanted.
Conclusion: Legacy and Impact
Discuss how the invention, discovery, or field of inquiry has
changed the way we live and/or how we understand the natural world.
Or in cases where the discovery or invention has been supplanted,
discuss its impact on the world when the invention was still used
or the discovery still held.
All encyclopedia articles should follow these basic guidelines:
Research
Start by doing extensive research in books, periodical literature,
and reputable on-line sites; learn the topic well; know what is
important and what is not, and focus on the former.
Writing Style and Sophistication
Write in clear, jargon-free prose, preferably in the active voice.
Where technical terms are necessary, explain them where they first
appear. Remember, you are writing for an audience of undergraduates
and high school readers who may not be familiar with the science,
history, engineering of the specific discovery, invention, or field
of inquiry.
Coverage
Reference works aim at comprehensiveness; cover all important
aspects of the discovery, invention, or field of inquiryÑdo not focus
unduly on one aspect, period, or person simply because you are more
knowledgeable about it or them. Be sure to cover the entire history
of the discovery, invention, or field of inquiry and, where appropriate,
provide global coverage. Avoid discussing historiographical debates
wherever possible; focus on the history and science instead.
Information
Provide as much specific information as possibleÑnames, dates,
statistics, anecdotes, and relevant quotes (from primary sources and
actors, not what historians have written about a topic). Where a specific
event, place, or person is introduced, provide a basic identification,
definition, location, etcÉ
Objectivity and Language
Be as balanced and objective as possible; present both sides to
arguments; be sure all opinionated statements are attributable to
historical actors. Avoid putting in your own opinions and judgments.
Avoid sexist and racist language. Avoid slang and slangy prose.
Self-Editing and Fact-checking
Edit yourself for spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.
Double-check all facts yourself. An encyclopedia contains too much
information for the editorial board to check all facts.
Formatting and Stylistic Questions
Imitate exactly the formatting in the sample articles. For specific
stylistic questions, consult the Detailed Guidelines or the Chicago
Manual of Style, 15th edition. This applies to both the articles
and the bibliographies that go with each article. All material must be
submitted in either MS Word or RTF (rich text format). If you have any
questions about formatting, contact the editorial assistant.
Miscellaneous Questions: Subheads, Bibliography, Footnoting, Quotations
Subheads: If your article is longer than 1,000 words, put in
subheads every 500-750 words or so.
Quotations: Keep them short and make sure to identify the
speaker, including full name and title.
Metrics: All measurements should be given in metric scale (with
English measures in parentheses to follow.
Footnotes: The rule here is simpleÑdo NOT include them.
Bibliography: Include at least two citations (book or periodical
literature) with every article; for articles longer than 1,000 words,
add one citation for every 500 words. Remember, the bibliography is
not where you put the research materials you used but a guide to further
readingÑprovide books and articles that will help the target reader
learn more about the topic. Include URLs (home pages only) of official
organizations that provide substantive and reliable information for
further research.
Ancillary Materials: Tabular Information, Sidebars,
Primary Documents
We encourage their use, particularly in articles longer than 1000
words. Appropriate ancillary items include tables, graphs, charts,
anecdotal stories, or primary documents.
Tables: Create all tables in Excel or with the table tool in
MSWord. (Tables are copyrighted material; do not reproduce a table from
a copyrighted source; however, you can adapt the information in such a
table for your own table.) All tables must include a title and source
information; see paleontology table in sample articles. Also, be sure
to indicate where you want the table to go. To do this, follow the
example in the paleontology article.
Sidebar: If you feel there is a particularly colorful anecdote
that cannot be fitted in the article word count, contact the editorial
assistant with your suggestion for a sidebar. Remember sidebars must
not run longer than 500 words and do not include their own bibliographies.
Sidebars should be written in a lively, narrative style.
Primary documents: if you would like to include a primary source
document or document excerpt it must meet the following criteria:
relevance, brevity (again, no more than 500 words; excerpts are OK), and
free from copyright (most public domain documents and documents from
before 1924 are copyright-free). If you have a primary document suggestion,
contact the editorial assistant. All document sidebars must include an
introductory paragraph briefly explaining their origin, significance,
and contents. All document sidebars must include full bibliographical
source information; a URL is not enough.
All tables, sidebars, and documents should be placed in separate files
and given the name of the article followed by the type of ancillary
information in parentheses; for example: "paleontology (table)".
Deadlines, Article Lengths, and Completion
Please meet your deadlines; if you cannot meet your deadline, inform
the editorial assistant at once. The staff can usually extend the deadline
but they need to hear from you.
Keep to assigned article length; if you anticipate going over or under
by 20 percent or more, contact the editorial assistant. Adjustments can
usually be made. (Note: article length is for body of article only, not
including the bibliography.)
If you cannot complete part or all of an assignment, we understand,
but contact the editorial assistant promptly. Basic professionalism and
courtesy require nothing less.
Rewriting and Revisions
Encyclopedia articles go through several editing phases. First, the
general editor reads the article for basic content and style; second,
the development editor reads the article for comprehensiveness, clarity,
logic, and organization of material; third, the copyeditors read for
basic grammar, flow, spelling, punctuation, language, and internal
factual consistency. While minor things are usually handled in-house,
major revisions and rewrites are the duty of the contributor. Experience
has taught us that roughly 50 percent of all articles submitted require
revision or rewriting by the contributor, so please hold onto all
research materials and notes until publication.
When in Doubt, Look to the Sample Articles
When in doubt about how any of the guidelines listed above apply to
your article, read the appropriate sample article carefully. The sample
articles provide models for the kinds of articles the editor and publisher
are looking for. This applies to content questions, writing style,
formatting, bibliography, everything
Note: sample articles are divided by typeÑthat is, whether they are an
invention, discussion, or field of inquiry; whether they are a one-off
discovery or invention or involve series of developments; and whether
they are discoveries or inventions of the ancient/medieval or modern
world. Your article may fit into several categories
so read all appropriate sample articles.
Special Note on Sidebars:
Any 2,500 word article must include
one suggestion for a "sidebar" topics; any 5,000 article must include
two suggestions for "sidebar" topics. Suggestions should be included
at the end of the article. Sidebars are brief, engaging
articles that relate to the main subject at hand but are not
covered extensively (or at all) in the main article. So, for
example, an appropriate sidebar for Nuclear Weapons might be a profile of
"Edward Teller" or "The History of the Neutron Bomb." Other sidebars
might be primary documents or tables. See examples of sidebars in
sample articles
section.
If your sidebar idea (or ideas) is accepted, you will be notified shortly.
You can then choose to write them or not (though we strongly encourage
writers of main articles to contribute sidebar articles as well).
Sidebars are no more than 500 words in length. They will be due within
30 days of submission of main article and will be compensated with a $10
honorarium.
DETAILED GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS
Audience and Reading Level
The reference work to which you are contributing is aimed
at students (high-school and college) and general readers,
rather than a scholarly audience. Your writing therefore
should be clear, organized, and accessible, so that an
average reader unfamiliar with the subject can easily grasp
the material you present. Your prose should be both
engaging and informative, on a level comparable with an
article for The New York Times or a news magazine.
Avoid jargon, complex terminology, and esoteric
allusions. Rule of thumb: write as if you were
explaining the subject to a high-school student or college
freshman. Remember, you are preparing an encyclopedia entry,
not a journal article or scholarly monograph. Re-read
your first draft and edit it rigorously before
submission.
Wherever an uncommon term or technical phrase is
introduced, include a succinct definition.
Where a person is referred to for the first time in an
entry, use the full name and title or some other
identification.
Where a specific historical event, place, book, theory,
or other proper-noun subject is introduced, include a basic
identification, location, date of publication, or
definition.
Informational Content
Pack the article with information and substance so
that it is as thorough as possible within word limits. Stay
close to the assigned length-within 10% of your assigned
length; if you have to go significantly over or under,
contact the
editorial assistant.)
Make every word count.
Keep your writing fact-based. Do not focus on what other
scholars have written. Emphasize who, what, when, where, and
how.
Check your facts! Use multiple-and
reliable-sources (beware of non-institutional Web sites).
Double-check all dates, name and place spellings, and other
factual details. An encyclopedia is too
information-intensive for any one person to corroborate all
facts in all entries. The accuracy of your article is
ultimately up to you.
Maintain focus on the time, place, or subject matter in
question. Avoid long digressions or excessive background on
other periods and places.
Use quoted material sparingly and include no footnotes.
If quotes are used at all, keep them short and confine them
to ones by notable non-academics (such as politicians and
writers and activists) or an occasional scholar of importance.
Always introduce the quote with the name of the person and title of
the work (with publication date) from which it derives-
e.g., As paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote in
Dinosaur in a Haystack (1995), "Much of nature is messy and
multifarious..."
Objectivity and Balance
Bring an objective, unbiased point of view-in a
straightforward declarative style-to your text. Avoid
advocacy, editorializing, or special pleading in any form.
An encyclopedia is not a vehicle for personal opinion, no
matter how expert, or for taking sides in any debate,
argument, or controversy. Where there is a fundamental
disagreement over facts, evidence, or their interpretation,
all sides should be presented in a fair and balanced manner.
Wherever appropriate, information about and the
perspective of minority groups, women, non-mainstream
religions, and dissenting voices should be included.
Entries on related topics should be complementary and
mutually supportive, rather than repetitive or
contradictory. Consult the complete entry list before
writing your article to identify related topics and, if
necessary, seek clarification from the editor on the division of
subject matter.
Organization and Structure
Without being rigid or uniform, entries should follow
a basic "pyramid" structure. The lead sentence should
provide a succinct identification or definition of the
subject at hand. The rest of the initial paragraph should
summarize the essential information about the subject, with
a statement of its importance to the particular period or
field of study; assume that many readers will stop there.
Succeeding paragraphs should follow a logical
progression-chronological or otherwise. Do not end the
article merely by reiterating information or observations,
nor with critical judgments. Instead, provide an objective
assessment of influence or reputation, or suggest future
possibilities.
Longer articles should be broken up by subheads every
500-1000 words for topical organization, giving the reader a
clear outline of the structure of the text. Subhead titles
should be succinct, informative, parallel in construction,
and consistent in style.
The contributor's name should appear at the end of the
article, above any supplementary material (i.e. Further
Reading), in italic type, flush left.
Further Reading
Entries of more than 500 words should include a
bibliography or "further reading" list. Rather than merely
identify sources the contributor used in researching the
subject, the bibliography should cite books, articles,
and other sources recommended for further reading by the
target audience. As a general rule, include one citation
for every 250-300 words. Sources listed in the bibliography should be:
Authoritative works directly on point with the
subject of the entry (avoid newspapers and popular
magazines)
Appropriate in topical coverage, interest-level, and
writing style to the target audience (high school students
and up)
In English (no foreign-language titles)
Recent and widely available works, or "standards" in
the field
Published works, especially books (no academic
dissertations)
Online sources are discouraged, but can be included
if absolutely necessary. In that case, references must be to
home pages (top-level URLs) of "evergreen" sites
(institutions and online publications that are unlikely to
move).
Format
All articles must be double-spaced and paginated with
standard 1" margins. 12-point Times New Roman font is
preferred.
Do not use hyphenation or justification.
Do not use automatic functions for numbering,
outlining, or bullets. Please insert these items manually.
Use carriage returns only at the end of a
paragraph, not the end of each line.
Do not use a line space between paragraphs.
Do not use footnotes or endnotes.
Remember, this is a reference book, not a monograph.
Do not use in-text citations as you would in a
scholarly essay. Instead, cite the person and work you are
quoting as part of the "conversation" within the text.
Tables, Figures, Graphics
Feel free to include tables, charts, diagrams, and graphs
with your article, if appropriate. Depending on the size of
the item, each can count for one-third to one-half a page of
manuscript. Please do not include more than one table
per 1,000 words.
Create tables using the table utility in Microsoft Word
or as an Excel spreadsheet. Do not construct tables
by using tabs in a Word document. If you are not sure
how to create a table, please contact the editorial assistant for help.
Submit each item in its own separate file. Include source
information and indicate the program used to create it. Make
sure that each table or chart printout is clearly
identified.
Submission
Once you are satisfied with the quality
of your entries, submit them via email to the editorial assistant. Be sure to keep
backup copies of the entries, as well as all notes
and source materials, until the book is published.
Style: General Information
The Sharpe Reference style is essentially that of The
Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition. Usage and
spelling are essentially those of Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. If you find that
the following instructions are unsuitable or inadequate for
your entry, and that the Manual of Style and
Collegiate Dictionary offer no solution, please
contact the editorial assistant
before you proceed.
Style: Alphabetization
Tables of contents and indexes in all Sharpe Reference
publications are alphabetized according to the word-by-word
system (see Chicago Manual, 18.56 and 18.58-18.59).
Style: Spelling
Geographical names should be given in standard English
spellings when available.
Use American English usage and spelling, not
British English: labor, not labour; defense,
not defence; among, not amongst.
In Sharpe publications, the preferred transliteration
system for Russian is the modified Library of Congress
system (without diacritical marks or ligatures) (see
Chicago Manual, 10.116, Table 10.3).
For the romanization of Chinese we prefer pinyin
(Beijing, not Peking; Qing, not Ch'ing).
Avoid the use of contractions, except in dialogue.
When adding a suffix to a multisyllabic root word, it is
not necessary to double the terminal consonant of the
last syllable (even if it contains a short vowel) if the
syllable is unstressed.
Examples: traveling,
propelling; canceling, excelling; totaling, appalling;
prohibiting, forbidding; offering, conferring; benefited,
profited, refitted.
Style: Dates and Times
Keep dates standard and consistent.
Examples:
June 12, 1988, not 12
June, 1988, not June 12th, 1988 (unless in a title)
January 1991, not January
of 1991 or January, 1991
October 1994, not Oct.
1994
Spell out centuries: seventeenth century, twenty-first
century.
Delete apostrophe in decades: 1790s, not 1790's.
Do not abbreviate decades: 1830s, not 30s
or '30s; 1850s and 1860s, not 1850s and 60s.
Keep seasons in lower case: spring 1797, not
Spring 1797, not the Spring of 1797.
Date-range style: 1862-1865; 1797-1802 (en dashes,
not hyphens); from 1864 to 1868, not from
1864-1868.
Style: Numbers
Do not begin a sentence with a numeral.
Use a comma in a number of four or more digits, unless a
page number or year (1,000 and 26,552, but page 1000
and 1942).
Spell out ordinal numbers: (first, ninety-ninth,
not 1st, 99th).
Exception: 37th Congress,
106th Congress
Spell out percent: 25 percent, not 25%.
Spell out and hyphenate fractions: one-eighth.
Large numbers: 1 million or 6 million, not
1,000,000 or six million; 100,000 not 100 thousand.
Use a zero to open decimal fractions (0.3).
Monetary values: $17 million, not 17 million
dollars; £45, not 45 pounds sterling.
Time: 4:00 A.M. or 9:45 P.M. not four o'clock or
nine forty-five.
Leave spaces before and after the colon in a ratio (1 :
1).
Elide page numbers (153-76).
Style: Punctuation
Use serial comma: I like coffee, tea, and beer;
not I like coffee, tea and beer.
No periods in abbreviations or acronyms: USSC, not
U.S.S.C.
Exception: U.S./C.S.
(used as an adjective only), not US/CS.
Close spaces between initials: T.S. Eliot; W.E.B. Du
Bois.
When using full dates, commas precede and follow the
year; when using full place names, commas precede and follow
the state.
Example: Before I visited
Washington, D.C., on October 26, 1794, I visited Hartsdale,
New York, and Burlington, Vermont.
Style: Capitalization
Minimize capitalization; as a rule of thumb,
capitalize only singular proper nouns and true proper
adjectives: Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe,
East European, South Dakota, but southern Mexico,
eastern Pennsylvania.
In titles, lowercase conjunctions, articles, and
prepositions (and, the, in) unless they contain more than
four letters (Around) or are integral to a verb (Work Out).
Style: Italicization
Italicize the titles of books, periodicals, plays,
operas, motion pictures, poetry collections or long poems,
works of art (paintings, statues), and television and radio
programs.
Italicize legal cases; use abbreviation v. for versus;
and give date in parentheses if not supplied in
sentence/context.
Example: In Gibbons v.
Ogden (1824), the Supreme Court said the government has
supremacy over interstate commerce.
Use roman type and quotation marks for the titles of
articles, chapters, essays, short stories, songs, and
unpublished works.
If a relatively unfamiliar foreign term
will be used repeatedly throughout a text, it is advisable
to italicize and define the term the first time it is
used, and thereafter leave it in roman type.
Do not italicize Latin or other foreign-language
expressions that are in general use or appear in the
dictionary (status quo, ad hoc, vis-ˆ-vis, etc.). More
obscure Latin terms and phrases, however (status quo ante, sic semper
tyrannis) should be italicized.
Names of institutions or organizations (e.g., B'nai
B'rith) should not be italicized even if the
translation is provided.
Style: Hyphenation
Hyphenate adjectival forms (middle-class neighborhood,
well-regarded attorney, eighteenth-century England,
long-term results), but not adverbial modifiers
ending in -ly (fully automated systems, newly arrived
immigrant).
"Object + gerund" compounds (problem solving) are
generally not hyphenated except when used
adjectivally (word-processing systems, decision-making
abilities).
Close up prefixes (prewar) unless the root is capitalized
(post-Jeffersonian), or complex (post-Civil War), or begins
with the same vowel that ends the prefix
(anti-intellectual).
Style: Internet Terms
Web site
World Wide Web, the Web
Internet
Intranet
home page
Style: Miscellaneous
Diacritical marks should be retained in proper names and
foreign words, even when they are not italicized
(e.g., Poincarè, èmigrè, vis-á-vis, raison d'être).
Use e.g., i.e., and etc. in parenthetical and technical
contexts only; in the main text, spell them out.
Always provide full names and titles of persons referred
to in article upon first mention.
Example: President James
K. Polk precipitated a war with Mexico.
When citing a U.S. representative or senator, write out
full title and name, and identify their home state and
party. Do not use the 20th century NAME (PARTY-STATE)
convention, however.
Thus: Senator Charles
Sumner, a Republican from Massaschusetts; Republican
Congressman James G. Blaine from Maine, and
notSenator Charles Sumner (R-MA); Representative
James G. Blaine (R-ME).
Most titles are lowercased unless followed by a personal
name: the president, the president of the Confederacy; President
Lincoln, Vice President Johnson.
Do not include honorifics: Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms.
When citing an organization, always write out the full
name. If you are going to cite it again, place initials in
parentheses after first mention. If you are not
citing the organization again, omit initials.
Example: The United
States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was founded in order to
... The USSC was shut down in 1866.
Use U.S. as an adjective only (U.S. citizen); otherwise
spell out (citizen of the United States). Do not use
United States in the possessive: either reword or use
America's.
Use United States, not United States of America.
When describing events in narrative form, generally
present them chronologically within an article, section, or
paragraph.
Avoid and/or and most phrases with slashes.
Avoid he/she and (s)he.
Avoid sexist, dated, ethnically slanted, and
inappropriate language.
Style: Bibliographies
The terms Inc., Co., Publ., Ltd., Press, and the like
should not appear in the bibliography with the
publisher's name; but do include Verlag, and include Press when
referring to a University Press.
Thus: Basic Books;
McGraw-Hill; Wiley; Springer Verlag; New York University Press.
Use two-letter Postal Service codes to abbreviate the
names of states in bibliographic entries (NY, CA, MA); do
not use periods between letters (including
Washington, DC);
Do not include the state abbreviation for
publishers in major metropolitan areas (New York, Los
Angeles, Philadelphia, London) or if the state is evident
from the publisher (Albany: State University of New York
Press).
Spell out author's full first name where available,
not initials.
Style: Bibliographic Samples
Books by authors:
Doe, John, Jr. American Immigration. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1990.
Smith, Anne B., and Richard Jones. No Going Back: The
High-Tech Revolution. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.
Books by editors:
Treadwell, Edward F., ed. The Constitution of the
State of California. San Francisco: Dutton, 1923.
Articles in books/compiled volumes:
Roe, Richard. "Immigration in Texas." In Immigrants of
America, ed. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., 499-513.
Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1999.
Articles in journals:
Roe, Jane. "Immigration in California." International
Immigration Review 50:2 (August 1974): 432-59.
Government Reports:
House of Representatives, Committee on Un-American
Activities. Investigation of Un-American Activities in
the United States. 79th Cong., 2d Sess., January 30,
1999.
This page last updated: 8 January 2008
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