Introduction

It is important to establish standards early on in the production process. These will ensure consistency throughout the project, reduce errors, and provide guidelines for future projects. Publishers may choose to establish the standards they follow for their publications based on their preferences and the type of material being presented. For any publisher who does not currently have in-house standards or would like to refer to Scribe’s standards, the following standards can be used.

Editorial Recommendations

This content relates to the Style Guide module.

Resources

Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary

General

Numbers referring to pages, chapters, parts, volumes, and other divisions of a book, as well as numbers referring to illustrations or tables, are set as numerals:
- “See part 3, especially chapters 9 and 10, for further discussion; see also volume 2, table 15 and figures 7–9” (CMS 9.26).
Use “which” for nonrestrictive clauses, “that” for restrictive clauses (CMS 6.27).
Block quotations: Generally 100+ words or more than one paragraph; run-in quotations: < 100 words (CMS 13.10)
When newspapers and other periodicals are mentioned in text, an initial the, even if part of the title on the masthead, is usually lowercased (unless it begins a sentence) and not italicized.
Newspapers/periodicals are not in italics when part of a prize, building, and so on: Los Angeles Times Book Award.
While Chicago generally recommends avoiding the use of the singular they (CMS 5.255), when referring to a person who does not identify with a gender-specific pronoun, however, they and its forms are often preferred (CMS 5.48).

Capitalization, General

Heads and titles (for sections, sidebars, etc.) follow headline-style capitalization, so verbs (even short ones like “Is”) are capitalized, while prepositions (even long ones like “through”) are not (CMS 8.159).
Common designations of ethnic groups by color (e.g., black people, white people, people of color) are lowercased (CMS 8.38).
Lowercase names of laws, theories, and models, unless any part is a proper noun (e.g., five forces model, Ricardian model of comparative advantage, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; CMS 8.148).
Lowercase titles and offices, unless they precede a personal name and are thus considered part of the name (e.g., the company’s chief executive officer, a professor of marketing, Professor Smith; CMS 8.19).
Lowercase titles when used in apposition (e.g., the first black prime minister Patrice Lumumba Mallory; CMS 8.21).
Lowercase departments, bureaus, and so on, unless they are the full name of a specific entity (e.g., the marketing department, human resources, the Federal Bureau of Investigation; CMS 8.63).
Lowercase seasons in running text (e.g., the summer of 2008; CMS 8.88).

Lists

Items in any list, vertical or run into text, must be parallel in structure (same syntax/grammar; CMS 6.127).
An item in a vertical list that forms a complete sentence should be followed by end punctuation (CMS 6.130).
In a vertical numbered list, a period follows the numeral and each item begins with a capital letter, unless the numbered list is punctuated as a sentence.
In a run-in numbered list, the number goes in parentheses (1) with no period (CMS 6.129).
In a bulleted list, each item begins with a lowercase letter if each item is a fragment but with a capital letter if each item is a complete sentence in itself.

Tables and Figures

Figures use sentence case (period at end only if one or more sentence; CMS 3.21).
Table titles, stubs, and column heads use sentence case (CMS 3.56).

Dates and Numbers

Spell out whole numbers from zero through one hundred and round multiples of those numbers (CMS 9.2) or use the alternative rule: spell out only single-digit numbers and use numerals for all others; round multiples of these use numbers (CMS 9.3). But see the following: “Where many numbers occur within a paragraph or a series of paragraphs, maintain consistency in the immediate context. If according to rule you must use numerals for one of the numbers in a given category, use them for all in that category. In the same sentence or paragraph, however, items in one category may be given as numerals and items in another spelled out” (CMS 9.7).
Any number beginning a sentence is written out (CMS 9.5).
Always use a numeral with the word “percent” (12 percent; CMS 9.18).
Spell out ordinal numbers (nineteenth century; not 19th century or XIX century; CMS 9.32).
Write decades as words or numbers without apostrophes (the eighties or the 1980s; not 1980’s or the ’80s; CMS 7.15).
Spell out simple fractions (two-thirds; hyphenated in n, adj, and adv forms, except when second element is already hyphenated; CMS 9.14)
Ratios composed of whole numbers may generally be expressed using to and spelled out in ordinary text according to either CMS 9.2 or 9.3. In contexts where numerals are preferred, a colon may be used as a shorthand for to, with no space on either side.
- a three-to-one ratio
- a 13-to-2 ratio (see 9.3; see also 9.7)
- a 13:2 ratio
Abbreviate inclusive numbers (e.g., 101–8, 645–48, 1313–27; CMS 9.61).
Use a comma in four-digit numbers, excluding page numbers and years (CMS 6.38).

Punctuation

Apostrophes

Do not add an apostrophe when pluralizing capital letters used as words or numerals used as nouns (e.g., three Rs, the 1990s; CMS 7.15).
The possessive of most singular nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s. The possessive of plural nouns that end in s is formed by adding an apostrophe only (CMS 7.16).
Possessive of proper nouns: Kansas’s legislature; Jesus’s adherents; Malraux’s masterpiece; the Lincolns’ marriage; the Williamses’ new house; the Martinezes’ daughter (CMS 7.17)
Words and names ending in an unpronounced s form the possessive with the addition of an apostrophe and an s (CMS 7.18).

Commas

Use a serial comma.
The adverbs too and either used in the sense of “also” generally need not be preceded by a comma:
- Anders likes Beethoven; his sister does too.
- The airport lacked charging stations; there were no comfortable chairs either (CMS 6.52).

No comma after etc. (and similar, such as “so forth,” “and the like”) at the end of a list unless required by the surrounding syntax:
- The map was far from complete (lacking many of the streets, alleys, etc. seen in earlier iterations).
- For a discussion of periods, commas, and the like, see chapter 6.

Use a comma, not a colon, for introducing short quotations with “said,” “writes,” and so forth (CMS 13.14).
Two independent clauses joined by a conjunction take a comma before the conjunction. Two predicates do not, except to prevent misreading (CMS 6.22).
Do not put commas around “Jr.,” Sr.,” “Inc.,” “Ltd.,” and the like.
Sentence and transitional adverbs are followed by a comma (e.g., First, Next, Finally, However, Otherwise, Also, Typically, Generally).
Some adverbs are not usually followed by a comma when beginning a sentence or clause (e.g., Thus, Hence, Here, Now, Then, Often, Sometimes).
Follow expressions of the type “that is” (e.g., namely, for example) with a comma.
Enclose states and countries in running text with commas when they appear following city names.

Colons and Semicolons

If a colon is used within a sentence, the first word after it is lowercased; if a colon introduces multiple sentences, the first word after it is capitalized (CMS 6.63).
To merit a colon, the words that introduce a series or list must constitute a grammatically complete sentence. But an exception may be made when a word or phrase introduces a series or list and the verb is elided or otherwise understood (CMS 6.67):
Pros: accuracy and water resistance. Cons: cheap-looking exterior,…(The pros included accuracy and water resistance. Among its cons were a cheap-looking exterior,…)
Two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction are separated by a semicolon.

Dashes

Use en dashes for inclusive numbers or dates: February 9–15; also “from 1905 to 1908” or “the 1905–1908 period” (not “from 1905–1908”; CMS 6.78).
Use en dash instead of hyphen for compound adjectives (e.g., Civil War–era backdrop; CMS 6.80).

Periods

Use periods and spaces after initials standing for given names (e.g., E. B. White).
Omit periods in abbreviations of academic degrees (e.g., BA, PhD).

Quotations

In quotes, no ellipses are necessary before the first word or after the last word, even if the end of the original sentence has been omitted.
Quotation marks go after a period or comma but before a colon or semicolon.

Hyphenation

See CMS 7.89:
- adjective + noun: hyphenated before but not after a noun (a middle-class neighborhood; the neighborhood is middle class). Same rule used for adj + participle.
- noun + adjective: hyphenated before a noun; usually open after a noun (HIV-positive men; she is HIV positive).
- noun + gerund: noun form usually open; adjective form hyphenated before a noun; some permanent compounds closed (decision making; a decision-making body).
- noun + participle: hyphenated before a noun; otherwise open (a clothes-buying grandmother; a day of clothes buying).
- adjectival phrases: hyphenated before a noun; usually open after a noun (an up-to-date solution; his equipment was up to date).
- adverb not ending in ly + participle or adjective: hyphenated before but not after a noun (a well-known actor; the actor is well known); compounds with “more,” “most,” “less,” “least,” and “very” usually open unless ambiguity threatens.
- “-ly” compounds not hyphenated
- proper nouns and adjectives relating to geography or nationality: open in both noun and adjective forms unless the first term is a prefix or unless between is implied (African Americans; African American president; Sino-Tibetan languages; the US-Canada border; Anglo-American cooperation; Anglo-Americans).

Abbreviations and Acronyms

All acronyms spelled without periods (unless stated otherwise in Alphabetical List)
Provide in full at first instance per chapter; use abbreviation or acronym thereafter in chapter or provide in full at first instance in the manuscript.
Spell out “e.g.,” “i.e.,” “etc.” (for example, that is, and so forth) in running text; OK to abbreviate in parentheses

Parenthetical Citation

Citing More Than One Work in a Single Parenthetical Reference

([Author], [Year], p. [pg. no.]; [Author], [Year], p. [pg. no.]).

Notes

The use of ibid. is discouraged in favor of shortened citations (CMS 14.34).
In journal citations, when the date of publication includes month and day, the year may be repeated to avoid ambiguity (CMS 15.49):
Kauffman, Stanley. 1989. Review of A Dry White Season (film), directed by Euzhan Palcy. New Republic, October 9, 1989, 24–25.
- If a newspaper article is unsigned, the title of the newspaper stands in place of the author:
- New York Times. 2002. “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor.” July 30, 2002.

When there is no issue number, and where no month or season is recorded, the page number reference follows the volume number, separated by a colon and with no intervening space. If the month or season is included, it is enclosed in parentheses, and a space follows the colon (CMS 15.48):
- Gunderson, Alex R., and Manuel Leal. 2015. “Patterns of Thermal Constraint on Ectotherm Activity.” American Naturalist 185:653–64.
- Gunderson, Alex R., and Manuel Leal. 2015. “Patterns of Thermal Constraint on Ectotherm Activity.” American Naturalist 185 (May): 653–64.

Typesetting Recommendations

Short Lines

No short lines. Ensure that the text of a line runs longer than the indent of the following line. Short lines can be a matter of personal judgment at times, but, as an example, if a paragraph ends with only one word on a line by itself, this would normally be considered a short line. Short lines can also consist of two or more short words, like “it is,” “so I am.” A paragraph should appear balanced, and short lines give the text an off-balance appearance.

Widows and Orphans

No widows are allowed. At least two lines of text are required on each page if a paragraph crosses a page break. This prevents the beginning and end of a paragraph from being a single line on its own.
- Set paragraph styles’ “Keep Options” to start 2/end 2 for body paragraphs.
- Set paragraph styles’ “Keep Options” to keep all lines together for heads and title elements. Head and title elements should also be set to keep with the next two lines.

No orphans. An orphan is a single line of text from a paragraph on a page by itself. Similar to the prevention of widows at the tops of pages, at least two lines of text are required on each page if a paragraph crosses a page break.

Bad Breaks

No word may break across any page. Breaking across a page with a hyphen interrupts the reader from concentrating on the content of the text. A small adjustment of the tracking is usually enough either to bring the end of the word back to the first page or to move the beginning of the broken word to the next page.
Hyphenated words should only break directly after the existing hyphen. This rule should be used for words separated by em dashes and en dashes as well.
Use Merriam-Webster hyphenation settings. Do not allow two-letter hyphenations (e.g., simp-ly); the only exception to this is in situations where hyphenations can change meanings (e.g., re-creation) or interfere with the reading process. However, in those cases, avoid breaking those words across lines.
Never break URLs with a hyphen. Always break a URL at a logical word break or punctuation mark. If breaking at a punctuation mark, break the URL after a slash (/) or before the punctuation mark (including the “.”).

Stacks and Rivers

Avoid all word stacks. However, a stack of two is permissible if text cannot reflow acceptably by adjusting the kerning or using soft returns. In this situation, the typesetter must use his or her judgment to determine which course of action is “the lesser of two evils.”
Limit letter stacks and punctuation stacks to two lines.
- Set the hyphen limit to 2 in the paragraph style settings.

Avoid rivers. Rivers are not a common problem in most designs, but they should be avoided if noticeable. As with stacks, rivers are not permissible because they catch the reader's eye and divert attention from the text.

Footnotes and Endnotes

Keep footnotes with their references. Always start a footnote on the page that references it. If possible, place the footnote in its entirety on the referencing page.
- Footnotes are not permissible in tables. Tables should use table notes as needed.

Use InDesign’s automated footnote feature.
Endnote number (ennum) treatment is dictated by the design. They generally use tabs to assist the alignment. If a period is used after the ennum, include the period in the ennum style.

Heads

Keep at least two lines of text following a head at the bottom of a page.
Break heads and titles evenly or at a sensible point (e.g., after a colon).

Styles

ScML styles and style modification conventions must be followed at all times.

Leading

Prevent lines of text from squeezing too tightly against each other or appearing too loose on the page.
Never use the "auto" setting for leading. As a starting point, set the leading to 2 points greater than the font size. Having a leading of 14 points when a font is 12 points, for example, is a safe rule of thumb. The necessary leading can vary depending on the font size and style, particularly in chapter titles and headings, when point sizes can be very large.

Tracking

Choose zero as the default for the tracking for body paragraphs (the amount of space horizontally taken up by a character and the empty space around it). If the tracking is either too high or too low, the letters appear to be either too far apart or too close together. This can cause the reader's eye to stumble or pause and can distract the reader from the text's content.
- Tracking can be increased or decreased as a design choice.

If modifying the tracking to fix breaks, stacks, or rivers, adjust the tracking as little as possible. As a maximum, the total difference in a paragraph is never allowed to be more than 30.

Images

Illustrations, maps, photographs, and other art should be provided in a standard electronic format (TIFF, EPS, JPEG) at a minimum effective resolution of 300 dpi.
Do not mask images. In order to ensure the best output and maintain images as they will appear in other outputs (e.g., e-books), do not manipulate images within a typesetting program. Crop and adjust images using a graphics program (e.g., Photoshop).

Image Placement and Text Wrap

Unless the design requires a different treatment, place each image at the top or bottom of a page, as near to its in-text reference as possible, after the in-text reference. Place images for best reading order. For example, images may best be placed so as not to interrupt a paragraph that leads into a block quotation.
Base text wrap (the amount of space between an image or text box and the text that flows around it, whether above, below, or on either side), on all standard images and text boxes, on the font size. Make each text wrap setting half the size of a single line of the base font. For example, if the leading is 12 points, then a single line is 12 points. In this case, each text wrap would be set to 6 points. Different books may require adjustments to this formula, but it is a good place to begin.
- Note: The use of text wrap can disrupt InDesign’s ability to justify text.

Spreads

Facing pages should have the same number of lines unless one page contains the end of a chapter. Pages may also run short if the following page starts with a head.

E-book Recommendations

Print Relics

In the ScML, it is standard practice to “comment out” print specific data found on the copyright page that does not pertain to the e-book. Opening and closing comment tags are  respectively in ScML files. It is preferable to comment out unneeded data rather than delete the information in case it is needed at a later time. Below are several examples of print relics that can be commented out in the ScML.
- Print ISBN:

- Manufacturer information:

- Printing numbers:

- Paper information:

- Typeset information:

Adding e-ISBNs

If available, ISBNs for the e-book editions should be added to the copyright page below the print ISBN in the ScML.
When there is no print ISBN listed on the copyright page, e-ISBNs are commonly added before the Library of Congress data.
If there are ISBNs for both the ePub and Kindle versions of the e-book, both should be listed on the copyright page.

<crtf>ISBN: 978-1-23456-789-0 (Print)</crtf>
<crt>ISBN: 978-1-23456-789-0 (ePub)</crt>
<crt>ISBN: 978-1-23456-789-0 (Kindle)</crt>
<cipf>Library-in-Congress Publication Data</cipf>

Half-Title Pages

Half-title pages in the ScML are commonly, but not always, commented out for e-book development.
If there are two half-title pages, the second half-title page is almost always commented out, especially if retaining the first half-title page.
When commenting out the half-title page, the opening and closing <chapter> tags must also be commented out.
Multiline comments can be handled in one of two ways:
- Comment out each line:



- Comment out multiple lines in one set of comment tags:

Fonts

In e-book files, fonts should only be used for character support (that is, to display character that the e-reader cannot display using its built-in fonts).
Fonts should not be used to match the rendering/display of the print book.
Because e-readers have their own built-in fonts, any print-specific fonts that are used in the e-book will generally not be displayed. While some e-readers do have an option to display the e-book as intended, including fonts, by the publisher, this is not the default option and will not be seen by most readers.
Fonts must be licensed for use in e-book files (with the exception of open source fonts). Because fonts must be specifically licensed for the e-book and because most e-readers will not display those fonts unless specifically told to do so by the reader, it is standard practice to not include print-specific fonts.

Directional Language

It is common practice to replace directional language in the ScML for images when the directional language no longer corresponds to the layout of the e-book (i.e., if in the print edition of the book two images were displayed side-by-side and the figure’s caption read “See Figure A [right] and Figure B [left]”).
In the e-book, those same images would most likely be stacked on top of each other and the “right” and “left” part of the caption would no longer work. In this case, the “right” and “left” text would be commented out and replaced:

<figcap>See Figure A (right) and Figure B (left)</figcap>

Would become something like this in the ScML:

<figcap>See Figure A (top) and Figure B (bottom)</figcap>

If a caption refers to side-by-side images that are no longer displayed that way in the e-book, it is best if a unique caption can be used for each image.

Right-to-Left Languages

For a book containing Hebrew or other right-to-left reading characters, the text may need to be replaced with images in order to display properly on all e-readers.

In the ScML file, comment out (do not delete) the Hebrew text when including the images.

See Hebrew Images for more information on how to create images for use in e-books.