OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS HOUSE STYLE

 

 

In general, we follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed., for style and format and Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., for spelling and hyphenation. We also consult Words Into Type and the usage notes in the American Heritage Dictionary.

 

1. We use "that" for restrictive clauses and "which" for nonrestrictive clauses, set off by commas. However, we do allow "which" in restrictive clauses in some cases, e.g., when the clause is widely separated from its noun, when the noun is itself preceded by "that," or when there are too many "that"s in the sentence.

 

2. "While" can be used in the sense of "although" or "whereas" and will only be changed if the sentence is ambiguous. Similarly, "since" can be used to mean "because" as long as there is no confusion with its temporal meaning.

 

3. Contractions are permissible when they fit the style of the writing.

 

4. Words with prefixes like non, pro, pre, post, re, anti, inter, in (for fuller list, see CMS, pp. 229–30) will be spelled solid and not hyphenated, unless doing so results in a misleading or confusing word.

 

Compound words will by hyphenated according to the dictionary. Compound adjectives containing an "-ly" adverb will not be hyphenated (e.g., highly developed).

 

5. British spellings and punctuation will be changed to American (except in quotations, of course)

 

6. References in the text to chapters, tables, and figures will not be capitalized (e.g., as shown in figure 3.1; see chapter 2).

 

7. Abbreviations are okay in parentheses (e.g., i.e., etc., fig., chap.) and in the notes but not in plain text.

 

8. Italics will not be used for foreign words now in common use (e.g., ibid., oeuvre).

 

We set italic punctuation after a word in italics.

 

9. We prefer that authors not refer to themselves in the third person and that single authors not refer to themselves in the first person plural.

 

10. Split infinitives are perfectly acceptable, and even desirable in some sentences. It's also okay to end a sentence with a preposition.

NUMBERS

 

1. In most cases, numbers under 100 will be spelled out and % will be spelled out in the text (but not in tables). In scientific copy, or in social science works where there are a lot of numbers and percentages, numbers under 10 can be spelled out and % is permissible in the text. Whatever the rule being followed, numbers referring to the same category of things should be treated alike in the same context.

 

2. Always use numerals for percentages (82 percent), unless it comes at the beginning of a sentence.

 

3. Either style for dates—12 January 1986 or January 12, 1986—is acceptable, and author's style will not be changed, except for consistency.

 

4. Inclusive numbers will be in CMS style: 1960–70, 1900–1907, 233–34, 108–9. Numbers will not be shortened in display matter (titles or subtitles).

 

5. Commas will be used in numbers of four or more digits (e.g, 1,200), except for addresses, page numbers, and years.

 

6. We use roman numerals only for the preliminary pages of a book (not for vol. nos.). Inclusive roman numerals are given in full.

 

Examples of number style from the manuscript, including money, physical measurements, decades, etc.:

 

 

PUNCTUATION

 

1. No comma is necessary after a short introductory phrase:

 

            In 1971[,] I moved to Chicago.

 

2. We use the serial comma in a series of three or more:

 

            apples, oranges, and pears [not apples, oranges and pears]

 

3. The possessive case of a singular noun will be formed by adding "'s" even when the noun ends in "s" (except for the names Jesus and Moses, and those names of more than one syllable with an unaccented ending pronounced eez, e.g., Xerxes', Euripides', Ramses').

 

4. Ellipses will be deleted before or after an obviously incomplete sentence, before or after a run-in quotation of a complete sentence, before a block quotation, and after a block quotation that ends with a complete sentence.

 

5. Quotation marks will be deleted after "so-called."

 

 

DOCUMENTATION

 

1. We prefer the systems of documentation outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style, but other styles are acceptable as well (MLA, APA, a leading journal in the field). As long as the author's method is logical and consistent, it will not be changed.

 

2. If the source information for a work is given in the Bibliography, it should not be repeated in the Notes. Once a work has been cited in full in the Notes, a shortened form should be used thereafter.

 

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

 

<                    don't use "prior to" to mean simply "before"

<                    not only . . . [no ,] but also

<                    "cf." for "compare" only, not "see"

<                    "but" or "and" can start a sentence, in moderation

<                    "none" does not have to take a singular verb (e.g., "none of the books were interesting" is fine)

<                    use "first, second," etc., not "firstly, secondly . . . "

<                    a book "comprises" its chapters, not vice versa

<                    "whose" can be used for inanimate things

<                    in comparisons like "cars like Hondas," it is not necessary to replace "like" with "such as"

<                    only one set of em-dashes per sentence

<                    U.S. government, but in the United States

<                     In bibliographies (as opposed to lists of works cited), please do not query author about deleting works that have not been cited in the text.