Style Sheet. Author date system See entry under Harvard style (used in journals).

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1 Style Sheet This list is by no means comprehensive, but covers some of the areas that frequently cause problems and lead to the need for time-consuming corrections. Most of the conventions are based on the British style of copy-editing. The list has been ordered alphabetically. Abbreviations 1. When a word that can be abbreviated is first used, write it out, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. Use the abbreviation thereafter. Example: The University of South Africa (Unisa)... Unisa is a distance... Note: Please do not assume that ALL acronyms (abbreviations formed from the first letter of a group of words) are used with an initial capital letter followed by lower case (e.g. Unisa, but UNAID). Please check each individual entry. Preference: United States of America (US) to accommodate both usages: (adjectival) US Secretary of State and (as noun) the US invaded Do not use contractions Example: use do not and not don t. 3. Do not use abbreviations in the text (only in brackets). Example: Incorrect: Words derived from proper nouns, e.g. Shakespearian and Glaswegian are generally capitalised. Correct: Words derived from proper nouns, for example... are... The initial letter of proper nouns (e.g. Glasgow and John) is always capitalised. 4. Full stops or not? This is slightly problematic, since designers (yes!) prefer not to clutter the text with and it has increasingly become a trend to leave them out (this can appear unacademic). Use full stops in: e.g. and i.e. and et al. Do not use full stops in the following cases: Example: Initials A N Other (note that they are spaced) UN, MPs (note the plural is without an apostrophe s ). 5. Words or numerals? Example: eighteenth century not 18th century Note: eighteenth-century music But: 10th Unisa International Music Competition Note: not superscript. 5. Ampersand (&) Use and, except for the names of firms (e.g. Juta & Co). Author date system See entry under Harvard style (used in journals). Bibliography/References To follow. Please note order of and punctuation in entries. Capitalisation (INCOMPLETE) 1. The titles of books should be mostly in lower case, that is, capitalise the initial word and all proper nouns.

2 Example: Cape Flats details: life and culture in the townships of Cape Town. 1. Journal titles are always upper case for the initial letter of all words. Example: South African Journal of Higher Education. Copyright/Permissions A source should always be given, whether or not permission is necessary. Please ensure that you have obtained copyright where necessary. Please consult the Copyright Permissions Officer at Unisa Press for further details. Dates Use day, month and year (e.g. 4 April 2002). Endnotes/Notes (use in books) (INCOMPLETE) 1. Endnotes/Notes are preferable to footnotes, since extensive footnotes complicate the page make-up of the book. An exception is scholarly works where the footnotes sometimes outweigh the body copy anyway. 1. Place at the end of the book. Add a heading stating to which chapter the notes apply. 2. Number consecutively in each chapter. Place numbers (superscript) in text after any punctuation mark, including bracket but excluding a dash. Numbers should come at the end of a sentence or at least a clause, rather than in the middle. They should follow a quotation. But: Where the meaning of words are explained, please add number immediately after the word. Figures and tables 1. Provide clear captions, labelling and headings. 2. Please indicate in what electronic format they were generated. 3. Placement: Figure captions are placed below the figure Table captions are placed above the table. 6. Provide a list of tables and figures where there are many illustrations. 7. When referring to figures or tables in the text, write out: Example: Refer to Figure 1 for... The statistics (Table 2) for... Footnotes See Endnotes. Footnotes are used in scholarly works in the Classics and in historical texts. Harvard system (use in journals) (INCOMPLETE) 1. The Harvard style (author date system) is used for references in the text. This technique involves inserting, in the text, the author s surname, the year of publication of the source and the page number(s) on which the information appears. Example: Ignorant of the law, without legal advice, competing for employment and services with others in a similar condition, the household is an easy victim of predation by the powerful (Chambers 1983:210).

3 Example: Chambers (1983:210) points out that poor households are powerless and vulnerable 1. Do not use punctuation in individual references Example: (Smith 1998:20) (please note: no comma after surname and no space between colon after year and page number). 1. An alphabetical list of sources consulted should be provided at the end of the articles, containing ALL the relevant information such as the author s surname and initials, date of publication, full title of the book or article, place of publication and publisher. STYLE OF ENTRIES TO FOLLOW. Headings Please indicate clearly what the levels are. Headings are usually only numbered in journals and in very complex textbooks. Index It is the author s responsibility to generate the index (at the very least to provide the word list). This must be done in good time. Page numbers can only be inserted at the final page proof stage. Infinitives Try not to split infinitives. Interword spacing Please do not put two spaces after a full stop or colon. If the (page-proof) text is fully justified and the tracking slightly loose, then there will be a big gap between the full stop marking the end of the previous sentence and the start of the next which then has to be corrected manually at page proof stage for aesthetic reasons (i.e. to prevent rivers of gaps). Italicisation Italic is used for1. titles of books, periodicals, newspapers, plays, some musical works, paintings and films. 2. foreign phrases not yet naturalised in an English sentence these should have the correct accents Example: en route and vis-à-vis. But: roman for proper names such as institutions and streets, and roman in quotation marks for foreign quotations. 2. identification of letters or words referred to Example: the word communication is used to emphasis (but do so sparingly and add in whose emphasis). Numbers 1. Numbers from one to ten are spelt out in words, except for dates, page numbers, exact measurements and series of quantities. 2. Numbers applicable to the same category (i.e. in a series) should be treated alike throughout Examples: one out of every thirty women) 2. Do not use a comma in thousands: space the numerals Example:

4 Paragraphs Please leave a line between paragraphs. The designer/typographer will decide on open line versus indent. Sometimes indents are lost in the electronic conversion from word-processing package (e.g. WordPerfect) to page-layout package (e.g. PageMaker). Parochialism When copy-editing information books, think of readers in other countries. 1. Use South Africa instead of this country ; South African instead of our ; in the early 1990s instead of in the last few years. 2. Avoid: we. Who are you? The author, South Africans, readers, target market (e.g. sociologists)? 3. Check in which hemisphere the reader will be in cases where words such as winter and summer are used. Participles Please avoid dangling participles. Example: Not being stamp collectors, there was nothing in the exhibition to interest us. Correct: Not being stamp collectors, we did not find anything in the exhibition to interest us. Caution: Commenting on the state of the nation in his address at the opening of Parliament on 14 February, President Thabo Mbeki stressed... Recast: President Thabo Mbeki, commenting on the..., stressed... Quotations 1. Prose quotations of 60 words and longer are indented and blocked; anything shorter is run on in the text. 2. Use square brackets to indicate changes made to the original quote. 3. Any emphases added must be noted as [my italic/emphasis] or [emphasis added] or [original emphasis]. 4. Omissions are indicated by an ellipses (three equally spaced points... ) standardise to three points throughout. To distinguish the omission of one or more paragraphs, use a row of points on a separate line. Note: Do not start a quotation with an ellipses to indicate that the quote forms part of a full sentence. Example: Not... a single victory on the battlefield, a political triumph but a single victory on the battlefield, a political triumph 5. Sources (see entries under Bibliography and Referencing system). Quotation marks Use single, but double quotation marks within single. s and z Example: civilise and not civilize. Use s z requires a study of the Greek stems of the English words and regular checking in the Oxford Dictionary. Furthermore, the excessive use of verbs ending in -ize formed from nouns is inelegant.

5 Referencing system Please note the difference between academic journals and books. 1. Books: use endnote/note system (see entries under Bibliography and Endnotes/Footnotes) 2. Journals: use the author date system (Harvard) (see entry under Harvard system). Internet: Eg. Alaska Native Knowledge Network Principles and guidelines for the protection of the heritage of indigenous people. [Online]. Available: [Accessed 22/08/2003] Sentences Please use short, compact sentences and avoid complicated multi-phrased constructions. Use the active voice. Spelling 1. Please check that names are spelt correctly, since it is difficult for the copy-editor to decide which to use when there is a variation in the spelling (also, it is not always possible to get hold of the author/source in good time). 2. Preferred spelling Use the British form of words. Here are a few examples of what is required: Past participles: dreamt, learnt not dreamed and learned Word form: orientate/orientated not orient/oriented. Table of contents 1. Please ensure that there is a table of contents and that it reflects all the elements of the book 1. Ensure that the chapter headings marry up in terms of order of entries, spelling and wording. 2. Only up to the second level. In longer works, do not go below the third level. Titles, books and journals Please see Capitalisation. Verbless phrases Strong sentences are driven by strong verbs and not nouns.