Manuscript
Preparation Basics*
* Based on a manuscrpt
preparation primer prepared by Anker Publishing Company.
I.
TEXT FORMATTING AND DOCUMENTATION
Headings and Subheadings
In your manuscript, you will probably have at least two types of
headings: heads (referred to as level 1 heads) and subheads (referred
to as level 2 heads). You may also use sub-subheads: These are level 3
heads. There are two important issues to keep in mind regarding the
display of heads.
First, the use of heads conveys the hierarchy and relationship
between/among ideas. A level 1 head is a major subject and should be
the first head in any new chapter. Your discussion of that major
subject will likely require presentation of subordinate
ideas—smaller parts of the larger subject. Your discussion of
these subordinate ideas should be headed with a level 2 head. If that
discussion requires breakdown of the smaller parts, use a level 3 head.
Examples of heads:
ADVISING
STUDENTS
(1 head) – Bold, small caps
Helping Students to
Plan Courses (2 head) – Bold,
upper/lowercase
Freshman Students
(3 head)
– Italics, upper/lowercase
Second, heads should be consistent throughout all chapters, both in
level of importance and in manner of display (typeface and size). This
is very important since a reader may not be a content expert in your
field and may not always recognize one idea as subordinate to another
unless the display indicates such a relationship.
Lists
Lists of information should also be displayed consistently throughout
the paper. If you use numbering for one list, number all lists; if you
use bullets instead of numbers, use bullets throughout the book. Also,
if you indent lists, use the same indention.
Tables and Figures
Tables and figures should be numbered according to chapter and sequence
within the chapter (e.g., in Chapter 5: Figure 5.1, Figure 5.2,
etc.). Please be sure that the paper include each figure and/or table
used.
Recurring Features
Examples of recurring features are chapter summaries, introductions,
opening vignettes, and the like. These, too, should be consistently
displayed. They should also be similar in length and scope.
Bibliography/References
Though you may cite classic works or studies, you should also use
current references, provided, of course, that recent works are
available. The most up-to-date information and research is obviously
most valuable for your readers.
When preparing book references, please make sure that you include data
for the most recent edition. It is also essential that you carefully
proofread the names of the authors in your bibliography as the rerader
may not be familiar with those names and is therefore unlikely to catch
a misspelling.
The following are examples of APA style followed by an explanation
of some of the formatting.
Book
Fleishman, E. A., & Hunt, J. G. (1973). Current developments in
the study of leadership. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Press.
Journal Article
Schein, E. H. (1990, May/June). Organization culture. American
Psychologist, 45(2), 109–119.
Edited Book
Bennis, W., Spreitzer, G. M., & Cummings, T. G. (Eds.). (2001). The
future of leadership: Today’s top leadership thinkers speak to
tomorrow’s leaders. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Chapter or Article in Edited Book
Davenport, T. H. (2001). Knowledge work and the future of management.
In W. Bennis, G. M. Spreitzer, & T. G. Cummings (Eds.), The
future of leadership: Today’s top leadership thinkers speak to
tomorrow’s leaders (pp. 41–58). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Conference Presentation
Barefoot, B. O., Gardner, J. N., Swing, R. L., & Terenzini, P.
(2005, April). Effective
processes and lessons learned from Foundations of Excellence™ in
the first college year: How can we use this for improvement and
self-study? Paper presented at the 110th annual meeting of the
Higher Learning Commission, Chicago, IL.
Online Document
Author, A. A. (2000). Title of work. Retrieved month, day, year,
from source
Online Periodical
Author A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000). Title of
article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue). Retrieved month,
day, year, from source
In-Text Reference
(Clay, 1990)
Simple author/date reference; complete reference at end-of-paper.
II.
STYLE/MECHANICS
APA style format should be used in your paper. When you have specific
questions during the writing or proofreading of the manuscript, refer
to the most recent APA Style Manual or the online resources
listed on thie course website.. The following is a list of 13 common
style concerns and one publisher's treatment of them.
Capitalization
Avoid unnecessary capitalization. For example, “provost”
should not be capitalized unless used as a proper noun (e.g., Provost
Smith). Follow the same rule for department names (e.g., do not
capitalize: mathematics department; capitalize: Department of
Mathematics). The biggest concern here is, again, consistency of usage.
Make sure that a word or phrase that is capitalized in one place
appears the same way in another.
Dashes
Three types of dashes are used in a manuscript: dash, en dash, em dash.
- Dash: used in
hyphenated words
- En dash: used
in dates (e.g., 1994–1995). Also used in place of a hyphen in a
compound adjective, one element which consists of two words or of a
hyphenated word (e.g., New York–London flight).
- Em dash: used
in sentences to set off parenthetical material (e.g., “The life
of a college professor—even with its many demands—can be
very rewarding.”). Also used to set off a list of items (e.g.,
“The administrators—the provost, the dean, and the
department chair—agreed that there must be better
communication.”).
Ellipses
Use ellipses (three periods with spaces between them) to indicate words
that you have omitted from a direct quotation (e.g.,
“Institutions of higher education . . . are in a period of
change.”). To show that you’ve omitted an entire sentence
or more, use a period at the end of the sentence followed by the three
ellipsis dots (e.g., “Times are tough. . . . Everyone must change
with the times.”).
Extracts
When you are using a direct quotation of more than 40 words, set it off
by indenting it from the left margin by one tab space more than the
rest of the text.
Gender/Stereotyping
Do not always use “he” to refer to a whole group of people.
Either vary use of “he” and “she,” use
“he or she,” or construct the sentence to avoid a gender
reference (e.g., “After each student received his paper”
could be “After the students received their papers”). Along
with sensitivity to language that is gender-related, also avoid
stereotyping based on ethnic background, religious or sexual
preference, geographic location, or any other individual or group
situation.
Hyphens
Hyphenate two words only when they come before the word they modify
(well-prepared presentation; the presentation was well prepared).
Indention
When you indent (either to start a paragraph, for a list, or for any
other reason), please do not use the space bar. Instead, use the tab
key.
Jargon
Avoid unnecessary educational or disciplinary jargon. Since most
readers of your paper will be educators, you can use terms that are
widely recognized. However, jargon comes and goes, and overuse of it
will date your paper.
Passive Voice
Do not overuse the passive voice (e.g., “The meeting was planned
by the participating members.”). The active voice is usually more
precise and less wordy (e.g., “The members planned the
meeting.”)
Punctuation
Leave only one space between a period or a colon and the beginning of
the next sentence or the next letter or numeral.
Time References
The writing of a paper may span many months. It is important when you
reread the paper before submitting it to the instructor that you watch
for consistent time references. For example, if you referred to
something that “will occur early in 2007,” and it’s
now past that date, change the tense. When referring to future or past
events, avoid terms such as “within the next couple of
semesters” or “four months ago” or even
“recently.” Instead, use dates when possible: “by the
end of the 1996 winter semester” or “in January 1994.”
Wordiness
Avoid unnecessary phrases and words (e.g., “At this point in
time,” “The consensus among the group is,” “It
is in fact the case that”). If you can cut out words and phrases,
do so; it almost always results in clearer writing.
Word List
Many words have more than one acceptable spelling or punctuation. Here
are some suggestions regarding frequently misspelled words or
terms.
| % (not percent) |
19th century
(not Nineteenth Century) |
1960s (not 1960’s) |
a.m./p.m. |
acknowledgment |
| advisor |
chat room |
coauthor |
cocurricular |
cocurricular |
| college-wide |
coursework |
coworker |
database |
decision-making |
| downside |
email |
evenhanded |
firsthand |
fundraising |
| grassroots |
home page |
hyperlink |
lifelong |
lifelong |
| midterm |
multiyear |
nationwide |
nontraditional |
online |
| onsite |
policymakers |
problem solving |
service-learning |
shortsighted |
| statewide |
time-consuming |
timeframe |
timeline |
voicemail |
| web site |
workday |
workload |
workweek |
yearlong |
III.
ELECTRONIC GUIDELINES
Before you prepare your final document, please read these guidelines
carefully. Following them will allow others to work efficiently with
paper in its electronic format.
Bulleted or Numbered Lists
Type the bullet or number, then use the TAB key. Do not use the space
bar. (If your document is formatted in HTML, use the bulleted-list
command or INDENT command instead of the TAB key.)
Columns
Never use the space bar to align columns. Always use the tab key.
Undoing use of the space bar is extraordinarily time-consuming and the
most frequent error in electronic manuscript preparation.
(If your document is formatted in HTML, use the table function instead
of the TAB key to format columns.)
End of Paragraphs
Use a hard return at the end of paragraphs but not at the end of
individual text lines.
End-of-Sentence Punctuation
Leave only one space between sentences.
Endnotes and Footnotes
In APA style, when notation is used at all, we use endnotes rather than
footnotes, so please do not use the footnote format in yur paper. In
general, you should
incorporate information into the text and use a citation that will
appear at the end of the chapter in the chapter references. If you
absolutely must use an endnote,
insert a superscript number and put the note at the end of the chapter.
Please use such notes very sparingly; again, when possible, incorporate
information into the text and use a citation that will appear at the
end of the chapter in the chapter references.
Extracts
Extracts (direct quotations longer than 40 words) should be indented
from the left margin, again by setting the margins, not by using the
TAB key.
Hanging Indentions
If you want all lines after the first one to be indented, set that via
margins on your computer. Please do not use tabs to indicate each line
of a hanging indention. If you cannot set up the indent on your
computer, please make a note on the electronic manuscript indicating
where a hanging indention should begin [BEGIN HANGING INDENT] and where
it should end [END HANGING INDENT].
Lists
Type lists as one long column or place multiple column lists in a table.
Numbers
Use the 0 (zero) and 1 (one) number keys rather than the letters o and
l. Numbers one through nine should be spelled out. Numbers 10 and up
should use the numeral.
Side-by-Side Paragraphs
Paragraphs that appear side-by-side in the paper should be separated by
use of a two-column table, not the space bar.
Tables
If your table or chart entries are only one or two lines long, you can
use the TAB key to move from one column to the next. For tables or
charts with long paragraph entries, please do the following:
- Set your font at
size 11 (assuming the rest of your paper is font size 12)
- Set your margins 2”
in from each side