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U.S. WRITING AND PUBLICATION STYLE (for catalogs and copy)

GENERAL

usage must be consistent throughout document (except quotations andendorsements)

American spelling, punctuation, hyphenation should always be used (except Britishquotations/endorsements)

use Merriam-Websters dictionary, available at www.merriam-webster.com

use the current American Psychological Association Style for style, grammar,citation, etc. See this link for models:http://www.waikato.ac.nz/library/learning/g_apaguide.shtml

REFERENTS

use USA without the article the preceding that complete abbreviation.Example: The university was in USA.

PUNCTUATION

no use serial comma: apples, bananas, and oranges. Use instead: apples, bananasand oranges.

spell out and, NOT & (exceptions for headlines) no spaces on either side of an em-dash: It should looklike this.

American date style: December 15, 1925, NOT 15 Dec 1925

use en-dashes for inclusive numbers or dates: February 915; also from 1905 to1908 or the 19051908 period, NOT from 19051908

In quotes, no ellipsis before the first word or after the last word, even if the end of theoriginal sentence has been omitted. Also, always use three-dot ellipses, never four-dot ellipses (period plus ellipses) in copy and endorsements. Original: "I think it isfantastic scholarship and a great read for everyone." Quote: "Fantasticscholarship . . . a great read."

include spaces between dots of an ellipsis: . . . NOT

NUMBERS

spell out numbers one to ten and all even round numbers (five hundred) (exceptionsfor headlines); use numerals for 11 and up

spell out ordinal numbers: nineteenth century, NOT 19th century or XIX century(exceptions for headlines)

the eighties or the 1980s, NOT 1980s or the 80s

spell out simple fractions: two-thirds

always use numerals for percentages, spellpercent: 5 percent, NOT five per cent or5%

SPELLING

acknowledgments (NOT acknowledgements)

bestselling (n), bestselling (adj), NOT best selling or best-selling

bestseller NOT best-seller (He was the bestselling author of several bestsellers)

ebook, NOT eBook or e-book

email, NOT e-mail

foreword (introductory section of a book) v. forward (direction)

Googling; to Google; I Googled it

NewsHour with Jim Lehrer; NBC's Nightly News (look at official names on websites)

Publishers WeeklyNOT Publisher's Weekly

toward, NOT towards

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United States (spell out) for noun; U.S. (with periods) for adjective only: U.S. foreignpolicy

website not Web site (runs counter to Webster's)

LISTS

items in any list, vertical or run in to text, must be parallel in structure (samesyntax/grammar)

an item in a vertical list that forms a complete sentence should be followed bypunctuation

in a vertical numbered list, a period follows the numeral and each item begins with acapital letter; in a run-in numbered list the number goes in parentheses (1) with noperiod

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

OTHER

use thatto introduce a restrictive clause; use which plus commas to set offnonrestrictive clauses: The report that the committee submitted was welldocumented; The report, which was well documented, was submitted to thecommittee.

Use of articles with periodical names. When the article appears on the masthead (asit does for The New York Times) use the article in attributions, as inHes great!The New York TimesIn a sentence, also use the article as part of the name of the publication when anarticle is not called for in the sentence"He writes for The New York Times.But, when the sentence itself demands an article, use it lowercase and roman:"He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Battle for Peace" not "He is theauthor of the The New York Times bestseller Battle for Peace" and not"He is theauthor ofThe New York Times bestseller Battle for Peace." If you're confused, or don'tknow if the article appears in the periodical's masthead, ask production.

newspapers/periodicals not in italics when part of a prize, building, etc.: Los AngelesTimes Book Award

lowercase professional title when on its own or in the appositive, but capitalize whenpreceding name: When John Smith, the executive director, spoke at themeeting . . . ; When the executive director, John Smith, spoke at the meeting . . . ;but Executive Director John Smith spoke at the meeting.

include a space between initials in a name: J. K. Rowling, NOT J.K. Rowling