QueenSpark Style Guide

This style guide was formulated by a group of QueenSpark volunteer editors. The group referred to a number of sources, including the Oxford English Dictionary, the Guardian style guide and the Society for Editors and Proofreaders' style guide. It is intended to help writers and contributors resolve the many ambiguities of style that crop up in the course of submitting and editing text.

Editors are advised to make full use of a dictionary, preferably the Oxford English Dictionary.

Abbreviations do not take full points - USA rather than U.S.A., OBE not O.B.E., MA not M.A.

An ampersand, &, is only used where part of a title, such as Brighton & Hove City Council.

Bullet points are only acceptable within journalistic pieces.

Capitals - avoid them wherever possible, they tend to be used to invoke a sense of importance. God, the Dalai Lama and the Aga Khan always get caps. The Queen is capped initially and afterwards referred to as Her Majesty; President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair are all capped initially, but then referred to in lower case as the prime minister, the president.

Contractions - such as can't or won't are acceptable.

Currencies - spell out three dollars or fifty pounds rather than writing in numbers (3$, £50).

Dates - 4th April rather than 4 April, April 4 or April the fourth.

Email, not e-mail.

Emphasis - use italics, not bold and never CAPITALS.

Figures - up to one hundred are spelt out (except for numbers in addresses which remain in numerals eg 22 Acacia Drive); figures from 101 upwards are in numerals.

Footnotes and endnotes - footnotes must be kept brief. Editors' footnotes are sometimes needed, and these too should be brief. Endnotes are not acceptable.

Grammar - And and But are fine at the beginning of sentences. But split infinitives - eg 'to boldly go' or 'to coolly decide' should be reordered as 'to go boldly,' or 'coolly to decide'.

Hyphens - when words break at the end of lines, proofreaders should carry the word over to the next line whenever feasible. Avoid over-hyphenation, as in auto-biography.

Italics - italics are used for the titles of books, films, plays, journals and magazines, while inverted commas are used around the titles of short stories and articles.

Italics for foreign words - many words are now anglicized and don't need italics. Check the Oxford English Dictionary.

Jargon and slang - some slang is interesting; for example, in a piece of creative writing about skateboarding or life in Australia, we might be learning an exciting new language - consider using a glossary to guide the reader. Acronyms are to be avoided as bad jargon and so is official language - 'social impact assessment,' 'senior consultancy personnel,' and so on..

Names - avoid Mr and Mrs and use full names rather than initials.

Percentages - change % into per cent.

Preferred vocabulary - whilst or amongst are acceptable in creative writing, but in journalistic editing, replace them with among or while.

Quotations and speech marks - single quotes, but use double quotes for a quote within a quote. Always use smart quotes (the curly ones).

Preferred spellings - dispatch rather than despatch, benefited not benefited.

Symbols - spell out five degrees below zero rather than using 5° below zero.

Telephone numbers - write as numbers.

Times of the day - ten thirty, not 10.30.

Weights and measures - both imperial and metric are acceptable; sometimes you may need to give both.

Some other things to look out for:

Disoriented, not disorientated; preventive, not preventative; separate not seperate.

Centred on, not centred around.

Do not cap the definite article in proper names: 'We went to the Ram at Firle,' not 'We went to The Ram at Firle'.

Programme is generally used except in the case of a computer program.

Meet and talk are not generally followed by 'with' unless this is an American writer.

Complementary means 'a useful addition' whereas complimentary means 'praising', and is the spelling used for complimentary tickets etc.

Data, though plural, is usually used as a single collective noun, so 'the data shows...'.

Criteria and phenomena are plural, though.

Company and organisation names are singular, so 'Marks and Spencer is currently displaying a collection,' not 'Marks and Spencer are...'.

Stationary means standing, stationery means envelopes.

Thank you, not thankyou; all right, not alright or allright - space out any words you find that have been squashed together.

Top floor penthouse? All penthouses are top floor flats, take out unnecessary doubling.

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