Style Guide for Authors

To aid authors in preparing their manuscripts, here is a short style guide. It is not comprehensive but addresses the most commonly asked questions about style. However, because The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues (FFCI) is written for presentation on the Web, and this brief style guide addresses most of what authors need to know to facilitate this process. Keep in mind that a Web page may be viewed on a variety of devices (computers, cell phones, PDAs, Web TV, projectors) using a wide variety of browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, text-only). The settings on these devices and browsers can affect the way a Web page is presented. For additional information, see the list of links at the end of this page.

NOTE: It is essential that articles published in FFCI conform to NC State Web page accessibility regulation. All information (text, tables, graphics, image, multimedia) must be made accessible to persons with disabilities.

Text

• To facilitate manuscript conversion to HTML, please do not use indents, tabs, or columns.
• Left-justify headings rather than centering them. This makes for faster, easier reading.
• Don't use a page number to refer to an article in FFCI. Although page numbers appear in a manuscript or in a printout of an on-line article, they are of no use in locating a specific portion of the article as it appears on-line.
• Use numerals and the word "percent" instead of the percent symbol (%).
  Example: 3 percent
• Use numerals with units of measures.
  Examples: 5 pounds, 10 inches, 4 years
• Use the word "and" instead of the ampersand (&).
• Separate the items in a series, including the last one, with commas.
  Example: pigs, cows, goats, and horses.
• Use bold text, not italics, for emphasis. Reserve italics for titles of publications.
• Avoid the use of underlining, which is commonly used for hyperlinks and may cause confusion.
• Use periods after initials.
  Examples: Ph.D., C.A. Schwab, Washington D.C.
• Please use full, abbreviated names of journals and books in the text. Abbreviations may be used in the list of references.
• Format for telephone numbers: 1-800-555-1212
• Subheadings should be in bold type, aligned with the left margin, and in lower case, except for the first word.
  
• Use Web site, (not website or web site).
• Use on-line, (not online).

Links

• If you include a link to an external page too early in your article, a reader who sees it may stop reading your article before finishing in order to follow the link. In most cases, save external links for the reference list.

Tables

• Minimize the use of tables.
• Use tables only for presenting structured data (e.g., matrix, spreadsheet).
  Example: percentages of respondents in a number of categories
• Do not use tables for formatting pages or controlling positioning of page elements.
• Each table must have a numerical designation followed on the same line by a title that succinctly describes its contents.
  Example: Table 2. Title of the table goes here.
• The number and title of a table go above it and should not be included in a table cell.
• Footnotes relating to a table should follow it and not be included in a table cell.
• Each table must have a summary that will be presented to visually impaired readers only. This summary can be the same as the table title, provided that it explains the table sufficiently. Insert it into the manuscript immediately below the title of the table and enclose it in brackets as noted in the example below:
  Table 1. Table title goes here.
  [Table 1 Summary: Summary for Table 1 goes here.]
  
• Each column and row in a table must have an appropriate heading.
• Keep the organization of tables as simple as possible. Although complex tables (those with both headings and subheadings for columns or rows) can often be made accessible, they are more difficult for visually impaired readers to interpret. Use multiple simple tables instead of a complex one wherever possible.
• Do not use a table to present a simple list of items. Instead, use an appropriate list (see below).
  Examples: lists of objectives, questions, responses
• Tables should not be more than 500 pixels wide.

Lists

• Use unordered (bulleted) lists if the sequence of items is not important.
  Example: Characteristics of a program
  
• Use ordered (numbered) lists where the sequence is important.
  Example: Timeline of tasks for a project.

Figures

• Whenever possible, use a table to present data or show relationships among items. Avoid using figures (images, graphics).
• Each figure (e.g., diagram, chart) must be have a number, followed on the same line by a title.
  Example: Figure 1. Title of the figure goes here.
• The number and title of a figure are positioned below it.
• For accessibility, the image (graphic) that comprises a figure must be accompanied by a description detailed enough to explain it fully to a visually impaired person. This description will not be appear in the text of the published article but will be presented as follows:
  • Every image used in an article must have an "Alt "tag that describes the image in 10 or fewer words. The author must supply the content for the Alt tag, which will be inserted by the editorial staff when the article is published on the Web. If the image can be described fully with the "Alt" tag, no "D" link is necessary.
  • If an image is too complex to fully described in 10 or fewer words, the author must also provide, in addition to the "Alt" tag content, a longer description for the editorial staff to include in the image's "D" link page.
• Place the content for the Alt tag and the D link (if needed) in brackets in the manuscript immediately after the title of the figure as indicated in the example below:
  Figure 1. Title of Figure 1 goes here.
  [Alt tag content for Figure 1: Content goes here.]
  [D link content for Figure 1: Content goes here.]
  
• Images should not be more than 500 pixels wide.

Appropriate Use of Color

• Do not use color as the sole basis for distinguishing among items.
  Example: "The red line in Figure 4..." is a phrase that could not be interpreted by a visually impaired person.

Citations Within the Text

• Omit punctuation between the author's name and the date.
  Example: (Schwab 1998).
• For works by 2 or 3 authors, include all their names and use "and," not an ampersand (&).
  Examples: (Schwab and Kirby 1999), (DeBord, Bearon, and Matthews 2000).
• For 4 or more authors, use the name of the first author followed by "et al." or "and others."
  Examples: (Zaslow et al. 1999), (Zaslow and others 1999).
• If a work bears no author's name on the title page but is published or sponsored by a group (e.g., corporation, government agency, association), use the full name of that group as the author.
  Example: (North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service 1999). If a short name for the group is used, be sure to select one that agrees with the initial portion of the entry in the reference list.
• To cite a specific portion of a work (e.g., page, section), include it after the date, preceded by a comma.
  Example: (Schwab 1997, 14).
• To cite a specific element in a work (e.g., figure, equation, note), insert it after the page number, preceded by a comma.
  Example: (Schwab 1997, 14, Fig. 2).
• When citing both volume and page number, use a colon between them. Omit the abbreviations "vol." and "p." or "pp."
  Example: (Bearon 1997, 3:114).
• When including two or more references in a citation, separate them with semicolons.
  Example: (Schwab 1998; Bearon 1999; Fraser 2000).
• Place a citation in the text where it will offer the least resistance to the flow of thought, usually just before a mark of punctuation. If this placement is impractical or confusing, insert the citation at the most logical place.

Endnotes/Footnotes

• Minimize the use of these. Use citations within the text as much as possible.
• Place notes at the end of the manuscript instead of placing footnotes on the bottoms of the manuscript pages.
• Avoid the use of a superscript to indicate an endnote, as this will not show up well when published on a Web page. Instead, use a designation such as "Note 1."
• Provide a link to help the reader return to the text after reading the endnote.

Reference list

• The list of works cited must be entitled "References" and placed at the end of the manuscript.
• All works cited in the text must be included in full in the reference list.
• Give the author's name first, followed by the year of publication. Use either the author's full name (preferred) or surname and initial(s) but be consistent.
  Example (preferred): Schwab, Carol. 1998.
  Example (permitted): Schwab, C. 1998.
• If a work has multiple authors, invert the name of the first one, follow it with a comma, and give the names of all the others in the natural order.
  Example 1: Schwab, Carol, and Jan Lloyd.
  Example 2: Schwab, Carol, Jan Lloyd, Lucille Bearon and William Smith.
• If a publication issued by an organization shows no individual as author on the title page, list the organization as the author.
  Example: National Center for Health Statistics, 2000.
• Italicize the titles of books and periodicals.
• Give the titles of chapters and articles in roman type but do not enclose them in quotation marks.
  Example: Colomb, Gregory.  1994. Coherence II. In Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, by Joseph Williams.
  Example: Morris, R. 1999. Exercising and physical activity:  The wave of the future.  Journal of the American Dietetics Association 24:715-22.
• Capitalize the titles of periodicals in regular title or headline style. You may abbreviate them, but be consistent.
  Example (unabbreviated): Morris, R. 1999. Exercising and physical activity:  The wave of the future.  Journal of the American Dietetics Association 24:715-22.
  Example (unabbreviated): Morris, R. 1999. Exercising and physical activity:  The wave of the future.  JADA 24:715-22.
  
• Capitalize all other titles in a reference list in sentence style. That is, only the first word in the title and subtitle and all proper nouns and proper adjectives are capitalized.
  Example: Morris, R. 1999. Exercising and physical activity:  The wave of the future.  Journal of the American Dietetics Association 24:715-22.
• For journals, include full information: authors' names, year of publication, article titles, journal titles, and publication facts.
  Example: Schwab, Carol, Janice Holm Lloyd, and Lucille Bearon. 2001. Name of article. Title of Journal Volume(Number):Page(s).
• For books, include the city (publisher's main editorial offices), publisher (full name shown on the title page or an acceptable abbreviation), and year (shown on the title or copyright page).
  Example: McClelland, Jacquelyn, and Angela Fraser. 2000. Title of Book. Raleigh, North Carolina: NC State University.

General Style Guide

Chicago Manual of Style.

Web Style Guides

• http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html
• http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
• http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/
• http://www.webreference.com/content/writing/
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~webteach/articles/text.html
• http://www.efuse.com/Design/web_writing_basics.html
• http://www.softcast-marketing.com/web-writing.html
• http://www.clear-writing.com/business-website-writing.html?gclid=
  CIHA39-tqYwCFRpUgQodNiIXKA
• http://www.content-strategy.com/Web_Writing/?module=Articles;action=
  ArticleFolder.publicOpenFolder;ID=580
• http://www.useit.com/jakob/
• http://websitetips.com/webcontent/#tutorials
• http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/wftw1.html
• http://webdesign.about.com/od/webdesignbasics/a/aa061807.htm?nl=1
• http://webdesign.about.com/od/writing/Writing_for_the_Web.htm
• Writing for and Reading on the Web