Quick Style Sheet for Critical Stages/Scènes critiques:
for English-language texts
See the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide online at
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
See the Chicago documentation style and manuscript format at
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch10_s1-0001.html.
Request a longer version of this document at LTRenaud@gmail.com.
Abbreviations: U.K., U.S., N.Y., EU, NATO, UNESCO
Apostrophes: Do not use an apostrophe in a date: 1990s, not 1990’s.
Bibliographic References: put a brief reference in the text, and then a full reference in an endnote.
Capitalization: see guidelines at http://ia.juniata.edu/citation/chicago_notes/chicago-capitals.htm. Capitalize a foreign language title according to the practice of its language.
Citations: see guidelines at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
Colons: Use lowercase letters following colons, unless the word is normally capitalized, or the sentence is complete. Note: the Chicago style has a space after the colon but not before.
Commas: In lists of items, do not use a comma before “and” where the sense is clear without it. For standard comma usage, refer to http://www.uefap.com/writing/punc/punc.htm
Ellipses: For ellipses, do not use spaces between the periods: instead do this: …
Endnotes: Use endnotes, not footnotes or in-text references. Where possible, include the information in the text itself instead. Check that numbers and text match.
Endnote Numbering: Insert after commas, periods or quotation marks; before semi-colons or colons.
Font: Send your text in a standard font, such as Arial. Our Webmaster uses Trebuchet MS.
Hyphens: Use em dashes—solid dashes—as seen here. Use en dashes for hyphenating words such as single-spaced.Do not insert a space before or after an em-dash: like this—, not this — .
See sensible notes on hyphens at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/576/01/
Indenting: Do not indent the first line of a new paragraph.
Italics: Use italics—not underlining—for titles and emphasis.
Names: Give full names of people mentioned in the articles; do not use initials. Very common names will not need a first name (Sophocles, Shakespeare, Molière).
Pagination: Do not paginate your article.
Parentheses: Parentheses have spaces before and after, like this (with a space); not(without a space).
Play and Book Titles: In italics, not all-capitals or underlined.
Quotations:
– Indented Quotes: For quotations longer than three lines, create a space above and below the quotation, and indent.
– Punctuation: Periods and commas come before closing quotation marks, like ,” and .”
Colons, semicolons, question marks and exclamation points follow closing quotation marks (unless a question mark or exclamation point are part of the quoted material).
Examples: I heard her say, “I’m not listening!” Did you hear her say, “I’m not listening”?
– Quotation Marks: Double for quoted material in the body of the text. Single for quotation inside passages already in double quotes. Double for defining, highlighting, etc.
Section Headings (Intertitles): consider using these for easier reading on the Internet.
Spacing:
– Line Spacing: Single-space the entire article.
– Paragraph Spacing: Add one line space between paragraphs. (This means the whole article is single-spaced with one additional line space between paragraphs.)
– Sentence Spacing: Use only one space after sentence-end periods and after all punctuation.
Spelling: “theatre,” not “theater.”
Word Program: Please send your work in Microsoft Word (or an easily convertible file) to ensure that your formatting will be retained.
Writing: If you previously delivered your text to a live audience, please remove remarks or references to that occasion from the text before submitting.
Drafted by Lissa Tyler Renaud/Approved by the Critical Stages/Scènes critiques Editorial Board