Reminders about Manuscript Form

Some Reminders about Manuscript Form

Title all essays with a title specific to the content and scope.
Double space all essays, observe one inch margins, and use 12 pt. type with no fanciness such as special typefaces or boldfaced type.
Number all pages after the first one. Fasten your essay with a staple at the upper left.
Give page references in parentheses after each direct quotation. In short quotations, the parenthetical reference goes outside the quotation marks but inside the end punctuation. In long quotations, the parenthetical reference appears two spaces after the end punctuation.
Short quotations--quotations of three lines or less--appear as part of your own sentence, with a helpful introductory phrase, and they are enclosed in a pair of double quotation marks. The end punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. In the special case where you might be quoting poetry, indicate the line breaks by using a slash at each break.
Long quotations--quotations of more than three lines--are indented ten spaces or two tab stops from the left margin only: they extend to the right margin (in word processing programs, select "indent" rather than "center" or "tab," and indent twice; the word processor will automatically return to the indentation until you press the "return" or "enter" key for a new paragraph). Long quotations are double spaced just as the rest of the essay is, and there is no extra space before or after the quotation. Indenting takes the place of quotation marks, so do not enclose long quotations in quotation marks. In the special case where you might be quoting poetry, begin each new line of poetry on a new line on your page: do not use slashes.
Use ellipses only to indicate that you have omitted material from the middle of a quotation. Your reader will assume that there is material before and after, so do not begin or end a quotation with ellipses. Do not use ellipses if you are not quoting. Remember that ellipses are periods with a space before and after each one. If the end of a sentence comes in the part of the quotation you are omitting, use four spaced periods; otherwise, use three.
Use brackets (not parentheses) to indicate that you have added or changed material in quotation. Do this rarely, only when it is absolutely necessary to explain something that the quotation leaves unclear. Chances are that most explanations can be made before or after the quotation or that you can begin or end the quotation at a point that will make such an explanation unnecessary.

CONSULT YOUR HANDBOOK FOR ALL MATTERS OF MANUSCRIPT FORM

John D. Tatter, Birmingham-Southern College, jtatter@bsc.edu