Q. What do ellipses within brackets mean? Often I find this [. . .] within a quote. Does this mean that there is an ellipsis in the quoted passage in the original?
A. Actually, no—it means that material has been omitted from the original by the author who is quoting it. The use of brackets to distinguish ellipses from suspension points is especially common in European publications.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When sending a paper manuscript for approval of publication in a journal, should it be softbound or sent as loose papers?
A. Always loose! An editor doesn’t want to wrestle with a binding in order to isolate selected pages to
photocopy, scan, stick in a briefcase, hand to a colleague, or use for scrap paper. (Ahem—forget that
last one.) And don’t forget to check with your publisher for guidelines. Many prefer electronic submissions.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m editing a book on King Lear that is supposed to follow U.S. style. The author seems to favor the spelling “theatre”
throughout, in both senses of the word: the physical setting of performances, as well as in the generic sense of drama. M-W lists this spelling second, the first entry being “theater.” Should I change
“theatre” to “theater,” or let it
stand, as it is an equal variant?
A. It can be counterproductive to override an author’s choice between equal variants, because if the author
is consistent, the editor risks introducing inconsistency by meddling. If the author is inconsistent, feel free to impose
your preferences.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. A number of experienced editors and proofreaders have told me it is unacceptable for a digit to come at the beginning of
a line (reasoning that readers might mistakenly think the number is part of a numbered list). Consequently they mark any line
that begins with a number as a bad break. I can’t find any documentation to support this philosophy.
What do you think?
A. CMOS does not prohibit a numeral at the beginning of a line, but if in a given context the numeral looks confusing, by all means
mark it to be brought up. It’s a printer’s error, however, only if the typesetter
was given specs that prohibit such breaks.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I wrote a profile article for an in-house employee-networking group’s intranet website. My lead consisted
of a quote from the interviewee and my reply, which included the pronoun “I” in
the sentence. The committee chair decided I should not be the only one credited as writer, since in her thinking, some editing
suggestions that I incorporated in the final version negated my “ownership” as
sole writer, so she changed the byline to “Reported by [me, Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2].”
She then changed the “I” in the lead to “we.”
How is something like this seen in the publishing world? Would it be considered fabrication, copyright infringement, or just
a case of bad judgment?
A. Although I don’t think it’s grounds for a lawsuit, typically writers receive
editing without having to share the byline. If Janes 1 and 2 didn’t actually create original text or
provide you with source material, then it shouldn’t matter how much they reworked your piece—you
are entitled to be the author. If they gave you paragraphs that you integrated into the article, or did research for you,
then they could at least be acknowledged as contributors. If the Janes did substantial original work (not editing), they can
claim coauthorship. “Reported by” fudges these issues, but it suggests a true
collaboration. If you drafted the piece and it was printed more or less intact after editing, even substantive editing, you
should have the byline, and acknowledgment of others would be up to you. It’s tough for copyeditors,
but we have to accept that we aren’t in it for the glory.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is there a proofreaders’ mark for the number sign? I’m a copy editor and I frequently
come across the issue of having to insert a space between a word and a number sign (e.g., between “Employee”
and “#”), or I have to insert a space and a number sign. This, obviously, causes
some confusion because it looks like I’m asking to have two spaces inserted.
A. When you insert a symbol like that (or a question mark or exclamation mark), you should write a clarification in the margin.
Write “set number sign” and circle it next to or above your #. If there’s
room somewhere on the page, write out the whole phrase as you want it to appear and draw a circle around it. Note that Chicago
style avoids putting a # sign with a number; it’s quite often superfluous.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I write and edit a quarterly newsletter. There was no summer issue this year, as I was out with a medical emergency. Our
volumes start with the fall issue. Does the numbering of the next issue continue as if nothing happened?
A. Let's say your fall 2008 newsletter was volume 5, number 1, and winter was volume 5, number 2. If you had missed the spring
issue, you could have called the summer issue “Spring–Summer 2009”
and labeled it volume 5, numbers 3–4. Glossing over the missing summer issue with “Summer–Fall
2009” would get messy, however, since the two seasons are in different volumes. Better to leave a bit
of mystery about what happened to summer 2009 and make your fall issue volume 6, number 1.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it more common to indent or not indent paragraphs? In my writing, I no longer indent and find it old-fashioned. To me, it seems more common now to not indent a paragraph, regardless of whether it is the second paragraph. Is there a rule or style preference nowadays?
A. Indents are important because they show where new paragraphs begin, and since there are logical reasons for dividing text into paragraphs, indents serve as a visual guide to the structure and progress of a document. If a lengthy document has no paragraph indents, and if many of the paragraphs end with lines that go full measure or nearly so, the text may be perceived as one long rambling paragraph. Some published works (like this page) omit indents and put a space between paragraphs instead. This can work for well-designed projects that are typeset or displayed online, but in a regular typed manuscript there will be confusion whenever the space between paragraphs is hidden by a page break. The standard form is still to indent.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am writing a short essay using Chicago style for the first time and I seem to remember that I need to put a heading or
title at the beginning of each paragraph or point. Is this right? Would I need to title my intro/thesis and conclusion paragraphs
as well?
A. Chicago style does not require subheadings in any work, and normally it’s not a great idea to chop
up a text into individually headed paragraphs. A title at the top of each chapter is enough. If your chapters fall into easily
identifiable chunks and you think subheadings would aid navigation, use them. Subheads are most helpful when you’re
writing a reference work and the reader will be searching for something specific, or when a chapter is very long and the reader
might want to browse to a particular topic within it.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In a text on philosophy of language, I encountered these two sentences: “From these lofty heights,
I’ll now bring the discussion down to earth a bit. To be precise, I’ll place it
firmly in the head.” I want to know whether the last sentence has idiomatic meaning or whether I should
interpret it literally and translate it word for word. Thanks.
A. It’s good practice to query oddities like this; unless you get inside this writer’s
head, you could end up with a goofy translation.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]