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Wiley-Blackwell
House Style Guide

© 2007 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

I N T R OD U C TI O N , 4
PA R T 1:
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.12
1.13
1.14
1.15
1.16
1.17
1.18
1.19

Copy-editing, 5
English Usage and Grammar, 5
Editing for Sense, 10
Spelling, 13
Punctuation, 15
Units, 19
Italics, 21
Quotations, 22
Lists, 22
Footnotes, 23
Abbreviations, 24
Time, 26
Special Characters, 27
Computing Terms, 28
Currency, 28
Qualifications, 28
Organizations, 30
Places, 30
URLs in Text, 33

PA R T 2:
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8

D E A L I N G W I TH O T H ER M AT ER I A L , 34

Electronic Submission, 34
Disks, 34
Artwork, 34
Tables, 35
References, 37
Commercial Products, 39
Permissions, 40
Appendices, 40

PA R T 3:
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12

G E N E R A L ED I T I N G ST Y L E, 5

S U B J E C T-S PE C I F I C S T YL E S, 4 1

Scientific Names, 41
Aquaculture and Veterinary Science, 43
Linguistics, 44
Business, Economics, Maths and Statistics, 44
Computing and Engineering, 46
Law, 46
Life and Physical Sciences, 47
Medicine, 50
Nursing, Health and Dentistry, 56
Social and Behavioural Sciences, 57
Resources for Journal Abbreviations, 58
Recommended Reference Books, 58
Acknowledgments, 60

INTRODUCTION
The Wiley-Blackwell Publishing House Style Guide and its online version have been produced for
the use of editors, production editors, freelances, copy-editors, authors and typesetters. The level
of consistency that this guide promotes is intended to assist all those involved in the production
of Wiley-Blackwell (WB) publications. The WB definition of copy-editing is best described as
technical or mechanical editing, which involves language editing, mechanical style (style related to
content) and format (visual style). Technical or mechanical editing includes applying house style,
technical style, formatting, consistency and correcting grammar. Creative or substantive editing is
not usually within the remit of the WB copy-editor and is not commented upon. This guide is not
intended to be a comprehensive account of all that is necessary for the presentation of research
material, and should be used in conjunction with texts that have greater scope (see recommended
references). Some journals and subject areas employ their own systems and conventions and the
intention is not to impose upon them a rigid style, but rather to establish a framework within
which they can operate.
The online version of this guide, available at www.blackwellpublishing.com/housestyle, will
be updated on a regular and on-going basis and should be regarded as the definitive version. A
separate guide is available for US journals.

Printed by The Charlesworth Group, Huddersfield, UK.

PA RT 1 : G E N E R A L E D I T I N G S T Y L E
1.1 Copy-editing
Journals and articles vary in the amount of editing required, depending on the thoroughness
of the editor and the standard of the text supplied. Copy-editing usually involves:
• applying journal style
• applying Wiley-Blackwell house style where no specific journal convention exists
• formatting text
• making text consistent
• correcting English to ensure the article is readable
S TY L E A N D F O R M AT T I N G
Check your journal style sheet for the styles of authors’ names, addresses and affiliations,
correspondence details, keywords, table and figure captions, etc., and for the formatting of text
(e.g. use of small text in some sections).
CONSISTENCY
The following should all be used consistently: UK/US spellings, alternative spellings, grammar,
punctuation, italics, Greek letters, diacritics, hyphenation, capitalization, abbreviations and
contractions. References and their citations should be consistent and complete. Make sure that all
figures and tables are present and match their legends, and that they are cited in order.
C O R R E C TI O N OF E N G L I SH
You may need to correct spelling, punctuation, grammar and syntax, and to edit for sense. If text is
ambiguous, add a query to the author asking for clarification. Do not rewrite or delete large
sections of text.

1.2 English Usage and Grammar
VOICE
The tendency to present scientific text in the passive voice is fading. Most Wiley-Blackwell journals
and readers now accept use of the active voice. Unless the journal has a strict requirement for the
active or passive voice, follow the authors’preference, as long as this is consistent within the
manuscript.
Be wary of the passive voice in the Discussion, as it can sometimes be unclear whether the authors
are talking about their own work or that of other people. You may need to use phrases such as ‘in
the present study, it was found that …’ to clarify this.
TENSE
Methods used and results obtained by the authors should be referred to in the past tense:
• mice were given two types of grain
• mice in group A ate 50 mg of grain
© 2007 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The past tense will therefore generally be employed in the Abstract, Methods and Results sections.
The past tense should also be used to talk about specific findings of previous work:
• Smith (1990) found that yield decreased by 50%
Interpretation of results should be in the present tense:
• the results for groups A and B are significantly different
The present tense will therefore generally be employed in the Introduction (except, for example,
when the authors are stating what their hypothesis and aims were before the study commenced).
The present tense should also be used in the Discussion when the results are being interpreted:
• Our study shows that a significant number of Finnish people speak Finnish
Findings of previous studies should also be referred to in the present tense if they have become
generally accepted ‘facts’:
• treatment X results in Y, as demonstrated by Jones (1978)
• the expression of class I genes varies amongst haplotypes
Watch for mistakes in the use of tenses in manuscripts from non-native English speaking authors
(native English speakers tend to use the correct tense instinctively).
S U B J EC T A N D V ER B A G R E E M EN T
Verbs must agree in number with the sense and form of the subject. Check whether a noun is plural
or singular and make sure that the verb agrees.
• Collective nouns, e.g. school, number, family and committee, usually take singular verbs but
can take plural verbs if the emphasis is on the individual rather than on the unit itself, e.g. the
committee has agreed to extend the deadline; the committee have been at odds from the beginning.
• Note the difference between mass nouns (which do not have countable elements) and count
nouns (which identify things that can be counted), when used with pronouns (all, any, none,
some), e.g. some of the sky was visible; some of the stars were visible.
• Units usually take singular verbs, e.g. 150 mL of blood was sampled.
• Take care with Latin and Greek nouns such as data, media, errata, criteria and phenomena,
which are plurals; singulars are datum, medium, erratum, criterion and phenomenon (an
exception is data processing): data are presented; dual-medium filters were used; two
phenomena were classified using one criterion.
U S E O F T H AT A N D W H I C H
That is used for defining or restrictive clauses:
• The patient made a list of the symptoms that were most troublesome
A defining clause is specific (limiting) to a particular person or thing; i.e. the patient had to list
only those particular symptoms that were most troublesome.
Which is used in nondefining or nonrestrictive clauses:
• The patient made a list of the symptoms, which were most troublesome
A nondefining clause is general (nonlimiting); it provides additional information, and the use of
commas is often important. In this example, all the symptoms were very troublesome.

D A N G L I N G PA RT I C I P L E S
These frequently occur where the passive voice is used, and they can link an action to an agent that
is incapable of performing it. The clause ‘the ribosomes could be observed using a microscope’
should be reworded: ‘the ribosomes were observed by using a microscope’ or ‘using a microscope,
the ribosomes were observed’.
REDUNDANCY
Avoid using a modifying word when the intended meaning is inherent in a word already used.
Redundancy is obvious in examples such as the results were plotted graphically, past history, bright
blue in colour, inactivates its activity and completely filled. Does the term careful monitoring suggest
that the alternative is careless monitoring?
D E F I N I TE A N D IN D EF I N I T E A RT I C L E S
Many non-native English speaking authors have some confusion about when to use the definite
(the) and indefinite (a and an) articles.
✗ … to determine effect of the salinity on grain yield of wheat
✓ … to determine the effect of salinity on the grain yield of wheat
Also be aware that use of definite and indefinite articles in titles can differ from that in ordinary
text:
✓ Effect of Salinity on Grain Yield of Wheat
See the recommended usage guides for guidance on the use of the indefinite article with words
beginning with ‘h’ (e.g. a hotel; an hour).
I N A C C U R AT E P H R A S ES
Be accurate in your word choice. For example, dose is the amount of drug given at one time;
dosage is the regulation or determination of doses.
U S E O F ‘ O N LY ’
The position of the word ‘only’ can lead to ambiguity, e.g.‘the doctor only sees patients in the
morning’ could mean ‘only the doctor sees patients in the morning’; ‘the doctor sees patients in the
morning only’, or ‘the doctor sees only patients in the morning’.
B A L A N C I N G A S E N TE N C E
It is important to ensure that a sentence balances on either side of certain words (correlatives) that
emphasize similarity or contrast and that are used in parallel: both and and; either and or; neither
and nor; not only and but; between and and; whether and or. For example,‘I swam both in the
morning and afternoon’ should be‘I swam both in the morning and in the afternoon’ or ‘I swam in
both the morning and the afternoon’. Note the position of the preposition in. (See also the section
‘Editing for Sense’.)

C O M PA R AT I VE S A N D S U P ER L ATI V ES
• If you are comparing two things, or two groups of things, or one thing with a group of things,
you should use a comparative, not a superlative.
✗ Jim is tallest compared with David, John and Mike
✓ Jim is the tallest of the four men
✓ Jim is taller than David, John and Mike
• Do not use ‘relatively’ with a comparative, e.g. relatively less. This is tautology; ‘relatively’
should be deleted.
• Make sure that it is clear what is being compared with what (e.g.‘in patient 3, there was greater
reactivity for P. gingivalis in dental plaque from the first molar’… Is‘greater’ being used to
compare patients, bacteria or sites in mouth?).
M I S C EL L A N EO U S PO I N TS
‘Male’ and ‘female’ are adjectives, so be careful to use them as such (i.e. a male patient and a female
frog, but a 35-year-old man, a French woman and a group of 25 men and 35 women). Many authors
get this wrong.
E XP R ES S IO N S TO AV O I D
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Since should be used only with reference to time, and not for because.
Although is preferred to though.
Done, as in the experiment was done, should be replaced with performed or carried out.
Parameter should only be used to describe a defining limit, and is not interchangeable with
variable.
A lot of should be replaced with many or, preferably, should be defined more precisely.
Avoid get and got.
As a result of or because of are preferred to due to.
Hopefully should be avoided.
Try to avoid references in the text to see below or in the Results section.
Use dependency only for foreign territories; otherwise use dependence.

U S E W I TH C A U TI O N
Be aware of potentially litigious content, for example the naming of patients or criticism of the
actions of individuals, organizations or companies.
P O L I T I C A L LY S EN S I TI V E T ER M S
Race and ethnicity

Try to avoid the terms Blacks and Whites; use instead Black people, White people, etc. Caucasian,
Mongoloid, Negroid, etc. are generally to be avoided, except in human population studies. Mixed
race is preferable to half-caste or coloured.
Disabilities

• People with disabilities not the disabled
• People with learning difficulties not mentally handicapped

9
Gender

Use neutral nouns: avoid the use of man if not specifically referring to men; for example, for man
use humans; for mankind use the human race; for manpower use workforce; for manmade fibre use
synthetic fibre. Use inclusive pronouns: use he or she, or rephrase the sentence (rephrasing to the
plural form often works):
✗ Any observer of changes in publishing technology will perceive that he has need of…
✓ Observers of… will perceive that they have…
Beware of referring to people with stereotypical pronouns (e.g.‘the doctor treated his patient’;‘the
secretary tidied her desk’). Social classes and age groups should also not be stereotyped.
Disease

Avoid health-determined categorization. Use people with diabetes not diabetics; people with cancer
not cancer sufferers, etc. Avoid phrasing that dehumanizes a patient: many authors use case
(instance of a disease) when they mean patient (person who is ill with the disease).
AIDS

• Ensure that AIDS is used for the disease and HIV for the virus, e.g. do not use AIDS carrier,
AIDS positive, AIDS virus or catching AIDS.
• AIDS sufferer/victim is inappropriate; use people with AIDS.
• People who practise high-risk activities not high-risk groups.
• The expression full-blown AIDS is unnecessary if the correct distinction has been made
between HIV and AIDS.
Sexuality

Avoid the terms homosexual activities (specify which activity is being referred to) and homosexuals
(specify homosexual men or lesbians).
Geography

The terms Third World, poor countries and underdeveloped countries should be avoided. Developing
or nondeveloped country/society is better, but it is best to specify countries or regions instead.
Western society and Western World should only be used in relation to geography; otherwise, use
developed world/society or, even better, specify the countries themselves or the region.
Key points

• It is now acceptable to use the active or the passive voice.
• Use the past tense for the author’s methods and results, and the present tense for
interpretation and generally accepted ‘facts’.
• The subject and verb must agree in number.
• ‘That’ is defining; ‘which’ is not.
• Check that articles (‘a’,‘an’ and ‘the’) are used correctly.
• Sentences must balance (e.g. with ‘both… and…’).
• In comparisons (e.g. with lower/higher/less/more), make sure it is clear what is being
compared with what.
• Avoid sexist, dehumanizing and stereotypical language.

1.3 Editing for Sense
You do not need knowledge of the subject matter to be able to edit for sense. Often it will be
obvious what the author is trying to say, in which case you do not need to add a specific query (e.g.
‘with this investigation the effects of antibiotic treatment were inquired’ can safely be changed to
‘in this investigation, the effects of antibiotic treatment were investigated’). However, if you are
having to make substantial changes, add a query to the beginning of the article telling the authors
that text has been reworded throughout and asking them to check carefully.
Be very careful not to change the meaning. It should always be your goal to make only the changes
that are necessary. If in doubt, leave unchanged and ask the author for clarification.
A M B IG U O U S T EX T
When text is ambiguous, the intended meaning is sometimes obvious from the context and
rewording is straightforward. If this is not the case, you must query the authors. It is best, if you
can, to give them two (or more) choices rather than just asking what they mean.
Phosphorylated hexoses: glucose-6-P and fructose-1-P, repress the expression of many resistance
genes.
Query Do you mean ‘Phosphorylated hexoses, such as glucose-6-P and fructose-1-P, repress the expression of
many resistance genes’ or ‘The phosphorylated hexoses glucose-6-P and fructose-1-P repress the expression of
many resistance genes’ or something else?

Misplaced modifiers (words or phrases that limit or qualify the sense of text) can create ambiguity
about what they are modifying.
✗ She continued editing after the meeting finished early because she had to send the issue to the
typesetter
✓ Because she had to send the issue to the typesetter, the meeting finished early and she continued
editing
✓ After the meeting finished early, she continued editing because she had to send the issue to the
typesetter
N O N SE Q U I TU R S
Look out for text that does not logically follow what goes before (e.g.‘humans and mammals…’
should be changed to‘mammals, including humans, …’ because humans are mammals).
✗ Forage turnip is widely grown in northern Europe, but it is distributed over much of
northern Asia, northern North America and southern Oceania.
✓ Forage turnip is widely grown in northern Europe and is also distributed…
Sometimes it is not clear what the author means to say.
The sensitivity of barley seedlings changed after 4 weeks of cold treatment, but decreased after 6
weeks.
Query Do you mean ‘The sensitivity of barley seedlings began to decrease after 4 weeks… and decreased further
after 6 weeks’ or ‘The sensitivity of barley seedlings increased after 4 weeks…. but decreased after 6 weeks’?

These results are in conformity with the results of Smith et al. (1984). This provides acid
production in vitro observed over a period of time by Jones (1980) also.

11
Change These results are consistent with those of Smith et al. (1984). They also provide an explanation for the
acid production in vitro observed over a period of time by Jones (1980).
Query ‘These results…’ Rewording of two sentences OK?

B A L A N C I N G SE N TE N C E S
Use parallel grammatical constructions with conjunctions (and, but, etc.) and in comparisons.
✗ the titre in week 2 increased by 50% for patient 1, and by 60% for patient 3 in week 4
✓ the titre increased by 50% for patient 1 in week 2, and by 60% for patient 3 in week 4
✗ … to evaluate the relationships between clinical (e.g. stroke impairment, functional status,
depression, and side of stroke lesion) and sociodemographic (e.g. age, gender, marital status
and emotional support) factors
✓ … to evaluate the relationships between clinical (degree of stroke impairment, functional
status, presence/absence of depression and side of stroke lesion) and sociodemographic (age,
gender, marital status and extent of emotional support) factors
✗ Detection of immunostained proteins by light microscopy is not as clear as electron
microscopy
✓ Detection of immunostained proteins by light microscopy is not as clear as that by electron
microscopy
PRONOUNS
Watch out for pronouns that refer back to the wrong noun.
The pellet was dissolved in 100 mL of distilled water. It was then filtered through Whatman no. 41
paper.
Change ‘It’ to e.g.‘This solution’ (‘the pellet’ can’t be filtered!).

FEWER/LESS
Although more can be used for both countable (e.g. more stars) and uncountable (e.g. more rain)
nouns, fewer must be used for countable nouns (e.g. fewer stars, fewer cups of tea, fewer examples)
and less for uncountable nouns (e.g. less rain, less tea, less information).
✗ Less people
✓ Fewer people
S TR O N G / W E A K , H I G H / L O W A N D L A R G E / SM A L L
Authors sometimes make the wrong choices here.
✗ the values of r were strong
✓ the values of r were high
✗ there was a low correlation
✓ there was a weak correlation

M I S C EL L A N EO U S PR O B L E M S
• Words missing
The sorbitol and xylitol interaction on sugar metabolism was greater at higher pH.
Change The effect of the sorbitol and xylitol interaction on sugar metabolism was greater at higher pH.

In this study the relationship between plant resistance to fungi and some physiological
processes.
Change In this study, the relationship… was investigated.

• Words wrong
Barley companion crop reduced weed content of herbage by 39–94% related in sowing rate
and cutting stage.
Change The barley companion crop reduced the weed content of herbage by 39–94 % depending on the
seeding rate and cutting stage.

• Strange wording
All patients were examined and interviewed on a hospital basis.
Change (and query) All patients were examined and interviewed in hospital.

• Wrong subject and verb
Harvest date in barley gave different effects depending on seeding rates.
Change (and query) In barley, the effect of harvest date depended on the seeding rate.

• Adjective with wrong noun
the highest patient for recovery score
Change (and query) the patient with the highest recovery score

• Typos
The weed forms its own pure colonies at the expanse of native gasses
Change (and query) … at the expense of native grasses

Key points

• If text does not make sense or is likely to cause the reader problems, change it and, if
necessary, add a query to the author.
• Look out for ambiguous text and non sequiturs.
• Make sure parallel grammatical constructions are used with conjunctions and in
comparisons.
• Pronouns must refer back to the correct noun.
• Fewer/less, strong/high/low and weak/low/small are often used incorrectly.
• Check that subject/verb and noun/adjective pairs make sense (e.g. in ‘the highest patient
for recovery score’, the adjective has been attached to the wrong noun).

1.4 Spelling
Spelling should be consistent within an article. When two or more spellings of a word are given in a
dictionary, the first listed is generally the one preferred.
UK/US ENGLISH
In the following examples, the UK spellings are shown to the left of the double arrows and the US
spellings to the right.
ae- ↔ e-

-ical ↔ -ic

aetiology ↔ etiology
caesium ↔ cesium
haemoglobin ↔ hemoglobin
leukaemia ↔ leukemia
palaeoenvironment ↔ paleoenvironment

anatomical ↔ anatomic
biological ↔ biologic
geographical ↔ geographic
immunological ↔ immunologic

-logue ↔ -log
oe- ↔ ediarrhoea ↔ diarrhea
dyspnoea ↔ dyspnea
manoeuvre ↔ maneuver
oedema ↔ edema
oesophagus ↔ esophagus
oestrogen ↔ estrogen

-lled ↔ -led, -lling ↔ -ling
labelling ↔ labeling
modelled ↔ modeled

analogue ↔ analog
(except ‘analog–digital conversion’)
catalogue ↔ catalog

-re ↔ -er
centre ↔ center
fibre ↔ fiber
litre ↔ liter
metre (the unit) ↔ meter
titre ↔ titer

-yse ↔ -yze
-our ↔ -or
behaviour ↔ behavior
colour (but coloration) ↔ color
neighbour ↔ neighbor
tumour ↔ tumor

adrenaline ↔ epinephrine (Adrenalin = US trade name)
ageing ↔ aging
alternative ↔ alternate
aluminium ↔ aluminum
amongst ↔ among
cyclosporin ↔ cyclosporine
despatch ↔ dispatch
disc ↔ disk (NB always disk for computers)
dysrhythmias ↔ arrhythmias
fulfil ↔ fulfill
leucocyte ↔ leukocyte

analyse ↔ analyze
catalyse ↔ catalyze
dialyse ↔ dialyze

licence (noun) ↔ license
mould ↔ mold
neurone ↔ neuron
noradrenaline ↔ norepinephrine
orientate ↔ orient
practise (verb) ↔ practice
programme ↔ program (and UK for computers)
quantify ↔ quantitate
quantification ↔ quantitation
skilful ↔ skillful

S V ER SU S Z SP EL L IN G
S spellings
advise
arise
chastise
circumcise
comprise
compromise
concise
despise
devise
excise

exercise
expertise
franchise
improvise
incise
revise
supervise
surmise
surprise
televise
treatise

Z spellings
agonize
civilize
colonize
criticize
emphasize
equalize
familiarize
finalize
generalize
globalize

hypothesize
metabolize
minimize
pasteurize
realize
recognize
stabilize
standardize
summarize
temporize
vaporize

F O R EI G N L A N G U A G E S
Accents and diacritical marks

These are marks attached to letters of the alphabet that show (i) how the pronunciation differs
from that of the unmarked letter, (ii) where the stress falls in a polysyllabic word or (iii) what tone
or pitch goes with a particular word.
• German Use ß (eszett) for ss, but only in lower case (and note that not all ss are ß); in caps
(and small caps), SS is always used. Use umlauts over ä, ö and ü rather than using the
respective diphthongs ae, oe and ue. Remember that, in German, all nouns have initial caps
(e.g. ein Haus, das Sein) and they should retain these when italicized.
• French Upper-case letters carry accents, e.g. RÉSUMÉ. The exception is the preposition à,
e.g. A la porte.
• Scandinavian characters should be alphabetized as follows:
…Z, Æ, Ø, Å (Danish, Norwegian)
…Z, π, Æ, Ö (Icelandic)
…Z, Å, Ä, Ö (Finnish, Swedish)
Foreign names

Take care with the capitalization of particles in foreign names (e.g. Philippe Du Puy de
Clinchamps,Vasco da Gama, Vincent van Gogh). These appear in lower case except at the start of a
sentence or when the name is anglicized. Generally, just use what the author provides. In reference
lists, lower case particles are listed under the letter of the name proper but upper case particles
under the letter of the particle (e.g. da Silva under ‘S’ but Von Trapp under ‘V’). Do not abbreviate
‘Saint’ and ‘Sainte’ in French surnames. Some Japanese and Chinese names are presented with the
surname first, so be careful when filing these in a reference list. Spanish and Portuguese names are
sometimes composed of two family names (mother’s and father’s) and should be listed under the
penultimate element (e.g. Federico Gutierrez Granier should be listed under Gutierrez).
Hyphenated Asian names do not take a full point after the first initial (e.g. Jen-Yi Hwang is J-Y.
Hwang not J.-Y. Hwang; cf. Jean-Marc Lafayette, which is J.-M. Lafayette).

R E C O M M E N D E D SP EL L I N G G U ID ES
•
•
•
•

UK spelling: Concise Oxford Dictionary
US spelling: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Australian spelling: Macquarie Dictionary
See The Chicago Manual of Style for information on capitalization, punctuation and word
division in foreign languages.

1.5 Punctuation
Punctuation should be used to help the reader understand the text.
COMMAS
Context

Examples

Not essential where a conjunction is used between
two clauses unless there is a change of subject

We tried to resuscitate the patient but to no avail.

Used to isolate a word, phrase or subordinate
clause

Resuscitation, although dangerous, is possible.

Resuscitation is possible, but brain damage is likely.

On revival, the patient was monitored regularly.
… days 3, 4 and 10, respectively.
Therefore, the experiment was….

Used to isolate nondefining clauses

The cells, which were infected, were excised.
The commas help to isolate the nondefining clause
(see differences between ‘that’ and ‘which’ above).

Not used to separate sentences

✗ The cells produced more lactate, however they
did not produce acetate.
✓ The cells produced more lactate; however, they
did not produce acetate.

Used in lists

The solution contained 200 mg of glucose, 100 g of
ascorbic acid and 500 mL of distilled water.
UK English: a comma before ‘and’ (known as the
Oxford comma or serial comma) is unnecessary in
the above example, but it may be used in lengthy
lists or to avoid ambiguity.
US English: authors prefer to place a comma before
the ‘and’ here.

‘Therefore’ should not be enclosed within commas
when used as an adverb

These samples were therefore discounted.

Used to clarify a sentence

The precipitate formed after shaking on the bottom
makes more sense with the addition of commas,
thus:
The precipitate formed, after shaking, on the bottom.

A P O ST R OP H E S A N D P R I M E S
Apostrophes should be used to identify possessive nouns, e.g. the body’s defence system, the girls’
hats. Such words ending in ‘s’ should still be followed with an apostrophe ‘s’, e.g. Claudius’s reign.
An apostrophe should not be used where an acronym, abbreviation, date or number is pluralized:
ANOVAs, 1980s, etc. Where apostrophes are used to indicate missing letters in informal English
(e.g. I’m, we’re, he’s; it’s not clear; there’re many patients; it’s been found), it is usually preferable to
write the words out in full (e.g. it is not clear; there are many patients; it has been found).
Look out for its (possessive; e.g. its tail) and it’s (‘it is’ or ‘it has’; e.g. it’s got a tail).
St Thomas’ Hospital
Queens’ College, Cambridge
The Queen’s College, Oxford

Primes (´) are used to denote derivatives of mathematical variables (e.g. a and a´) and for minutes
of angle (e.g. 12°14´N). They should not be used instead of the standard abbreviation ‘min’ for
minutes of time.
HYPHENS
Journals will often have a specific hyphenation style, for which you should refer to your journal
style sheet. Also check the relevant dictionary if necessary. Make a decision about hyphenation
and apply it throughout the typescript, taking into account the author’s style, the likely readership,
and the meaning of individual words and phrases. Minimal hyphenation is generally preferred.
Prefixes

DO hyphenate… prefixes that stand as words in their own right (e.g. cross, half, all); these are
usually hyphenated when used as adjectives (e.g. cross-section, half-life, all-inclusive). There are,
however, more than a few exceptions (e.g. outpatient, crosshatched, overexposed). Hyphens are
also needed when a prefix is attached to a word or phrase starting with a capital letter (e.g. antiHLA, non-Euclidean, sub-Alpine).
DO NOT hyphenate… prefixes that cannot stand as words in their own right (e.g. anti, bi, co,
hyper, hypo, infra, inter, intra, micro, multi, palaeo, peri, pre, pseudo, re, sub, supra, ultra, uni);
these are usually closed up when used as adjectives, unless two vowels or the same consonants abutt
(e.g. hyper-reactive, pre-operative, anti-inflammatory, co-opted, re-election; NB US authors are
less inclined to use hyphens in such cases). Note, however, that this rule may need to be broken (e.g.
ultra-high-vacuum environment, pseudo-first-order distribution, re-create). If in doubt, follow
the author’s style.
Compound terms

DO hyphenate… many compound terms and adjectives (e.g. iron-rich sediments; salt-leached
water; 19-year-old boy but boy aged 19 years; T-cell receptor but T cell), particularly where the
meaning would otherwise be ambiguous. In more complex examples, the second hyphen normally
has priority over the first (e.g.‘T cell-receptor expression’ would often be preferred to‘T-cellreceptor expression’; but ‘10-cm-diameter pots’, not ‘10 cm-diameter pots’). The second part of a
compound term used in a book case heading should not be capitalized (e.g. Subject-specific
Conventions).

DO NOT hyphenate… compound adjectives consisting of a past participle preceded by an adverb
ending in ‘-ly’ (e.g. dermatologically tested soap). It is not necessary to use hyphens for wellestablished compound terms whose meaning is clear (e.g. amino acid residues, freezing point
determination). Avoid floating hyphens (e.g. phosphorus- or sulphur-containing compounds).
Try to reword the sentence to eliminate the need for the floating hyphen, but be careful not to
change the sense (e.g. if the hyphen is removed after ‘phosphorus’ in the sentence above, the sense
changes).
Chemical names

Hyphens are often used in chemical names (e.g. 2-mercaptoethanol, a1-antitrypsin).
Miscellaneous

•
•
•
•
•

Avoid bad word breaks at the ends of lines (e.g. pseud-obedding; the-rapist)
10-fold but twofold
Two-thirds, thirty-seven
North-west
Inpatient and outpatient (not hyphenated)

E N / EM R U L ES
Authors often confuse en/em rules and hyphens.
For

You should use

Example

A number or value range

En rule

5–10 (but ‘from 5 to 10’, not ‘from 5–10’)

Chemical mixtures/bonds that
have retained their individual
properties and have not
become a new compound

En rule

DEAE–cellulose

Long chemical names, by
convention

Hyphen

2-isopropyl-(3,4)-dihydro(carbodiimide)purine

Two names associated with a
process, invention, syndrome
or company

En rule

Epstein–Barr virus
Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium

A compound expression in
which the first part of the
compound does not modify
the second part

En rule

dermal–epidermal junction
dose–response curve
case–control study

A compound expression in
which the first part is a prefix

Hyphen

Dermo-epidermal junction

continued

For

You should use

Example

Complex associations

Hyphen and en rule
or
hyphen and solidus

oak-forest–hazel-scrub interaction
or
oak-forest/hazel-scrub interaction

Compound expressions that
already contain hyphens

‘To’
not
en rule

5- to 10-day interval
not
5–10-day interval

Missing data in a table

En rule or em rule

e.g. for ‘not tested’

Missing words or letters

Em rule

Rarely, it may be journal style in reference lists
to indicate the same author(s) as the previous
entry by em rules.
Smith, B., and P.G. Pardey. The economics of…
—. Funding, structure and management…

SEMICOLONS
• The semicolon is stronger than a comma but not as decisive as a full point. It can be used to
separate sentences (whereas a comma cannot).
• Use a semicolon before, and a comma after, the conjunctive adverbs however, that is,
nevertheless, etc.
COLONS
Colons are used to introduce material that restates, explains, enlarges upon or summarizes
previous material. They also introduce items in a list set off from text (but a colon is not needed in
run-on lists introduced by the words for example, namely, including, etc.; e.g. in the sentence ‘The
pavlova looks nice with red fruit on it, for example: strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants’ the
colon should not be there).
• In UK spelling, a capital letter is not used after a colon (except in titles and subtitles). In US
spelling, if the material introduced by a colon consists of more than one sentence, or if it is a
formal statement, quotation or speech in dialogue it should take a capital after the colon.
• Ratios containing words should have a thin space on each side of the colon (e.g. the light : dark
cycle) but ratios containing numbers should be closed up (e.g. 16:8 h).
Key points

• Use commas to clarify sentences.
• Do not use a comma to separate sentences; use a semicolon (this is a particularly common
error before ‘however’ and ‘nevertheless’).
• Do not use apostrophes with plural abbreviations (e.g. ANOVAs, not ANOVA’s).
• For hyphenation, refer to your journal style sheet.
• Do not hyphenate adverbs ending in -ly (e.g. dermatologically tested soap).
• Use hyphens in compound terms to clarify meaning (e.g. six-well plates).
• Use en rules, not hyphens, for associations (e.g. dose–response curve).

1.6 Units
Check your journal style sheet for the use of units (e.g. some journals use a negative index and
some use a solidus to indicate per).
D O U SE
• Abbreviations for seconds (s), milliseconds (ms), minutes (min), hours (h), million years
(Myr), million years ago (Ma) and billion years ago (Ga).(Exceptions in running text are e.g.
5 minutes’ walk and five-minute start.)
• A hyphen with units as adjectives (e.g. 30-cm ruler, 2-min test, 5-kb fragment), unless this is
not journal style.
• Either a solidus (/) or a negative index (–1, –3, etc.) for per (e.g. 5 m/s or 5 m s–1).
• Figures for quantities that are measured in units, but words for numbers of objects less than
10 (e.g. 5 years but five dogs; also fifth but 15th). However, it may be better to break this rule if
an inventory of objects is presented (e.g. 13 cats, 8 dogs and 24 mice).
• En rules for ranges of values (e.g. 15.4–27.6 g), except for values used with linked prepositions
(e.g. between… and).
• Système International (SI) units, unless instructed otherwise.
• Closed-up figures for numbers in the single-digit thousands (1000–9999), and thin spaces in
UK English for numbers of five figures and over (US English uses commas not spaces) (e.g.
12 624, 200 000 000). However, it is usually preferable to express large numbers using factors
of 10 (e.g. 3.75 × 107 cells/L).
• A unit term as a singular entity when considering subject–verb agreement (e.g. 5 g was…).
• Numbers and their units in full at the start of a sentence (e.g. Fifty-eight kilograms of grain…).
• Thin spaces between numbers and units, and between units (e.g. 10 min, 6.5 W, 20 °C,
47.6 m/s 5 mg mL–1, but 4% and sometimes 20°C).
D O N O T U SE
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Abbreviations for days, weeks, months and years.
Acre; use hectare (1 acre = 0.4047 ha).
Ångström; use nanometres (1 Å = 0.1 nm).
Calorie; use joules (1 cal = 4.186 J).
× before gravitational force (e.g. 15 000 g not 15 000 × g). Also, do not use r.p.m. as the unit for
gravitational force, except for ultracentrifugation, where r.p.m. is usually given together with
the centrifuge model and manufacturer and the rotor code (e.g. SS34).
En rules with linked prepositions (from and to; or between and and) (e.g. between 10 and 15
days, not between 10–15 days).
m for micron; use µm.
N or N (small caps) for normal concentration: ask authors to provide the molar
concentration.
p.p.b. for parts per billion; use ng/g.
p.p.m. for parts per million; use mg/g.
Percent. Use either % or per cent.
A unit term as a plural (e.g. 10 mL was… not 10 mL were…).

• Repeated units (e.g. between 10 days and 15 days should be written between 10 and 15 days).
• Superfluous material in units. For example, in the expression ‘organic carbon at a
concentration of 56 mg C/L’ the symbol for carbon is superfluous in the unit; ‘organic carbon
at a concentration of 56 mg/L’ is sufficient.
• Lots of zeros in numbers. Add unit prefixes so that values are ≥ 1 and < 1000 (e.g. 0.081 g/L
should be changed to 81 mg/L, and 1.67 × 10–7 m to 167 nm). However, always inform the
author/editor of such changes and seek their approval.
• Expressions such as 20 mg/100 mL; use 200 mg/L.
M I S C EL L A N EO U S U N I TS
CFU
Da
IU
L

Unit prefixes

colony-forming units
m milli (10–3)
k
kilo (103)
daltons (do not use d)
M mega (106)
µ
micro (10–6)
international units
G
giga (109)
n
nano (10–9)
litre; this is now preferred to l
–12
p
pico (10 )
(lower-case L)
3
mL = millilitre = cm (do not use cc)
mmHg millimetres of mercury only in medical work; otherwise, use pascals (1 mmHg = 133 Pa)
MOLE AND MOLAR
It is recommended that you use mol for mole and mol/L or mol L–1 for molar. However, some
styles use M for mole and M (small caps) for molar.

Key points

• There should be a thin space between numbers and units (e.g. 10 days), or a hyphen in
compound adjectives (e.g. 10-day cycle).
• For per, use a solidus or a negative index, depending on journal style.
• For quantities, use figures (e.g. 5 mL); for numbers of objects less than 10, use words (e.g.
five patients).
• A unit term is singular (e.g. 10 mL was added…).
• Do not use en rules with linked prepositions (e.g. between 10 and 15 days, not between
10–15 days).
• Do not repeat units unnecessarily (e.g. not 10 days and 15 days).
• L for litre is now preferred to l.
• Use Da for daltons, not d.

1.7 Italics
To find out whether a word should be italicized, check the latest edition of the recommended
dictionary. You should also refer to your journal style sheet for journal-specific usage (e.g. for et al.
and variables such as P).
DO italicize

DO NOT italicize

Foreign language phrases that are not in common
usage (e.g. ad libitum, en bloc, sensu lato). These are
better presented in italics than in inverted commas.

Foreign language phrases that are in common
usage (e.g. alias, per annum, vice versa). The fact
that a word has made it into an English dictionary is
a good indication that it is familiar (or at least can
be looked up), so it can be set in roman.

Book and journal titles
Names of parties in legal cases

Names of people (except in legal cases), places or
institutions

Genus and species names
(e.g. Homo sapiens)

Family, order and class names
(e.g. Hominidae, Primates, Mammalia)
Modifiers to species names (e.g. cv., var., ex., ssp.),
and authorities (e.g. L.)

Abbreviations for genes
(e.g. ced-3 for the C. elegans cell-death gene)

Abbreviations for gene products
(enzymes/ protein) (e.g. CED-3)

Symbols and abbreviations that represent variables
(e.g. x-axis, n)

Symbols, abbreviations and whole words that
represent constants (e.g. e, π), functions
(e.g. f, exp, log) or modifiers (e.g. na, nair).

Parentheses (like these) within italic text.

Parentheses around italic text (like these).
Italic words used in italic headings
(e.g. Preparations of P. gingivalis)

EXAMPLES
a posteriori

mise-en-oeuvre

a priori

motif

ad libitum

née

bona fide

par excellence

debris

per annum; per capita

en bloc

post-mortem

in situ

raison d’être

in toto

role (not rôle)

in vitro; in vivo

sensu lato; sensu stricto

inter alia

tour de force

laissez-faire

via

levee

vice versa

1.8 Quotations
Every quotation should be accompanied by a reference to its source (e.g. Author 2003).
Short quotations (< 30 words) ‘should run on within the normal sentence structure’ (Author
2003). Use quotation marks to distinguish the quote, and, if appropriate, precede by a comma (for
shorter quotations) or a colon (for longer quotations).
Long quotations (>30 words) should be displayed.
Displayed quotations do not require quotation marks. They should be set smaller than normal text type
and indented by the normal paragraph indent, with no extra space above or below.
(Author 2003)

The spelling, grammar, etc. of direct quotations is not edited. Check that direct quotations have
not been changed by any macros that have been run on the paper. Use ‘[sic]’ (always in square
brackets and italic) to signify a direct quote of an error.
Direct speech is the exact quotation of another person’s words. Punctuation should be placed
inside the quote marks when it belongs to the quotation or before mention of the speaker.
• ‘This is an important finding,’ the Director-General said.
• He asked,‘Why did you do it?’
Punctuation should be placed outside the quote marks when it does not belong to the quotation.
• WHO declared TB ‘a global emergency’.
S IN G L E O R D OU B L E?
It is UK and Australian style to use ‘single’ quotation marks, with closing punctuation outside
marks (unless it belongs to the quoted material), and “double” marks for quotes within quotes.
It is US style to use “double” quotation marks, with closing punctuation (except colons and
semicolons) inside marks, and ‘single’ marks for quotes within quotes.
Use a thin space between single and double quotation marks if they occur next to each other.

1.9 Lists
An itemized list that is part of the text should continue the punctuation of the sentence that
precedes it, so:
• if preceded by a colon the list should begin with a lower case letter;
• there should be a full point at the end of the sentence.
For long, complicated lists with internal sentences, each item of the list should start with an initial
capital, in which case the sentence preceding the list should be rewritten to end in a full point.
1 Check your journal style sheet for the style of numbered lists. Often, a bold number followed
by a tab is used. Lists within lists should be indented, and have a different style of numbering
from the main list (e.g. Roman numerals).
2 Some styles have extra space above and below lists, but some do not.
3 Lists of definitions of abbreviations should be displayed or, if set in continuous text, should
have individual entries separated by commas and semicolons, not equals signs (e.g. Y, young;
M, middle-aged; O, old; VO, very old).

1.10 Footnotes
• See your journal style sheet for the formatting of footnotes. On the title page, there may be a
mixture of footnotes using numbers and symbols (e.g. for author affiliations or
‘correspondence’ details), depending on the journal style.
• Check for consistency of footnote links in text/tables with the footnotes themselves.
• Footnote links should be placed after punctuation.
• The preferred order of footnote symbols (which should not be superscripted) is *, †, ‡, §, ¶
(these are doubled up if more footnotes are required, e.g. ††).
• When superscript numbers or letters are used, beware of potential confusion with other
superscripts (e.g. 2 for ‘squared’).
I N TE XT
Footnotes in the text are not encouraged for journals that are full text online. Sometimes it may be
possible to eliminate a footnote by moving the text it contains to the main body of the article,
especially if the footnote is short and just adds extra details.
✗ We randomly selected 24 individuals from each of six groups.1
[Footnote: 1. Groups 3, 5, 11, 28, 30 and 34.]

✓ We randomly selected 24 individuals from each of six groups (groups 3, 5, 11, 28, 30 and 34).
• Numbers in the text indicating footnotes should be superscripts (do not use parentheses,
punctuation or slash marks). Numbers for the notes themselves should be on the line and
followed by a full point.
• When a footnote is continued on the next page, there should be a hairline rule above it. Avoid
beginning a continued footnote with a full sentence, as this will make it look like a separate
footnote.
• If the first mention of an abbreviation occurs in a footnote, it should be defined there.
U N D ER TA B L E S
Footnote links. Notes about the table as a whole can be left unlinked (i.e. no linking
letters/numbers/symbols) or linked to, for example, a relevant column heading. Notes about
specific parts of the table should be linked using superscript lower case letters (preferred),
superscript numbers or symbols (see Table 1 for examples). If lower case letters could be confused
with the table data, use symbols or numbers instead. Avoid the use of superscript numbers in
parentheses.

If an abbreviation is mentioned for the first
time in a table (e.g.‘CE’ in Table 1), it must be
defined in a footnote to that table.

Table 1. Ratios for wheat in 1989
Groupa

First ratio

Second ratio

1.31

4.56

6.57*

33.87***

15.89**

17.55

NDb

2.35

10.66**

2.13

Order

67.43***

23.56*

Footnote links within the table itself should
be ordered, according to first mention, across
columns by row (see a, b, c in Table 1).

1.29

NDb

3.45

6.57*

The actual footnotes should appear in the
following order:
• source notes
• other general notes
• notes on specific parts of the table
(following the order in the table itself)
• notes on level of probability

Data were obtained from Smith (1990).
All yields were measured in April–June 1989.
CE, controlled-environment plots; ND, not done.
aEach group consisted of three separate plots.
bPest infestation prevented data collection.
cThe plots in Group 7 were not irrigated in April.
*P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01 and ***P ≤ 0.001, according
to a t-test

Asterisk footnotes are reserved for probability
values in tables and usually signify the following
values: *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01; ***, P ≤ 0.001.
The asterisk is often used in mathematics and
should therefore be avoided as a footnote
symbol.

1.11 Abbreviations
Keep the number of abbreviations in an article (particularly in the Abstract) to a minimum. If a
term is not used often, do not use its abbreviation: it will not help readers if they have to search
back through the article for its definition.
Use of abbreviations such as etc., i.e. and e.g. is best avoided in running text and is more suitable for
use with parentheses.
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases.
Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter(s) of individual words in phrases. True acronyms
serve as pronouncable words (e.g. QANTAS, ANZAC, radar); others are technically called ‘initialisms’ (e.g.
ECG, LDL).
Contractions are abbreviations that include the first and last letters of a word (e.g. Ltd)

D E F I N I N G A B B R E VI AT I O N S
Some abbreviations are so common that they do not need defining (e.g. DNA, PCR, d.f.). Whether
to spell out or not will depend on the subject matter of your journal.

Define all other abbreviations (term in full followed by abbreviation in parentheses) on first
mention in the Abstract, text, figure legends and table legends or footnotes; thereafter, use the
abbreviation only, except at the beginnings of paragraphs (it is acceptable to use abbreviations at
the beginnings of sentences). If abbreviations are defined in an Abstract, they must be redefined at
first mention in the main body of the text. Do not define or use abbreviations in titles or headings.
When defining a series of abbreviations in legends, use commas and semicolons (e.g. Y, young; M,
middle-aged; O, old). Never use equals signs in definitions.
P U N C T U AT I O N
Full points

• Abbreviations that are all caps generally do not take full points (e.g. USA, NSW), but
abbreviations that are all lower case or end with a lower case letter do (e.g. i.v., b.i.d., Co., Ed.).
• When referring to authors by their initials, use full points and thin spaces [e.g.‘One of the
authors (D. M. D.)…’].
• Full points are not used at the end of contractions (e.g. St, Mr, Dr, Natl, Figs, Ltd) in UK
English, but they are used in US English.
• When an abbreviation that takes a full point comes at the end of a sentence, another full point
is not necessary.
Apostrophes

An apostrophe should not be used when an abbreviation is pluralized, but it can be used to indicate
possession.
F O R M AT T I N G
Roman type is generally used for scholarly Latin abbreviations (see below for some common
examples). The notable exception is et al., which is usually italicized.
There is no need to use capital letters in the full term (unless it is a proper name), even though the
abbreviation might be in capital letters.
NAMES
Abbreviations should not be used for given names (e.g. William not Wm). When a person is
referred to by initials only (e.g. JFK), do not use full points. Titles should be spelt out before last
names (e.g. General Washington) but abbreviated before full names (e.g. Sen. Robert A. Taft).
‘Reverend’ and ‘Honourable’ are only spelt out when preceded by ‘the’. ‘Jr’ and ‘Sr’ are set off by
commas after the name.
Agencies and organizations can be abbreviated in running text, in all caps with no periods (e.g.
NAACP). They should be defined at first mention as usual.

S OM E C O M M O N E XA M PL E S
For more examples, see The Chicago Manual of Style, the Concise Oxford Dictionary,
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and subject-specific lists in this guide.
Ms (not Mrs or Miss)
Bro., Bros, Co., Corp., Inc., plc, Pty, Ltd
(no need to spell out)
PO Box
Tel.: +44 (0) 1865 240201
Fax: +44 (0) 1865 200918
ed. (editor)
eds (editors)
edn (edition)
p. (page)
pp. (pages)
Suppl. (supplement)
Vol. (volume)
Eqn (equation; e.g. Eqn 2)
no. (‘number’ or ‘number of ’)

ISSN 1023-4567 (International Standard
Serial No.)
ISBN 0 123 45678 9 hardback (International
Standard Book No.)
CIP (Cataloguing in Publication)
etc.
e.g. and i.e. (use mainly in parentheses; comma
before but no comma after)
vs (use between numerals only; spell out in text)
ca (circa: use before dates instead of ~)
cf. [compare with (confer imperative); use only in
parentheses]
viz. (namely; with comma before not after)
r.p.m. avoid – ask for g value
2D (two-dimensional)

Key points

• Define all abbreviations (except very common ones such as DNA) at first mention in the
Abstract and again in the main text.
• Punctuate lower case (e.g. b.i.d.) but not upper case (e.g. USA) abbreviations.
• Do not use capitals in the full term (e.g. LSD stands for least significant difference).

1.12 Time
D AT E S
• In UK English, dates are given in the form 24 August 1964 (24/8/64). In US English, the form
August 24, 1964 (8/24/64) is used.
• Do not use ordinal numbers in dates (e.g.
Anno Domini (e.g. AD 1945)
AD
1st, 11th, 22nd or 23rd). For year ranges, use
BC
before Christ (e.g. 3000 BC)
an en rule and do not elide (e.g. 1995–1999
BP
before present (e.g. 10 000 BP, not
not 1995–99). Decades should be written as
10 000 years BP)
e.g. 1960s not 1960’s or ’60’s.
• For centuries, use the form 18th century.

T IM ES OF D AY
In UK English, the 24-hour clock is preferred (e.g. 1600 h, 16.00 hours or 16:00 h, depending on
journal style). If AM and PM are used (US English), they should be small caps.
Major time zones
UT

Universal Time

UK
BST British Summer Time
GMT Greenwich Mean Time
USA
cdt
cst

edt
est
mdt
mst
pdt
pst

Eastern Daylight Saving Time
Eastern Standard Time
Mountain Daylight Saving Time
Mountain Standard Time
Pacific Daylight Saving Time
Pacific Standard Time

year
day

year (not a or yr)
day (not d)

Central Daylight Saving Time
Central Standard Time

UNITS OF TIME
Ma
Myr
Ga

million years ago
million years
billion years ago (109 years)

1.13 Special Characters
Special characters are characters that are not found on a conventional keyboard. These include
mathematical symbols, and symbols used in linguistics and foreign languages (Greek, Latin,
Arabic, Russian, Oriental languages, etc.). For more information on special characters used in
linguistics and mathematics, please see the relevant sections in this guide.
B E WA R E A M B I G U O U S C H A R A C T ER S !
Care must be taken to distinguish between upper and lower case letters (particularly if subscripts
and superscripts are used), between Greek and other characters and between roman and italic
characters.
Examples
α (alpha) versus ∝ (proportional to)

O (letter) versus 0 (zero)

d (differential) versus d (variable)

p (letter) versus ρ (rho)

δ (delta) versus ∂ (partial differential)

µ (mu) versus υ (upsilon) versus ν (nu)
versus v (letter v italic)

e (exponential) versus e (variable)
i (letter) versus ι (iota)
k (letter) versus κ (kappa)
l (ell) versus 1 (one) versus I (capital i)

x (letter) versus × (multiplication sign)
versus χ (chi)
’ (apostrophe) versus ′ (prime)

1.14 Computing Terms
• Computer and word-processing languages should be given as their tradenames (e.g.
WordPerfect). Those that are acronyms should be given in caps (e.g. BASIC, PASCAL).
• Computer programs should be given in small caps (e.g. SPSS for ‘Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences’).
Some common terms
database

hard copy

debug

Internet (capital I; not Net)

disk

log on (verb)

email (no hyphen)

online (no hyphen), offline

program, programming,
programmer
World Wide Web or the Web
(caps)
website

1.15 Currency
• Symbols (and abbreviations for non-US/UK
ct cent (cts cents); $ dollar
currencies) for units of currency generally
precede the figure (e.g. £58.00, $4580, €120,
fl. florin
EUR 350). The exceptions are those written in kr. krone
full (e.g. 12 rupees). Use $ for $US unless other
p pence; £ pound
dollar types are mentioned (e.g. $A, $HK).
¥ yen
• In book reviews etc., prices should be given
€, EUR euro
with values for the two decimal units after a
decimal point (e.g. $A38.00 not $A38).
• For ‘million’ use ‘m’ (e.g. £75m); for ‘billion’ use ‘bn’ (e.g. £75bn). Note that ‘billion’ means ‘a
million million’ in UK English, but ‘a thousand million’ in US English.
• Use whole figures and decimals consistently (e.g. $4.25 and $7.00, not $4.25 and $7).
• The following EU countries are now using the euro (former currency in parentheses): Austria
(schilling), Belgium (franc), Finland (markkaa), France (franc), Germany (mark), Greece
(drachma), Ireland (punt), Italy (lira), Luxembourg (franc), the Netherlands (guilder),
Portugal (escudo) and Spain (peseta).

1.16 Qualifications
Qualifications after a person’s name should be listed in the following order.
1 Academic qualifications, in ascending order (e.g. BA MA PhD)
2 Professional qualifications (e.g.RN RM)
3 Honorary/fellowship qualifications (e.g. FAAN OBE)
Note that some qualifications automatically supersede others (e.g. to be a fellow of a college you
must already be a member, so there is no point in putting MRCP if someone is also FRCP).

S C I E N T I F I C / E N G I N E E R I N G / A RT S
BA or MA
BEng
BSc
DPhil
MPhil
MS
MSc
PhD

Bachelor of Arts or Master of Arts; Bachelor of Science (Oxford/Cambridge)
Bachelor of Engineering
Bachelor of Science
Doctor of Philosophy
Master of Philosophy
Master of Science (US)
Master of Science
Doctor of Philosophy

MEDICAL
BMedSci
FFARCS
FFCM
FFOM
FRCGP
FRCOG
FRCP
FRCPath
FRCPsych
FRCS
MB BChir
MB BS
MB ChB
MD

Bachelor of Medical Science
Fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellow of the Faculty of Community Medicine
Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine
Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners
Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists
Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery
Doctor of Medicine

D E N TA L
BChD
BDS
DDS
MDS

Bachelor of Dental Surgery
Bachelor of Dental Surgery
Doctor of Dental Surgery
Master of Dental Surgery

V E T E R I N A RY
BSc(Vet)
BVMS
BVM&S
BVSc
MRCVS

Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
Bachelor of Veterinary Science
Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

TITLES
• Use Dr for physicians (i.e. medics who are not surgeons) and for scientists or others (e.g.
dentists) with a doctoral degree (PhD, DPhil or DSc).
• Use Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms for dentists without a doctoral degree and for surgeons.
• Use Professor for professors who are still working or who have retired but been made
Professor Emeritus (otherwise they lose the title ‘Professor’ on retirement).
• Check the Medical Directory, Who’s Who, etc. for honours such as OBE, CBE and DBE.

1.17 Organizations
Abbreviation

Organization

ANA

American Nurses Association

CERN

Conseil Européen de la Recherche Nucléaire

CITES

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

CSIRO

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

DEFRA

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (London) (formerly MAFF)

DoE

Department of the Environment (London)

DoH

Department of Health (London) (formerly DHSS)

DWP

Department for Work and Pensions (London) [DWP was formed from the Department of
Social Security (DSS) and the Department of Education and Employment]

European Union (no longer EC)

HMSO

Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (London)

ICN

International Council of Nurses

IUPAC

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (Oxford)

NHS

National Health Service (UK)

NIH

National Institutes of Health (US)

PAHO

Pan American Health Organization

United Nations [not UNO] (New York)

UNEP

United Nations Environment Programme

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Paris)

USDA

United States Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC)

WHO

World Health Organization (Geneva)

1.18 Places
C O M PA SS D IR E C T I ON S
• North-west, south-southeast, etc. should be abbreviated if used extensively, particularly if
used as part of a compound adjective (e.g. SW-facing slope, NNE-trending escarpment). Note
that north–south comes before east–west in the abbreviations.
• Adjectives using north, south, east or west take the forms north-east, north-eastern, northerly,
northeasterly, northward and northernmost.
L ATI T U D E A N D L O N G I T U D E
Use the form 44º56´N, 71º45´E (north–south first then east–west). There is no reason to use the
abbreviations ‘lat.’ and ‘long.’ in front of the coordinates because the compass directions show
which of the two is being given. Coordinates are usually given with an altitude (not elevation),
which should be given in metres above sea level (m a.s.l.).
© 2007 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

U K G R I D R EF E R EN C ES
Use the form ‘NZ 684 018’.
COUNTRIES
• Avoid the terms America and North America unless it is clear that the continent is being
referred to; otherwise, use USA (always abbreviate; do not use U.S.A. or the States). US is used
as the adjectival form of USA (e.g.‘US aircraft carriers stationed in the Persian Gulf ’).
• Use UK (always abbreviate). Note that UK = Great Britain plus Northern Ireland; Great
Britain = England, Scotland and Wales; the British Isles = UK plus the Irish Republic. UK can
be used as an adjective (e.g.‘UK harrier jets flying over the Falkland Islands’).
• Use the Netherlands not The Netherlands (although a capital T is usually used in addresses –
this rule also applies for the Phillipines) or Holland (a region).
• Republics. Use China not People’s Republic of China/PRC (and Taiwan not Republic of
China); Korea not Republic of Korea/ROK; Germany not Federal Republic of Germany/FRG;
Ireland not Republic of Ireland (nor Eire); South Africa not Republic of South Africa/RSA.
• Other. Use Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, etc., not the USSR
(use the former USSR if countries are not specified). Use the Czech Republic and Slovakia, not
Czechoslovakia. Use Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia
(or the former Yugoslavia if in doubt). Check the latest edition of an atlas to confirm any recent
changes.
A U T H O R A D D R E SS E S
Institutes, street names, etc. are better given in the native tongue of the author (e.g. Université de
Lyon should be preferred to Lyon University, and Universität München to Munich University).
However, the names of cities and countries should be given in the language in which the paper is to
be published.
C A P I TA L I Z AT I O N
• Use initial caps for e.g. Western Australia, South West Africa and Northern Ireland (proper
names) but not for e.g. southern Scotland or eastern India (descriptive terms).
• When climates or regions are described using an adjective that is a proper name, the name is
capitalized (e.g. Mediterranean climate, Alpine region, sub-Saharan desert).
• Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere (caps).
M I S C EL L A N EO U S PO I N TS
• Use Asia–Pacific (en rule; not Asian-Pacific) and South-East Asia (initial caps; hyphen).
• Use Island(s) (do not abbreviate to Is.) and River(s) (do not abbreviate to Riv.).
• Use Mount (not Mt). Note that ‘yama’,‘dake’ and several other suffixes mean mountain in
Japanese; however, they should not be removed from the name unless it has been anglicized;
check with the author or leave as supplied (e.g. Mount Tanakami-yama but Mount Fuji).

A B B R E V I AT I O N S
American states
AK

Alaska

Idaho

Montana

Rhode Island

Alabama

Illinois

Nebraska

South Carolina

Arkansas

Indiana

North Carolina

South Dakota

Arizona

Kansas

North Dakota

Tennessee

California

Kentucky

New Hampshire

Texas

Colorado

Louisiana

New Jersey

Utah

Connecticut

Massachusetts

New Mexico

Virginia

District of Columbia

MD Maryland

Nevada

Vermont

Delaware

Maine

New York

Washington

Florida

Michigan

Ohio

Wisconsin

Georgia

MN Minnesota

Oklahoma

WV West Virginia

Hawaii

MO Missouri

Oregon

Iowa

Pennsylvania

Mississippi

Wyoming

Canadian provinces
AB
BC
MB
NB
NF
NS
NT

Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Nova Scotia
Northwest Territories

NU
ON
PE
QC
SK
YT

Nunavut
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon

Tas.
Vic.
WA

Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia

Australian states
NSW
NT
Qld
SA

New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia

UK regions and counties

You should usually delete region and county names from UK addresses, giving only the city or
town and the postcode. However, it will occasionally be necessary to give the county or region (e.g.
for rural addresses).

1.19 URLs in Text
C A P I TA L I Z AT I O N
• For consistency and ease of reading, always type URLs and email addresses in lower case
letters (e.g. www.blackwellpublishing.com; person@wiley.com). Both URLs and email
addresses are case-insensitive, but there is a clear international trend to present both in
all lower case text. In many other electronic contexts (e.g. Web searches), a capital letter
represents only the capital letter, whereas the lower case letter represents both, so it seems
sensible to retain the distinction for URLs and email addresses.
• There may be exceptions when the capitals have been used extensively in branding a website
(e.g. www.GastroHep.com).
P R EF E R R E D A D D R E SS ES
• ‘http://’ is needed in URLs in articles so that the link becomes live on Wiley InterScience.
• The ScholarOne Manuscripts URLs do not start with ‘www’, so the URL should be written in full;
e.g. http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ejn
• The ‘www’ part of a URL doesn’t appear at the start of all Web addresses, so when writing a
URL that does start with ‘www’, it cannot be left out.
• There are a few variants of the Company website URLs, but the preferred versions are as
follows:
www.wiley.com
www.blackwellpublishing.com
www.blackwellpublishing.com/
www3.interscience.wiley.com/
B R E A K IN G A U R L
• When a URL must be broken over a line in a printed work, breaking after a slash or double
slash is preferable.
• Try not to break after a dot, leaving the dot at the end of the line of text. Do not use hyphens to
break long words at the end of a line.
• A hyphen within a URL shouldn’t appear at the end of a line.
S ET TI N G O F F U R L S F R O M SU R R O U N D I N G T EX T
• Do not set off URLs with angle brackets, because angle brackets are used in some markup
languages.
• Do not underline URLs in printed text.
• Avoid placing punctuation directly after a URL, as it may be unclear whether the punctuation
is part of the URL.

PA RT 2 : D E A L I N G W I T H O T H E R M AT E R I A L
2.1 Electronic Submission
P R E PA R AT I ON O F EL E C TR ON I C A RT W O R K
• Authors should be asked to submit EPS (line art) or TIFF (half-tone/photographs) files only.
• For scanned images, the scanning resolution (at final image size) should be as follows to
ensure adequate reproduction: > 800 dots per inch (d.p.i.) for line art; > 300 d.p.i. for halftones; > 600 d.p.i. for figures containing both half-tone and line images.
• EPS files should be saved with fonts embedded (and with a TIFF preview if possible).
• Black and white images should be supplied as grayscale.
• Colour images should be supplied as CMYK, not RGB.
• Multipart figures should be supplied in the final layout in one file.
• For further details, see http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/digill.asp
• The following artwork packages give suitable quality formats when dealing with electronic
artwork and allow you to‘save as’ or ‘export’ as TIFF and EPS, the preferred standardized
formats:
Adobe Illustrator 7.0 and above (EPS)
Adobe Illustrator 9.0 (EPS; also export as TIFF)
CorelDRAW 7.0 and above (EPS)
Deneba Canvas 6.0 and above (EPS)
Adobe Photoshop 4.0 and above (TIFF)

2.2 Disks
• CDs and floppy disks are both OK, but there is no current facility to process optical disks.
• Any word-processing format can be handled.
• The author must check that the final version of the hard copy and the file on the disk are the
same.

2.3 Artwork
There are many journal-specific requirements for artwork, so refer to your journal style sheet and,
if necessary, the ‘Instructions for Authors’ guidelines (usually on the inside back cover of the
journal). See ‘Electronic Submission’ for information on electronic artwork.
G E N E R A L C H EC K L I ST
• Do the figures match the legends?
• What level of intervention is appropriate for figures in this journal? (There is always a ‘cost
versus quality’ trade-off.)
• What reduction is appropriate for the figure? Consider (1) the size of any lettering and line
art, and (2) the column width of the journal.

• Do you need to add (a), (b), etc. to the various parts of the figure?
• Is the text in the figure legible and error-free?
• Do any tints, areas of shading, etc. have to be redrawn? After reproduction, fine tints may
become solid black, and light shading may disappear. A crude way to check whether this could
be a problem is to photocopy the figure at the appropriate reduction.
• Is the figure to be processed as colour? If so, special attention needs to be paid to the authors’
and editor’s requirements as money is often involved! There is a requirement in some journals
to minimize colour – please consult the Wiley-Blackwell production editor if you are unsure
whether or not colour is acceptable.

2.4 Tables
W H E N IS A TA B L E N O T A TA B L E ?
A table concisely presents numerical or factual information in a grid format. A table usually
contains at least two rows (including the column headings) and two columns; otherwise the
information may be better presented as a list. A ‘table’ containing graphics (e.g. arrows in a
flowchart) is probably better treated as a figure, although occasionally figures may be embedded in
tables (e.g. chemical structures); in this case, alert the typesetter to the fact that graphics need to be
dropped into the table.
F O R M AT T I N G
• Make sure column headings are aligned (using tabs) with the entries below them.
• The first word of an entry should normally have an initial capital.
• Complex tables may benefit from extra spaces between groups of rows (see example overleaf).
EDITING
• The table legend should usually be treated as a title, and should stand on its own as a
description of the content. It should contain only a brief, general description of what is shown
in the table. Details about methods, statistics and specific parts of the table (e.g.‘Standard
errors are given in parentheses’) should be confined to footnotes.
• Units should be given in column headings, rather than repeated for every entry in the body of
the table.
• Define any abbreviations in a footnote.
• See ‘Footnotes’ (1.10) for how to deal with table footnotes.
• Make sure that rules in hierarchical column headings are correct (i.e. that they span the
appropriate text).
• In the column or row headings, authors sometimes neglect to include the top level of the
hierarchy (i.e. they do not tell you what the numbers in the table actually are!).You may find
that this information has been included in the legend (e.g.‘leaf dry weight’ in the example
table overleaf).

BEFORE…
Table 1. Leaf dry weight of three pea varieties grown at different temperatures (g). Values
are given as means (n = 30). Within a column, means followed by the same letter are not
significantly different at P < 0.05, using the Tukey test. Heat events were introduced at
weekly intervals.
Varieties

EC-12876
EC-12876
EC-12876
P-116
P-116
P-116
T-163
T-163
T-163

Temperature

Days after sowing

Mean

18°C
22°C
25°C
18°C
22°C
25°C
18°C
22°C
25°C

35°C
38°C
38°C
35°C
38°C
38°C
35°C
38°C
35°C

0.40 a
0.52 a
1.35 b
0.54 a
0.75 a
0.22 a
0.08 a
2.34 c
0.31 a

3.88 a
0.43 b
5.36 a
0.48b
1.25b
2.07b
0.12a
2.44a
0.29 a

0.17 a
1.20 b
4.20 c
1.99 b
1.56 b
1.43 b
0.97 a
1.67 b
3.30c

… A N D A F T ER
Table 1. Leaf dry weights of three pea varieties grown at different temperatures.
Leaf dry weight (g)
Temperature (°C)

Days after sowing

Variety

Mean

EC-12876

18
22
25

35
38
38

0.40 a
0.52 a
1.35 b

3.88 a
0.43 b
5.36 a

0.17 a
1.20 b
4.20 c

P-116

18
22
25

35
38
38

0.54 a
0.75 a
0.22 a

0.48 b
1.25 b
2.07 b

1.99 b
1.56 b
1.43 b

T-163

18
22
25

35
38
35

0.08 a
2.34 c
0.31 a

0.12 a
2.44 a
0.29 a

0.97 a
1.67 b
3.30 c

Values are given as means (n = 30).
HE, heat event (introduced at weekly intervals).
Within a column, means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at
P < 0.05, using the Tukey test.

2.5 References
Check your journal style sheet for how to style references in the list and their citations in the text.
In general, there are two main systems, Harvard and Vancouver, although there are some hybrids
with features of both styles (e.g. alphabetical Vancouver).
H A R VA R D
Citations in the text take the form of author names and dates (e.g. Smith et al. 1990), and
references in the list are sorted alphabetically by author name.
In the text

Sort references in the text chronologically (e.g. Smith 1990; Jones 1995), and then alphabetically
within dates (e.g. Smith 1990; Brown 2001; Walton 2001).
For references with three or more authors, use the first author’s name and ‘et al.’ in the text (e.g.
Smith et al. 1990).
In the list

Sort references in the list alphabetically by first author, then by number of authors (one; two; three
or more), then chronologically within the one-author group, alphabetically within the two-author
group, and chronologically within the ≥ three-author group:
Smedley, P. (2002)
Smith, G. (1983)
Smith, G. (2001)
Smith, G. and Jones, B.N. (1997)
Smith, G. and Stevens, D. (1996)
Smith, G., Wheeler, A., Lawrie, S. and von Hoffman, C. (1992)
Smith, G., McDonald, D.W. and Jones, B.N. (1994)

If two or more references have the same first author and date, you must use ‘a’, ‘b’, etc. after the date
to distinguish them (e.g. Smith et al. 1990a). NB For two-author references, you need only do this if
both authors are the same.
Lower case particles are listed under the letter of the name proper but upper case particles under
the letter of the particle (e.g. da Silva under ‘S’ but Von Trapp under ‘V’).
VA N C O U V E R
• In straight Vancouver, references are numbered sequentially as they occur in the text.
Citations in the text take the form of superscript or parenthetical numbers, which refer the
reader to the references in the list. References in the list are ordered according to these
numbers.
• In alphabetical Vancouver, the references are ordered alphabetically in the list and then
numbered, and it is these numbers that appear in the text (so they will be out of sequence in
the text; e.g. reference 51 might come before reference 6).

38
In the text

Reference numbers are set as superscripts or within brackets (usually square brackets), depending
on the journal style. Superscripts should appear after,1 and square brackets within [1],
punctuation. Use en rules for ranges; e.g. [1,2,3,4] becomes [1–4] and 24,25,26 becomes 24–26.
In the list

Numbers in the list are set on the line.
1 Smith G, 1990
2 Author CD, 2001
E XA M PL E S O F R EF E R EN C E L I ST ST YL E
Check your journal style sheet for the style you should follow. These are just examples.
Article in journal
Author, A.B. & Author, B.C. (2000) Title of article. Journal Title in Italics in Full, 00 (Suppl. 2), 000–000.
Author, A.B. & Author, B.C. (2003) Title of article. Journal Title in Italics in Full, in press.

Article within conference proceedings or book
Author, A., Author, B., Author, C. et al. [if e.g. > 6] (2002) Title of article. In: A. G. Smith & C. H. Jones (eds),
Conference or Book Title in Italics, pp. 000–000. Publisher, City.

Book or conference proceedings
Smith, A.G. & Jones, C.H. (eds) (2002) Conference or Book Title in Italics. Publisher, City.
Book-Author, T. (1997) Book Title. Publisher, City.

Court cases
Adkins v Thomas Solvent Co., 440 Mich 293, 487 NW2d 715 (Mich 1992).

DOIs (digital object identifiers)
Mazmanian, S. K., Ton-That, H. & Schneewind, O. (2001) Sortase-catalysed anchoring of surface proteins to the
cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus. Molecular Microbiology, 40, 1049–1057. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.2001.02411.x

Government departments

Use the Department as the author, and The Stationery Office (HMSO before mid-1997), London
as the publisher.
Department of Health (1993) Caring for People: Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond. HMSO, London.

Institutions cited as authors

Institutions cited as authors should be given in abbreviated form where referred to in the text (e.g.
WHO 1989) and in abbreviated form (for the authors) and in full (for the publisher) in the
reference list:
WHO (1989) Fisheries Handbook. World Health Organization, Geneva.

Newspapers
Cracknell, D. and Porter, A. Brown set for new tax bombshell. Sunday Times, 31 August 2003, p.1.

39
Thesis
Author, J. (2002) Title of thesis. PhD Thesis, University, City.

URLs

Full reference details must be given along with the URL, i.e. authorship, year, title of
document/report and URL. If this information is not available, the reference should be removed
and only the web address cited in the text.
Smith A. (1999) Select committee report into social care in the community [WWW document]. URL
http://www.dhss.gov.uk/reports/report015285.html [accessed on 7 November 2003]

U N P U B L I S H ED R E F ER EN C E S
Unpublished references should only appear in the list if they are‘in press’. Otherwise, they should
be cited in the text only, and should give the authors’ names and (unless one of the authors is also
an author of the present article) their main institution and city to enable the reader to trace them
(do not give the article title or other details). Use e.g.‘unpublished results’, ‘manuscript in
preparation’ (in prep.),‘personal communication’ (pers. comm.) or ‘personal observations’ (pers.
obs.) depending on the context (e.g. authors of the present article can’t make a personal
communication with themselves!) and the journal style.
• ...was also found to be effective (S. Smith, University of Cardiff, Cardiff, unpublished results).
G E N E R A L R U L ES
• Avoid in litt. and op. cit. Use e.g.‘(Jones et al. 1958, cited in Smith 1990)’.
• Avoid ibid. (ibidem, as above) in the text and the list. The full details should be repeated.
• Initials should be spaced when they occur before the surname and closed up when they occur
after it.
• Jr, III, etc. go after the name and initials in both the text and the list (e.g. A. B. Author Jr;
Author A.B., III).
• Do not give the total page extents of books and theses in the list.
• Refer to the Index Medicus or the World List of Scientific Periodicals for the correct way to
abbreviate a journal title.
C H E C K IN G R EF E R EN C ES
References can be checked at the following sites:
• Pubmed: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/citmatch.html
• Medline: http://intapp.medscape.com/px/medlineapp/medline?cid=med&adv=1

2.6 Commercial Products
Any commercial product mentioned in the text (e.g. equipment, drugs or computer software)
should be accompanied at first mention by the name, city and (US) state/country of the company
that made it (usually in parentheses). Add a query to the author if this information is missing.
• …incubated in the basal broth medium Easy-Grow (Biology Solutions, Boston, MA, USA)…

2.7 Permissions
• Authors must have written permission to reproduce figures, tables or any other material from
another source. This also applies to data from which a figure or table has been produced. If
you suspect that an author has taken material from another source, but either has not
acknowledged this or has supplied incomplete information, add a query (we assume that
authors have followed their responsibility to seek permission – refer them to our Copyright
Assignment Form).
• Acknowledge sources in figure and table legends in the format ‘Reproduced from Smith et al.
(1990), with permission from Mercat Press’. Some publishers may require the use of a
particular copyright line. Make sure that there is a reference to the source of the material – ask
the author to supply one if there is not.
• Photographs of equipment or company products should be checked for reference to the
manufacturer. It may be necessary to obtain permission for their use, particularly if the
product is referred to in a negative light.

2.8 Appendices
Appendices contain extra material (usually tables, lists, equations or lengthy sections of text) and
should be placed at the very end of the article.
• The style of appendices varies from journal to journal, but generally they are headed e.g.
‘Appendix 1’ and cited in the main body of the text as you would cite a figure or table.
Equations in appendices are numbered separately (e.g. Eqn A1, etc.).
• An appendix may have its own reference list.
• Supporting information (in the online publication) is now replacing appendices in many
journals.

PA RT 3 : S U B J E C T- S P E C I F I C S T Y L E S
3.1 Scientific Names
The scientific name of a species is known as a binomen (zoology) or binomial (botany). There are
differences in the naming conventions of animals, plants, bacteria and viruses (see Scientific Style
and Format for detailed naming conventions and style for each kingdom, or the individual codes –
listed below), but below are the basic guidelines.
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria
International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature
• Genus and species names are presented in italics (e.g. Caenorhabditis elegans) and they have
singular endings. Higher taxa (i.e. family, order, class, phylum and kingdom) are set in roman
type with an initial capital (e.g. Coleoptera,
Insecta and Rosaceae). These taxa have plural
Common modifiers
endings.
ssp. subspecies
sp. n. species nova
• Modifiers to species names are presented in
cv.
cultivar
var. variety
roman after the species name and are always
×
cross (hybrid)
abbreviated.
• Spell out genus and species names in full at
the first citation in the Abstract and text
(e.g. Bufo marinus); abbreviate genus names thereafter (e.g. B. marinus – note the full point
and thin space after the abbreviated genus name). However, use the full name at the start of
paragraphs, in tables, and whenever there could be ambiguity if the abbreviated name is used.
If two genera with the same initial letter are referred to, it may be beneficial to use partial
genus abbreviations (e.g. Picea abies ➝ Pi. abies and Pinus sylvestris ➝ P. sylvestris;
Staph. aureus and Strep. faecalis). Alternatively, use the full name to make it clear which genus
each species belongs to. If a new species of the same genus as another, already cited species is
introduced, the full name of the new species (i.e. repeat the genus name) should be given at its
first citation (e.g. if Xenopus laevis has already been named, you still need to spell out Xenopus
at the first mention of Xenopus tropicalis).
• Adjectives and nouns derived from genus names become roman with a lower case initial (e.g.
Felis ➝ feline, Libellula ➝ libellulids, Streptococcus ➝ streptococcal infection). Those derived
from higher taxonomic groups also begin with a lower case letter and are presented in roman
(e.g. Ostracoda ➝ ostracods, Cactaceae ➝ cacti).
• A scientific name given at its first mention after a vernacular name should be separated from
it by a comma if the two names are exact synonyms (e.g. …the two-spotted cricket, Gryllus
bimaculatus,…) but not if the vernacular name may apply to more than one species (e.g. the
starfish Asterina pectinifera, the medaka Oryzias latipes).
• The genus name is sometimes referred to alone, even in titles (e.g. Xenopus, Asterina), but the
species name cannot be (laevis, pectinifera). Species within a genus can be referred to in
general terms by the abbreviations sp. (singular) or spp. (plural) after the genus name (e.g.
Xenopus sp.).

AUTHORITIES
The ‘authority’ of a scientific name is the name of the person who originally classified the species.
It is particularly important to include the authority if there is some controversy about the
classification.
L. (Linnaeus)
the most well-known
• The authority should be given at first
authority
mention of the species, set in roman after
(e.g. Parage aegeria L.)
the scientific name (e.g. Anthomyza elbergi
gen. & sp. indet.
‘genus and species
Andersson). Alternatively, a reference
indeterminate’
may be cited.
(no need to define)
• If a date of classification is given with the
authority, it should be separated from the
authority by a comma (e.g. Anthomyza bellatrix Roháçek, 1984).
• When a species or subspecies is transferred to a genus other than that in which it was first
classified, the original authority is placed in parentheses. In botany and microbiology, the
authority of the new combination follows and is not placed in parentheses [e.g. Calluna
vulgaris (L.) Hull, Shigella dysenteriae (Shiga) Castellani & Chalmers]. In zoology, the
authority of the new combination is not given [e.g. Lepomis gulosus (Cuvier)].
B A C T E R IA N A M E S
• Names of all bacterial taxa are italicized [e.g. Pseudomonadales (order), Pseudomonadaceae
(family), Pseudomonas (genus), etc.].
• Some organisms that cannot be differentiated taxonomically at the level of subspecies are
given the infrasubspecific designations pathovars (pv.), biovars (b.), serovars (sv.), phagovars,
chemovars and morphovars.
• Vernacular names of bacteria are always set in roman lower case (e.g. mycobacteria,
salmonella, klebsiellae).
V IR U S N A M ES
• Virus names end in virales (order), viridae (family) virinae (subfamily) and virus (genus).
They do not follow normal binomial naming.
• Approved (by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses) international names for
orders, families, subfamilies and genera are set in italics with initial capitalization. The name
of the taxon should precede the term in formal use (e.g. the family Paramyxoviridae, the genus
Orthopoxvirus).
• Names that have not yet been approved and vernacular names are set in lower case roman
(e.g. maize dwarf mosaic virus, herpes simplex virus type I, rhabdovirus, yellow fever virus).
Virus names are also set in roman when used in an adjectival form. Be careful not to jump
hierarchical levels in vernacular usage (because it is not always easy to identify which level is
being referred to): add taxon identification wherever needed.
• The first letter of a proper noun or proper adjective incorporated into the name of a virus is
capitalized (e.g. West Nile virus). If part of the vernacular name incorporates a Latin name,
the Latin name is capitalized and italicized.
R E C O M M E N D E D TE XT S
Council of Biology Editors (1994) Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors,
and Publishers, 6th edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
© 2007 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

3.2 Aquaculture and Veterinary Science
A Q U A C U LT U R E
Names of organisms should be given in full, i.e. common name and Latin name with authority,
when cited for the first time. Latin names should be given in italics.
Use of parentheses in scientific names follows strict protocols, and generally what is supplied will
be correct [e.g. Boops boops (L.) but Gadus morhua L.].
Common terms
a.s.l.
m.s.l.
CPUE

above sea level
mean sea level
catch per unit effort

fish
fishes

plural for one species
plural for multiple species

I
IG
IH
L
LF
LS
LT

index
gonado-somatic index
hepato-somatic index
length
fork length
standard length
total length

R E C O M M E N D E D TE XT S
American Fisheries Society Special Publication No. 20, A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the
United States and Canada.
For fishes occurring in British waters, give precedence to Wheeler A. (1992) A list of the common and scientific
names of fishes of the British Isles. Journal of Fish Biology 41, Supplement A.
www.fishbase.org

V E T E R I N A RY S C I EN C E
Common abbreviations
ALS
CI
CO
CPCR
CVP
DAP
DSH
FE′CO2
FeLV
FHV-1
FIV
g
H&E
IO
IOP

advanced life support
cardiac index
cardiac output
cardiopulmonary cerebral
resuscitation
central venous pressure
diastolic arterial pressure
Domestic Short Hair
end tidal carbon dioxide
feline leukemia virus
feline herpes virus
feline immunodeficiency virus
not rpm or rev min–1
haemotoxylin and eosin stain
intraosseus
intraocular pressure

IT
LDPI
MAP
MHC
OD
OD
OS
OU
PACO2
PaCO2
PV
PVR
RAU
SAP
SVR
w/v

intratracheal
laser Doppler perfusion imaging
mean arterial pressure
major histocompatibility complex
optical density
right eye
left eye
both eyes
partial pressure of alveolar carbon dioxide
partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide
papillomaviruses
pulmonary vascular resistance
relative antibody unit
systolic arterial pressure
systemic vascular resistance
weight/volume

• Q12 hours, Q8 hours, Q24 hours (every 12 hours, every 8 hours, every 24 hours)

3.3 Linguistics
Follow either the style of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or that of the American
Psychological Association (APA):
• http://www.apastyle.org/aboutstyle.html
• http://www.mla.org

3.4 Business, Economics, Maths and Statistics
B U S I N ES S A N D E C O N O M I C S
Common terms
APT
arbitrage pricing theory
the Bank of England (also just ‘the Bank’)
BEA
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Bear-Sterns
below-market performers
bertrand competition
book-to-market adjustments
buy-and-hold strategy
CAP
Common Agricultural Policy
CPI
consumer price index
cut-and-run behaviour (but to cut and run)
DAX100
DF
Dickey–Fuller test
DTI
Department of Trade and Industry
ECB
European Central Bank
EMU
European Monetary Union
EPO
European Patent Office
ERM
exchange rate mechanism
formulas (not formulae)
FTSE100
GATT general agreement on trade and tariffs
GDP
gross domestic product
GNP
gross national product
IMF
International Monetary Fund
IRPP
Institute for Research on Public Policy
London’s Seaq

London Stock Exchange
LOOP law of one price
Nasdaq
Nikkei 225
NYSE New York Stock Exchange
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development
OPEC Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries
ROW
rest of world
RPI
Retail Price Index (in UK)
RTAs
regional trade agreements
S&L
S&P 500
SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission
spillover (n.)
spin-off (n.)
t-statistics
t-value
takeoff (n.)
tip-off (n.)
trade-off (n.)
turnover (n.); turn over (v.)
VAR
vector autoregression
WTO
World Trade Organisation

M AT H S
Equations

• Simple equations should run on in the text and should be punctuated as part of the sentence
(e.g.‘...was calculated as h = a + B2’). Complex equations should be displayed for clarity. Note
that reactions and inequalities should be neither referred to nor numbered as equations.
• Even for displayed equations, definitions of symbols should run on in the normal sentence
structure within the text:
s = 1 – [n(2 + y)],
where s is the growth rate, n is the number of cells...

• The order of brackets should be <{[( )]}>.
• If an equation (displayed) runs over more than one line, line breaks should occur before a
relational sign (i.e. =, >, ⊃, ∉, ∝, etc.). The turnover line should then be aligned with previous
relational signs. Breaks can also occur before operational signs (i.e. +, –, ±, ×, ÷, ∑, etc.); the
turnover line then aligns to the right of the relational sign.
• Operational and relational signs have fixed thin spaces on either side of them (e.g. x + y).
• Fractions in run-on equations can be represented by use of a solidus [e.g. x/(y + 1)] to prevent
disruption to the line of text above. Parentheses often need to be added when converting
fractions to the solidus form.
• The radical (root sign) is set using the symbol (√) or a superscript index (–1/2), rather than
taking a line (vinculum) across the whole equation. This is most important in run-on
equations to prevent disruption to the line of text above.
Formatting
For

Use

Examples

Variables
Constants
Functions and operators
Modifiers
Scalars
Vectors
Tensors

Italics
Roman
Roman
Roman, subscript
Italics
Italics, bold (sometimes arrow over letter)
Sans serif, italics

x-axis, n, χ2
e, π
f, exp, log, sin
dE, na, nair
A, V, M
a, AB, eb
T, T:S

Functions and operators
ad
arg
cos
cosh
cov
det
dim
E
EU
exp

adjoint
argument
cosine
hyperbolic cosine
covariance
determinant
dimension
expectation
expected utility
exponential

GL
inf
lim
ln
log
max
min
mod
prob

general linear
infimum
limit
natural logarithm
logarithm
maximum
minimum
modulus
probability

s.t.
sin
sinh
sup
tan
tanh
tr
var
trn

subject to
sine
hyperbolic sine
supremum
tangent
hyperbolic tangent
trace
variance
transition

S TAT I S T I C S
Statistical tests
ANOVA (analysis of variance)

F-test

Student’s t-test

ANCOVA (analysis of covariance)

Mann–Whitney U-test

χ2-test (chi-squared test)

MANOVA (multiple analysis of variance)

46
Common abbreviations
CI
CL
d.f.
F
Fx,y
LSD
n
ND
NS

confidence interval
confidence limits
degrees of freedom
variance ratio
variance ratio, where x and y are d.f.
least significant difference
number of observations
not done
not significant

OR
P
r
RMS
SD
SE
SEM
x

odds ratio
probability (always abbreviate)
coeffient of variation
root mean square
standard deviation
standard error
standard error of the mean
average/mean

R E C O M M E N D E D TE XT S
AMS (1986) Mathematics into Type (rev. edn). American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI.

3.5 Computing and Engineering
COMPUTING
Programming languages should be given in CAPS; software names in SMALL CAPS.
Common terms
Apple
BASIC
BIOSYS-1
BLAST, BLASTX
CD-ROM
CELLSIM
CLUSTALX
COBOL
DECORANA

disk

email
FORTRAN
GenBank

MS-DOS
PASCAL

Microsoft

PAUP

Access

GLM

program
Prolog

Excel

Google
IBM
Internet
Lotus 1-2-3
Macintosh
MEDLINE

Outlook

SPSS

TreeView
URL
WordPerfect

PowerPoint
Word

ENGINEERING
Common terms
COD
EIFS
ERS
FEM
HCF

crack opening displacement
equivalent initial flaw size
enhanced reference stress
finite element method
high cycle fatigue

LBB
LCF
RS
SCF
SEM

leak-before-break
low cycle fatigue
reference stress
stress concentration factor
scanning electron microscope

3.6 Law
• The official title of the Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. US Supreme
Court is acceptable. Supreme Court is also acceptable if the context is clear (e.g. the article
does not make frequent references to state supreme or other courts). Do not use United States
Supreme Court.

• Washington, D.C. – use comma and periods.
• Case names should be in italics.
Initial capitals

Lower case

Court, Bench, Justice, Term, Brethren and
Chambers when referring to the Supreme Court

court in references to lower courts

Attorney General, Solicitor General, President,Vice
President and Cabinet-level titles

ambassador, judge, assistant attorney general, etc. –
i.e. any national position under Cabinet level; any
state position

Progressive Era, Federalist, Anti-Federalist and
Prohibition

presidents or chairmen of commissions or
companies

Framers of the Constitution and Founding Fathers

‘party’ when referring to a political party

Amendments to the Constitution and clauses
within the Constitution (e.g. First Amendment,
Commerce Clause)

government and parliamentary as adjectives

Useful websites

Modern Law Review website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/law/modernLawReview.htm
http://www.law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter/styleinfo.html
http://dictionary.law.com/

3.7 Life and Physical Sciences
Note: for general biology, see also general medicine.
C H E M I S T RY / B I O C H E M I S T RY
Common terms
C4, C3
carbon-4 pathway, carbon-3 pathway
chlorophyll a, b, c
cissame side
D
dextro
facfacial
fMet
formylmethionine
G1, G0,
phases of cell cycle
S, G2, M
gemgeminal
Hb
haemoglobin
Michaelis constant
Km
L
laevo
m
meta
M
molar
mermeridional
N
normal concentration
n
normo

N
o
O
p
P680
P700
PGA1/PGA2
Pi
pK, pH
R
S
T4
trans
vicVmax
v/v
w/v

substituted nitrogen but N-terminus,
C-terminus
ortho
sub-oxygen
para
photosystem II [photosynthesis]
photosystem I [photosynthesis]
prostaglandin A1/A2
inorganic orthophosphate
recto
sinister
bacteriophage
opposite side
vicinal
maximal rate
volume in volume
weight in volume

48
Useful website

• Standard nomenclature and symbols can be found at:
http://www.chem.qmw.ac.uk/iubmb/nomenclature/
E C OL O G Y
Vegetation classifications/plant community assemblages

• The UK National Vegetation Classification (NVC) scheme (co-ordinated by J. S. Rodwell)
uses an en rule between species names, which are italicized (e.g. Phragmites australis–
Peucedanum palustre tall herb fen).
• The phytosociological classifications (continental European) scheme (J. Braun-Blanquet)
uses a hyphen between class names, which are not italicized (e.g. Class Oxycocco-Sphangetea,
Order Sphagnetalia magellanici, Alliance Sphagnion magellanici, and PallavicinioSphagnetum).
Common terms
blowdowns
capture–mark–recapture
cold-water species
DEFRA, Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs (was MAFF, Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food)
flood-plain alder forests (but ‘on the floodplain’)
medium- and high-light treatments
nutrient-poor or nutrient-rich habitats
plant functional type (PFT)
post-dispersal

quadrat, not quadrate
relative growth rate (RGR)
root : shoot ratio
root–shoot allocation
semi-arid
semi-natural
subalpine
sub-blocks
subpopulation
tree line (not tree-line or treeline)

GENETICS
For

Use

Examples

Gene abbreviations

Italics

lacA, ampr

Protein abbreviations

Roman

LacA

Phenotypes

Roman

Lac+

Transposons

Roman

Tn5

•
•
•
•
•
•

Restriction endonucleases: HindIII, HinfI, EcoRI, MboI, etc.
Strains of mice: BALB/c, C57B1/6, BD/V, BD/IX, LEW, etc.
Always abbreviate: mtDNA, mRNA, rRNA, tRNA
R388::Tn1721 represents transposon Tn 1721 encoding gene R388
Chromosome locations: 6q22-24, 11p15.5
DNA sequence: 5´-ATCGGAG-3´

49
Common terms
AFLP

amplified fragment length
polymorphism
bp
base pairs
BLAST
basic linear alignment sequence tool
bloodmeal not blood meal
CAPS
cleaved amplified polymorphic
sequence
Da
daltons (not d)
FISH
fluorescence in situ hybridization
first filial generation
F1
second filial generation
F2
key genetic sequence
(GATA)4
GBA
genetic bit analysis
expected heterozygosity
HE
observed heterozygosity
HO
IAM
infinite allele model
ITS
internal transcribed spacer
kb
kilobases (e.g. 10.3-kb fragment)
Mb
megabase (a unit of length for DNA
fragments)
relative molecular mass
Mr
Nei’s value
Ne, Nem

ORF
PAGE
PCR
QTL
r

RAPD
RecA–
RFLP
RT
SMM
SNP
SPAR
ssDNA
SSOP
SSP
SSR
TcR, ApR
TDT
TGF
UTR

open reading frame
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
polymerase chain reaction
quantitative trait loci
recombinant (e.g. lacr)
random amplified polymorphic DNA
recombinant strain; but recA is a gene
restriction fragment length
polymorphism
reverse transcriptase
stepwise-mutation model
single nucleotide polymorphism
single primer amplification reaction
single-stranded DNA
sequence-specific oligonucleotide
probes
sequence-specific primers
single sequence repeat
antibiotic resistance
transmission/disequilibrium test
transforming growth factor
untranslated region

Useful websites

• Birgid Schlindwein’s Hypermedia Glossary of Genetic Terms:
http://hal.weihenstephan.de/genglos/asp/genreq.asp?list=1
• The Laboratory of Statistical Genetics at Rockefeller University:
http://linkage.rockefeller.edu/wli/glossary/genetics.html
• National Genome Research Institute:
http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm
GEOLOGY
Websites for glossaries

http://college.hmco.com/geology/resources/geologylink/glossary.html
http://www.evcforum.net/WebPages/Glossary_Geology.html
P L A N T S C I EN C ES
Light

In general, use units based on energy for heat or energy balance; use units based on photons for
photochemical processes such as photosynthesis or photomorphogenesis. The waveband over
which measurements are made should be specified [e.g. energy fluence rate (irradiance) of
650 W m–2 over the waveband 300–1000 nm; photosynthetic photon fluence rate (PPFR) of
720 µmol m–2 s–1 over the waveband 400–700 nm].

50
Units based on photons or energy
Recommended nomenclature

Units

Near-equivalent terms

Based on photons
Quantity of photons
Photon fluence
Photon rate
Photon fluence rate

mol
mol m–2
mol s–1
mol m–2 s–1

Photon density
Photon flow; Photon flux
Photon flux density; Photon irradiance

Based on energy
Radiant energy
Energy fluence
Energy rate
Energy fluence rate

J (W s)
J m–2 (W s m–2)
J s–1 (W)
J m–2 s–1 (W m–2)

Energy density
Energy flow; Energy flux; Radiant flux
Irradiance; Energy flux density
Radiant flux density

Common terms
chlorophyll a and b or Chl a and b
cytochrome c or cyt c
d. wt
dry weight
EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
f. wt
fresh weight
initial fluorescence
Fo
FV : FM the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence
stomatal conductance to CO2
gc
gs
stomatal conductance to water vapour
glasshouse or controlled environment room not greenhouse
HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography
mycorrhiza formation or mycorrhiza development not mycorrhization
mycorrhizas not mycorrihae for plural of mycorrhiza
PAR
photosynthetically active radiation
photo usually closed up (e.g. photoprotective, not photo-protective)
PSI
photosystem I
PSII
photosystem II
UV-A, UV-B not UVA, UVB
vesicular–arbuscular
WUE
water-use efficiency
xanthi (always roman)

Soil classifications
The names of units of the
USDA Soil Taxonomy should
begin with upper case initials.
The hierarchy is as follows:
Order (e.g. Spodosols)
Suborder (e.g. Orthods)
Great Groups (e.g. Fragiorthods)
Subgroups (e.g. Typic
Fragiorthods)
Families
Series
The FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the
World is divided into World Classes
(e.g. Fluvisols, Lithosols, Podzols,
Redzinas, Chernozems, Phaeozems),
which are divided into Soil Units.

3.8 Medicine
G E N E R A L M ED IC I N E
Drug names have recently changed; most now take American spellings (e.g. ganciclovir, not
gancyclovir), with very different original names in brackets [e.g. epinephrine (adrenaline)].

51
Common terms
α-interferon, γ-interferon but IFN-α, IFN-γ when
abbreviated
AIDS
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
BNF
British National Formulary
BSA
bovine serum albumin
BU
Bethesda units
CHD
coronary heart disease
CNS
central nervous system
COPD
chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder
c.p.m.
counts per minute
CSF
cerebrospinal fluid
CT
computed tomography
CVD
cerebrovascular disease
DBP
diastolic blood pressure
DMEM
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s minimal
essential medium
dose–response curve
EBSS
Eisen’s balanced salt solution
EBV
Epstein–Barr virus
EC
Enzyme Commission
EC
effective concentration
ECL
enhanced chemiluminescence
50% effective dose
ED50
EDTA
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
EEG
electroencephalogram
EGTA
ethyleneglycoltetraacetic acid
ELISA
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
EMBL
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Escherichia coli (E. coli)
FACS
fluorescence-activated cell sorter
(FACScan)
FasL
Fas ligand
FB
fast blue
FCA
Freund’s complete adjuvant
FCS
fetal calf serum
FDA
Food and Drug Administration (US)
FITC
fluorescein isothiocyanate
GI
gastrointestinal
HAART
highly active antiretroviral therapy
haematoma/hamartoma are often confused
H&E
haematoxylin and eosin
HDL
high-density lipoprotein
HIV
human immunodeficiency virus
high-performance liquid
HPLC
chromatography
hyperkalaemic
ICU
intensive care unit

IDDM

Ig
IL
i.m.
INR
IU
i.v.
LD50
LDL
LOS, LES
LPS
mAb
MEM
mmHg
MW
NICE

insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
(but WHO recommends use of the term
‘type 1 diabetes’ instead)
immunoglobulin
interleukin
intramuscular(ly)
international normalized ratio
international units
intravenous(ly)
lethal dose 50%
low-density lipoprotein
lower (o)esophageal sphincter
lipopolysaccharide
monoclonal antibody
minimal essential medium

molecular weight
National Institute for Clinical
Excellence
NOS
nitric oxide synthase
NSAID
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drug
OD
optical density
PBMC
peripheral blood mononuclear cells
PBS
phosphate-buffered saline
PCR
polymerase chain reaction
PET
positron emission tomography
prostaglandin A1
PGA1
p.o.
per os (orally)
PRP
platelet-rich plasma
q.d.s./q.i.d. four times daily
QoL
quality of life
RNAse
(not RNase) deoxyribonuclease
RPMI-1640 (no need to define)
RR
relative risk
SBP
systolic blood pressure
s.c.
subcutaneous(ly)
t.d.s./t.i.d. three times daily
TEQ
toxic equivalents
TG
triglyceride
TNF
tumour necrosis factor (usually a)
tumour stages: stage I, stage II, etc.
VCAM
vascular cell adhesion molecule
VF
ventricular fibrillation
w/v
weight/volume
X ray (n.), X-ray (v., adj.)

ANAESTHESIOLOGY
Variables
C
concentration in liquid
F
fractional concentration
P
pressure
Q
volume (blood)
V
volume (gas)
Gas modifiers (subscript)
A
alveolar
B
barometric
D
deadspace
E
expired
I
inspired
T
total (tidal)

General modifiers
.
first time derivative
–
mean (over variable)
–
mixed (over gas)
´
end value
Blood modifiers (subscript)
a
arterial
b
blood (general)
c
capillary
p
pulmonary
s
shunt
t
total (of CO)
v
venous

Examples

Pa
.
VCO2
PAN2
FECO2
Ca´O2

mean arterial pressure
production rate of CO2
pressure of N2 in alveolar gas
fraction CO2 in mixed expired gas
end-tidal O2 concentration in arterial blood

Common terms
ARDS

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
(use initial caps for full term)
not bpm
b min–1
CBF
cerebral blood flow
CPP
cardiopulmonary pressure
CPR
cardiopulmonary resuscitation
endtidal
not end tidal
EPS
electrophysiological studies
epinephrine not adrenaline
forced expiratory volume in 1 s
FEV1
FVC
forced vital capacity
HR
heart rate
IPPV
intermittent positive pressure ventilation
IRDS
Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome
laryngotracheo-oesophageal cleft not laryngotracheo-oesophageal cleft
LVdP/dt
rate of change of left ventricle pressure
nasopharyngeal
not PECO2
PECO2
PEEP
positive end-expired pressure
RA, RV
right atrium, right ventricle
RFA
radiofrequency ablation
TCAD
tricyclic antidepressant drugs
TOF
train of four

No need to define
ASA
ASA PS
AV
CVP
EMLA cream
LMA
MAC
NIBP
PO

American Society of
Anesthesiologists
ASA physical status
atrioventricular
central venous pressure
PECO2
laryngeal mask airway
minimum alveolar concentration
non-invasive blood pressure
per oral

No need to provide manufacturer for LMA or
Tuohy needle

H A E M AT O L O G Y
Common terms
APTT
AT
BUN
CRP
CVP
DDAVP

activated partial thromboplastin time
antithrombin
blood urea nitrogen
C-reactive protein
central venous pressure
1-8-deamino-d-arginine vasopressin
(also known as desmopressin)
DIC
disseminated intravascular coagulation
DVT
deep vein thrombosis
factor (F)V Leiden
FVII
factor VII
GPI
glycophosphatidylinositol
haemophilia A, haemophilia B
INR
international normalized ratio
LMWH low molecular weight heparin
MCV
mean corpuscular volume
PCF
platelet contractile force

Drug names
Note use of capitals and trademarks (superscript).
beneFix®
Haemate-P
Kogenate®
FEIBATM
Havrix®
NovoSeven®

PCV
packed cell volume
PE
pulmonary embolism
PT
prothrombin time
PTT
partial thromboplastin time
Rco
Ristocetin co-factor (not RcoF)
rFVIIa recombinant factor VIIa
TED
thromboembolic disease
TGT
thrombin generation time
TIA
transient ischaemic attack
TM
thrombomodulin
von Willebrand disease, not von Willebrand’s disease
(type 1, 2A, 2B, 3); VWD, not vWD.
von Willebrand factor, not von Willebrand’s factor;
VWF, not vWF.
VPC
ventricular premature contractions
VTE
venous thromboembolism

OctanolTM

O B ST E TR I C S A N D G YN A EC O L O G Y
Common abbreviations
CIN
cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
FIGO International Federation of Gynecologic
Oncology (no need to give in full)
HPV
human papillomavirus
LOH
loss of heterozygosity
LVSI
lymphvascular space invasion (not
lymphovascular)
SCC
squamous cell carcinoma
VAIN
vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia
VIN
vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia

Common terms
birthweight (not birth weight)
bottle-feed
breastfeed
breastmilk
gynaecology (UK spelling)
gynecology (US spelling)
Kaplin-Meier
Pap test
paraprofessional

IMMUNOLOGY
Antiantibody
antimicrobial
antiserum
antitetanus

Immunoglobulin heavy chains
anti-goat
anti-human
anti-mouse
anti-rabbit

IgA
IgD
IgE

α
δ
ε

IgG
IgM

γ
µ

Common terms
ADCC

antibody-dependent cell-mediated
cellular cytotoxicity
αIL-4
anti-interleukin-4
Antigens: Der p III, Der f III
APC
antigen-presenting cell
autoantigen, autoimmune
C3
the third component of complement
CALL
common acute lymphocytic leukaemia
CD45RO+
CD8+ CD4+ (thin space between parts)
CDR
complementarity determining region
cIgM
cytoplasmic immunoglobulin G
CMC
cell-mediated cytotoxicity
CTL
cytotoxic T lymphocyte
CTLA
cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen
DLN
draining lymph nodes
EIA
enzyme immunoassay
F(ab´)2
Fab´
(no brackets if not a dimer)
FLI
Fos-like immunoreactivity
GM-CSF granulocyte–macrophage colonystimulating factor
gp60
glycoprotein 60

GVH
H-2
HDL
HLA
[3H]TdR
I-Ab
ICAM-1
LCL
mAb
MACS
MHC
MIP
MOI
NK
PMN
TCGF
TCR
TDL
TGF
Th
TNF-α
TRF

graft-versus-host
mouse version of MHC
high-density lipoprotein
human leucocyte antigen
[3H]thymidine
(not I-Ab)
intercellular adhesion molecule type 1
lymphoblastoid cell line
monoclonal antibody
magnetic antibody cell sorting
major histocompatibility complex
macrophage inflammatory protein or
medial intraparietal (area)
multiplicity of infection
natural killer
polymorphonuclear cells/leucocytes
T-cell growth factor (= IL-2)
T-cell receptor (not TcR)
thoracic duct lymphocytes
transforming growth factor
T helper (Th1 never Th-1 or Th 1)
tumour necrosis factor-α
T-cell replacing factor

PHARMACOLOGY
Devices, products and drugs

At first mention of a device, product or drug, give its generic name (in lower case; e.g.
amoxycillin) followed (in parentheses) by its brand name (with initial capitals; e.g. Amoxil)
and the manufacturer’s name, city and state (include Inc., Corp., Ltd and Co.). Trademark (™)
symbols are not used unless referring to a registered trademark (®), and then only at first mention.
• A siliastic catheter (Catheter X, Manufacturer, City, State) was used.
• Patients were given furosemide (Lasix, Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Somerville,
NJ).
In all subsequent references, only the generic name of the device, product or drug should be used,
unless a clear distinction is being made between two or more such products with different brand
names.

55
Dosage/dose

• A dosage is a regimen, usually expressed as a quantity per unit of time. Always abbreviate
b.i.d., t.i.d., q.i.d. (two, three and four times daily, respectively) and h.s. (hora somni, at
bedtime).
• A dose is a quantity to be administered.
Abbreviations

• In drug administration, always abbreviate i.d. (intradermal), i.m. (intramuscular), i.p.
(intraperitoneal), i.v. (intravenous), p.o. (per os, oral), p.r. (per rectum, rectal), s.c.
(subcutaneous) and s.l. (sublingual).
• Abbreviations for drugs and other humoral mediators use a roman or Greek character with
an additional alphanumeric or numeric designator (usually subscript) [e.g. α1A, α1B (alphaadrenoceptors); D1, D2 (dopamine receptors)].
Common terms
AUC0–24

area under the concentration–time
curve
measured from t = 0 to t = 24 h (mg h/L)
absorption-rate coefficient
elimination-rate coefficient

α
β
beta-blocker
β-adrenoceptor
maximum concentration (of a drug)
Cmax
Cl
clearance (L/h)
D
dose (mg)
median effective dose (mg)
ED50

LD50
NSAIDs
pKa
Q
t1/2
t1/2α
t1/2β
Vd(area)
Vd(ss)

median lethal dose (mg)
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
dissociation coefficient
blood flow (L/h)
half-life
absorption half-life
elimination half-life
volume of distribution (L)
volume of distribution at steady state (L)

3.9 Nursing, Health and Dentistry
N U R S I N G , M I D W I F ERY A N D A L L IE D H E A LT H
Common terms
audiotape/videotape (n.), audio-/video-tape (v.),
audio-/video-taped (adj.)
birthweight (not birth weight)
bottle-feed
breastfeed/breastmilk
caregiver, caregiving
case finder, finding, manage, manager,
management, study but caseload, caseworker
day care
endpoint
firstborn
full-term/preterm
health care
healthcare (adj)
in utero (roman)
inpatient/outpatient
life span
life-event

Likert scale (5-point Likert scale)
low-birthweight/very low-birthweight
meta-analysis
NHS Modernisation Agency
NHS trust (generic), NHS Trust (specific)
Pap test
Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient
(with en rule, not hyphen)
pretest
primigravadas (pl.)
Registered Nurse (RN)
tape-record (v.), tape recorder, tape recording (n.),
tape-recorded (adj.)
well-being
wet nurse
World Health Organization (WHO)
or Organisation mondiale de la Santé (French)
or Organización Mundial de la Salud (Spanish)

Common abbreviations
ANA
APTs
CINAHL
DoH
ICN

American Nurses Association
Acute Pain Teams
Cumulative Index to Nursing and
Allied Health Literature
Department of Health (UK)
International Council of Nurses

ICNP®
NHS
NIH
PAHO

International Classification for Nursing
Practice
National Health Service (UK)
National Institutes of Health (US)
Pan American Health Organization

D E N T I S T RY
Common terms
ABL
AgNOR
BMD
CK
DMFT
dmft
GCF
GSTM
HGF
IGF-1
MMP

alveolar bone loss
argyrophilic nucleolar organizer
region
bone mineral density
cytokeratin
decayed, missing or filled permanent
teeth
decayed, missing or filled primary
teeth
gingival crevice fluid
glutathione S-transferase µ1
hepatocyte growth factor
insulin-like growth factor-1
matrix metalloproteinase

OHIP
oral health impact profile
OLP
oral lichen planus
OSCC
oral squamous cell carcinoma
PBL
problem-based learning
PDGF
platelet-derived growth factor
PGE2
prostaglandin E2
Sjögren’s syndrome
TGFß1
transforming growth factor ß1
TIMP
tissue inhibitor of matrix
metalloproteinase
TMD
temporomandibular disorder
TMJ
temporomandibular joint
TNF
tumour necrosis factor
VEGF
vascular endothelial growth factor

R E C O M M E N D E D TE XT S
Blackwell’s Dictionary of Nursing (1994). Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Zwemer T.J. (1998) Mosby’s Dental Dictionary. Mosby, London.

3.10 Social and Behavioural Sciences
GEOGRAPHY
See the section ‘Places’ in Part 1 of this guide.
Common terms
destination choice
distance-related
economies-of-scale
export-demand
export-sector
graph-theoretic
gross and net migration
in- and out-migration

interregional
intraregional
nonsurvey
per capita
policymaker
shortest-path
shortest-route/path
street-front

subarea
subnational
town-wide
tract-level geography
trade-area survey
worldwide

SOCIOLOGY
Please refer to the ‘Politically sensitive terms’ section of ‘English Usage and Grammar’ in Part 1 of
the guide. In particular, you should avoid gender bias and ethnic stereotyping.
DO use

DO NOT use

person, people and humankind

man, men and mankind

‘he or she’,‘her or him’,‘his or hers’
(varying the order occasionally)
or
change to plural ‘they’

‘he/she’,‘him/her’ and ‘his/hers’

PSYCHOLOGY
Please refer to the ‘Politically sensitive terms’ section of ‘English Usage and Grammar’ in Part 1 of
the guide.
Common terms
Asian American (n. and adj.)
Black
bipolar
bivariant
broad-based
covariance
Cronbach’s alpha
cross-cultural

cross section (n.); cross-sectional (adj.)
Likert
midlife (n.)
multiscale
neo-Freudian
sociocultural
well-being
White

58
Common abbreviations
ANOVA analysis of variance
BPI
Basic Personality Inventory
CECS Courtauld Emotional Control Scale

CES-D
DIF
WAI

Center for Epidemiology Depression Scale
differential item functioning
Weiberger Adjustment Inventory

R E C O M M E N D E D TE XT S
APA (2001) Publication Manual (5th edn). American Psychological Association, Washington, DC (available from
http://www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html).
ASA (1996) American Sociological Association Style Guide (2nd edn). American Sociological Association,
Washington, DC (available from the ASA Executive Office, 1307 New York Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC
20036, USA).

3.11 Resources for Journal Abbreviations
• Index Medicus
ftp://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/online/journals/ljiweb.pdf
• PubList (You need to register before using this one, but it’s free to do so.)
http://www.publist.com/
• ISI Journal Abbreviations Index
http://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/
• Guide to Journal Abbreviations
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/vetdocs/jnabbrev.htm

3.12 Recommended Reference Books
S TY L E M A N U A L S
The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers, 15th edn (2003)

by The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
• The ‘essential reference for authors, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers,
and publishers’ in all subject areas.
Copy-editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors and Publishers, 3rd edn (1992)

by J. Butcher. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Covers all aspects of the editorial process.
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd edn (1998)

by J. Gibaldi. The Modern Language Association of America, New York, NY.
• Guide for graduate students, teachers, and scholars in the humanities and for professional
writers in many fields.
The Oxford Guide to Style (2002)

by R. Ritter. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• A completely rewritten and expanded modern edition of Hart’s Rules for Compositors and
Readers.
• The ‘ultimate guide for all printers, publishers, and editors’.

59
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edn (2001)

by the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
• Style manual for behavioural and social sciences.
Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th edn (1995)

by E. J. Huth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Covers all sciences, not just biology and the medical sciences.
• Both US and UK preferences are recognised.
D I C T I ON A R I ES A N D R EF E R EN C E W O R KS
Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th edn

For standard UK spelling.
Macquarie Dictionary, 3rd edn

For standard Australian spelling.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edn

For standard US spelling.
American Psychological Association Publication Manual, 5th edn (2001)

American Psychological Association, Washington, DC (available from
http://www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html).
American Sociological Association Style Guide, 2nd edn (1996)

American Sociological Association, Washington, DC (available from the ASA Executive
Office, 1307 New York Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, USA).
Blackwell’s Dictionary of Nursing (1994)

Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Butterworths Medical Dictionary, 2nd edn (1978)

edited by M. Critchley. Butterworth, London.
Dictionary of Medical Acronyms and Abbreviations, 4th edn (2001)

by S. Jablonski. Hanley & Belfus, Philadelphia, PA.
A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds: Recommendations (1993)

by J.-C. Richer, R. Panico and W. H. Powell. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
See also http://www.iupac.org/dhtml_home.html
List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (published annually)

US Department of Health and Human Sciences, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
See also http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html
Mosby’s Dental Dictionary (1998)

edited by T. J. Zwemer. Mosby, London.
Mathematics into Type (1999)

by E. Swanson. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI.
Medical Directory (2003)

See http://www.informalaw.com/LPP863/?source=healthcare
Units, Symbols and Abbreviations: A Guide for Medical and Scientific Authors, 5th edn (1994)

edited by D. N. Baron. The Royal Society of Medicine Press, London.
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 27th edn (2000)

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Hagerstown, MD.
Who’s Who

See http://www.marquiswhoswho.com/

U S A G E G U I D ES
The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, 3rd edn (1998)

revised by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
The Elements of Style, 4th edn (2000)

by W. Strunk Jr and E. B. White. Allyn & Bacon, Needham Heights, MA.
Modern Australian Usage, 2nd edn (1997)

by N. Hudson. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Longman Guide to English Usage (1996)

by S. Greenbaum and J. Whitcut. Penguin, London.
G E N E R A L B OO K S
How to Copyedit Scientific Books and Journals (1986)

by M. O’Connor. ISI Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English (1996)

by P. T. O’Conner. Riverhead Books, New York, NY.
The New Print Production Handbook (1997)

by D. Bann. Little & Brown, London.
The Australian Editing Handbook (2001)

by E. Flann and B. Hill. Common Ground Publishing, Australia.
On Writing, Editing and Publishing, 2nd edn (1986)

by J. Barzun. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the ‘Define Editorial Standards’ project team (Patrick Baker, Helen Birchall, Erin
Bogle, Donna Cole, Maria Cusano, Ruth Gibb, Rachel Leslie, Kim Marello, Steve Raywood and
Ruth Swanney) who researched this guide, to Jane Farquharson for writing it and to Helen Holt
and Annie Wilson for proof-reading it.
We are indebted to Alice Franek and her colleagues in Asia for allowing us to make extensive use of
their excellent style guide. We are very grateful to all those who contributed to and commented on
earlier drafts of this guide.

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