Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF RADICALISM
In general, MSU Press journals follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. Following are
some of the most common stylistic situations that come up and how to handle them, as well as
terms or situations specific to JSR. For further information or when in doubt, please refer to
Chicago.
Format
 Pagination note: JSR pagination is not continuous; it begins anew with each issue.
 Spelling
o If more than one spelling is given in the dictionary, use the first. MSU Press uses
http://merriam-webster.com. (7.1)
o Follow American spelling, not British (e.g., color, not colour). (7.5)
 MSU Press uses no ligatures.
 e-mail, not email, E-mail (7.90.2); listserv, plural listservs
 Symbols
o Ampersand (&): Always spell out ―and‖ whether in text, notes, or ref. list.
o percent, not % symbol (9.19)

Epigraph
o Italicized text (no quotation marks), Roman source info (except for titles) (11.40)
 It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a
good fortune must be in want of a wife.
—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
 Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!
—Sir Walter Scott
Punctuation




Use serial commas: The flag is red, white, and blue. not The flag is red, white and blue.
Follow American punctuation, not British: ―quote ‗within‘ quote‖ not ‗quote ―within‖
quote‘
Periods and commas inside quotations marks, whether or not part of the quoted
material: She tried to explain ―American punctuation style,‖ but it‘s illogical and we
didn‘t understand. Colons and semicolons go outside: I said to her, ―Don‘t go outside‖;
she didn‘t like that.
Quotation marks: The following uses of quote marks are correct: quoting other sources,
word-as-word (see note below), and (sparingly) using a word or phrase in an unusual
way. Avoid other uses; quoting for emphasis is a common misuse of quotation marks.
o Epigraphs do not use quotation marks. (11.40)
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET





Possessive: Janis‘s (s), soldiers‘ (pl), John Adams‘s (s), the Adamses‘ (pl), Sentinels‘s
(group noun, s), United States‘ (pl). Exception: Jesus‘.
Word as word: Use quotation marks, not italic: They define ―causality‖ differently.
(7.62)
Ellipses:
o 3-dot method. Use three dots, with space before, between, and after, to indicate
any omission from the original. (11.55–56)
Initials and Personal Names
o Put a space between two or three initials of a person‘s name and use periods:
L. M. Montgomery, W. E. B. Du Bois (8.6)
o But when people are commonly known by their initials, use only the initials and
no spaces between: JFK (John F. Kennedy), FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
(15.12)
o No comma between name and Jr. or II, etc.: John Smith Jr., John Smith IV.
Race, ethnicity: African American (no, Japanese American, Mexican American, etc.: no
hyphen as a noun or adjective.
Compound Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes




Refer to 7.90 for an extensive guide.
If still in doubt, consult http://merriam-webster.com.
General rule: Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity and difficult reading; where a misreading
is unlikely, the compound should be closed.
Examples: Common prefixes forming closed compounds, with exceptions:
non
nonviolent
re
reelection,
reexamine
-class
(hyphen)
multi
multifaceted
pre/post
prewar, postsuffrage
pan- (hyphen)
co
coauthor, coordinate;
but co-opt
socio
socioeconomic,
sociopolitical
self- (hyphen)
―Which‖ versus ―that‖
 Use ―which‖ in nonrestrictive clauses, ―that‖ in restrictive clauses (6.38).
 TEST: If you can drop the clause and not lose the point of the sentence, use ―which‖; if
you can‘t, use ―that.‖ (A ―which‖ clause goes inside commas; a ―that‖ clause doesn‘t.)
o This world, which is characterized by a radical contingency, is confronted with a
world view that has to reduce the contingency of the world.‖
o Globalization is presented as something that will take its course, and from which
everybody will benefit if national policies do not interfere.‖
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
o Buster‘s bulldog, which had one white ear, won best in show.
o The dog that won best in show was Buster‘s bulldog.
Acronyms and Abbreviations (15.25)



Set in all caps with no periods: YMCA, AFL-CIO, HMO
Spell out first time used, followed by the acro or abbrev in parentheses.
Choose the indefinite article according to how the acronym is pronounced: a NATO
meeting, a YMCA event, an NFL team, an NAACP position, but a National Association
for ... (15.9)

Examples
o WMD (for singular and plural, not WMDs)
Foreign words



Isolated foreign language words and phrases that are not quotations should be set in
italics. (7:51)
Foreign words are set in roman type if they are:
o Proper nouns in a foreign language are always set in roman type. (7:53)
o Integrated into the English language and appear in standard English dictionaries
are set in roman type: fait accompli, pro rata, mea culpa, a priori. (7.54)
o Longer foreign phrases of a sentence or more and foreign language quotations of
any length should be set in quotation marks in roman type. (7.51) Block
quotations are roman type with no quotation marks.
Foreign currency: 725 yen = ¥725; 40 euro = EUR 40 or €40, 15 British pounds = £15,
20 Israeli pounds = I£20, 300 Canadian dollars = C$300 or Can$300. US dollars can be
simply $ unless other dollar currencies are also mentioned, in which case all should be
distinguished. (9.23–29)
Capitalization

Hyphenated words in titles and headings: cap first letter of both words: Self-Defense
(8.170)
o Examples:
 Lowercase ―black‖ and ―white‖ when referring to race. (8.41–43)
 A.M., P.M.—note small caps and periods. (Press to code small caps.)
 British Empire; the empire (8.55)
 Capitol, the building (capitalize) (8.61)
 Cold War (Press preference, exception to Chicago)
 Communist, Community Party, communism
 Congress, congressional
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET







first lady, first gentleman (lower case)
left-wing, right-wing, the Left, the Right, the middle
movements: civil rights movement, women‘s movement, etc. (lower case)
Supreme Court; the Court (U.S. Supreme Court only); the court (state and
other courts) (8.69)
 Western Europe, the West, western ideas
Titles of People (8.21–35)
o Capitalize civil, military, religious, professional, and official titles when they
immediately precede a personal name and are thus used as part of the name:
Queen Elizabeth, President Kennedy, Professor Green. (But see 8.22 for
exceptions to this rule.)
o Lowercase titles when they follow a name or are used in place of a name, or
when they are in apposition before a personal name as a descriptive tag: the
queen, the president of France, the Austrian emperor.
o Note: For article author‘s affiliation, use the form: John Smith is Professor of
History at Michigan State University. (Editor‘s preference; exception to Chicago)
English-language newspapers and periodicals: Whether or not ―The‖ is part of its title,
―The‖ is not part of the title when mentioned in text: cited in the New York Times. Omit
―the‖ altogether from endnotes. (Foreign newspapers retain the equivalent word: Le
Monde.) (8.180–82)
Lower case academic fields except when one or more of the terms is a proper noun or
adjective: U.S. history, English literature. (8.91–92) (Exception is author titles, noted
above.)
Place Names—Countries, States, Provinces, Territories



United States: Spell out as a noun but abbreviate to U.S. as an adjective: life in the
United States, U.S. government. Possessive: United States‘ (pl). (15.34)
Washington, D.C.: Use commas and periods
o In text: Washington, D.C.
o In notes: Washington, DC: Publisher.
In text, spell out: She went to school in East Lansing, Michigan. In notes, abbreviate
using the two-digit postal codes (see 15.29–30 for lists) with a city whose state may not
be known, unless the state appears in the press name (East Lansing: Michigan State
University Press). Note that state university presses serve to identify the state. (17.100)
Examples:
Don’t include state
Paris (…France)
Cambridge (…UK)
Chicago
New York
Minneapolis
Do include state
Paris, TX
Cambridge, MA
Washington, DC
New Haven, CT
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
Dates (6.46)



All dates, whether in text or references, are in continental format, with months always
spelled out: 10 October 2002.
o No punctuation when only month and year are given: August 1945 (6.46)
o Exception: 9/11 or September 11.
Centures and Decades
o Spell out references to particular centuries: the twentieth century, eighteenthcentury history, a mid-eighteenth-century poet, a late nineteenth-century poet.
Note: no apostrophe before the ―s‖: the 1880s and 1890s (not 1880s and ‘90s)
o The first two decades of a century may not be expressed in numerals. The
following are acceptable: the first decade of the nineteenth century; the years
1800–1809; the years 1910–19
o Decades are either spelled out (so long as the century is clear) and lowercased or
expressed in numerals: the nineties, the 1980s and 1990s (or less formally, the
1980s and ‗90s)
Use regular caps and no periods to indicate eras: BC, AD, BCE, BP.
Numbers—Digits and Words (9.2–13)










Spell out numbers one through ten, use numerals if 11 and above (exception to Chicago)
and for lower numbers grouped with numbers 11 and above: from 6 to 12 hours of sleep.
Use numerals for larger round figures: 100, 2,000 (exception to Chicago).
Very large numbers may be expressed in numerals followed by the unit: 2.3 million
Always spell out a number if it begins a sentence, or recast the sentence to begin with
another word: Twenty-one percent of the cost was covered. They covered 21 percent of
the cost.
Ordinals used in endnotes: rev. (revised), 2nd (second, not 2e or 2d), 3rd (third, not 3d),
4th (fourth, not 4th).
Parts of a work: Use Arabic numerals to designate chapters, parts, volumes, etc.: chapter
1, vol. 2, part 1
Titles: Numbers in the title of a work should remain as given, unless there is a good
reason to change them. (17.52)
Plurals: Use only ―s‖: She scored in the 240s. The bonds were convertible 4½s. The
archives were organized in the 1960s. The gymnast scored solid 6s. (9.58)
Leading zero: Use the leading zero unless that particular value disallows it: 0.557 not
.557, but .45-calibre. (9.20–21)
Inclusive Ranges (9.62–64)
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
o Note that ranges take en-dashes, not hyphens.
o Roman numerals are always given in full: xxv–xxvii, not xxv–vii.
o MSU Press preference is show in the table below. (9.64)
 67–72 or from 167 to 172, not from 167–72
 between 167 and 172, not between 167–72
 1898–1903 or from 1898 to 1903, not from 1898–1903
 between 1898 and 1903, not between 1898–1903
1st number
2nd number
Examples
1–99
Use all digits
3–10, 71–72, 96–117
100–104, 600–613, 1100–
100 or multiple of 100 Use all digits
1123
101 through 109 (in
Use changed part only, omit
107–8, 505–17, 1702–6
multiples of 100
unneeded zeros
110 though 199 (in
Use two digits, more if
321–25, 415–532, 1536–38,
1496–504, 11564–78,
multiples of 100)
needed
13792–803
But if 3 digits of a 4-digit
1278–1329, 15892–16077
number change, or if 4 of a 5digit number change, repeat
all digits.
Interviews in text
 Use at least two initials to identify the speaker. Nonverbal glosses take the form
[Laughter]. Add verbal glosses to complete names, titles, relationships as needed; use the
third person: I spoke to him [Ed, her brother] about that later. not I spoke to [my brother
Ed]. (11.50)
References
 Use endnotes with superscript numbers in-text, rather than footnotes or the author-date
system. (16.6 et seq.)
 Multiple authors or editors: For three or fewer authors or editors, use all names:
Charlotte Marcus, Jayne Doe, and José Sanchez, eds. For four or more authors or editors,
use first author‘s or editor‘s name followed by et al. with no intervening punctuation:
Charlotte Marcus et al., eds.
 The first endnote carries the full bibliographic entry; subsequent uses of the same source
take a short form with the page of specific reference: Marcus et al., ―Paper Title,‖ 19. Do
not use Ibid.
 Do not invert author or editor names anywhere in the endnote.
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
 Except for the preliminary pages of a book, which are set in lower cased roman numerals,
arabic numerals should be used when referring to volume, page #, chapter, or other parts of
a book or periodical (even when roman numerals were used in the original publication).
(17.129)
Book
 Order of information: Author; Title; Editor, compiler, or translator; Edition, if not the first;
Volume, if a single volume is being cited out of a multivolume work; Title of individual
volume, if applicable; Series title, if applicable; Facts of publication (city, publisher, date);
Page numbers. (17.17) (See also Place Names section above.)
 Standard book (17.26)
o Emery Blackfoot, Chance Encounters (Boston: Serendipity Press, 1987), 151–60.
 Two authors or editors (17.27)
o Kurt Johnson and Steve Coates, Nabokov’s Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a
Literary Genius (Cambridge, MA: Zoland Books, 1999).
 Four or more authors or editors (17.29)
o John Smith et al., eds., Title of Book (Coston: Serendipity Press, 1987), 151–60.
 Editor, translator, or compiler with an author (17.42)
o John Smith, Title of Book, ed. Jane Doe (New York: Publishers Press, 2002), 152.
 Edition other than the first (17.79, 17.123). Note these abbreviations: rev. (revised), 2nd
(second, not 2e, 3rd (third, not 3d), 4th (fourth, not 4th).
o John N. Hazard, The Soviet System of Government, 5th ed., ed. Suzanne Stewart
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980), 25.
o Jacques Barzun, Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers, rev. ed. (1985; reprt.,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 152–53.
o Halsey Stevens, The Life and Music of Béla Bartok, rev. ed. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1964), 128–29.
 Article in a book edited by someone else (17.69–70). Note JSR includes the page run of
the article.
o Ernest Kaiser, ―The Literature of Harlem,‖ in Harlem: A Community in
Transition, ed. J. H. Clarke (New York: Citadel Press, 1964), 298–302.
 Multivolume works (17.83–89)
o Muriel St. Clare Bynre, ed., The Lisle Letters, 6 vols. (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1981). (if citing entire work)
o William Farmwinkle, Survey of American Humor, vol. 2, Humor of the American
Midwest (Boston: Plenum Press, 1983), 132. (if citing a particular volume with
its own title)
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
o Edward Banicek, A History of India (Philadelphia: Ross and Kittredge, 1988),
2:345. (if citing a particular volume without a separate title, in this example vol.
2)
Dissertations or Theses (17.214)
 Alexander Hawryluk, ―Friends of FIGHT: A Study of a Militant Civil Rights
Organization‖ (Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1967), 49.
 Josie Gamelli, ―Lost in the Vacuum: Making up Titles Willy-Nilly‖ (master‘s thesis,
University of Elsewhere, 2015), 142.
Periodicals
 Order of information: Author; Title of article or column; Title of periodical; Issue info
(vol., issue # if needed, date); Page #, URL (if on line). (17.149) (See also References—
Website section below.)
 Journal. Include issue number when available. Use arabic numeral, not roman, for volume
even if the journal uses roman numerals. (17.154–79)
o Marc Shell, ―Language Wars,‖ New Centennial Review 1, no. 2 (2001): 1–17.
o John Smith, ―Irony in the Wife of Bath‘s Tale,‖ Chaucer Review 10 (1997): 56–
75.
o Margaret M. Author, ―Article Title,‖ Journal Name 98 (forthcoming).
 Popular Magazines. Note continental date format. (17.150, 17.182–86)
o John Smith, ―Computers Hit the Classroom,‖ U.S. News and World Report, 7
March 1994, 75.
 Newspapers (17.188 et seq.)
o ―Kodak Holds Its Meeting Amid Racial Protests,‖ New York Times, 26 April
1967, A2.
 English-language newspapers and periodicals: Whether or not ―The‖ is part of its title,
―The‖ is not part of the title when mentioned in text: cited in the New York Times. Omit
―the‖ altogether from endnotes. (Foreign newspapers retain the equivalent word: Le
Monde.) (8.180–82)
Legal Cases (15.318)
 Italicize in text, and note ―v.‖: Smith v. Brown established that...
 Elements to be included are: case name (comma), volume of reporter, name of reporter,
opening page of decision (comma), cited page number(s), court and date (in parentheses).
o Bridges v. California, 314 US 252 (1941)
o United States v. Dennis, 183 F2d 201, 203 (2d Cir 1950)
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
Unpublished Materials and Dissertations (17.214)
 Correspondence (17.208–9): Mention in text (or not) similar to any other source, and
include in endnote source, means of communication (e-mail, letter, telephone call), and
date. (Exception to Chicago)
o First citation: S. Quattro, letter to author, 15 April 1978.
o Second citation: S. Quattro, letter to author, 10 July 1979.
o Subsequent citations: Quattro 1978 letter. or Quattro 1979 letter.
 Manuscript Materials (17.222–33): In general, begin with the specific item being cited
followed by all relevant information such as date, type of item if not a letter, name of
collection, and its location.
o George Creel to Colonel House, 25 September 1918, Edward M. House Papers,
Yale University Library.
o Burton to Charles Merriam, telegram, 26 January 1923, Charles E. Merriam
Papers, University of Chicago Library.
 Interviews (17.204–7): Information to be included: interviewee, interviewer, date,
medium, location of recording or transcript (if not with author). Published interviews are
treated like other published works.
o First citation: Jane Smith, interviewed by author, 31 August 2006, video
recording.
Subsequent citations: Smith interview.
o First citation: Wilson Pickett, interviewed by Wynton Marsalis, 20 July 1970,
tape recording, Marsalis Archive, Kennedy Center. [fictional example]
Subsequent citations: Pickett interview by Marsalis.
o First citation: Interview with health care worker, 10 August 1999.
Subsequent citations: Health care worker interview.
Website
 Used in endnotes for a specific item being cited that is located on the web. ―General‖
URLs, such as the homepage for an organization mentioned in the text, may be given in
the text.
 URLs in italics, no angle brackets (< >) (exception to Chicago).
 Important: Be sure the URL is not a hyperlink (causes text to drop out in typesetting).
 Date info was accessed may be included, especially if it matters that information on web
may change.
 URLs in text: These must be general to the homepage or very close (more detailed URLs
belong in endnotes), and appear in italics: The fan club maintains a substantial archive
(www.rockyandbullwinkle.com).
Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed.
STYLE SHEET
 Titles: Titles are treated as they would be if printed: book-length works are italicized;
articles, speeches, other shorter works in quote marks. Websites titles are roman, no quote
marks. Weblogs are roman in quote marks. (8.197–99)
 Examples:
o George W. Bush, ―President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq
Have Ended,‖ 1 May 2003,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/iraq/20030501–15.html
(accessed 18 August 2008).
o Chris Mooney, ―The Barbary Analogy,‖ American Prospect Online, 16 October
2001, http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2001/10/mooney-c-10–16.html
(accessed 24 July 2002).
 Avoid breaking URLs or e-mail addresses wherever possible.
o Never add a character of any kind to a URL, such as a hyphen to indicate a line
break.
o If it is necessary to break a URL, a hyphen or period should appear on the new
line, never at the end of the line above.
o Line breaks may be made after: a double slash ( // ) or single slash ( / )
o Line breaks may be made before: a tilde (~), period, comma, hyphen, underline
(_), question mark, number sign, or percent symbol
o Line breaks may be made before or after: an equal sign or an ampersand (&).
 http://msupress/journals/ test/rcr/admin/
 http://www.dontbethatguy .com
 http://www .dontbethatguy.com
 presshelp@gmail .com