Style Guide

1. General formatting

• Title: size 14, bold, Times New Roman
• Body Font: size 12, Times New Roman
• Spacing: 1.5
• Page Numbers: bottom right footnote, size 10 font
• Authors name: following the page number on bottom right footnote, size 10 font
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• All pieces except for poetry: Justified
• Poetry formatting is as the author wishes

Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature uses British English spelling and typically follows British grammatical styles. Our main aim is to present clear copy so that the reader can focus on the piece’s message. Above all, be surprising and clever in words and material. Be concise in prose. Show you have excellent command of your writing and grammar before you start to break the rules. Break the rules only when it enhances your written thoughts.

2. Punctuation

Spacing after punctuation

• Use one space after a full stop, question mark, or exclamation point. Likewise, use one after a colon or semi-colon.
• No spaces on either side of a stroke/slash.
• For a section break, use five asterisks with a spacing line prior to and just below.

Full stops

• Use a full stop (‘period’ in American English) to mark the end of a sentence. Do not use a full stop at the end of a heading or sentences ending in an ellipsis, after an abbreviation that ends in a full stop (e.g. ‘etc.’), or if the sentence ends in a quotation that is complete in itself. Example: When she turned, it was clear she needed help from her shout, “Pull me out!”.

Colons

• In British English, colons do not require the next word to start with a capital. The idea preceding the colon must be a full sentence in its own right: the second bit need not be.

Commas and semi-colons

• In a list of three or more items, the comma should be placed after each item, as well as before the conjunction (‘and’ or ‘or’). Example: The vacuum was the final resting place for the tooth, the tail, and the jewel.
• In a list of three or more items with various adjectives, a semicolon can be used for ease of reading. Example: The vacuum was the final resting place for the tiny, jagged tooth; the wriggling, grey tail; and the glimmering jewel.
• Place a comma before ‘so’ when it is used as a joiner. Place a comma before ‘etc.’ in a series. Example: The world is not just us, so we must create space for other voices, colours, etc.
• Use a comma to separate two complete thoughts in one sentences linked by a conjunction. Do not use a comma if the conjunction precedes an incomplete thought. Use a comma before and after ‘yet’. Examples: 1. I am tired of the scent of rosemary, and she refuses to cut the plant back. 2. I am tired of the scent of rosemary and tear at the plant’s limbs. 3. I am tired of the scent of rosemary, and, yet, she does nothing to rid the air of the smell.
• Place an Oxford comma before the last object in a list. Examples: 1. I need to buy maps, warm clothing, and hiking boots. 2. I’ve taught numerous courses, including rhetoric, composition, public speaking, and research.

Dashes and hyphens

• The long dash (‘em’ dash) should be used sparingly. There should be one space preceding and following each dash.
• The short dash (‘hyphen’) shall be used with numbers and dates. There should not be a space preceding or following the dash; rather, use a closed-up hyphen. Take care not to mix figures, words and hyphens in date ranges. Examples: 1. 1999-2006; 2. from 1999 to 2006.
• Use a hyphen sparingly with compound words. Here is a list of words we commonly see written incorrectly.
  • alright (never allright or all right)
  • check in (v.), check-in (n.)
  • dark-eyed, dark-haired
  • email
  • every day (adv.), everyday (adj.)
  • goodbye
  • goodnight, good-night (adj., as in good-night kiss)
  • handmade
  • nonstop
  • online
  • reelect
  • website (Web)
  • World Wide Web
  • X-ray

Round brackets

• Like the long dash, use round brackets (otherwise known as ‘parentheses’) in a sparing fashion. Close the brackets after you have completed the sentence if it is a stand alone thought. Otherwise, the punctuation mark follows the brackets. Examples: 1. I love (if love can be used in this case) the quill of a porcupine. 2. I adore the feel of a quill. (In truth, I’ve only felt one.)

Apostrophes

• Use an apostrophe and an ‘s’ to make a word possessive. If the word already ends in an ‘s’, use only an apostrophe at the end to make it possessive. Examples: 1. Molly’s hat. 2. The Vincels’ hat shop.
• To make a date plural, simply add an ‘s’ with no apostrophe. Example: the 1950s.

3. Quotes and dialogue

• Quotes written within a descriptive section can be set apart in italics. Take care to attribute the quote.
• Single words or phrases will have single quotes around them.
• Full pieces or sentences of dialogue need double quotes surrounding them.
• As a rule, the comma should be placed inside the quotation mark, if it is followed by ‘she said.’
• Only place a comma outside of quotation marks when the phrase is attributed to someone other that the character who is speaking.
• Quotes within sections of dialogue need be set within a single quotation mark, which are set within the double quotations of the dialogue. Example: “My grandmother was fond of the words ‘like a bat from the depths of hell’, though she never said them quite loud enough to hear,” my mother told me that day.
• Place a double quotation mark around the section that is spoken aloud by a character.
• Use a comma between the word and the quotation mark to introduce who is speaking. e.g. “Those are five cents,” she said.
• When several lines of dialogue occur, use a new line for each new sentence. Make clear who is speaking.
• Do not indent each line of dialogue. Use a new line.
• End each line of dialogue with a full stop inside the quotation mark, if the quotation mark is the ending of the sentence.
• You may use descriptive phrases and sentences prior to and just after a line of dialogue, but not two different characters’ lines of dialogue in one paragraph.

4. Numbers

• As a general rule, spell out the numbers one to nine, use digits for anything further.
• If there is a range between 9 – 27, use the figure for both digits as opposed to spelling one and using the digit for the other.
• Always use the digit for units of measurement or for statistics.
• The words million, billion, and trillion can be combined with a digit (5 million, 60 billion).
• The numbers 1 – 9 are not spelled out in the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years, but if you have two decades or seven centuries, the numbers are spelled out.
• When a number follows another, spell out one of them (e.g. eight 6-year olds).

5. Dates

• Use the British form for full dates (16 September 2016). If the day of the week is included, place it before the date with no comma (Wednesday 16 September 2016).
• Write centuries as so: 21st century, 20th century.
• Use the figure for decades (e.g. the 1990s, not Nineties)

6. Titles

• All titles of books, essays, songs, paintings, plays etc. are capitalised except for articles, prepositions and possessive adjectives (unless they are the first word). All titles are printed in italics. Example: The Lost Tribe; Changes in the Land; So Brave, Young and Handsome.
• The titles of individual parts of a poem, story or essay titles are printed in a single inverted comma. Example: Bill Brown’s ‘The News Inside’.
• Non-English words that would normally be italicised are not so when written as the title of a poem. Example: W.H. Auden’s ‘Musee des Beaux Arts’

7. Abbreviations and capitalisation

• Use common abbreviations after the initial description. All abbreviations under five letters should be capitalised. Example: The United Nations (UN) sent the aid worker there on a whim. Every UN worker knew the place was unable to support them.
• Initials should have full stops between them. Example: T.S. Elliott.

8. Spelling

List of commonly misspelt words (‘misspelled’ in American English)

British English (in italics) and American English

A

• acknowledgement, acknowledgment
• aeroplane, airplane
• aesthetic, esthetic
• ageing, aging
• aluminium, aluminum
• amoeba, ameba
• anaemia, anemia
• anaesthesia, anesthesia
• analyse, analyze
• analogue, analog
• annexe, annex
• apologise, apologize
• archaeology, archeology
• armour, armor
• arse, ass
• artefact, artifact
• authorise, authorize
• axe, ax

B

• behaviour, behavior
• broncho, bronco

C

• chamomile, camomile
• cancelled, canceled
• carburettor, carburetor
• catalogue, catalog
• centre, center
• cheque, check
• chequer, checker
• cypher, cipher
• civilise, civilize
• colonise, colonize
• colonisation, colonization
• colour, color
• cosy, cozy
• counsellor, counselor
• counselling, counseling
• connexion, connection

D

• defence, defense
• demagogue, demagog
• dialled, dialed
• dialler, dialer
• dialogue, dialog
• diarrhoea, diarrhea
• disc, disk
• distil, distill
• doughnut, donut
• draught, draft
• dreamt, dreamed

E

• emphasise, emphasize
• encyclopaedia, encyclopedia
• enrolment, enrollment
• equalling, equaling
• endeavour, endeavor
• enquire, inquire

F

• favourite, favorite
• favour, favor
• faeces, feces
• fibre, fiber
• flaky, flakey
• foetid, fetid
• foetal, fetal
• foetus, fetus
• flautist, flutist
• flavour, flavor
• fulfil, fulfill
• furore, furor
• fuelling, fueling

G

• generalise, generalize
• glycerine, glycerin
• grey, gray
• gynaecology, gynecology

H

• haemophilia, hemophilia
• haematology, hematology
• haem, heme
• harbour, harbor
• harmonise, harmonize
• harmonisation, harmonization
• homologue, homolog
• honour, honor
• humour, humor

I

• industrialise, industrialize
• instalment, installment
• italicise, italicize
• in side, inside.

J

• jewellery, jewelry
• judgement, judgment

K

• kerb, curb – both dialects use “curb” for the verb
• kilometre, kilometer

L

• labour, labor
• led, lead – past tense of to lead;
• leapt, leaped
• learnt, learned – past tense of to learn; an educated person is always learned
• leukæmia, leukemia
• licence, license – but always licensing
• liquorice, licorice
• litre, liter
• lodgment, lodgement

M

• manoeuvre, maneuver
• marvellous, marvelous
• meagre, meager
• metre, meter
• modelling, modeling
• milliard, billion
• mould, mold
• mollusc, mollusk
• moult, molt
• mum, mom
• monologue, monolog
• moustache, mustache
• moisturiser, moisturizer

N

• neighbour, neighbor

O

• oenology, enology
• oesophagus, esophagus
• oestrogen, estrogen
• odour, odor
• offence, offense
• omelette, omelet
• organisation, organization
• orthologue, ortholog
• orthopaedic, orthopedic

P

• paediatric, pediatric
• paedophile, pedophile
• paralyse, paralyze
• parlour, parlor
• pedagogue, pedagog
• plough, plow
• practise, practice – as a verb
• pretence, pretense
• prise, prize – the verb, meaning to lever
• programme, program – when not speaking of a computer program
• pyjamas, pajamas

Q

• quarrelled, quarreled
• quarrelling, quarreling

R

• realise, realize
• realisation, realization
• rigour, rigor
• routeing, routing – defeating completely is always routing
• rumour, rumor

S

• sabre, saber
• saviour, savior
• savoury, savory
• sceptic, skeptic
• signalling, signaling
• skilful, skillful
• speciality, specialty
• spelt, spelled
• spoilt, spoiled
• storey, story – a level of a building
• sulphur, sulfur

T

• theatre, theater – theatre is sometimes used in the US
• tyre, tire
• tranquillity, tranquility
• travelled, traveled
• traveller, traveler
• travelling, traveling
• tumour, tumor

U

• urbanisation, urbanization – and derived words.

V

• valour, valor
• vender, vendor
• victual, vittle
• vigour, vigor

W

• wintery, wintry
• whisky, whiskey
• woollen, woolen

Y

• yoghurt, yogurt

Z

• zed, zee

Same spelling, different meaning

British English (in italics) and American English

• dummy, pacifier
• solicitor, lawyer
• full stop, period
• chemist, pharmacist
• hire, rent
• football, soccer
• biscuit, cookie
• rubber, eraser
• secondary school, high school
• pavement, sidewalk
• film, movie

Lists compiled from Oxford dictionary, grammar.yourdictionary.com, and Wikipedia.en. For more common misspellings and confusing words between the two versions of English, visit: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/british-and-american-terms