Style Guide
Introduction
If the decision is made to publish your manuscript, you will be asked to deliver the text in accordance with our house style. In general, Medieval Institute Publications follows the 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style with some minor modifications. Some series have their own requirements in addition to MIP house style. Please ask whether this applies to your title.
Below are the guidelines for preparing your manuscript for final submission. We only accept complete and final manuscripts. A complete manuscript consists of the text; any images, graphs, or tables; and all relevant permissions for photos or other reproductions. For edited collections and journals, it is essential that all contributions are consistent with regard to reference conventions and spelling. Once submitted, the manuscript will be peer reviewed, gatekept, and copyedited—steps which might require varying degrees of revision, which will be done in consultation with the press or its representative. These steps will be followed by typesetting, which begins the final production stages.
General Information
Submit files in Word. When using a less common format, please check with your main contact at MIP if the format is acceptable. Please use as little formatting as possible. Do not justify the right margin, or use varying type sizes or variable line spacing, or insert extra space around paragraphs. The manuscript should be a single file, paginated continuously. Any additional pieces should be designated as Figure 1, Appendix 1, Table 1, etc., and there should be indications in the text where the graphics, etc., are to be placed. During production your manuscript will be formatted to fit house style by the press.
For manuscripts with non-western scripts please use a Unicode font (e.g., Times).
- If there are a significant number of special characters in your text, let us know as early as possible. We will then consult with the copyeditor assigned to your project to determine the best font for you to use – this way, you will be working in a compatible font before you submit the final files, and this will ensure that we avoid having to amend fonts and files at a later stage.
- If your book contains a large amount of such non-Roman characters, please supply a pdf along with the Word document when submitting the text, so that the copyeditor may check that the font reflects what is intended.
If you have agreed to submit your manuscript as a print-ready PDF, you will be supplied with specific guidelines.
It is desirable to talk about cover options early on, for marketing purposes.
As a rule, we expect you to supply all internal visual material.
- Digital images must be at least 300 DPI (dots per inch) and minimum format of 10 x 15 cm. Note that a color spread requires images of extremely high quality and resolution, a small black-and-white image much less so; for black-and-while line artwork the minimum resolution is 600 DPI. Submit digital images in their original format. TIF, EPS, PNG, and JPG files are all suitable. Large digital files can be sent by WeTransfer, Dropbox, or Google Drive folder.
- Printed photographs (original photos, book illustrations, etc.) must have sufficient contrast and size (at least 10 x 15 cm, preferably larger).
- Tables should be submitted as Word or Excel files.
- Captions should be supplied in a separate Word file.
Mark clearly in the text where each illustration needs to be inserted.
For example: [PLACE FIGURE 1 HERE]
This will be the approximate place where the typesetter will insert the illustration, as exact placing can only be determined at the time of typesetting. Make sure that the illustrations are clearly numbered and that the same number is used in the text and in the author’s illustration checklist.
It is the author’s responsibility to secure permission to use any approved illustrative materials that are not their own. When you submit your manuscripts, enclose a list of illustrations and copies of the permissions you have received.
When seeking permissions, note the following:
- You must get permission for the use of material in electronic editions (e.g., e-books or Amazon’s Look inside this book), as well as the paper edition of your book. The official term for this is embedded copyright.
- Illustrations taken from another book are not owned by the publisher of the book. The actual owner of an illustration may be the artist or photographer, or the library or museum where it is kept.
Make sure that you start clearing permissions as soon as possible, as it often takes much longer than expected. Always specify the use—e.g., a scholarly monograph with limited print run. Check whether a specific format for acknowledgement is required. Permissions costs can often be reduced through external subsidies.
Your manuscript will be typeset according to our house style, so your manuscript needs only to have the minimum of formatting (e.g. italics, bold, or small capitals) when you send it in. Use tabs for new paragraphs (not spaces). Use blank lines only when absolutely necessary.
Add named headings where relevant. Numbering your headings is not necessary. If you use headers, make sure these are recognizable as such. If you have more than one level, there should be a clear and consistently used distinction between them.
Larger sections of quoted text (i.e., quotations of over a hundred words, or a section that needs special formatting) should be set off from the running text by a blank line before and after the quoted text, and the text should be indented on the left side. No quotation marks are needed.
- While you won’t be able to attribute page numbers until typeset proofs are available, you can begin to compile lists of entries and have your index well underway by the time page numbers are available.
- Some books benefit from having multiple indexes. You might decide, for example, that an Index of Manuscripts or an Index of Place Names, in addition to a General Index, will be useful for your readers. Otherwise, compile one index only.
- Do not use more than one sublevel.
- Tagging index terms in Word is possible; please ask for more info if you would be interested in doing so.
Formatting
MIP prefers that spelling conforms to American practice and follows Merriam-Webster’s. If you prefer an exception, consult with your acquisitions editor and the press to agree upon a uniform, consistent spelling style for your manuscript.
Be consistent in transcribing foreign names. Spellings should conform to the Biographical Names section at the back of Merriam-Webster’s. As a general rule, use the native form of place-names; cases where the English form can be retained include Prague, Vienna, Florence, The Hague.
- Place single words or short phrases in a foreign language in italics; direct quotations or more substantial quotations in Roman. Exceptions: if a such a word or short phrase is in common usage and can be found in Merriam-Websters, it remains in roman type.
- In the case of foreign words, an English translation may immediately follow in normal type, in parentheses—e.g., “the distinction between exhortatio (exhortation) and praedicatio (preaching) became very important in thirteenth-century discussions about lay preaching.”
- Use italics for titles of books and journals; titles of articles should be placed between double quotation marks.
- Use roman for punctuation following italicized text if the main sentence is in roman.
- The use of bold type is discouraged, unless there is a very clear reason for using bold and it is used sparingly.
On the whole, CMS 18 prefers a “down” style, or a sparing use of capitals. Some of the exceptions are noted below. When it doubt, consult chapter 8, “Names, Terms, and Titles of Works.”
- Nationalities and nouns deriving from people or languages are capitalized (e.g., Latinate, the Lombards), as are nouns and adjectives of movements derived from proper nouns (e.g., Christian, Platonism).
- Historical periods are capitalized (e.g., Middle Ages, the Reformation), but a descriptive designation of a period is usually lowercased – except for proper names (e.g., the medieval era, ancient Greece, the baroque period, antiquity; but the Victorian era), or to avoid ambiguity with a generic term.
- Books of the bible are capitalized but not italicized (e.g., the book of Genesis, the Gospel according to John, the First Epistle to the Corinthians); also note biblical, not Biblical; satanic, not Satanic; the Eucharist but eucharistic.
- Named prayers, canticles, creeds, etc., are capitalized but not italicized (e.g., the Ten Commandments, Kaddish, the Nicene Creed), as are events and concepts of major theological importance (the Crucifixion). Parables and miracles are lowercased (e.g., doxology, the parable of the prodigal son, the miracle of the loaves and fishes), as are doctrines and principles (original sign, dharma).
- Unique events and periods take capitals (e.g., the Last Judgement, the Peasants’ Revolt).
- Note that church is generally lowercased, unless it is part of the official name of a denomination or building, or unless it refers to the whole body of Christians in all times and places.
- References to particular parts of a book are not capitalized (e.g., chapter 1; appendix 2; part ii, figure 8).
- Seasons of the year are not capitalized (e.g., spring 1349); nor are points of the compass (north of England, northern England), except when they indicate an official name or specific concept (South America, the Western world).
- Civil, military, religious, and professional titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name and are thus used as part of the name (e.g., the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Wilberforce). When following a name or used in place of a name, a title is normally lowercased (e.g., the president, the bishop, the pope).
In most European languages, titles of books and other publications are set in sentence case, with just an initial capital. English-language titles are set in title case, following these basic principles:
- The first and last words in titles and subtitles are capitalized.
- Capitalize all nouns, pronouns (except the relative “that”), adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions.
- Lowercase the, a, and an; articles; the coordinating conjunctions and, but, or, and nor; to, whether as a preposition or as part of an infinitive; as in any function; parts of proper names that would be lowercased in text, such as de or von; prepositions shorter than 5 letters, except when they are used as adverbs or adjectives.
- Always capitalize the first element in a hyphenated compound. Capitalize any subsequent elements unless they are articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or such modifiers as flat or sharp following musical key symbols. If the first element in the compound could not stand by itself as a word (i.e., anti, pre, etc.), do not capitalize the second element unless it is a proper noun or adjective.
- For journals, follow the preferred capitals style of the journal.
- Series commas should be used in a list of three or more items (e.g., truth, grace, and beauty).
- Double quotation marks should be used; single quotation marks belong only within double quotation marks (e.g., “This is the ‘best’ way.”).
- Quotation marks from different systems or languages (e.g. « … » or „…“) should be changed to “ ”.
- Closing punctuation goes inside quotation marks.
- Footnotes go outside the final punctuation mark: e.g., Smith said that “this was the best way.”15 [In your text the number will be superscript.]
- A single space (not two) should follow periods at the end of sentences, as well as commas, colons, and other punctuation marks.
- Do use a space to separate each initial of an author or editor’s surname (e.g., B. C. Cummings, not B.C. Cummings).
- Ellipses should have a space before and after; if the beginning of the sentence is omitted following the ellipses, begin with a capital letter. Do not use ellipses at the beginning of a quotation or at the end, unless there is a specific reason such as a purposely incomplete thought or sentence.
- Possessives almost always take the ’s, including names ending in s or another sibilant (e.g., Jesus’s, Berlioz’s), and names with es endings (e.g., Moses’s leadership, Sophocles’s plays). Exception: when the singular form of a noun ending in s is the same as the plural, the possessives is formed by adding an apostrophe only (e.g., politics’ true meaning). The same applies for the name of a place, organization, or publication is a plural form ending in s, even though the entity is singular (i.e., the National Academy of Sciences’ new policy).
- Hyphens are used where the first of two or more words is used adjectively (e.g., “a tenth-century manuscript” versus “in the tenth century”). Adverbs ending in –ly do not hyphenate (e.g., “a handsomely bound codex”). MIP copyeditors use the Merriam-Webster dictionary (available free online at http://www.merriam-webster.com/) as guidance for hyphenation, particularly at ends of lines.
Abbreviations and symbols are most appropriate in tabular matter, notes, bibliographies, and parenthetical references. The use of less familiar abbreviations should be limited to those terms that occur frequently enough to warrant abbreviation—roughly five times or more within an article or chapter—and the terms must be spelled out on their first occurrence. If there are a significant number of abbreviations in the text, consider an abbreviation list.
The following conventional abbreviations are some that may be used:
- ca. [not ca. or c.].
- b. (birth / born), d. (died), r. (reigned), fl. (flourished), f. (founded).
- Use full-stops / periods with e.g. and i.e., and after Mr., Dr., add., vol./vols., fol./fols., ed./eds., no./nos., p./pp., trans., ed., chap., n., and so on. Other than Mr. and Dr., these abbreviations should not be used in running text.
- LGBTQIA+ and other acronyms and initialisms related to gender identity and sexual orientation are usually capitalized. The choice of abbreviations and how to style them is ultimately up to the author.
Moreover, please note:
- Journal titles may be abbreviated if a clear abbreviation list is supplied; this may be an editorial decision.
- Do not omit the period after abbreviations such as “St.” except in titles that themselves omit it. French place names containing “Saint” are normally spelled out, and the hyphen is essential: “Saint-Denis.”
- Avoid starting sentences and footnotes with abbreviations. Use for example, not e.g.
- Numbers from zero to one hundred should be written out as words (e.g., nineteen but 345), and all certain round multiples of those numbers (e.g., seven hundred). You may depart from this rule when numerals or numbers form the main part of the text.
- Follow the Chicago Manual of Style for inclusive pairs of numbers (e.g., 96–97, 100–4, 301–5, 246–48), except for spans of years, which repeat the century (1014–1103).
- Decades should be written as 860s, not 860’s.
- Use Arabic for percentages and spell out percent (e.g., 50 percent). You may depart from this rule when percentages form the main part of the text (50% – without a space).
- Use Arabic for volume numbers (whether of journals, series, or multivolume works) and for sections of medieval texts. Roman numerals are used for front matter, manuscript shelfmarks as per library usage, and in titles.
- Set dates in the format February 19, 2018.
References
Citation style will differ slightly depending on whether your contribution is for a journal, a monograph, or an edited collection. In all cases, follow these general rules:
- Provide the forenames of the cited authors, unless the author is known only by initials. If an author’s given name appears in one cited work and initials in another (e.g., “Mary L. Jones” versus “M. L. Jones”), the same form, preferably the fuller one, should be used in references to that author for both works.
- For names with particles, take into account the individual’s preference (if known), as well as traditional and national usages. Merriam Webster’s Biographical Dictionary, library catalogues, and encyclopedias can be of assistance. Alphabetize those names as appropriate.
- Italicize the titles of books and journals.
- Be complete, particularly in relation to titles of series and series numbers. Series names are not italicized, and series numbers are given in Arabic.
- List the publisher; place of publication is given for works published before 1900.
- Use footnotes, not endnotes.
- Note reference numbers should be located in the main text at the end of a clause or sentence and after the punctuation (except for a dash, in which case the note number is then placed first). They should be marked with a superscript Arabic numeral.
- The author is always given in the footnotes, even when the name is mentioned in the text preceding the note.
- MIP follows the Chicago Manual of Style in the decision for whether or not to use p./pp. When a number or range of number clearly denotes the pages in a book or journal, there is no need to use p./pp. However, if you frequently cite primary sources that use line, section, or paragraph numbers in addition to page numbers, please use p./pp. for clarity and to avoid any potential ambiguity. Pages cited or page ranges are usually not given in bibliographies. Chapter and article page ranges are not given in footnotes, only the pages directly related to that note need be given.
Journals: If you are submitting an article for a journal, the first citation of a work should be a complete bibliographic reference; thereafter use a short citation.
Monographs: If the manuscript has a comprehensive bibliography, the first citation of a work does not require a complete bibliographical reference, since the complete reference will be included in the bibliography or list of works cited. This allows you to provide shortened forms throughout for each reference, and facilitates the task of ensuring that each reference is cited entirely consistently.
Edited collections: If you are part of an edited collection you should have a bibliography or works cited specific to your chapter; short citations can then be used throughout your notes. Alternately, if instructed by your volume’s editor(s), the first citation of a work should be a complete bibliographic reference; thereafter use a short citation. Make sure that all contributions are consistent with regard to notes, references, spelling, etc.
The most important thing, no matter the type of volume, is to be consistent in the citation of a particular work. Please consult the 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style for further information.
Please note that book titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. Epictetus, Dissertationes 2.4.1 [volume, page, line/paragraph], ed. Heinrich Schenkl (Teubner, 1916).
Shortened footnote:
4. Epictetus, Dissertationes 2.4.2.
Bibliography:
Epictetus. Dissertationes. Edited by Heinrich Schenkl. Teubner, 1916.
Please note that book titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. H. Munro Chadwick and N. Kershaw Chadwick, The Growth of Literature, 3 vols. (Cambridge University Press, 1932–40; repr. 1986), 3:xiii. [Reprint volumes are all published in the same year]
Shortened footnote:
4. Chadwick and Chadwick, Growth of Literature, 3:x–xvii.
Bibliography:
Chadwick, H. Munro and N. Kershaw Chadwick. The Growth of Literature. 3 vols. Cambridge University Press, 1932–40. Reprint, 1986.
Please note that book titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. Joseph R. Strayer et al., vol. 6 (Scribner, 1985), 26. [Citing a particular volume in a multivolume work printed over a span of several years]
Shortened footnote:
4. Dictionary of the Middle Ages, 6:26.
Bibliography:
Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Edited by Joseph R. Strayer et al. 13 vols. Scribner, 1982–89.
Please note that book titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. Detlef Ollesch and Hagen Seehase, The Burgundian Wars, trans. Richard Sanders (Zeughaus Verlag, 2019).
- “trans.” = translated by. Replace “trans.” with “ed.” or “rev.” where necessary.
Shortened footnote:
4. Ollesch and Seehase, The Burgundian Wars.
Bibliography:
Ollesch, Detlef, and Hagen Seehase. The Burgundian Wars. Translated by Richard Sanders. Zeughaus Verlag, 2019.
Please note that book titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. Fanni Bogdanow, “The Suite du Merlin and the Post-Vulgate Roman du Graal,” in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History, ed. Roger Sherman Loomis (Clarendon Press, 1959), 325.
Shortened footnote:
4. Bogdanow, “Suite du Merlin,” 329.
Bibliography:
Bogdanow, Fanni. “The Suite du Merlin and the Post-Vulgate Roman du Graal.” In Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History, edited by Roger Sherman Loomis, 325–35. Clarendon Press, 1959.
Please note that journal titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. Robert F. Cook, “Baudouin de Sebourc: Un poème édifiant?,” Olifant 14 (1989): 118–19.
Shortened footnote:
4. Cook, “Baudouin de Sebourc,” 129.
Bibliography:
Cook, Robert F. “Baudouin de Sebourc: Un poème édifiant?” Olifant 14 (1989): 115–35.
Please note that newspaper/magazine titles must be italicized.
Initial footnote:
1. Jacques-Pierre Amette, “Thé et désespoir,” Le Point, October 8, 1989, p. 18.
Shortened footnote:
4. Amette, “Thé et désespoir,” 18.
Bibliography:
Amette, Jacques-Pierre. “Thé et désespoir.” Le Point, October 8, 1989.
Include a publication date, if available. Access dates may be useful, if a site is no longer available. If a site has been discontinued, note that with a (site discontinued) note at the end of the citation. Otherwise, all links are known to be working when the book is published. When possible, cite the name of the page, the creator or owner of that page, and the URL.
Please note that book, blog, and newspaper titles must be italicized.
Footnote examples:
1. “Land Acknowledgement,” City of Chicago, https://www.chicago.gov/city/en.html.
2. “Balkan Romani,” Endangered Languages Project, First Peoples’ Cultural Council and ELCat/ELP, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/elp-language/5342.
3. Mike Nizza, “Go Ahead, Annoy Away, an Australian Court Says,” The Lede (blog), New York Times, July 15, 2008, http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/.
4. Encyclopedia Britannica Online, s.v. “Sibelius, Jean,” https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Sibelius.
Bibliography examples:
“Land Acknowledgement.” City of Chicago. https://www.chicago.gov/city/en.html.
Nizza, Mike. “Go Ahead, Annoy Away, an Australian Court Says.” The Lede (blog), New York Times, July 15, 2008. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/.
Posts and comments shared on social media are usually cited in the text or in a note, but not usually in a bibliography. Twitter content posted pre-2023 can be cited as Twitter, rather than X. Citations should include enough text from the original post to identify it, and add a URL to the end of the citation. Readers’ comments (and replies to comments) are usually mentioned in the text in terms of the original post. Private content (direct messages, posts on private accounts, etc.) is treated as personal communication.
Footnote examples:
1. NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb), “ Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken—all in a day’s work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!),” Twitter (now X), July 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970.
2. Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea), “do the stars have six points as an artifact because of the hexagonal mirrors?,” reply to NASA Webb Telescope, July 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/1546633841649016832.
3. Chicago Manual of Style (@ChicagoManual), “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993,” Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.
4. Pete Souza (@petesouza), “9/11 anniversaries from the past,” series of seven Instagram photos, September 11, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXjR5junw6.
References to conversations are usually run in to the text or cited in a note; they are rarely listed in a bibliography.
1. Jane E. Correspondent, email message to author, April 23, 2024.
2. Instagram direct message to author, April 20, 2026.
Authors must make clear how an AI tool has been used, and any specific content must be cited where it occurs, either in the text or in a note. Chatbot conversations are not usually included in a bibliography or reference list (but if it is, cite it under the name of the publisher or developer, rather than the name of the tool. Include a publicly available URL). A prompt, if not included in the text, may be added to the note. Multiple prompts (as in an extended conversation) may be summarized.
Cited in text:
The following recipe for pizza dough was generated on December 9, 2023, by ChatGPT-3.5.
Cited in a note:
1. Text generated by ChatGPT-3.5, OpenAI, December 9, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/share/90b8137d-ff1c-4c0c-b123-2868623c4ae2.
