Add the date
Add topic #
Insert page numbers – Arial 10 – for multipage pieces
Style Guide for OPEN Professional Journal Articles
Title - centered, Arial 14, bold – mix of upper and lower case
It is important for authors to concentrate on creating pieces that are informative and readable. All submitted text pieces will be proofread for typographical errors and consistency in formatting. They may also be edited for clarity and readability.
These guidelines will help us maintain a consistency among the text pieces. We are following the APA editorial style; this style is used in professional publications in the social and natural sciences, including education.
Page setup
□Create all documents in Microsoft Word(not PowerPoint, bitmap images, or PDF).
□Use 1” margins – By default, Word sets the left and right margins at 1.25”, so the margins should be reset when starting a new document.
□Left justify
□Font – Arial 12, single spacing, normal for the body of the text piece
□Page number at top right(Arial, 10)
□Indicate the date, text piece # and page #’s in the header
□In general, use the portrait orientation. Use the landscape orientation only if the document is basically a table or chart that fits better in this lengthwise orientation.
Format
Headings – Arial 12, bold, left justify, double space before and after.
Paragraphs of text Arial 12 – left justify, do not indent the first sentence. Single space the paragraphs. Double space between paragraphs.
Bulleted list. Use the solid bullets. Use numbers if the leading sentence mentions a specific number (e.g., There are seven guiding principles:) or if there is a hierarchy of items (e. g. highest to lowest).Indent the list to 0.5” Double space between the paragraph and the list. Double space between the list items if they are more than one line. Double space after the last item.Punctuate list items only if they are complete sentences or verb phrases that complete the sentence begun by the lead-in (use periods in these two cases).
- Caterpillar
- Spider
- Snake
- using standard procedures.
- becoming skilled at applying the procedures.
- using a wide range of observations.
Single space after all punctuation, including periods and colons. (This is different from the typewriter days!)
Use a comma between elements in a series of three or more including the word and (e. g., Red, white, and blue).
Periods and commas always appear inside quotation marks:
- ”nonsense words.”
Use footnotes sparingly to supplement the text. In Word, footnotes can be added by clicking on Insert -> Reference -> Footnote.Arial 10 font.
Avoid using text boxes. They are difficult to edit.
When citing sources within the text, use the following format:
- Good evidence exists that only beginning and struggling readers rely uponcontext to identify words (Stanovich, 1994).
Use parallel adverbs when creating lists:
Incorrect:
- Identify and sort common words…
- Describe common objects…
- Uses new vocabulary and…
Correct:
- Identifies and sorts common words…
- Describes common objects…
- Uses new vocabulary and…
Punctuation
a.m. / U.S.p.m. / vs.
Hyphenating
Do not hyphenate a compound including an adverb ending in –ly:
- widely used text
- randomly assigned participants
- relatively homogeneous sample
mini (no hyphen but we are using mini-study and mini-lesson for readability)
all-in-one / K-L-D / all “self’afterschool (adj.) / kidwatching / set-up
back-to-back / little-known / self-esteem
back-up (adj.) / lifestyle / short-term
coordinate / lifelong / single-handed
cross-section / laptop / start-up (adj.)
database / LISTSERV (use electronic / subtest
day-to-day (adj.)
e-mail / mailing list)
long-term / syllabigation./ syllabication*
*use this (both are correct)
e-journal
fairy-tale (adj.) / lowercase
make-up / toward (no ‘s’)
top-notch
folktale (one word)
firsthand / note-taking (adj.)
note taking / two-way
uppercase
follow-up
FTP / old-fashioned
one-word syllable / water-deprived
warm-up
genres (plural)
go-ahead / online on-line?
ongoing / well-informed
well-known
hands-on / off-task (adj.) off task / well-taught
high-anxiety / posttest / what-if question
Internet / preservice / whisper-reading?
inservice / PDF / worldwide (adj.)*
in-depth (adj.) / preschool
in-between (adj. or noun) / role-playing
Numbers
% or percent:
more than 5% of the sample…
the remaining 10%...
Numbers expressed in figures (all numbers 10 and above)
25 years old
10th-grade students
13 lists
Grade 3 (but, the eighth grade)
2 weeks ago
Numbers expressed in figures (all numbers below 10 that are grouped for comparison w/numbers 10 and above, and that appear in the same paragraph)
3 of 21 analysis
5 and 13 lines
4 of the 40 stimulus words
the 6th group…12 groups
Numbers expressed in Words (numbers below 10 that do not represent precise measurements and that are grouped for comparison with numbers below 10)
The only one who
Repeated the task three times
Three-dimensional blocklike figures
Combining Figures and Words to Express Numbers:
Almost 3 million people
A budget of $2.5 billion
Ten 7-point scales
Twenty 6-year-olds
The first 10 items
Miscellaneous
use of like and as:
- like = preposition (He sings like Caruso)
- as = conjunction (He sings as Caruso sings)
*World Wide Web (to show where WWW comes from)
Citations
Whether paraphrasing information from another document or quoting another author directly, writers must credit the source.Within the text, use the (Author last name, date) format. If the quote is an exact one from the source, put the quote in “double quotation marks” and add the page number to the citation (Author, date, p. xx).
Any time a writer uses phrases such as “Research shows…” or “It is well known that…” there should be one or more research studies cited to support the statement. Likewise, the source of any statistics or other data should be cited.
Remember that not everything in the professional literature is true “research.” Professional publications also include lesson plans, opinion pieces, reviews of the literature, reports, reflections, and experiences.
Tables
Tables can be a challenge to format. To get the text to fit in a cell, use Arial 9 or 10 or switch to the Arial Narrow font. Another option is just to put the information into a table and allow the editorial staff to format the table!
Clip art and Word Art
Do not use Clip Art or Word Art. Although text colors and photographs are visually appealing on the computer screen, those taking the courses may be printing the text pieces on a non-color printer.
References
A complete list of references must be part of each text piece. Every source cited within the text must have the complete reference at the end. Conversely, every source referenced must have at least one citation within the text. One purpose of including references is so that the reader can find the original material, so it’s better to err on the side of having too much information – the editor can work out the details!
Most of our references will be books, journal articles, and web pages. Double space between items. The general format is as follows:
Journal
Authors’ last name and initial. (Year). Title of article. Name of Journal, volume(number), pages.
Fisher, D., Flood, D., Lapp, D., & Frey, N. (2004). Interactive read alouds: Is there a common set of implementation practices? The Reading Teacher, 58(1), 8-17.
Book (two authors)
First author & Second author. (Year). Title of book. City: Publisher.
Rasinski, T. V., & Padak, N. D. (2001). From phonics to fluency. New York: Addison Wesley.
Include the edition number, if present, after the title (e.g., 2nd ed. )
A chapter in an edited book
Duke, N. K., Bennett-Armistead, V. S., & Roberts, E. M. (2003). Bridging the gap between learning to read and reading to learn. In D. M. Barone & L. M. Morrow (Eds.), Literacy and young children: Research-based practices (pp. 226-242). New York: Guilford Press.
Include the page numbers of the chapter.
No specific author
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research and literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups (NIHPublication No. 00-4754). Washington, D.C: National Institute of Child Health and Development.
Electronic sources
Material presented on the World Wide Web poses a challenge to references. Here are a few guidelines, but keep in mind that one reason for including references is so that the reader can find the original source. The reference should include the authors (if possible), document or page title, a date (either a published date or the date retrieved), and the complete URL.
If the Internet article is based on a print source, the reference is the same as for a print document. An example would be an article from The Reading Teacher that IRA makes available online. If it appears as though the article has been modified in format or content for the World Wide Web, add the URL. When typing a URL (and it’s better to copy it from the browser and type it into the list of references), do not put a period at the end or allow your word processor to hyphenate it!
Author. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, volume, pages. Retrieved Month Day, Year from URL
Hunter, P. C. (2004). Classroom libraries level the playing field. Retrieved April 30, 2005, from
Robb, L. (n.d.). Reading clinic: How to spur progress with mini-lessons and guided practice. Retrieved January 6, 2005 from
For a document created by an organization
Name of Organization. (Year)[1]. Title of page. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL.
National Science Teachers Association. (2004). Resources for teachers. Retrieved June 14, 2004, from
CAIU (September 2005).
[1] Use (n.d.) if no date is available.