The Saylor Foundation’s House Style Guidelines
Updated 12/7/2012

  1. Chicago Manual of Style

We observe the guidelines set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). If you have not yet received access, please contact Jen Shoop (). Any standards that do not conform to the Chicago Manual of Style are noted in the Internal Style Guidelines.

  1. Document Formatting
  • All deliverables should be submitted as MSWord .doc or .docx files.
  • Please use single spacing between lines.
  • There should be no special spacing before/after paragraphs, unless thenew paragraph is beneath a new section, in which case you may add oneline to separate the previous paragraph from the new section. (See item 3below.)
  • The document should be left-aligned.
  • Please use Arial, size 12 font.
  • Please be sure to work from the template sent to you so yourdeliverable features the customized Saylor Foundation footer/pagenumbering.
  • Do not use quotation marks within text unless you are referencing a direct quote from a person or work. Use italics if it is necessary to make a term stand out (this applies to book titles as well). Note: the only places using quotations marks for title is acceptable is in the resources boxes, as WordPress does not support the use of italics here.
  • All subunits and sub-subunits should be indented according to numbering of the family tree.

Example:

1.1Title

1.1.1 Title

Reading: Saylor University: Professor John Smith’s Article

Link: Saylor University: Professor John Smith’s Article

Instructions: {Beef this section up!}

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use

displayed on the webpage above.

1.1.2 Title…

  1. Headings and Subheadings
  • All headings should use the title case.
  • The title of the document should be centered and bolded at the top of thefirst page.
  • Subheadings should be left-aligned and italicized.
  • Sub-subheadings should be left-aligned and underlined.
  • You should use one line to separate sections.
  • All subunit headings should have content beneath them. If this is just a note indicating the material is presented in a different unit, please encourage the consultant to provide more information about any particular part of the reading to pay attention to, as well as information connecting the material to the current subunit. (In some cases, a high-level subunit title is self-explanatory on its own and additional information would be redundant. Please use your best judgment to ensure the course flows in a cohesive manner).
  1. Bullets and Numbers

For lists and/or sections of documents that may benefit from numbering orbulleting, please use the standard round bullet (see above) and/or numbers asfollows (i.e., with a period at the end – no dash or parenthesis):

  1. Ipsum
  2. Lorem
  3. Candidate
  4. Dolor

Generally, use bullets or numbers for lists when it will benefit the reader to break up bulky information and make it easier to read.

  1. Numbers in Text (See CMS 3.9 for explanation of alternative rule)
  • Please write out numbers one through nine.
  • Please use numerals for 10 and above.
  • Always use numerals for units of measurement (i.e., 1 hour; 7 degrees).

Note: If a sentence contains both, defer to the numeral for each instance. This applies to references to centuries as well; for example, use 20th century instead of twentieth century.

  1. Punctuation
  • Use one space after every period.
  • Place periods and commas inside quotation marks.
  • Place colons, semicolons, question marks, and exclamations points outside of quotation marks, unless they are part of the quote.

Example:

Which of Shakespeare’s characters said, “All the world’s a stage”?

“What’s the rush?” she wondered.

  1. Time Advisories
  • Use numerals and decimals for time references over an hour, i.e., 2.5 hours.
  • Estimate total unit times to the quarter hour.
  • Include notes for review time. This is typically one quarter of the original time given for an assignment. If a student is initially given 1 hour for a reading, they should be given 15 minutes to review it.
  1. Image Use

Any and all images/graphics that you choose to use in your prose content for TheSaylor Foundation must be one of the following:

  • Under an open license
  • In the public domain
  • Original, i.e., generated/created by yourself

You are encouraged to begin by searching Flickr or Wikimedia, repositories thatinclude a wealth of openly-licensed and public domain images. You may alsochoose to use this tutorial for help:

If you need special assistance in determining the licensing status of a givenimage, you may reach out to our Content Development Manager – Rights and Acquisitions, Steve Phillips(), for assistance.

  1. Image Formatting

Should you choose to include an image in your prose, please observe thefollowing formatting guidelines:

  • The image must be centered on the page.
  • The image must be accompanied by a caption in italicized, size-10 Arialfont.
  • The caption should include both a description and a terms of use line.The terms of use line should indicate the licensing status of the work and,if under an open license, a) an attribution to the source; b) the license ofthe work, along with a link to a description of the license, if possible; andc) a link to the source page, if possible.

Terms of Use: The above image licensed under an X license. It is attributed to Y, and the original version can be found here.

  1. Final Exams

Please review the exam consultation prior to editing an exam. Before finalizing the exam, please ensure the following criteria are met:

  • Questions test for proper learning outcomes.
  • There are 100 questions (exceptfor PRDV courses and when otherwise indicated).
  • Questions are properly numbered and grouped by unit.
  • Questions are left-aligned with no special indentation or formatting.
  • Proper punctuation and capitalization are used in questions and answers. For example, if an answer completes a sentence, it should be lowercase followed by a period. If it is a one-word answer, it should be capitalized with no period.
  • All answers have the same syntax.
  • The context of each question is clear and can be easily understood by the average reader.
  • Answers are free from options indicating “all of the above” or “none of the above.” If this is necessary, please use “all of these answers” or “none of these answers.”
  1. Commonly Found Errors in Courses
    Please review the following list of common mistakes to ensure consistency among Saylor courses:
  • Attributions (Authors/Organizations) that are incorrect - e.g., attributing things to Paul Halsall when they are in the public domain.
  • Authors’ names spelled incorrectly.
  • Institutions spelled incorrectly.
  • Consistent language, style, e.g. Prof. John Smith vs. John Smith vs. Prof. Smith of ABC University.
  • Links to a local drive vs. a web URL.
  • Fractured Links (each letter of a link is an individual link, rather than the entire word/phrase being one link).
  • Links that do not go to the right website, or that go to the right resource but at the wrong location.
  • Soft returns in between the text.
  • Incorrect formatting of learning outcomes (i.e., empty lines between bullet points) - You can reference proper LO formatting here.
  • Lack of a Course Information page.
  • Incorrect format type at the end of a resource - this especially happens when someone uploads a PDF to the site, but doesn’t change the format type from (HTML).
  • Incorrect format type for a resource, e.g. default “Reading” rather than “Web Media.”
  • Instructions that do not match the resource (this is also very common after uploading a hosted version of something).
  • General Terms of Use errors (i.e. “The reading above is licensed under...,” when it the resource is a video or image, etc).
  • Improper quotation mark types around links ("x" instead of “x”), as well as quotation marks not being included in hyperlinks.
  • FLCs often have mixed formatting: different fonts within the same resource boxes, incorrect punctuation (especially " in place of “ or ” – note the style of the quotation marks). Selecting all and setting to 12-point Arial generally fixes this.
  • Em-dashes (x—y) or two hyphens (x -- y) instead of spaced en-dashes (x – y). To fix this, type two hyphens in Word, followed by a space and a letter to have it auto-convert to the proper dash.
  • “Links:” or “Link(s):” instead of the correct “Link:”. Use “Link:” even if there is more than one link in the resource box. This also applies to “Reading” and “Lecture.”
  • There should be no subunit tags in Q&A docs.

As a general Quality Assurance reference, please read this guide.

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