International Foundation for Electoral Systems Style Guide Chelsea Adams 9 March 2012
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Style Guide
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems is an organization that helps to create and maintain stable environments in which democracies can be created and maintained. The organization’s projects take place all over the world, and so their website has to be translated into many different languages. Because the website has to be translated into different languages, it is necessary for IFES to use global English on their website. This style guide will address usage and consistency issues, address decisions that depart from Chicago, and will also address current usage that should be changed to conform to global English.
Grammar and Usage 5.1 Passive voice. To conform to global English standards, sentences that have a known acting agent should be put in active voice. IFES released a gender mission statement and policy. not A gender mission statement and policy was released by IFES.
5.2 Pronoun reference. Make sure it is clear what antecedent a pronoun is modifying, and to conform to global English standards, do not use this, that, these, or those as pronouns. Technology, however, impacts all aspects of elections, even those aspects that might at first seem immune. not Technology, however, impacts all aspects of elections, even those that might at first seem immune. 5.3 Articles. When one of the articles a, an, or the is used in a noun list, the article used should be repeated if the noun list is ambiguous or contains compound nouns. However, if the noun list is unambiguous, the article need not be repeated. the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the Senator and Chairman of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee, and the other COMELEC commissioners and senior staff but the COMELEC, PHILJA, and LIBERTAS
5.4 Parallel structure. Syntactic cues should be added to a list to create parallel structure and to aid in readability and translation. The final selection of the international recipient is based on the following criteria: • Focus on the next generation of leaders. • Impact on the field of democracy. • Alignment with IFES’ mission. not The final selection of the international recipient is based on the following criteria: • Focus on the next generation of leaders. • The candidate’s impact on the field of democracy. • How well the candidate aligns with IFES’ mission.
5.5 Modifiers. Modifiers placed in a sentence should be clear. Make sure the modifier can modify what comes before or after it, and make sure that the reader and translator can identify what noun the modifier is modifying. images of paint-‐covered party supporters celebrating an election victory in West Bengal, India not images of painted party supporters celebrating an election victory in West Bengal, India
Punctuation
6.1 Commas in a series. The serial comma should be used in lists to conform to global English standards. The experts working with IFES held smaller forums in the Artibonite, West, Plateau Central, South, North, and Grande Anse regions. not The experts working with IFES held smaller forums in the Artibonite, West, Plateau Centra, South, North and Grande Anse regions.
6.2 En dashes. A space should be put between the en dash and the two items the en-‐dash is connecting. the US – Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson
not the US–Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson 6.3 Em dashes. In order to conform to Chicago, em dashes should be used instead of hyphens to set off explanatory information. the Department of Justice, lawyers from political parties, civil society groups—such as the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) and LIBERTAS—and top law firms not LIBERTAS submitted to COMELEC the Proposed Interim Rules – a compilation of recommendations on how to handle the election adjudication cases under an automated system – on September 30, 2009. 6.4 Run-in lists with numerals. When using run-‐in lists within a text, do not precede the number with a parenthesis. IFES is actively engaged in 1) assessing the department’s current organizational structure, delivery systems, benchmarking structure and service delivery system (against other local registration and election departments), 2) identifying service gaps, 3) assisting in reevaluating and reaffirming the department’s current vision and mission 6.5 Commas with introductory material. A comma should set off all introductory material, no matter the length of the introductory material. Consequently, focused discussions with pertinent officers of the COMELEC, PHILJA, and LIBERTAS were conducted. and In this white paper, IFES introduces a groundbreaking framework. 6.6 Slash in the and/or construction. To conform to global English standards, the construction and/or should be replaced with either the word and or the word or. Anti-‐corruption agencies and the regular legal system have important roles to play in some countries. or Anti-‐corruption agencies or the regular legal system have important roles to play in some countries.
not Anti-‐corruption agencies and/or the regular legal system have important roles to play in some countries. 6.7 Parentheses used to create multiple words. Do not use parentheses to enclose letters in order to create multiple words, as this construction can cause confusion. To conform to global English standards, write out both words. How to regulate the use and abuse of state resources in political and electoral affairs not How to regulate the (ab)use of state resources in political and electoral affairs 6.8 Adverbial interrupters. To conform to global English standards, adverbial words and phrases used as interrupters within a sentence should either be moved to the front of the sentence or deleted. However, technology impacts all aspects of elections. not Technology, however, impacts all aspects of elections. 6.9 Dates. Dates should always be expressed in a month-‐day-‐year format. Dates without a day or a year should follow a month-‐day or a month-‐year format. February 7, 2012 September 2003 October 30th 6.10 Ampersands. To conform to global English standards, ampersands should be taken out of texts and replaced with the word and. Contact the Office of Communications and Advocacy. not
Contact the Office of Communications & Advocacy.
Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and Compounds
7.1 Possessive. When using the company name in a possessive construction, never add an s after the company name. In this second podcast celebrating IFES’ silver anniversary, Michael Svetlik, IFES Vice President of Programs, talks about the Middle East. not In this second podcast celebrating IFES’s silver anniversary, Michael Svetlik, IFES Vice President of Programs, talks about the Middle East. 7.2 Election-related. Used as an adjective, the noun plus participle compound election- related should always be connected with a hyphen. election-‐related 7.3 Non compounds. All compounds that use the prefix non should be hyphenated. non-‐profit non-‐partisan non-‐governmental 7.4 Email. The word email is lowercased and contains no hyphens. email However, when the term email starts a sentence, the E is capitalized. Email
Names and Terms
8.1 Titles and offices. Capitalize all titles and offices even if no name accompanies them. the Supreme Court Justice the Senator Chairman
8.2 Article titles. Article titles should follow headline-‐style capitalization guidelines. Election Observation by People with Disabilities Electoral Participation of Citizens with Disabilities in Bangladesh
Numbers
9.1 Numbers. Numbers one through ten should be written out, and numbers over ten should be written in numeral form. However, when used before words such as million or billion, the numbers one through ten should be in numeral form. The Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) has verified that 50 have been injured since February 8, 2012. In 2005, IFES began forming units of medical and legal experts in six departments in Haiti. but It is estimated that up to 5 million eligible Nepalis are not registered to vote. 9.2 Money. To conform to global English standards, USD should replace the use of the dollar sign to indicate dollar amounts in the United States. USD 5,000 not $5,000 9.3 Ordinal numbers. All ordinal numbers should be put in numeral form with superscripts. 10th 11th not tenth eleventh
9.4 En dash with dates. The words from and to should be used with dates to indicate spaces of time instead of using en dashes with the word from.
from 10 August to 9 September not from 10 August – 9 September 9.5 Numbers indicating a space of weeks, months, or years. Always use numerals to indicate a space of time. 6 to 8 weeks not six to eight weeks 9.6 Phone numbers. Phone number units should be separated by periods, not hyphens. 1.202.350.6802 not 1-‐202-‐350-‐6802
Abbreviations
10.1 Organization name abbreviations. IFES is always abbreviated with no periods and is never spelled out in articles. However, the names of other organizations should always be spelled out the first time. The abbreviation should be in parentheses directly after the name, and then the abbreviation should be used whenever the organization is mentioned throughout the rest of the article. IFES worked with Tunisia’s election management body. not The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) worked with Tunisia’s election management body. but Its network of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) . . . advocate for human rights and report on the general human rights situation and violations within their communities.
10.2 United States. Put periods in the abbreviation of United States. U.S. Ambassador to PNG Teddy Taylor a U.S. intervention not US Ambassador to PNG Teddy Taylor a US intervention 10.3 Units of measure. All units of measure should be in SI units and should be abbreviated with no spaces or periods. 65 km