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The MoEML Guide to Editorial Style

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Introduction

This manual provides MoEML contributors, research assistants, encoders, and users with an extensive public record of our editorial style conventions. The standards outlined in this guide are to be implemented across the MoEML website. Any inconsistencies should be amended or reported to our editorial team.
The manual’s primary purpose is to help contributors and staff members avoid inconsistencies in editorial style. By confronting the style issues that arise from web publication, especially where web citation is concerned, we hope to establish practical standards that can be used by similar projects. Therefore, the editors welcome feedback regarding style choices and the general usefulness of this guide.
This guide describes how material should appear when it is published on the website, but many of the style conventions listed here are rendered dynamically. In other words, our style depends on the way content is encoded. For example, a journal title will be automatically italicized with following TEI tag:
<title level="j">Early Theatre</title>
Contributors are encouraged to mark up their submissions according to our encoding practices, but some contributors may choose to submit word processor files with markup instructions for our encoders. Contributors are also encouraged to visit the following pages:
Please note that our style conventions change as language, the Internet, and the website continue to evolve. Refer to this manual frequently to note our most recent changes. If, after consulting this guide, you have further queries, do not hesitate to contact our editorial team. It is likely that we have not yet encountered your style issue and will need to include it in this manual.

General Practice

Using this Guide

MoEML’s style conventions expand on the editorial standards outlined in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and the University of Victoria Editorial Style Guide. Its purpose is to adapt these conventions for more efficient use on the Internet. Since the MoEML guide is not exhaustive, users with style queries should refer We also recommend consulting Amy Einsohn’s Copyeditor’s Handbook as a launching point for general style queries.

Tone and Verb Tense

Usually, contributors should use simple present when referring to any work of literature and simple past when referring to places and historical events.
Avoid gendered pronouns when referring to unspecified persons. MoEML does not use newly coined gender-neutral pronouns like zhe, zhir, shi, or hir. In instances when avoiding a pronoun is impossible, use they, them, or their as neutral singular pronouns for people.

Spelling and Capitalization

Style

Use down style capitalization (see Einsohn 151) except when quoting or transcribing. For example,
  • The lord mayor of London was John Lovekyn.
  • Lord Mayor John Lovekyn died in 1368.
  • John Lovekyn, lord mayor of London, died in 1368.

Dictionaries

For all spelling and capitalization decisions, including the use of hyphens and special symbols, Use preferred spellings and capitalizations (those that are listed first in the C.O.D.) over alternates except when quoting or transcribing. For example,
  • Renaissance
  • early modern
  • fin de siècle
  • bird’s-eye

Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms

Usually, abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms require periods after each letter but the last.
  • J.F. Merritt
Familiar abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms, however, do not require periods unless the letters are arranged in such a way that may confuse pronunciation.
  • OED, EEBO, and ODNB, but C.O.D. (to avoid the pronunciation cod)

Special Characters

Consult the C.O.D. for spelling that may require special characters.
Ampersands (&) should be avoided and used only when quoting or transcribing. For information on encoding ampersands and other special characters, see Encoding Practices.

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are generally capitalized, but some proper nouns require special treatment. For example,
  • ingentaconnect
Capitalize the articles of proper nouns. Similarly, italicize or enclose in quotation marks a proper noun’s article. Do not, however, include articles when using a proper noun as an adjective:
  • The editors hope you find The Map of Early Modern London a valuable research tool.
  • How many Map of Early Modern London stubs have you written?

Places

Place names should be spelled consistently throughout the website (excluding quoted or transcribed material). Since early modern spelling varies, consult MoEML’s encyclopedia when spelling place names. If the encyclopedia does not yet contain an entry for that place, consult the editors before choosing a spelling.
Most place names are treated as proper nouns and are capitalized unless they are acting as common nouns. For example,
  • Aldgate Ward is a ward in the City of London. The ward is named after Aldgate.
  • John Stow walks his reader along the boundary lines of all the wards in the city.
However, some place names should remain lower case, except when appearing in titles or at the beginning of a sentence. For example,
  • The city wall
  • The city ditch

Titles (of a person)

Titles of a person are capitalized only when being used as proper nouns. For example,
  • Pope Innocent III was a medieval pope.
  • Janelle Jenstad, general editor, is an associate professor in the University of Victoria’s department of English.

Titles (of a section, a work)

Most of MoEML’s web page titles, headings, subheadings, and other titles use headline style capitalization (see Einsohn 160). The only exceptions are titles taken from the titles of works published before 1900, which are treated as quotations and therefore preserve the original style (see Quotation and Transcription). For example,
  • The Churches of Early Modern London
but
  • A straunge ſighted Traueller
In titles, words and phrases appearing in parentheses should use sentence style capitalization (see Einsohn 160). For example,
  • Livery Companies (craft guilds)

Theatre Companies

Names of theatre companies should be consistent throughout the website (excluding quoted or transcribed material). When spelling the name of a theatre company, refer to MoEML’s encyclopedia. If there is not yet an encyclopedia entry for that company, consult the editorial team. Generally, MoEML follows the following formula:
  • the Lord Chamberlain’s Men
and not
  • the Servants of the Lord Chamberlain,
  • the Lord Chamberlain and his servants,
or any other variant.

Livery Companies (craft guilds)

MoEML lists livery companies (craft guilds) by their short names in the livery companies page. For example, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths would be listed as The Goldsmiths’ Company. Note that Company is capitalized when referring to a specific company, even when that company’s full name is not used.
  • The highest ranking livery company is the Mercers‘ Company. The Company is still active today.
Special care should be taken when referring to a person’s membership to a company. Capitalizing the noun Goldsmith, for example, indicates that that person is free (a member) of the Goldsmiths’ Company. A lowercase goldsmith, however, indicates that that person practices as a goldsmith without being a member of the Goldsmiths’ Company. It is possible, therefore, that a goldsmith be a Draper without being a Goldsmith.

Punctuation

Style

Use open punctuation (see Einsohn 72) except when quoting or transcribing material. For example,
  • MoEML can help you research early modern streets including Aldgate Street near Aldgate, Basing Lane in Breadstreet Ward, and Bishopsgate Street in Bishopsgate Ward.
but not
  • MoEML can help you locate many early modern streets, including Aldgate Street, near Aldgate; Basing Lane, in Breadstreet Ward; and Bishopsgate Street, in Bishopsgate Ward.

Quotation Marks and Apostrophes

MoEMLuses curly quotation marks and apostrophes. For important information about using quotation marks and apostrophes, see Submission Instructions and Encoding Practices.
In summary, apostrophes are hard-coded while quotation marks are created dynamically with TEI tags like
<title level="a">John Donne</title>
or
<quote>mounted on two Golden Leopardes</quote>

Commas

MoEML uses the Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma: the comma that appears after the second last item in a list) except when quoting or transcribing.
  • Nicholas Bourne was a printer, bookbinder, and bookseller.

Dashes and Hyphens

Spaces are not used on either side of an em dash (―) or an en dash (–).
  • Hamlet―my favourite of Shakespeare’s plays―has been translated into Klingon.
The en-dash (–), and not the hyphen (-), is used to indicate an open compounds (e.g., post–World War II), a date or page range, or a tally (see Einsohn 108–109). For encoding instructions relating to dashes, see Get the Most out of oXygen.
The hyphen (-) is used for prefixes, hyphenated compounds, and hyphenated names.

Ellipses

Stylistic ellipses are formatted as three (or, in some instances, four; see MLA Handbook 3.7.5) periods without spaces between them, but with one space both before and afterwards. For example,
  • This sentence, which includes an ellipsis for dramatic effect, is Gap in transcription. Reason: Editorial omission for reasons of length or relevance. Use only in quotations in born-digital documents.[…] incomplete.
To encode editorial ellipses that indicate an omission in a quotation, use a self-closing <gap> element, with a @type attribute with value of "editorial" and a @resp attribute that assigns the ommision to the "@xml:id" of the document author, not the author of the quotation. For example,
<quote>This sentence <gap reason="editorial" resp="mol:SIMP5"/> is abridged.</quote>
In this example, "mol:SIMP5" indicates the author of the document using this quote, not of the quote itself. Note that there is a space before and after the <gap> element.

Italicization

Website Titles

Website titles are treated as monographs and should be italicized. Web source providers, however, are treated as publishers and should not be italicized. Some websites, including MoEML, will act as monographs in some instances and publishers in others. For example,
  • Internet Shakespeare Editions is a useful website when citing Shakespeare.
  • Shakespeare’s plays are available through online publishers like Internet Shakespeare Editions.
  • Be careful when citing articles that are accessed through source providers like JSTOR, EBSCOhost, Wiley, and ingentaconnect; we’ve changed a few rules.

MoEML (Not Italicized) vs. MoEML (Italicized)

Depending on their use, Map of Early Modern London and MoEML should either be italicized or not italicized in documents. When functioning as the name of a publisher or organization, Map of Early Modern London and MoEML should not be italicized. For example,
<p>MoEML adds locations to our placeography.</p>
Conversely, when functioning as the title of a project or website, Map of Early Modern London and MoEML should be italicized. For example,
<p>See the locations in MoEML.</p>

Foreign Words and Phrases

Foreign words and phrases should be italicized and translated (perhaps in parentheses) unless they appear as quotes (see Quotation and Transcription). Anglicized words or phrases of foreign origin that are not italicized in the C.O.D. are not considered foreign. For instructions on marking up and encoding foreign words, see Encoding Practices.

Dates and Numbers

Note that all dates will be tagged using TEI standards (see Encode a Date).
The standard date format within a body of text is 11 May 1598 except when quoting or transcribing.
The standard all-numerical date format is 1598-05-11 (year, month, and day, in that order and separated by hyphens).
The designations CE or BCE should only be used in BCE years or in ambiguous instances such as date ranges involving both a CE and BCE year.
Rather than distinguishing between Gregorian (new style) and Julian (old style) dates with a forward slash (/), dates are expressed in Julian with a pop-up link to a Gregorian date.
Do not spell out centuries. Type the numeral instead. Example: 11th century.

Date Ranges

Indicate year ranges with an en dash (–), not a hyphen (-).

Life Dates

Life dates for people in the personography database appear in pop-up windows linked beneath a person’s name. The dates are generated from the personography database. They appear in parentheses as the first piece of information (after the name) in the pop-up window. Life dates for people not in the personography should be indicated in parentheses immediately following the first occurence of the name.
All birth and death dates follow the following basic structure, with additional information provided as noted below:
  • (b. YEAR, d. YEAR)
Use the following abbreviations to provide information about life dates:
  • b. (for birth),
  • d. (for death),
  • c. (for circa, an estimate of ±5 yrs.),
  • ? for a year that is questionable but not understood as a ±5 year estimation—for example, Raphael Holinshed (b. c. 1525, d. 1580?),
  • bap. (for baptized), and
  • fl. (for floruit, i.e. flourished)
Each individual abbreviation (excluding the question mark, which appears after the relevant date) should appear in roman type before the date in question, followed by a space:
  • John Spencer (d. 1610)
  • Geoffrey of Clinton (d. c. 1133)
When only one date is known, indicate that date only:
  • Cnut (d. 1035)
Use fl. as a range:
  • William Fitzstephen (fl. 1162–1174)

Telephone Numbers

Telephone numbers should be stylized in accordance with the University of Victoria’s Style Guide. The style guide outlines the following standards for phone numbers:
  • Separate domestic telephone numbers with hyphens. Do not use parentheses around area codes. For example, 250-123-4567.
  • Format 800 telephone numbers the same way as domestic telephone numbers. For example, 1-800-123-4567.
  • Express international phone numbers in the ITA standard format. Use neither hyphens or parentheses. For example, +22 609 123 4567. Note that the international prefix symbol preceeds the country code, which itself preceeds the area code and phone number.

Postal Addresses

Postal Addresses should be styled in accordance with Canada Post’s Addressing Guidelines. Canada Post outlines the following standards for styling domestic postal addresses:
  • Do not use punctuation in postal addresses. For example, the third line of an address should read Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 and not Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2.
  • Express street numbers numerically. For example, 2 Dallas Road.
  • If applicable, insert a hyphen between unit numbers and street addresses. For example, #202-618 Dallas Road.
  • Capitalize all letters in street addresses For example, 200B Government Street.
  • Do not abbreviate road, avenue, street, etc. Furthermore, spell out directional abbreviations if applicable. For example, Gorge Road East.
  • Use Canada Post standards for abbreviations of provinces and territories: >BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NB, NS, PE, NL, YK, NT, NU.
  • Insert two spaces between province abbreviations and postal code. For example, Victoria BC V8W 2Y2.
The following are sample postal addresses formatted in accordance with the aforementioned standards:
  • William Shakespeare 209-2323B Gorge Road East Victoria BC V8T 2W2 Canada
  • University of Victoria PO Box 1700 STN CSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada

Quotation and Transcription

Quoted or transcribed material should always retain its original formatting. This includes spelling, punctuation, capitalization, ligatures, special characters, stage directions, et cetera.
Titles of works published before 1900 are treated as quoted material and should retain their original spelling, punctuation, and formatting (unless they are listed in the Short Title Catalogue, in which case they should be listed by EEBO record titles; see Citation).
For block quotations, see Parenthetical Citation. For instructions on encoding transcribed or quoted material, see Encoding Practices.

Citation

Parenthetical Citation

MoEML adopts its guidelines for parenthetical citations from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Seventh Edition. Our parenthetical citation procedures deviate from those of MLA 7 in the following ways:
  • Include the work’s identifying information (author(s), title, volume number, etc.) before the page number regardless of if it is mentioned in the sentence. For example,
    • For Hiltner, increased activity at Moorfields indicates the mass emergence of an environmental consciousness in the Renaissance, as early modern London’s citizens not only increasingly became conscious of their environment, but also became aware of it as withdrawing and endangered (Hiltner 63).
    Although Hiltner is mentioned in the sentence, his name is still provided in the parenthetical citation.
  • We do not use the abbreviation ibid when referring to a previously cited citation. Simply give the identifying name for the source again.
  • We do not abbreviate number ranges. When citing number ranges, give both the upper and the lower bound in full (for example, 100-104).
  • In block quotations, the parenthetical citation appears on a separate line after the quotation. For example,
    Methinks I see him ent’ring ordinaries,
    Dispensing for the pox; and plaguy houses,
    Reaching his dose; walking Moorfields for lepers,
    And off’ring citizens’ wives pomander-bracelets
    As his preservative, made of the elixir.

    (Jonson 1.4.18-22)
Please see Link to Reference Material in Bibl to ensure proper markup and encoding practices. The following information provides guidelines for parenthetical citation instances that are particularly pertinent to the project.

Cite Signatures

In parenthetical citations, cite signature numbers after the abbreviation sig. and specify with a lowercase r or v whether it is the recto or verso page. For gatherings that have signatures with multiple letters—BBB2, for example—indicate so with a numeral. For example, a recto page with the signature AAA would be cited as sig. 3A1r.
When citing a signature in running text (i.e. not in parentheses), spell out signature.

Cite Act, Scene, and Line Numbers

When citing act, scene, and line numbers, use periods to seperate the three numbers. When citing line ranges in drama, give the act and scene number only on the left side of the en-dash, but cite both line numbers in full (for example, 5.1.100-104).

Cite Stage Directions

Cite stage directions by their previous line number, followed by a space and the abbreviation s.d. When the direction is given at the beginning of a scene, the line number is zero.

Cite Dictionary Entries

To cite a term’s definition, give the abbreviation for the dictionary used followed by a space character ( ), the term cited followed by a comma, the part of speech from which the word comes, and the specific definition of the term that you are citing. For example:
A gazetteer is a geographical index or dictionary (OED gazetteer, n.3).

Cite Page Numbers from a Multi-Volume Work

To cite a page number from a multi-volume work, give the work’s identifier (author, title, etc.) followed by a space, then the volume number followed by a colon, then a space, then the page number or page range. For example,

More Information

Tag parenthetical citations with <ref> elements. Please see documentation on linking to reference material in BIBL1.xml for instructions on tagging parenthetical citations.

Works Cited List

MoEML adapts its works cited guidelines from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Seventh Edition. Our citation procedures deviate from those of MLA in the following ways:
  • Encoders, tag authors of texts published before 1700 with <name> elements, which render a hyperlinked name in our works cited list. For full encoding and tagging instructions for works cited entries, see Bibliography Document Structure.
  • Our works cited entries do not render hanging indentation.
  • We do not follow MLA’s cross-referencing procedure for citing multiple works from the same collection or multiple works by the same author (MLA 5.3.5-5.3.6). Provide full bibliographical details for each individual entry. For example, Adams, Robert M., and George M. Logan. John Donne. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams, E. Talbot Donaldson, Alfred David, Hallett Smith, Barbara K. Lewalski, Robert M. Adams, George M. Logan, Samuel Holt Monk, Lawrence Lipking, Jack Stillinger, George H. Ford, Carol T. Christ, David Daiches, Jon Stallworthy. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1993. 1080–1082. Print.
  • When a book is a part of a series, provide the series name or designation after the publication information. For example, Howe, Elizabeth, and David Lakin. Roman and Medieval Cripplegate, City of London: Archaeological Excavations 1992–1998. London: MoLA Service, 2004. MoLA Monograph 21. Print. Jonson, Ben. The Devil is an Ass. Ed. Peter Happé. Manchester and New York: Manchester UP, 1996. Revels Plays. Print.
  • We have our own conventions for remediated and reprinted sources (e.g., books made digitally available, reprints, etc.). See Remediated and Reprinted Sources below for a description of these conventions.
  • When citing a part of a multi-volume work, include Vol. followed by the volume number(s) after the title. For example, Webster, John. The dramatic works of John Webster. Vol. 3. Ed. William Hazlitt. London: John Russell Smith, 1897. Print. If the title of the individual volume is different from that of the work as a whole, include the multi-volume work’s title after the volume number. For example, Schofield, John. Medieval and Tudor Domestic Buildings in the City of London. Medieval Art, Architecture, and Archaeology in London. Ed. Lindy Grant. Vol. 10 of British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions. Leeds: Maney Publishing, 1990. 16–28. Print.
  • Do not use et al. as a stand-in for a list of author or editor names in the works cited list. Instead, include each author or editor so that each one is searchable. (Note that we still use et al. in parenthetical references).
  • Do not abbreviate numbers in ranges. Give both the upper and the lower bounds of number ranges in full (for example, 100-104).
  • Whenever possible, provide a unique identification number such as a stable URL or a DOI number at the end of each digital source’s citation entry. See Digital Resource Identification below for more information on DOIs and URLs.
  • Do not include medium of publication designation (i.e., Web) in entries for digital sources. Note that with non-periodical print sources we still include the medium of publication designation (i.e., Print).
  • When citing websites, do not include the developer’s name. Simply begin the entry with the website title or author. For example, Alsford, Stephen. Medieval English Towns. http://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/towns.html. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.
  • Do not include access dates for works cited entries of websites or webpages.
  • When citing websites and webpages, include the website sponsor if it is different from the title of the website. Enter the sponsor name before the URL. For example, Appleby, John C. Roydon, Sir Marmaduke. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H.C.G. Matthew, Brian Harrison, Lawrence Goldman, and David Canadine. Oxford UP. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/24237. If the sponsor and the website have the same name, simply provide the website title.
  • Unlike MLA, do not use N.p. when there is no sponsor or publisher.
  • Provide the Short Title Catalogue (STC) number for works listed in the Short Title Catalogue. Cite these works by their second edition STC titles. For example, Goodman, Nicholas. Hollands Leaguer. London, 1632. STC 12027. Print.
  • When additional access information is required, provide that information in [square] brackets at the end of the citation. For example, Harben, Henry. A Dictionary of London. London: Henry Jenkins, 1918. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london [BHO’s transcription of Harben’s Dictionary is organized alphabetically. Use keyword searches to find words that appear in entries.] Weinreb, Ben, and Christopher Hibbert, eds. The London Encyclopaedia. New York: St. Martin’s P, 1983. Print. [You may also wish to consult the 3rd edition, published in 2008.]
Note that these guidelines are limited to the editorial style of our works cited entries (i.e., the rendered format of our works cited entries). If you are sending MoEML a .docx file, please format the document so that it accords with these guidelines. Encoders, please see Bibliography Document Structure for instructions on encoding works cited entries.

Remediated and Reprinted Sources

Remediated sources refers to sources that have changed publication medium. Digital scans, and digital transcriptions are all considered to be remediated. When citing remediated sources, provide the original publication information, and, in the place of the medium designation, include remediated by followed by the remediating agent. The following list gives example citations for common remediated source types:
  • Beaven, Alfred P. The Aldermen of the City of London - Temp. Henry III - 1912. London, 1908. Remediated by British History Online.
  • Christie, James. Some Account of Parish Clerks. London, 1893. Remediated by Internet Archive.
  • Loftie, William John. London. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1887. Remediated by Hathi Trust.
  • Mills, A. D. Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Remediated by Oxford Refernce.
  • Mitton, G.E. Maps of Old London. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1908. Remediated by Project Gutenberg.
  • Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel William. Historical Memoirs of My Own Time. Lea and Blanchard: Boston, 1837. Remediated by Google Books.
Occasionally, a printed book will change publishers but retain its other bibliographic characteristics. We consider a book of this type to be reprinted. To cite a reprinted book, provide the citation information of the original book, and, in the place of the medium designation, include reprinted by followed by the new publishers’ information (City: Publisher, year) and the medium designation. For example, Andrews, William. Old Church Lore. Hull: William Andrews, 1891. Reprinted by Wakefield: EP Publishing, 1975. Print.

Digital Resource Identification

Whenever possible, MoEML uses stable URLs and DOI numbers to unambiguously identify digital resources.
  • DOI numbers are unique identifiers for digitally published journal articles and research reports. If a digital object has a DOI number, include the DOI number at the end of the works cited entry. Note that some online databases will display DOI information alongside each publication or with the article’s metadata. If the online databse does not provide the DOI, use CrossRef to perform a DOI search.
  • Some digitally accessible journal articles and research reports, especially those published before 2000, will not have a DOI number. In this case, we cannot include the doi: component of the article’s citation. Note that DOI numbers are being reotractively assigned to many pre-2000 journal articles. Encoders, leave an XML comment to indicate that the article has no DOI at the time of encoding.
  • For webpages, as opposed to digitally published journal articles or research reports, include a hyperlinked stable URL at the end of the citation.
The BIBL1 entry for MUNR1 serves as an example of a citation with a DOI: Munro, Ian. The City and Its Double: Plague Time in Early Modern London. English Literary Renaissance 30.2 (2000): 241–261. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6757.2000.tb01171.x.
Grammars of Space has no DOI number, so the citation simply ends after the page range: Wall, Cynthia. Grammars of Space: The Language of London from Stow’s Survey to Defoe’s Tour. Philological Quarterly 76.4 (1994): 387–411.
Because the Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Whitefriars Theatre is a webpage, as opposed to an online journal article, so its works cited entry includes the URL: Whitefriars Theatre. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whitefriars-Theatre.
Encoders, please see documentation on Bibliography Document Structure.

References