Manuscript Formatting Guide

We have found that formatting your manuscript in accordance with the industry standards as early as possible makes the entire review, copyediting, and production process go more smoothly and more quickly. With that in mind, please follow the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as style and spelling guides.

Typesetting

For typesetting to be as trouble-free as possible, please format your manuscript as follows:

  • File names should be easily recognized—for example, contents.doc, intro.doc, ch01.doc, biblio.doc. Add author name to beginning of all file names (i.e., LASTNAME_ch01). Do not send your text files as a PDF. Send any additional material, such as permissions, as separate files.
  • Use 1” margins, left justification, Times New Roman, font size 12, double-space everything.
  • Always include the chapter number in addition to the chapter title at the beginning of each chapter.
  • Bold all subheads within a chapter.
  • Quotes of eight or more lines should be extracted and indented one-half inch from the left margin. For a two-paragraph extract, no indent for first paragraph, but indent the second paragraph.
  • Do not use the space bar to indent the first line of a paragraph—use Word’s auto-indent paragraph function.
  • Do not use multiple returns to get to the next page; use page breaks to start a new page.
  • Do not insert a blank line between paragraphs, unless you intend for a break in the text, in which case insert <LINE BREAK>.
  • Do not use hyphens to break words at the ends of lines. Turn off the hyphenation feature of your software.
  • Prepare a table of contents: list all parts/sections; chapter numbers, titles, and subtitles; bibliography/references; and authors (if an edited collection). We need this even if the book will not include a table of contents, such as a work of fiction where the chapters are only numbered. We use your contents to verify that we have all parts of your manuscript, so be sure it is complete. Do not assign page numbers for your table of contents.
  • For a list, use indent feature, not tab.

Citations and Documentations

  • Follow the citation style that is the standard to your discipline. The most crucial point is that you be consistent throughout the entire manuscript. All chapters in your book must use the same citation style. For samples of acceptable formatting, refer to the Chicago Manual of Style.
  • Use endnotes, not footnotes. Endnotes should be embedded, using Microsoft Word’s Notes feature, at the end of each chapter.
  • For edited collections, each chapter must include its own works-cited section. We do not publish comprehensive bibliographies for edited collections.

Tables

  • Standardize callouts in the manuscript: <INSERT TABLE 1.1 ABOUT HERE>
  • Pull out tables from the manuscript and place in separate Word document. All tables should be in one single Word file, separated by a page break.
  • Tables have their own captions (or titles); table titles should appear above each table. The source, if applicable, should be below table.

Formatting Figures

  • DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT WITH EMBEDDED IMAGES. Your manuscript will be rejected if the images appear embedded within the Word document. The images must be submitted as stand-alone files in .tif, .jpg, .pdf, or other acceptable formats stated in the Digital Art Guidelines.
  • Standardize callouts in the manuscript: <INSERT FIGURE 1.1 ABOUT HERE>
  • Captions should not appear in the final manuscript. An Art Log spreadsheet has been provided to help you organize your figures. Please fill out the appropriate columns (including captions, permissions wording, and credits) and submit with your manuscript.
  • Each figure should appear after the relevant discussion of it in the text. Do not use wording such as “see figure above” or “see figure on next page” or “see figure on page 29” as there is no way of knowing exactly where the images will appear in relation to the text after the manuscript is typeset.
  • For graphs and charts, please include the raw data if it is not obvious.

The Association of University Presses provides essential guidelines for figures, including technical details like file type, size, and quality. These guidelines represent best practices and inform our decisions about the appropriateness of individual figures for print publication. Please review the AUP art guidelines PDF carefully.

Index

  • If you are preparing your own index, do not start working on it until you are instructed to do so by our production department. Pagination will change when the book is typeset.

Remember!

  • The Dedication, if your book is to include one.
  • The Acknowledgments section if not included as part of your preface. UNP house style is the acknowledgments section goes in the front matter.