Refer to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., and the Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary, though we do not adhere strictly to them in all instances.
Descriptive Indicators
Laughter
- [Laughs.] Period inside the bracket if outside sentence.
- [laughs] No period inside the brackets if within sentence.
- [They laugh.] NOT [Laughter.]
- No "chuckles," etc.
Agreeing and disagreeing
- Mm-hmm [affirmative]. Period after bracket if stands alone
- uh-huh [affirmative] No period inside the brackets if within sentence.
- Mm-mm [negative].
- Okay, not OK
Pauses/interruptions/breaks in thought
- Use "—" (em dash), not "…" (see below for ellipses) and not "--" (double dashes)
- No spaces around em dash (…yellow—the color—not blue…)
- To make an em dash (—): ctrl-Alt-minus key (PC) or shift-option-dash (Mac)
- If one speaker finishes another's sentence:
SPEAKER A: So then I—
SPEAKER B: —ran outside?
- Try to keep expressions of interruptions to these:
- [Audio break.]
- [Cross talk.]
- [Side conversation.]
- [Tape stops, restarts.]
Nonspoken gestures
- Bracket in text
- [points to painting], [claps]
Information
Ellipses
- Use ellipses to indicate portions of the audio that have been deleted from the transcript.
- Bracket ellipses
- Type three dots, with spaces between dots: #[.#.#.]# (or end-sentence punctuation if within sentence).
- If the sentence ends before the ellipses, period goes in normal place, then begin #[.#.#.]# (CMS 17/13.53ff)
- No need for ellipses if the deletions are "uh" words ("you know," "I mean," "like," etc.), brief false starts, or self-corrections.
- Identify bracketed ellipses as described below.
Brackets
- Use brackets for information added or deleted after the interview is recorded.
- Format: [additional information or ellipses + space + en dash + initials of narrator or interviewer]
- No need for initials if information is added or deleted by AAA
- Bracket without initials if small (one- or two-word) change differs from the recorded version, unless it is important to indicate speaker made the change.
- Correction of simple tense, gender, article, etc., that would not be audibly discernable need not be bracketed.
- No need for brackets if an "[inaudible]" is replaced with the originally spoken word(s)
Adding information
- Add only if essential to understanding context and not easily available to search.
- [Inaudible.] or [inaudible], as with laughter section
- [ph], not (ph); don't use [sp] (since it's spoken, not written).
- States should be abbreviated if inside brackets [Cranbrook, MI].
- New York (the city) can be [New York, NY] or [New York City]; the latter is especially useful if the discussion is clearly in the city.
- Don't add full names of persons, places, or titles of exhibitions, works, or publications unless necessary, i.e., obscure, needed to distinguish from a similar one, wouldn't make sense, or would be unsearchable without it.
- Book citation: only as needed for reader to search, usually just author or title or year of publication; at most: [Author. Title. City of publication: publisher, year of publication], but usually [Title, year]
- Exhibition info: as above; at most: [Title. Museum, city, dates (or "traveled," years)]
Acronyms
- Spell out only when necessary (if unclear in context).
- ACC [American Craft Council]
- NCECA [National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts
Ampersand
- Leave ampersand in if considered the proper name:
- Victoria and Albert Museum, the V&A (exceptions can occur).
Titles
- Italics: Exhibition, work of art (including installation, performance), book, movie, television or radio show (series), play, opera, major musical composition, long poem published as a single work, blog title, computer game, ship (USS Enterprise), newspaper ("the" is lowercased, roman)
- Quotes: Poem, song, lecture, single episode of television/radio show, individual blog entry or section, web page entry or section, (academic course—only if context calls for it)
- Uppercase: No quotes or italics: art movements (generally uppercase; see list), computer program, building of architectural significance, series (related group of artworks or regularly recurring exhibition or event), poster, T-shirt title, study or cultural program, regular column (in magazine, journal, newspaper, or website), historical event, lecture series, conference, formal academic department/position/course title (lean to lowercase)
- Lowercase: (but can be uppercase if critical to clarity of narrative or used in a formal title). teaching or administrative position; museum or academic department, committee, or course; prize (cap if proper name (Pulitzer Prize); lowercase if generic (gold medal)); see various lists below.
Award titles commonly encountered
- Fulbright Program (various awards within)
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- MacArthur Fellowship
- NEA grant (certain specific grants are capped)
- Rhodes Scholar/Scholarship
Techniques and materials
- Capitalize if proper noun: NuGold, Damascus steel, ColorCore.
- Lowercase if general technique or style: hishii, kumboo, niello, netsuke.
- Use "karat" instead of "K," unless actually spoken as "K."
Word Treatment
Letters used as words
- S shape (cap, no ital, no quotes); X number of turns
- Spelling out names/terms in narrative: use caps with dashes: Smith, S-M-I-T-H
Words used as terms
- The so-called X (no special treatment)
The term "X" (quotes; differs from CMS)Onomatopoeias
- Flexible, depending on context, but often italics to set apart: Boom!
- Not necessary for casual speech such as "blah, blah, blah"
Numbers
Spelling out vs. numerals
- Spell out numbers under 10, including ordinals and street names and numbers (One Fifth Avenue).
- Exceptions for some technical terms, such as "cone 2"
- When a transcript contains numerous listings of dimensions, then numerals may be more practical.
- If the speaker says, "3 or 400," then use "3[00] or 400" for clarity.
- Use 9/11 (terrorist attacks) and 9-1-1 (emergency call).
- Spell out numbers that begin a sentence, unless it is a year.
- "1934 was the year I went to Spain." (or '34)
- Hyphenate (non-year) numbers such as "Thirty-four" when beginning a sentence.
- Don't include "th" (11th) in full dates (dates that include year).
- Use en dash for date spans, but comma if narrator is casting around for a date: "It was around 1967, '68; I'm not sure."
Fractions and dimensions
- Spell out the words "inches" or "feet," etc.
- Use hyphens for exact fractions ("one-half"), but not inexact fractions ("a third")
- Numerals for numbers using decimals, "1.5 inches" (as spoken)
- While we would normally use "eight by 10 inches," if a transcript uses dimensions frequently, it could work better to use all numerals, even "8x10."
- Only add dimensional units ("[inches]") if necessary for clarity, and even then, not in every instance.
- Hyphenate fractional numbers when they are adjectives: "a four-and-a-half-year project," or used as noun (see age section), but not when an adverb: "She was four and a half years old."
Time and temperature
- Spell out whole numbers under 10 (one o'clock) unless exact time:
- two o'clock or 2 a.m. (as spoken), 2:15.
- Spell out the word "degrees" for temperatures.
Percentages
- Spell out numbers under 10, except decimals.
- Spell out the word "percent."
Years
- 1950s, or '50s
- 19th century (hyphenate when an adjective: 19th-century painting).
- early '50s, mid-'50s, late '50s, '72–74 (use en dash for year spans, unless "through" is spoken; no apostrophe needed after dash for ending year in span).
- 1972 or ['7]3 (if they just say "three"); 2004 or ['0]5
Age
- "in his 30s," "in his mid-30s"
- "She was two years old," but "She acted like a two-year-old."
- "He was 30-something."
Money
- If spell out number (whole, under 10), spell out symbol: four dollars (but $7.50).
- If use numerals, use symbol: $5,000, $8 million ("[$]8 million" or "eight million" if "dollars" is not spoken).
Punctuation and Syntax
Punctuation within and around brackets
- See CMS 6.98 and especially 6.103
- If bracketed material is a simple addition of information, such as name, date, location, translation, etc., do not add a comma, semicolon, or colon with the brackets; okay to use within if needed.
- Exs: September 7 [1935] (no commas around year) or [September 7, 1935] (no comma after the year).
- Then it would be: "He moved to [Cranston] Rhode Island for the sea air."— Even though, if there were no brackets, it would be "He moved to Cranston, Rhode Island, for the sea air."
- If the material is added as part of the speaker's own words, and requires punctuation to correctly form the sentence, then punctuation may be added as needed.
- CMS ex: "[Dear Jacob,] It's been…"
- But if we were only inserting the name "Jacob," it would be: "Dear [Jacob], it's been…" (comma outside the bracket)
- or "… in the old days [flying by the seat of our pants –RPW]." Even though, if the final phrase were unbracketed, it would be preceded by a comma. In this instance, the insertion is treated as a parenthetical phrase.
- A question mark, exclamation point, or close quotes precedes a closing bracket only if it belongs solely to the added material; they follow it if they belong to the hosting sentence.
- Ex: I told him, "You come back [here]!"
- Similarly, a period precedes the closing bracket only if the entire sentence stands alone inside brackets; otherwise it follows.
- Exs: [It was a Thursday.] I saw Bob Brown at the end [of the day]. He was on his way to Boston.
- If bracketed ellipses are entirely self-contained outside of the surrounding sentences, they do not require a period.
- Ex: I said yes. [. . .] The door opened. (CMS 13.58) Note spacing: #[.#.#.]#
Commas
- Use the serial comma: a, b, and c.
- See specific usage sections.
Recalled or paraphrased dialogue
- No need for quotes if internal dialogue or generalized or casually recalled.
- Set off with comma and cap first word even if not using quotes.
- Adaptable to individual cases.
Colon
- Only one space after a colon
- Capitalize after colon only when:
- for a direct question
- introducing more than one sentence or question
- for speech or dialogue
Compound words or expressions
- Generally, do not hyphenate for adverbs—never for adverbs ending in "ly."
- Hyphenate expressions such as "day to day" only when they are used as adjectives.
- Generally, for techniques such as "pit fire" or "salt glaze," hyphenate when used as adjectives or verbs (see preferred spellings list).
Slashes
- Should be changed to something that makes sense if spoken (usually a hyphen) since you can't speak a slash, unless the speaker actually says "slash." Flexible for individual cases.
Plural names and plural possessives
- "They had many Giottos"—no apostrophe
- Prince Charles's, singular possessive ('s)
- The James' children, plural possessive (')
Avoiding run-on sentences
- Two complete sentences separated by a conjunction require a comma.
- Short compound sentences with closely related meanings, especially if simultaneous or sequential actions, can go without a comma, unless a comma would aid in understanding the sense.
- When there is one subject with two verbs ("She raised animals and drove a tractor"), which wouldn't require a comma, if there are multiple objects that need to be separated for clarity, go ahead and add a comma: "She raised cats, dogs, and hamsters, and drove a tractor."
Appositives and interjections
- Interjections should be contained within commas.
- Oh, my God,
- It is spoken, rather than written, prose.
- "He is, like, a very relaxed person." (Though we may omit some "like"s if overused.)
- When "like" is used to estimate an amount, it does not need commas: "There were like 50 people there."
- The year of a given full date should be enclosed in commas.
- A state listed after the town should be enclosed in commas.
- "et cetera" is no longer considered an appositive and need not be contained in commas. It should be treated as any other list item.
- Spell out (don't use abbreviation).
- "Jr." or "Sr." after a name no longer requires enclosing commas.
- "So" at the beginning of a sentence is usually being used conversationally as a simple conjunction and does not require a comma. If used as an interjection or parenthetical (usually to change the subject), then use a comma.
Restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses
- Restrictive (dependent) introductory clauses (containing subject and verb) should be set off by commas.
- Dependent clauses at the end of sentences present special consideration—determine if the clause is restrictive individually. (See CMS 17/6.25.)
Special constructions
- It was, what, 1997?
- It was—what—1997?
- The, quote, unquote, celebration (no quote marks)
- Comma after question mark or exclamation point only when following a title or quote containing a question mark/exclamation point, or if absolutely grammatically necessary, but not with dialogue ("Are you here?" she asked) (CMS 17/6.124–26)
- dark-type (slang, not a word)
- academic-wise (slang, not a word)
- The thing is, I never went there. (Comma stands in for "that")
Foreign words and phrases
- If in Merriam-Webster 11th, treat as any other word.
- If not, italicize.
- Flexible for individual cases.
Art Periods and Movements
In general, capitalize specific art movements; lowercase if the word is being used descriptively rather than referring to the specific historical period or movement.
- Abstract Expressionism
- Art Deco
- Baroque
- Beaux Arts
- Color Field
- Conceptual art
- Constructivists
- Cubism
- Early American
- Minimalism
- Modernism
- Neo-Geo
- Old Masters
- Op art
- Photorealism
- Pop art
- Postmodernism
- Renaissance
- Surrealism
but,
- abstract
- contemporary
- medieval
- modern
- realism
etc.