Note: This information does not seek to cover every aspect of every discipline; it will be updated as we receive submissions from different subject areas. Please contact us if you need specific advice on anything not contained here.

Law

Latin legal terms should be written in italic: de jure, ex parte, habeas corpus etc. For names of parties in cases, also use italics, with 'v' having no full stop after it: Ford v Wainwright, Smith v Washington.

Where a term is repeated frequently, and/or is unwieldy when spelled out, type it in full the first time with an accepted abbreviation afterwards in parentheses: 'International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)' and use the abbreviation on its own in subsequent references.

In other abbreviations, use a full stop after abbreviations which consist of a mixture of upper- and lower-case letters but not between or after capitals: 'Ont. LJ', 'Ch. D', but 'QBD', 'AC'.

Foreign languages

Quotations from works in foreign languages should abide by the general rules for quotations, listed on the how to present your manuscript page. In addition to this, a translation into English in the same format (i.e. indented or not indented), enclosed in square brackets, should follow. An indication should also be given as to whether the translation is taken from a published translation of the work (in which case the reference must be given) or whether it is the author's own.

French: include all relevant accents on lower-case letters; use them on upper-case letters only where they are needed to avoid confusion. Use single quotation marks in preference to guillemets, except where the guillemets themselves form part of the quotation.

German: Use letters with umlauts for both upper- and lower-case letters in preference to the addition of an 'e'. For modern works follow the new orthography established in 1998; quotations from works published in old spelling should follow the old style. Note particularly the rules surrounding the use of 'ss' in preference to the Eszett (ß).

Greek: Individual words or short phrases in Greek should be transliterated; longer quotations should remain in Greek script but should be followed by a translation.

Classics

Use BC and AD in preference to CE and BCE; use small capitals and insert a non-breaking space after the number, thus: 64 BC.

Some authors prefer to use the present tense when referrring to ancient individuals: 'Cicero wants' rather than 'Cicero wanted'. This is acceptable but needs to be used consistently - do not vary your tenses as you go along.

If you anglicise Roman names, use the full Latin name at the first mention and then note that you will anglicise thereafter. 'Lucius Segius Catalina (hereinafter Catiline)'. Give full names rather than abbreviations: 'Publius Sulla', not 'P. Sulla'.

Citations to ancient works should include author, title and relevant line numbers, rather than referencing pages in a modern edition. Thus '(Homer, Iliad 1.123-68)' rather than '(Homer, 1961: 34)'.

Provide English translations for any quotations in Latin. These should be in the same format (i.e. indented or not indented), and enclosed in square brackets. An indication should also be given as to whether the translation is taken from a published translation of the work (in which case the reference must be given) or whether it is the author's own.

Any Greek terms should be in italics. At the first mention of a term it should be followed by a short explanatory note in parentheses, e.g. 'a black-figure dinos (mixing bowl), painted by [...]'; the Greek term (still in italics) can be used on its own thereafter.

Science and Mathematics

Authors should follow the standards common in their discipline, and should avoid introducing non-standard symbols. Use the internationally agreed abbreviations for all SI units. Clarity in presentation is essential: for example, authors should differentiate clearly between the numbers 0 and 1, and the letters O and I; also where appropriate between the letter x and the multiplication sign ×.

Note that 'data' should be treated as singular as it is a mass noun. Therefore 'the data is/was' (not 'are/were'), 'the data shows' (not 'show') 'much/little data' (not 'many/few'), etc.