PRP Style Guide
1. FORMATTING
1.1 General Formatting Rules
- Indent and bold speakers’ names at the beginning of spoken phrases. The colon following the name should also be bolded, followed by one space only—not tabs. Do not italicize or type the names in all caps. For print volumes, use the tab key only, not hard indents or spaces, to indent the names. For online transcripts, do not indent the speakers’ names.
- Use only one space after periods and other punctuation at the end of a sentence.
- Do not insert extra lines between speakers’ comments or between new paragraphs. Let the text wrap around—do not insert hard returns in the middle of paragraphs..
- Do not use the widow/orphan control or the hyphenization option for breaking up long words at the end of a line.
- For italicized material placed in brackets, the brackets themselves remain in roman type.
- Double-space all text, including footnotes. Select the line spacing code and set it for double-spacing rather than manually inserting extra hard returns between lines.
- A.M. and P.M.: Use periods in A.M. and P.M. For print volumes use small caps. Otherwise, use regular caps.
1.2 Dates
For the print volumes, use the traditional style for dates in the body of the text, but the inverted style for footnotes. This is a compromise of the Chicago Manual rule. With this rule, readers not accustomed to seeing the inverted dates in the text won’t be subconsciously irritated, and the messy look of a boatload of commas in the footnotes will be eliminated. Spell out all months in the footnotes. U.Va. Press uses the modern date style, so use the inverted style for both the body of the text and footnotes in the digital volumes. Render dates in the transcripts for both print and digital volumes as they are spoken.
| On January 14, 1964, President Johnson welcomed Italian president Antonio Segni.1 ----------------- 1. Thomas Mann to Edwin Martin, 14 January 1964. |
1.3 Mini-scenesetters in Text
Explanatory text included by the editors in the transcripts should be italicized, without enclosure in brackets, and indented from both sides. Example:
| McCone: I think you either have to give it to individual members of the Security Council or give it to groups of members [unclear] four or five, in the form of . . .
Thompson and Bundy are meanwhile having a separate conversation about the Russians and Berlin, too indistinct to transcribe.
Alexis Johnson: I think that this is what you would try, and I think this is what you would try to do. |
For short interjectory text that indicates an unclear discussion or exchange, the explanatory text should be bracketed, italicized, and included with the previous paragraph. Example:
| President Kennedy: That’s right. I mean they’ll turn them around before they get within the range so that [unclear]. [Unclear exchange.] |
1.4 Style for Excision of Classified Information
Excisions should be italicized and indented from the left margin, without brackets, in the following standard language:
| Twenty-four seconds excised as classified information.
One minute and three seconds excised as classified information. |
1.5 Special Use of Brackets
Short, conceptual text included in conversations such as “unclear,” “laughing,” “chuckles,” and so forth should be bracketed and italicized. Words supplied by researchers to clarify a passage should be left in roman type—for example, supplying a last name, such as George [Anderson], or a title, [Admiral] George Anderson. If a bracketed word at the beginning of statement is used to convey a mood by expressing action, the word will not be capitalized, and no punctuation is used.
| President Johnson: [laughing] You don’t expect me to believe that, do you? |
If the bracketed text can stand alone from the sentence following it, the first word of the bracketed material should be capitalized and the word/phrase should be placed in italics and end with a period. If a portion of a statement on a tape is unclear, the word unclear should be italicized, enclosed in brackets, and positioned within the statement at the point where that portion of the tape can not be understood.
| President Johnson: [Unclear.] What do you mean?
President Johnson: [Chuckles heartily.] That should do [unclear]. |
1.6 Ellipses for Pauses
Use ellipsis dots to indicate a pause in a conversation, or a spoken sentence that has trailed off, but NOT to indicate an interruption in the conversation by another person.
| President Kennedy: Mr. Secretary, is there anything that, or any of these contingencies, if we go ahead, that . . . the next 24 hours . . . We’re going to meet again tomorrow on this in the afternoon. Is there anything . . . |
Note in the above example from The Kennedy Tapes that President Kennedy trailed off at the end he was not interrupted.
1.7 Spacing for Ellipses
For ellipses at the end of a sentence, use four dots-one to indicate the period at the end of the sentence and three representing the pause. Include a hard space after each of the four dots. Do not include a space before the first dot representing the period at the end of a sentence. For ellipses occurring in the middle of a sentence, use three dots with a space before each one and a space after the third one.
| President Kennedy: Now, as I say, we may have to put up with all that. . . . But I think the escalation ought to be at least with some degree of control.
President Kennedy: Now, this action is not quite as hopeless a . . . It provides for the beginning of an escalation. President Kennedy: And I’ll tell you that every opportunity is full . . . I better go and make this speech. |
1.8 Em Dashes for Interruptions
Do not use em dashes to indicate pauses. Pauses should be indicated by ellipses only. Use em dashes when the person speaking interrupts his/her own conversation with other material or to show that the speaker has been interrupted by another person. Please note that there is no space before or after an em dash. To create an em dash, use two hyphens in a row, with no spaces before or after the hyphens.
| Bundy: The one question which arises is whether we wish to do this in international waters or in positions which may—mining international waters or mining Cuban waters may—hit . . . Mines are very indiscriminate.
Robert Kennedy∇: So, I mean, I don’t think you lost anything— President Kennedy: By announcing the fact. Robert Kennedy: —by announcing the fact that you’ve ordered a— President Kennedy: Unless we get any particulars, I think we ought to get to work on this. |
2. FOOTNOTES
Standard footnote form from The Chicago Manual of Style should be used for all footnotes, with the exception of the forms listed below.
2.1 Using Full Sentences
Explanatory footnotes should always be in full sentences. For example:
| 14. Dean Rusk∇ was secretary of state.
not 14. Dean Rusk, secretary of state. |
2.2 Footnote Formatting options
The options to be used for formatting footnotes are: 10 point, double-spacing, full justification.
2.3 First Reference
Footnotes appearing for the first time in chapters should be fully cited on first reference. A shortened form may be used thereafter.
2.4 Form for Citing Cables
The order of elements for footnotes citing cables should be: cable origin and number, date, folder, box, papers/file, and library. Example:
| 14 State 12974, 25 October 1962, “Cuba-General” folder, Box 226, National Security Files, John F. Kennedy Library. |
2.5 Form for Citing Memorandums
The following order should be used: names of parties (i.e., Bundy to President), “subject/title,” date, folder, box, papers/file, library. Example:
| 1 Bundy to President Kennedy, “Cuba and the Press Conference,” 13 September 1962, “Cuba-General Sept. 62″ folder, Box, National Security Files, John F. Kennedy Library. |
3. CAPITALIZATION
3.1 Titles
The rule we have adopted here is that all formal U.S. civil titles standing alone and referring to a particular person should be capitalized. If the title appears after the name, the standard Chicago Manual lowercase rule should be followed. More general civil titles such as senator, congressman, representative appearing alone are not capitalized. An exception would be Speaker when referring to Speaker of the House.
| Secretary of State Dean Rusk visited President Johnson yesterday. The matter discussed between the Secretary and the President was of grave importance. After a while, Senator Russell joined them. The senator was deeply concerned. Later, Robert McNamara∇, secretary of defense, joined the meeting. |
3.2 National and International Titles
The standard Chicago Manual rule should apply: Do not capitalize the title if it stands alone. Example:
| President de Gaulle sent a written reply to the secretary-general. U Thant, the U.N. secretary-general, responded within 24 hours. |
4. MISCELLANEOUS RULES
4.1 References to the White House
All references to specific sections of the White House should be capitalized: the Executive Mansion, the Mansion, Oval Office, Cabinet Room, East Wing, West Wing.
4.2 U.S. Armed Forces
Capitalize all references to the U.S. Armed Forces: The U.S. Army, the Army, the Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the Marines. Do not capitalize adjective forms, such as naval.
4.3 Allies and Allied
Lower case these terms unless they are referring to the United States and its Allies during World War I or World War II.
4.4 Acronyms
Acronyms, such as NATO, NASA∇, OPEC, FBI∇, and so forth should have no periods. See below for the U.N. exception.
4.5 Cabinet
References to the U.S. Cabinet should be capitalized.
4.6 et al.
Abbreviated form for “et alii” (and others). “Al.” is an abbreviation for alii, so period after al. is needed.
4.7 Ford∇, Gerald
His nickname is spelled Jerry, not Gerry.
4.8 Jr., Sr.
No commas around Jr. or Sr. “Henry Ford Jr. worked in his spare time at a machine shop.”
4.9 Nixon, Tricia
Before 12 June 1971 for Nixon transcripts, identify her as Tricia Nixon. After June 12, use Tricia Nixon Cox.
4.10 U.S., U.N.
Use periods for U.S. and U.N. The periods are used in U.N. for consistency with U.S. Use the forms U.S. and U.N. as adjectives only. When used as a noun, the forms United States and United Nations should be spelled out. In transcripts, of course, the text is transcribed as spoken.
4.11 Direct Quotations
All direct quotations within conversations should be checked against the original source for accuracy. This point cannot be overemphasized. All passages being quoted should be meticulously scrutinized to ensure that the exact wording, capitalization, punctuation, and spellings of the material appear exactly as in the original copy.
4.12 First Name, First Mention
Provide the first names of persons mentioned when they first occur for EACH conversation. This rule may seen unnecessary, but remember that part of the goal is to assist the reader, who may not know the material as well as you do. Also, readers may not read the volumes from beginning to end, so first-name identification could be very helpful in such instances.
4.13 Numbers
Spell out one through ten and use numeration for all other numbers. Ten can be used as a pivot number to be either spelled out or numerated, depending on whether the other numbers in the sentence are smaller than ten or larger.
| It rained for seven of the ten days we were on vacation.
It rained for 10 of the 14 days we were on vacation. For five days, more than 1,400 aircraft were on alert. |
For inclusive numbers, either an en dash or prepositions can be used to separate the pairs of numbers, but not a combination of the two. Ratios should be written with numbers connected by the word to.
| The bill passed the Senate, 53–35.
Choose a number from 101 to 200; NOT “from 101–200.” The Red Sox beat the Mets, 9 to 8. |
4.14 Party Affiliation and State Identification for Senate and Congress Members
To identify a senator’s or congressman’s party and the state he or she represents, use “D” or “R” for Democrat or Republican, followed by a hyphen and the state name in brackets. Example: Gerald Ford (R-Michigan). Use the full name for states.
4.15 Percent
Spell out references to percent; do not use the % symbol. Always use figures.
4.16 Profanity
“Goddamn” or “goddamned” is one word and lowercased except at the beginning of a sentence. References to “God,” “God Almighty,” “Good God Almighty,” “Lord,” should be capitalized.
4.17 Spelling Choices
As a general rule for consistency’s sake, use the preferred spelling provided by Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, which is the dictionary Norton uses. For example, use adviser instead of advisor, reinforce instead of reenforce.
4.18 Yes, Yeah, Yep
All of the above are acceptable forms of affirmation. Use “yeah” instead of “yeh,” and “yep” instead of “yup.” Use “yep” with reluctance. If the speaker’s pronunciation is somewhere between “yeah” and “yep,” use “yeah.”
5. WORDS AND PHRASES
5.1 ahold
One word. “Get ahold of Kissinger∇.”
5.2 all right
All right, two words, not alright.
5.3 antipoverty
5.4 Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee
5.5 Inter-American Peace Committee
Johnson often refers to this committee as the peace commission. Do not insert “Inter-American” before “peace commission,” as this is incorrect.
5.6 long-standing, longtime
5.7 MiG
For Mikoyan-Guerevich references, use MiG instead of MIG.
5.8 Mm-hmm
Use two m’s for “Mm-hmm”; for an “Mmm” that stands alone, use 3 m’s.
5.9 OK
Use OK, without periods, instead of okay.
5.10 righto
5.11 San Angelo Standard-Times
5.12 USUN
An acronym meaning United States Mission to the United Nations. USUN should be rendered without periods or slash marks.
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