IMS Style Guide
This guide presents some conventions which help to keep IMS’s outputs (print and online) consistent.
The rules are based on Oxford University’s extensive writing and style guide.
Punctuation
The en rule
The en rule (–) is longer than a hyphen (-).
Use as a parenthetical dash – spaced – in a sentence such as:
This morning’s lecture – given by Professor Bloggs – was very interesting.
Use without spaces:
to express a connection:
London–Dakar flight; migration–development nexus
in ranges, and number/date extents:
pp. 25–45; 2007–8; Monday–Friday; 40–50 migrants
Hyphenation
Compound modifiers that follow the noun are not hyphenated:
the book is up to date
the building is from the twentieth century
The hyphen is used if the modifier precedes the noun:
the up-to-date book
the twentieth-century building
Compounds that contain an adjective should be hyphenated when they precede the noun:
first-rate research; low-skilled migrant
Adverbs ending in ‘-ly’ are not hyphenated
highly skilled subject; newly discovered fact
Use hyphens in spelled out numbers, in compass points and in fractions:
twenty-one; fifty-five; south-west; north-east; two-thirds
Quotation marks
Use single quotation marks for quotes, and double quotation marks for a quote within a quote:
‘I have an existential map; it has “You are here” written all over it.’
Quotation run on in text: the punctuation should be outside the quote mark:
He told me the book was ‘extremely interesting’, though I’m not sure I believed him.
When the quotation forms a complete sentence, the full stop should be inside the quote marks:
He said: ‘This is a very interesting book, which you should read.’
Italics
Use sparingly for emphasis. Italics should be used for:
book titles; newspaper and periodical titles; film and play titles; TV and radio series; titles of paintings
and other works of art; collections of verse or songs; some foreign words
NOTE that titles of individual chapters and journal articles, and of a song or poem should be in single
quotation marks
Foreign words should be in italics, unless they have become common English usage, such as:
pro bono; a priori; elite; regime; et al.; etc.; ibid.
Numbers
Spell out numbers one to nine; use numerals for 10 upwards, unless the number starts the sentence, in
which case it should be spelled out. Do not mix the two styles within a paragraph when they refer to the
same category:
Twenty students were present at the lecture
There were 20 students present
At least 8 of the 20 students were not concentrating
Eight of the twenty students were not concentrating
Shorten number extents, including in dates (apart from those in the group 10 to 19):
16–19, 24–5, 106–7; 245–54; 1980–91; 2006–7
Use figures for measurements attached to units:
5km; 10kg
Use figures for ages:
The 5-year-old boy
PERCENTAGES: use ‘per cent’ in longer prose, % in tables and figures and in shorter pieces or where
space is tight. Whichever is used, be consistent and adopt the same system throughout the text.
Always use numerals, not words, for percentages and fractions:
50%; 50 per cent; 2.5%; 2.5 per cent
MONEY: In longer prose, ‘£50 million’, ‘£1 billion’ should be spelled out. In shorter pieces and captions,
these can be expressed as ‘£50m’ and ‘£1bn’.
TIME: 9am, 10.30am, 6–7pm
Abbreviations / Acronyms
Give in full at the first use, unless the abbreviation or acronym is so familiar that this is clearly
unnecessary (e.g., BBC, DNA, USA)
Where the abbreviation is partially or wholly lower case, no full stop is needed if the final letter of the
abbreviation is also the final letter of the full word:
Mr Dr Ltd
Use a full stop in these cases:
ibid. et al.
(NOT et. al. Also note that et al. is NOT italicised)
When an abbreviation can be pronounced (NATO, UNESCO), the definite article is not necessary. Where
it can’t be pronounced (the BBC, the USA), include the definite article.
Dates
Present as day/month/year, with no punctuation:
25 July 2007
Do not use an apostrophe when referring to a period:
In the 1980s, migration tailed off.
References
In text: (Mills 2009, 5)
Place footnote marks outside punctuation
Spelling
Use ‘s’ spellings rather than ‘z’ spellings, e.g.:
organisation, recognise, specialise
‘-ce’ and ‘-se’ endings depend on whether it is a verb or noun in the following:
practice (noun) / practise (verb); licence (noun) / license (verb)
Spellings among
not amongst
case study
not case-study
cooperative
not co-operative
coordinate
not co-ordinate
decision-making; decision-makers
not decision making
e.g.
not eg or eg.
email
not e-mail
fieldwork
not field work or field-work
focused; focusing
not focussed or focussing
fulfil
not fulfill
government, the
not Government, the
i.e.
not ie or ie.
IMI
not ‘the IMI’
interrelationship, interrelated
not inter-relationship, inter-related
ise
not ize (organisation etc.)
judgement
not judgment
long-term (when adjectival)
long term (noun, ‘in the long term’)
no one
not no-one
per cent
not % (unless in a figure or table) or percent
policy making; policy maker
not policymaker or policy-maker
towards
not toward
twentieth century (or with hyphen if adjective)
twenty-first century, the
not 21st century or XXI C
underway
not under way
UK
not United Kingdom
USA
US when adjectival
well-being
not wellbeing
while
not whilst