PREPARING MANUSCRIPTS FOR YORK PAPERS IN LINGUISTICS
YORK PAPERS IN LINGUISTICS COMMITTEE
Abstract
This document shows Microsoft Word users how to correctly format manuscripts for submission to York Papers in Linguistics Series 2. This document is itself formatted in accordance
with the YPL style.
1. Introduction
This document shows you how to correctly format your manuscript for submission to York
Papers in Linguistics Series 2. This document is itself formatted in accordance with the YPL
style. LATEX users should see the alternative instructions for submission in LATEX. downloadable from http://www-users.york.ac.uk/˜lang13/authors.html, along with the YPL2 document class and a YPL2 bibliography style. Users of other systems should mimic as closely as
possible the style of this document, in accordance with the guidelines given below. Where
queries arise in the process of formatting your own manuscript, the editors can be contacted
via ypl@york.ac.uk.
2. The submission and editorial process
To ensure the timely appearance of each volume of YPL2, only camera-ready PDF versions
of manuscripts should be submitted. It is essential that the first submission you make is camera-ready as editorial comments regarding both content and layout will be made on the basis
of this file. Word users should submit both the .doc file, as well as a version converted to .pdf.
This should be straightforward on Macs, and on PCs with Adobe Acrobat Standard/Professional installed. Please check before submission that the conversion retains any unusual fonts/formatting, and contact the editors if there are problems with this.
3. Instructions for preparing camera-ready copy
Word users should start by using the template file YPL.dot downloadable from http://wwwusers.york.ac.uk/˜lang13/authors.html. This will ensure that most of the formatting of margins, fonts, and spacing (detailed below) is automatic. Once opened, the template file can then
be saved as a .doc file, which you can work on as normal.
3.1. General layout features
Prepare your manuscript on A4 paper with 2.5cm margins on all sides (i.e. top, bottom, left,
right), using 12pt Times font, and single line spacing. Text is to be justified throughout.
Do not indent the first paragraph of a section; indent all subsequent paragraphs. Do
not put a blank line between paragraphs. There should be no headers or footers: not even page
numbers.
3.2. Titles and subtitles
The main title is to be presented flushright, in bold small caps, with title capitalisation (i.e.
capitalise everything except function words). One line of white space follows the title. The
name(s) of the author(s) should be presented below the title of the article. This is also to be
presented flushright, in block capitals, with one line of white space following. All section
headings are numbered. In order to get the automatic numbering and formatting to work, sections (e.g. 1., 2., 3, etc.) should be set as the ‘Heading 1’ style, subsections (e.g. 1.1., 2.2.,
3.3., etc.) as the ‘Heading 2’ style, and subsubsections (e.g. 1.1.1., 2.2.2., 3.3.3., etc.) as the
‘Heading 3’ style. After the number is a period, then a single space before the title of the section. These are generated automatically if using the YPL.dot template file. All section titles
are presented flushleft and italicised. They have a preceding space of two blank lines, which
must be inserted manually. Please note that the space of one blank line following each section
heading is generated automatically if using the Word template, so please do not manually insert an additional line between the section heading and first paragraph of that section.
3.3. Abstract
All articles are to be accompanied by an abstract. The abstract stretches across the whole
page.
3.4. Order of sections
The sequencing of material should be as follows: title, author, abstract, text, acknowledgements*, notes*, references*, author details (* denotes “where present”).
3.5. Examples
Examples must be set off from the text, and numbered sequentially as follows:
(1) this is an example
(2) a.
John told Mary that there were some pictures of themselves for sale on ebay
b.
*John told Mary about themselves
In order to get tabs and line spacing above and below the examples to format automatically in
Word, select the example and number and select the style ‘Example text’. Do not then manually add empty lines above and below the example(s).
3.6. Quotations
Quotations should be set off with one line of white space above and one line of white space
below, to be inserted manually. Do not use quote marks. They should be indented on the left
by the same amount as for paragraphs and allowed to run up to the right margin. For the quotation, use the style ‘Quotation text’. An attribution must accompany each quotation. This
should appear in parentheses, flushright, and on the same line as the last line of the quote
where possible; otherwise, it should go on the next line.
The natural approach has always been: is it [Language] well designed for use, understood typically as use for communication? I think that's the wrong question. The use of
language for communication might turn out to be a kind of epiphenomenon.
(Chomsky 2002:107)
3.7. Tables and Figures
Tables and figures should be centered. The font used in tables and figures should match, as
closely as possible, that of the document in both style and size. Tables should be formatted as
simply as possible, and consistent throughout the manuscript. There should be no outer
frame. Each table and figure should be accompanied by a caption formatted as in the following.
Figure 1: an example figure
1
2
A
12
789
B
64
678
C
5
82
Table 1: an example table
3.8. Lists
A list with bullets should appear like this:
 this is the first item in the list
 this is the second item in the list
 this is the third item in the list
An enumerated list should appear like this:
1. this is the first item in the list
2. this is the second item in the list
3. this is the third item in the list
List items should be capitalised only when each item forms a complete sentence; capitalised
list items should end with a period. Each type of list should be formatted automatically by selecting the text and specifying it as the appropriate style (‘bullet point list’ and ‘numbered list’
styles respectively). The line spacing above and below the list is then automatically generated,
as for examples: do not then manually add empty lines above and below the list.
3.9. Footnotes
Footnotes should be marked by a superscript number placed after any punctuation mark.1 The
footnote number should be followed by a period, then a single space, then the footnote text.
All footnotes appear at the end of the document before the references. Word users please note
that a macro is used to automatically generate this formatting of endnotes, so please ensure
that macros are enabled in Word.
3.10. Citations and references
Citations should take the author-year format in the text, e.g.: Schegloff (1982). Page references should follow the year, with an intervening colon: (Kelly and Local 1989: 101-110).
Where different articles by the same author are being referred to, the years should be separated by a comma e.g. Schegloff (1982, 1992). Where there are three or more names associated
with a citation, the names should appear in full on the first use (e.g. Local, Wells, and Sebba
1985), and then abbreviated with “et al.” after that (Local et al. 1985). The appropriate formatting for references can be found towards the end of this document.
3.11. Contact details
Following the references, at the very end of the manuscript, the author contact details are presented flushleft and italicised. These details should appear at the bottom of the last page. The
details should not be split over pages, even where this involves going onto a further page in
order to keep the contact details together.
3.12. Spelling and punctuation
British spelling should be used throughout; e.g. cliticisation, behaviour. Contracted forms are
allowed. For indicating orders and ranges, use an endash, not a hyphen; e.g.\ verb–object
(VO) order, pp. 5–7. For indicating a sentence break, use an emdash with no spaces around
it—like this. Emphasis should be marked like this; avoid underlining and bold face where
possible. Short quotations in the text, quotes from examples, etc. should be enclosed in “double quotes”.
3.13. Page Limits
Please note that only papers of no more than 25 pages, including footnotes, are normally be
accepted.
Acknowledgements
Where included, the acknowledgements section should be presented in their own unnumbered
sections. The notes and references sections should also appear in their own, unnumbered, sections, with the text specified as the ‘References text’ style.
Notes
1. This is a footnote.
References
Kelly, J. and J. Local (1989a). Doing Phonology. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Kelly, J. and J. Local (1989b). On the use of general phonetic techniques in handling conversational material. In D. Roger and P. Bull (Eds.), Conversation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, pp. 197–212. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Local, J., B. Wells, and M. Sebba (1985). Phonology for conversation: Phonetic aspects of
turn-delimitation in London Jamaican. Journal of Pragmatics 9, 309–330.
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’
and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Georgetown University
Round Table on Linguistics 1981. Analysing Discourse: Text and Talk, pp. 71–93. Washington: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1992). In another context. In A. Duranti and C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking
Context – Language as an Interactive Phenomenon, pp. 191–227. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Simpson, A. (1991). Writing Phonological Statements From Naturally Occurring Talk: An
Experiment in Method. PhD thesis, University of York.
York Papers in Linguistics Committee
Department of Language and Linguistic Science
University of York
email: ypl@york.ac.uk