Introduction

"Style" refers both to a manner of writing and to the specific spelling and other rules which guide a publication.

Every author has his or her own style, but every publication has its particular style guide. The aim is not to homogenise tone, but rather to avoid inconsistency, awkwardness or confusion that may hinder the reader. A firm set of rules also saves time, helping authors submit copy closer to the requirements of the editors and providing editors ready answers for frequent spelling, grammar and other questions.

The goal of writing is to communicate. The core principles that should guide any writer are clarity and concision. "Make every word tell" (Strunk). Respect your reader and prune your prose ruthlessly. "Omit needless words" (again, the excellent Strunk). Have patience with editors who ask you to clarify an artful but potentially confusing sentence - your readers will be grateful, and you are likely to have more of them.

IWPR publishes from London for an international audience. We use a modified British English, with some allowances for international and regional norms. Language publications are produced by regional specialists who set the styles for those outputs.

In light of IWPR's regional approach, we allow flexibility for certain authors' preferences - ie, the internationally accepted Kosovo, but Kosova, the Albanian-language spelling, for writers who insist on that usage. Adjustments for Serbian and Croatian may depend on the author or the requirements of a local publication if a translation for syndication is specially requested. Where variations are allowed, the overriding rule is to maintain consistency within a single text.

This guide is organised alphabetically. Rules and spellings here take precedence over any other reference works. It will be emended from time to time, so please forward errors, omissions and proposed additions to the editorial department in London.

IWPR's general rule-book is The Economist Style Guide (ISBN 0471-24839-8), Part I, The Essence of Style. The Economist guide takes precedence over the dictionary or any other reference except the house guide. Please note several adjustments by IWPR made in the office editions and also indicated in the house guide, keyed by page number. Other sections of the Economist guide provide useful clarification but are not overriding. (another useful help is the Economist style guide online)

"For all other words, IWPR uses the Cambridge Dictionary of International English. If using the on-line edition, be sure to specify international, rather than British, English.

IWPR's staff pages provide an outline of its basic approach to writing journalism for an international audience. This includes guidelines for distinguishing between various types of articles - news, news analysis, features and comments - as well as article structure and other components of good journalism. Other excellent reference books include Strunk & White's Elements of Style and the Chicago Manual of Style.

People read to learn things they do not know. Writers should show them the respect of good writing that will assist, rather than impede, this process. The challenge is to reach beyond one's own circle, community, country. Style is a guide, and editors are quality control: the rest is up to the writer.

Anthony Borden
Executive Director
 

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations and acronyms are common and do not need to be identified on first use: BBC, EU, NATO, US, UN. All others should be spelled out in the first instance.

Avoid unnecessary use of abbreviations and acronyms. Only include the abbreviation or acronym on first reference if used later in the text. Write around them wherever possible - eg, the tribunal rather than ICTY, Bosnia rather than BiH, the prosecutor or prosecutor's office rather than OTP, the High Representative or Petrisch rather than OHR, displaced persons rather than DPs.

All abbreviations and acronyms are all caps, with no fullstops, and are indicated after first reference in parenthesis: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR). (See Economist Style Guide, page 10)

Accents

IWPR publishes via email, which does not guarantee uniform reproduction of accents across all programmes, and therefore does not use accents. (See Economist Style Guide, page 12)

Ampersands

Ampersands are used only in formal names according to common or official usage: Institute for War & Peace Reporting but Bosnia and Herzegovina. (See Economist Style Guide, page 14)

First use, Bosnia and Herzegovina; subsequently, Bosnia.

Capitals

As in the Economist Style Guide (pages 16+), but ignore the rule on page 63 regarding small capitals.

Citations

Citations of previous IWPR articles should be enclosed in parentheses, after the fullstop. (Gordana Igric, "Remembering Racak", BCR 235, October 25, 2000)

Commas

No serial comma.

Subordinate clauses within a sentences must be set off by either two commas or none:

John Major, the former prime minister, launched a blistering attack on the Tory candidate.

The government, while officially acknowledging the need for reform, opposed the draft legislation.

Or…

The editor realised while running to the printer's that he had forgotten the proof.

But not:

Large parts of the country, particularly in Eastern Bosnia were virtually depopulated.

In this last example, a common error in IWPR copy, a comma must be added after "Bosnia". Alternatively, the first comma could be omitted.

Currencies

The base currency for citations is the euro. Preferred style is €10,000. If the symbol cannot be located on your keyboard, use: 10,000 euro.

Where other currencies are cited, provide a euro equivalent: His salary was 10,000 dinar (1000 euro). The US government provided €1 million ($800,000).

Several countries call their currency dollar, but one, the US dollar, is predominant. Normal style is $100. In the rare circumstances where a distinction must be made, do so as indicated in Economist Style Guide, page 24.

Note: Until the euro is introduced as a hard currency, in January 2002, the German mark may be used as the base currency. On second use, the currency may be referred in abbreviation: DM100.

Dates

(Contrary to the Economist Style Guide, page 25) Use ordinals, not cardinals, with commas: January 1, 2001. Within sentences, always set the year off with commas: He first arrived in Britain in July 24, 2001, and has been happy ever since.

Years: the 1992-95 war

Decades: use numerals, no apostrophes: the 1990s, throughout the 1980s.

Hyphens

As pages 33 to 35 in the Economist Style Guide, except IWPR uses these spellings:

• nongovernmental

• human-rights abuses

• coopt

• coexist

Italics

Contrary to the Economist Style Guide, IWPR does not use italics.

Names

(Economist Style Guide, page 18)

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the tribunal, The Hague but: the Hague tribunal (in the latter case, "Hague" is an adjective).

International Community - a term to be avoided. Instead refer to the relevant international institution(s) - eg, the US and EU - or use the West, the Western powers, the great powers, Washington and London, etc.

The West, Western

Nationalities

(Economist Style Guide, page 27)

Ethnic groups and nationalities should be called by the name they have chosen for themselves.

The majority ethnic group in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Bosniak. If ethnicity/religion is especially important in the reference, or there could be confusion, in first reference, use: Bosniak (Muslim).

The majority ethnic group in Macedonia are ethnic Macedonians. The largest minority is ethnic Albanians, which is preferred over the also acceptable Macedonian Albanians. Never use: Macedonian Slavs, Slavo-Macedonians or similar term. The term Macedonian refers to all citizens of the country and should not be used to refer exclusively to ethnic Macedonians.

The citizens of the Serbia are Serbians. The largest ethnic group is Serbs.

The citizens of the Croatia are Croatians. The largest ethnic group is Croats. An important minority group is Croatian Serbs.

The citizens of Azerbajan are Azerbaijanis. The largest ethnic group are Azeris.

The largest minority in the United States is African-Americans. The original ethnic population is Native Americans.

The United States, and US officials, is preferred to America and the Americans, which encompasses two continents and many other countries.

Numbers

Ages are in figures: "Veteran police officer Smajo Hadzimusic, 53, returned to the Foca police force early this year."

Percentages are in figures: 16 per cent, 20-25 per cent.

Use a comma for all figures above 999: His salary was DM1,200. The car cost $2,000. They estimated 1,000 wounded.

Spell "million".

In large numbers, use figures and words, as follows: 1 million, 10 billion, not one million. Simliarly for currencies: $1 million.

But general usage: "The agency spent a million dollars."

Spelling

In addition to the spellings on pages 64+ in the Economist Style Guide, we use the following spellings:

• no one

This Style Guide is under regular review. If you have any comments, suggestions or additions to this Style Guide, please contact IWPR Managing Editor