When your proposal is accepted and contracts have been signed you will receive a copy of our house style document. In the meantime here are some important pointers to get you heading in the right direction. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We use the Chicago Manual of Style and let you decide whether it is the humanities style (notes and bibliography) or the author-date system that you prefer. A quick guide to Chicago-Style Citation can be found online here. If you would rather have a print copy, these are available at Amazon.co.uk (click here: Chicago Manual of Style). We are also happy to accept works that adhere to the Harvard referencing system.

It may seem odd to think about spelling and grammar when you are at such an advanced level of the education system, but publishing is in large part about standardization. 'It is better to be consistently wrong than inconsistently right,' is a well-known phrase in the publishing profession. For those writers and editors looking to become consistently right, the following books will assist you. Hart's Rules will tell you whether it is Jones' book or Jones's book, and if you are not sure whether to italicize sine qua non or capitalize UNICEF then the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors is your book. For preferred spellings, e.g. '-ize' or '-ise', turn to the New Oxford Spelling Dictionary. If it is your grammar and punctuation that needs brushing up, then it might be worth taking a look at the Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar, it will let you know when to pair neither and nor, and when to use that rather than which. But if you struggle with knowing where a semicolon should be placed in preference to a comma then the Penguin Guide to Punctuation is a good book to read.