6 6.0 Editorial Standards and Style

6.0   Spelling

CPS-ECP course material uses Canadian spelling rather than American, such as ‘colour’ and ‘travelled’ as opposed to ‘color’ and ‘traveled’.

6.2   Punctuation 

Refer to the Guide to Canadian English Usage for the proper usage of punctuation marks. For authors’ guidance, some CPS-ECP requirements follow.

6.2.1  Parentheses and Brackets

The Guide to Canadian English Usage, under the section ‘Parentheses, Brackets’ illustrates the use of parentheses and square brackets. A phrase or figure within parentheses, which also contains words in brackets, has brackets applied in a definite order.

Example: (See Figure 5.5[a] and 5.5[b])

6.2.2  Quotation Marks 

Quotation marks set off quoted words, phrases and sentences. They are usually double quotation marks, but single quotation marks are used to set off quotation marks within quotations. If it is not a quoted word, phrase or sentence, use single quotation marks.

Example: The Student Manual carries this reminder: “Note that ‘Evening Sky Planets East of the Sun’ has been added at the top of the diagram and ‘Morning Sky Planets West of the Sun’ has been added at the bottom”.

Multiple Paragraphs

If a quotation runs more than one paragraph, use the quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of only the last paragraph.

Rhetorical Questions

Do not use quotation marks to set off rhetorical or imaginary questions. Example: Is this homework really necessary, the student wondered.

One-word Questions

Do not use quotation marks to set off yes or no, or words like who, when, how, and why. Example: The answer is yes; a good instructor must ask why.

6.2.3  The Exclamation Point 

Exclamation points are used for emphasis, or to show irony. Use them sparingly.

An exclamation point used for emphasis is like an afterthought. It tells the reader to go back and read something again because you meant to say it was important. That disrupts concentration and the flow of learning. Emphasis is best shown by italic typeface. (Refer to 6.4.1.)

More than one exclamation point, for additional emphasis, is unnecessary. Irony will rarely, if ever, appear in a text.

6.2.4  Punctuation when using Bullet Points

If each sentence in a bullet list is a complete sentence, then it begins with an upper case letter and ends with a period. If the sentences are not complete, then the first sentence begins with an upper case and all following sentences begin with a lower case letter. Each sentence ends with a semicolon – except for the last item in the list which ends with a period.

Do not use ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘and finally’ etc. in the next–to-last item.

6.2.5  Conjunctions 

Conjunctions (for example ‘and’ ‘but’ ‘or’) do not usually have a comma before or after them.

Example 1:

Three suitable navigation stars are Betelgeuse, Rigel and Aldebaran.
NOT

Three suitable navigation stars are Betelgeuse, Rigel, and Aldebaran.

Example 2:

The type of anchor that can be used is a mushroom, Danforth or grapnel.

NOT

The type of anchor that can be used is a mushroom, Danforth, or grapnel.

6.3   Capitalization 

General Rule

Too many capitalized words in a sentence or paragraph tend to distract the reader’s attention. As a guideline, use upper case for specific items, and use lower case for generic items and if there is any doubt.

Titles

Capitalize the main words and all nouns in titles and subtitles, except articles (a, an, the), coordinate conjunctions (and, or, for, nor), and prepositions having fewer than five letters. In all cases, capitalize the first or last words of the subtitle; e.g. through, between.

Do not capitalize the second element of a hyphenated compound word in a title, except as in CPS-ECP.

The following are capitalized within text.

• geographical place names; e.g., Gulf Stream, Canadian Shield;

• CPS-ECP course names;

• names of constellations, planets and stars; e.g., Orion, Venus, Betelgeuse;

• other terms, including International Date Line, Universal Time, Celsius, Fahrenheit.

The following is a list of some of the words or terms that are not capitalized:

rhumb line zone description            geographical position true course fix

running fix     constellation

6.4   Abbreviations

Abbreviations are used to save space and to avoid distracting the reader with the repeated use of long words and phrases.

Some abbreviations are used for convenience. These should not appear in a title or subheading and should be defined at the first occurrence. The definition should be within parentheses, given in full and followed by an explanation, which should be within single quotation marks.

For example, RAM (Random Access Memory, ‘a computer device used to store data’). If a definition is more than a sentence then consider placing it in the glossary. Italicize the word the first time it appears. Refer to 6.4.1.

Do not use unusual abbreviations excessively, since the student has to remember all unfamiliar material and will probably have to keep referring back to all the definitions.

With common abbreviations and acronyms (an abbreviation which becomes a word, e.g. radar), decide if the abbreviation should be known to the average reader, in which case a definition is not required. In making such a decision, consider the readership. A course in celestial navigation has a different audience than a course intended for the general public.

In the text, don’t abbreviate names of countries, names of months, latitude, and longitude (but, when used with coordinates, use the abbreviations L and Lo). Plurals of acronyms have only an ‘s’ added to them, e.g., GPSs. Do not pluralize short forms, e.g., km for kilometres.

6.4.1  Italics 

Italics will be used within the text for the following purposes:

•  publication titles, e.g., Nautical Almanac;

•  for emphasis, e.g., this is very important to know;

•   for technical terms the first time they are used;

•   for illustrations.

Technical terms should be italicized the first time they are introduced or defined; e.g., chine, deviation, hertz, sidereal hour angle, vernier. If required, the term should be defined at the first appearance in a glossary. If the definition is very short, it may follow in parentheses.

6. 5 Numbers

Numbers have specific rules that should be carefully followed to provide consistency in CPS-ECP text.

Never begin a sentence with a numeral. Spell out any number, or rewrite the sentence. Example: ‘Seventy-five years ago…’ and not ‘75 years ago….’

In text, express numbers zero through nine in words, not digits, except in measurements of time, distance, speed etc.

Also, spell out whole numbers from one through nine when they are followed by hundred, thousand, million, and so on:

Example: Five thousand persons
or             11 thousandpersons.

Knots are expressed with one decimal point, e.g., three knots is written as 3.0 knots.

Express metric measurement with a space between the number and the letter(s), e.g., three metres is written as 3 m, four millilitres is written as 4 mL.

Common fractions should be spelled out. Others should be set as figures.

Example: two-thirds of the time.
The required bolt length is 2 ¾ inches.

6.5. 1 Time 

CPS-ECP uses the 24-hour time system correctly expressed as 2400.

For text, do not put a colon between the numbers, e.g., 18:00. Also, do not include the word ‘hours’ after the time, e.g., 1800 hours.

The correct form is: The sun sets at 1835.

6.5.2 Dates

CPS-ECP uses the month/day/year style. A comma should follow the day and year. Example: The law was passed on August 28, 2002.