Tips & Tricks - Manuscripts
We have edited and prepared more than 175 dissertations and theses and countless professional documents! From this experience, we have assembled some tips that will help make your own manuscript preparation easier.
References
If there is ANY problem area, it is this.
First, review the style manual you are required to follow and become familiar with specifications for your references ... NOW. And then devise some way to keep track of every ... and I mean every ... book, article, and other resource document you touch, whether you think you will use it or not.
A simple way is to put each entry on its own 3x5 card ... following the layout requirements from your style manual. Alphabetize these cards by author's last name, moving to the front those cards that you incorporate into your document, and moving to the back those cards that you do not use (do not throw them away!). This way, you won’t be rushing at the end of your project to find a volume number, the correct spelling of a secondary author, or the town of some obscure publisher, etc.
Believe me, you will have other, more important, things to do!
Photocopies
When you have a manuscript photocopied, sit down and check every sheet of every copy before you leave the store. Sometimes a sheet pulls crooked ... or is skipped altogether. It’s better to learn this before you drive home or before you are out of time!
Italics vs. Underlining
Underlining is easier to read than italics. Unless specified by your style manual, in your typed (or word processed) document, refrain from italics and use underlining instead.
When you submit a document that will in turn be typeset by a publisher, use underlining – it will be translated into italics in the published document.
Styles
Do you know about styles? Usually in the upper left-hand section of your word processing toolbar, there is a drop-down field called styles (it may display the word "normal"). Choosing the correct style will apply consistency to your heading #1 level, your heading #2 level, your paragraph level, etc. Don't worry if the styles don't look like you would like them to. They can be redefined. Using styles consistently will go far in saving your editor time and saving you money!
Dissertations - Margins
Make your margins a little wider than required. For example, if you need
a 1-inch margin, set your margin to 1.1 inches instead. Why?
1. Paper is seldom cut to exactly 8.5 inches by 11 inches ... allow for variations.
2. The original can bounce or pull unevenly when being photocopied.
3. Each computer and printer will have its own idiosyncrasies. Remember, if
something can go wrong, it will.
Dissertations - Past Tense vs. Other Tenses
Check your own style manual, but if you are doing research ...
commonly your writings will be future tense until you collect your data.
• I will study 350 teachers.
Then, being after the fact, your writings generally revert to past tense.
• I studied 350 teachers.
A literature review is always past tense or present perfect tense.
• In 1992, Johnson showed ...
• Researchers have shown ...
Descriptions of your results should be consistently past tense.
• Attention increased significantly.
Discussions of the results and the presentation of conclusions should be present tense.
• The results of the control group indicate ...
Expect ...
- that your project will take longer.
- that your project will cost more.
- that discrepancies will start to emerge.
- that grammar errors will be plentiful.
- your editor to do a professional job in a timely manner.
Don't Wait
... to find a professional to help you. This invites disaster. Proper manuscript preparation is a more lengthy process than you imagine.
Don't Proclaim
... that your manuscript "needs only formatting." A
professional won't "just format" your manuscript. We have learned
by experience that there invariably will be far too many errors in your document
- those
you don't even know to think about - and you will need time to correct those
errors.
As professionals here at the Devereaux Bureau with numerous manuscripts under
our belt, we won't sign off on a manuscript that we haven't reviewed thoroughly
first - your reputation (and ours) is at stake.