Guidelines for authors - NEW (Backup 1)

Stylistic conventions
Referencing (citations)
Images and captions

When writing an article for Ancestor, please refer to these guidelines for preparation of your manuscript and to "Tips for writing an article", Ancestor, volume 35, June 2020 pp26-27. Members (when logged in), can access that article online Ancestor June 2020.

We do not publish articles of historical fiction.

All published contributions will be given editorial support by the Ancestor team, and we reserve the right to make amendments for purposes of house style, grammar, clarity, and space limitations.

1. Stylistic conventions

a. Language and spelling

Australian English, as per the Macquarie Dictionary. The Macquarie Dictionary database online can be accessed from home by State Library Victoria members.

Please note:

grandmother etc. (one word)
grand-daughter or granddaughter
great-grandfather etc.
2x great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather
3x great-grandfather, not great-great-great grandfather, etc.

b. Italics

Use these for:

names of commercial databases and blogs/websites
names of ships
names of books, newspapers, magazines and journals
foreign language words

Do not use italics for text quotations.

c. Bold

Use this for:

website addresses (i.e. links)
email addresses
sub-headings

d. Quotations

Use single quotation marks for short quotations (under 30-35 words), which are included in the text.

Use double quotation marks for a quote within a quote.

Longer quotations should be indented as a block quotation. The font size of the quotation should be one unit less than main text (e.g., 11 font v 12 font). No quotation marks are required.

Introduce indented text with a colon.

Always reference your block quotation by inserting an endnote immediately after the end of the block quotation.

e. Spacing

Leave a space between paragraphs but don’t indent them.

Use a single space after commas, colons, semicolons and between sentences.

f. Numbers and dates

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Guidelines for authors - NEW (Backup 1)

Table of Contents

1. Stylistic conventions

a. Language and spelling

b. Italics

c. Bold

d. Quotations

e. Spacing

f. Numbers and dates

g. Weights and measures

h. Currency

i. Titles of Ancestor articles and references in endnotes

2. Referencing (citations)

a. General format for citations

b. Unusual or non-standard sources

c. Second and subsequent citations to the same source

d. Church records – e.g. baptisms, marriages, burials

e. Church records in languages other than English (e.g. Irish PRs which may be in Latin)

f. Blogs

g. Books

h. Census records

i. Journals and magazine articles

j. Newspapers

k. Passenger lists

l. Personal communications, emails, letters, unpublished diaries and family anecdotes

m. Unpublished material/manuscripts/papers

n. Websites

o. Wills and Probate documents

3. Images and captions