Abbreviations
Spell out all units of measure in running text—that is, use “kilogram” rather than “kg."
Use “e.g.” and “i.e.” very sparingly. Rely instead on the readable terms “for example” and “that is.”
Names of elements are spelled out in running text.
Numbers, amounts, and math
Fractions
Spell out fractions when no unit of measure is involved.
one-half of the group
two-thirds completed
When units of measure are involved:
1/2 inch
But, in more technical contexts:
0.5 inch
For decimal fractions less than 1, use 0 before the decimal point—unless several decimal fractions less than 1 appear consecutively.
Tests showed a 2.25 percent improvement in the first batch but only a 0.60 and 1.34 percent gain in the second and third.
The percentage of gain was .95, .98, and .84, respectively.
Note that some units—probabilities, correlation coefficients—cannot exceed +1 or –1; no 0 precedes these.
Measurements
Use numerals for all units of measure, including time and age.
2 to 3 pounds
$25
6 cents
6:30 p.m. (but six o’clock) 1 year, about 2 years
60 seconds
3 feet
a 45-degree angle
an 8-year-old (but in his twenties) temperatures in the 80s; 90°F
When describing measurements, use “by” instead of the multiplication symbol.
1-by-1 stakes
a 6-by-5-foot plot
ANR publications can use U.S. customary measurements, metric measurements, or both. In the text, do not provide conversions from one system to the other. For some audiences, however, it might make sense to include the measurement conversion tables shown in Appendix E. If you include the conversion tables in a publication, use only the rows that correspond to measures that appear in the text; delete the remaining rows. If a publication contains units of measure not shown in the table, add rows to the table.
Number ranges
For number ranges in running text, use “to.”
from 2 to 3 inches
For ranges within parentheses, use an en dash.
(2–3 in)
Per Scientific Style and Format 12.1.4.2, when presenting a number range that consists of two negative numbers, or that has a negative number on the left and a positive number on the right:
−0.3 to −0.1
−0.3 to +1.2
Don’t use en dashes in these situations, even in tables or within parentheses, because minus signs and en dashes can easily be confused—and also look very strange together.
Whole numbers
Unless specified otherwise in this style guide, spell out whole numbers from zero through one hundred.
Plagiarism/copyright infringement
Authors should be familiar with the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement and how to avoid both.
Plagiarism is using other people's original work without crediting them as the source. Authors can avoid plagiarism by always citing the source of any material used that is not their own, such as quotations, research conclusions, data in a table, and the like.
Copyright infringement, or copyright violation, is using copyrighted material without getting permission. Authors can avoid copyright infringement by getting permission from the copyright holder to use copyrighted materials, such as a drawing, table, non-UC photo, or other material for a manuscript. Authors should contact their project editor for more information, including a sample permission request letter.
Punctuation, typeface, and more
Commas
Use the serial comma (Tom, Dick, and Harry).
Use no comma or colon before quotations unless punctuation is required for clarity. After short introductory adverbial clauses, commas may be omitted.
In 1968 tests showed that…
For the time being it is assumed that…
Contractions
Contractions may be used in moderation, especially in publications directed toward the general public.
Hyphens
See appendix B.
Italics
When a word is not used functionally but instead is used as the word or term itself, use italics.
The term plant pathology can be defined in many ways.
but
The science of plant disease is called plant pathology.
Do not use italics for emphasis unless the italics are necessary to prevent misunderstanding.
Quotation marks
Avoid both scare quotes and sneer quotes.
Tables and figures
Tables and figures should complement and supplement information in text but not duplicate it. They must be self-explanatory.
Tables and figures are numbered separately from one another; numbering starts fresh with every chapter. For example, chapter 1 might contain figures 1.1 through 1.9 and tables 1.1 through 1.4; in chapter 2, numbering for figures and tables would both start at 2.1.
Be sure that the running text contains at least one reference to each table and figure.
In-text references to tables and figures are spelled out, lowercase—unless in parentheses, when “figure” is abbreviated.
in figure/table 6.1
Figure/Table 7 shows (beginning of sentence) (see fig./table 3.25)
Table titles and figure captions are set in sentence case (initial capital only). Titles of figures have end punctuation. Titles of tables do not.
Figure 6.1. Berseem clover, Tehama County.
Table 6.1. Effect of irrigation on berseem clover, Davis, CA, 1990–1992
If table and figure sources are provided and the publication contains a reference list, sources are set as author-date citations. If no reference list is provided, the source line for the table or figure may contain full bibliographic information or a URL. Tables and figures created by the author require no source. The word source and the colon that follows it are set in italics:
Source: Smith 2019.
Tables
Don’t allow excessively long tables titles. Any text that doesn’t fit comfortably in a table title should appear as a footnote that applies to the whole table.
Format tables using Microsoft Word’s table layout mode. Column heads and spanner heads are set in sentence case.
Text in cells is lowercase—except for proper nouns, which are uppercase; complete sentences, which are set in sentence case; and text in left-most columns, which is set sentence case.
Sentences in table cells contain no terminal punctuation—unless, for example, two sentences appear consecutively in the same cell, in which case the first sentence receives terminal punctuation and the second does not.
Do not allow blank cells. Use “0” for “sums to 0.” Use an em dash (—) for “data not available,” and provide an explanation in a table note.
Decimal numbers in the same unit of measure should be carried to the same number of decimal places. In general, carry decimal numbers to a maximum of two digits.
If any decimal fractions in a table are greater than 1, decimal fractions less than 1 must begin with 0. (For more on decimal fractions, see the section, above, on fractions.)
If space is not an issue, spell terms out rather than using abbreviations. If abbreviations are used, use them consistently.
Use en dashes (–), not “to,” between all numerical ranges of measure and time in tables.
If appropriate, place a key immediately after the table to explain abbreviations. The key may be hung as a vertical list if desired.
After the key, if appropriate, provide the source of the information in the table (Source: or Sources:).
Place notes that apply to an entire table after the source line (introduced with Note:).
Figures
Figures include photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams, graphs, charts, and any other type of graphic object inserted into the text. Tables are not figures.
Figures with multiple parts should be labeled with uppercase letters, which are not followed by periods.
In figure captions, letters referring to figure parts should be set uppercase, roman, and in parentheses.
Figure 12.1. Buds form on terminals (A). Leaves grow from bud scars (B).
In running text, references to figure parts should be set as follows: In some plants, buds form on terminals (fig. 12.1A).
Photo credits are placed in photo captions, and follow the following format:
Photo: Susan Volcker.
Do include photo credits for photos taken by authors, except when noting in the front or back matter that all photos are taken by the author except where noted.
For publications with numerous figures, provide a figure list in the form of a Microsoft Word table. The figure list should give the following information for each figure.
• Figure number. (List all figures in sequence, with each on its own table row.)
• Thumbnail image. A small, low-resolution JPEG for reference only, if available.
• Caption.
• If appropriate, special instructions, permission information, and so on.
Trademarks and brands
Do not use a trademark symbol with trademarked names and do not attempt to change brand names to generic chemical names. Instead, in the front matter of a book or the back matter of an online publication, include a boilerplate trademark disclaimer.
URLs not in reference lists
Avoid URLs as possible since they often change and fail. If you feel including a URL is important anywhere other than in reference lists, do not include “http,” “https,” “www,” colons, or the slashes that follow colons. In running text, they appear in the ordinary flow of sentences, after commas or set between commas.
People interested in UC Agriculture and Natural Resources are invited to visit UC ANR’s website, ucanr.edu.
Californians who visit the website of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, ucanr.edu, can learn a lot about agriculture and natural resources in their state.
Verify that every URL works. If it doesn’t, ask the author to provide a working link—or, as appropriate, find a working link yourself.
In both print and online publications, remove active hyperlinks from both URLs and digital object identifiers (DOI). Apply the Word style “hyperlink” to the URLs and DOIs.
APPENDIX A
References and citations
ANR uses the author/date system for in-text citations, coordinated to an end-of-chapter or end-of book reference list.
In-text citations require corresponding entries in the references.
Entries in the reference list require corresponding in-text citations.
References that lack in-text citations can, if the author wishes, be organized in a “Further reading” section that follows the reference list. Entries included in the “Further reading” section must be highly relevant to the text.
In-text citations
Some in-text citations can be organized as shown in the following example:
As Jones (1989) has shown,
When this approach isn’t possible, in-text citations consist of the author’s last name, plus date, with no intervening punctuation, inside parentheses.
As one prominent study demonstrated (Jones 1989)…
The order in which citations are given may depend on what is being cited, and in what order, or it may reflect the relative importance of the items cited. If neither criterion applies, alphabetical or chronological order may be appropriate.
As appropriate, page numbers and the like can be appended to in-text citations.
(Jones 1993, 125–126)
(Polit 1954, chap. 5)
(Head 1985, fig. 2.3)
For in-text citations that correspond to reference entries with two or more authors, refer to the “Author names” section, below.
If the reference list contains more than one work that could be cited as "Author et al. date," include the second author's name in the citation.
Brown, Cruz et al. 2010
Brown, Davis et al. 2010
Brown, Smith et al. 2010
Additional works by the same author(s) are cited by date only, separated by commas except where page numbers are required.
• (Whittaker 1967, 1975; Wiens 1989a, 1989b)
• (Wong 1999, 328; 2000, 475; García 1998, 67)
Reference lists
Author names
Follow Chicago 13.23:
For works by two authors (or editors), list both of the names in the reference list and in the in-text citation.
For works by three to six people, list all names in the reference list. In the in-text citation, list only the first name, followed by “et al.”
For works by more than six authors, list the first three in the reference list, followed by “et al.” In the in-text citation, list only the first, followed by “et al.”
Use initials instead of first and middle names. Below, note the space between the first and second initials.
Smith, A. B.
If the author of a work is an organization, the author name may be abbreviated, in parentheses, to allow for shorter in-text citations.
(NABA) North American Butterfly Association.
Such entries are alphabetized according to the abbreviation, not according to the full name of the organization.
For works that do not show an author, corporate author, or editor on the cover, title page, or elsewhere, list “Anonymous” as the author.
For multiple entries with the same author name, for every entry after the first, we use a 3-em dash, followed by a period, in place of the author name. But instead of inserting the 3-em dash directly, use the symbol <3M>, which designers will later convert into a 3-em dash.
Smith, A. B. 2018.
<3M>. 2019.
Two or more works by exactly the same author(s), published in the same year, are distinguished by letters that follow the year.
Smith, A. B., B. Cruz, and D. Molar. 2018a.
<3M>. 2018b.
but
Smith, A. B., B. Cruz, and D. Molar. 2018.
Smith, A. B., B. Cruz, and C. Parker. 2018.
When a reference list contains works by an author publishing alone and works by the same author collaborating with others, the works are listed in the following order.
(1) single author, chronologically (earliest to latest)
(2) all two-author entries, alphabetically
(3) all entries with three or more authors, alphabetically
Brown, J.
Brown, J., ed.
Brown, J., and T. Mayall
Brown, J., and C. Parker
Brown, J., B. Cruz, S. Smith, and K. Jones
Brown, J., R. Davis, and D. Solar
Books
Following Chicago, we no longer include place of publication.
Use accepted short forms of publishers’ names. Be sure that they’re spelled and punctuated correctly.
Little, Brown, not Little Brown
McGraw-Hill, not McGraw Hill
Wiley, not John Wiley & Sons
DOIs and URLs
Include DOIs for journal articles whenever they are available. DOIs must follow CrossRef’s format:
https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS.2000.84.3.328
No period follows the DOI.
If DOIs are unavailable for journal articles, use URLs. Use the full URL, including www or http(s). No period appears at the end of the URL. Occasionally, for old journal articles, neither a DOI nor a URL is available.
URLs for nonjournal entries may also be included in reference lists as appropriate.
Do not include “accessed on” information for websites that authors have visited. As discussed in Chicago, 13.15
An access date—that is, the self-reported date on which an author consulted a source online—is of limited value: Previous versions may be unavailable to readers; authors typically consult a source any number of times over the course of days or months; and the accuracy of such dates, once recorded, cannot readily be verified by editors or publishers.
Journal articles
Spell out journal names rather than using abbreviated forms.
For foreign journals whose titles resemble those of U.S. journals, give place of publication.
Include issue numbers if they’re available.
Page numbers
Except for journal articles and chapters in edited books, it isn’t necessary to give page numbers or number of pages in reference list entries.
Public documents
Treat all public documents as if they were books, regardless of their length. Do not provide information about total page count.
Titles
Italics are not used for titles of works.
Titles are set in sentence case (except for proper nouns).
For article titles, if this style guide and the article title itself diverge where formatting is concerned—if, for example, an article title does not contain serial commas, or British spellings are used—defer to the style used in the original publication.
Exception: Retain sentence case in titles, regardless of the capitalization in the source title.
Another exception: Use initial capitalization in the first word following a colon.
Reference style: examples
Books
Borror, D. J., and D. M. Delong. 1954. An introduction to the study of insects. 3rd ed. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Franklin, J. M., and E. A. Smith. 2015. Grasslands of California. 2 vols. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3987.
Reuther, W., E. C. Calavan, and G. E. Carman, eds. 1989. The citrus industry. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3326.
Chapters in edited books
Reil, W. O., and J. F. Doyle. 2012. Propagation. In R. P. Buchner, ed., Prune production manual. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3507. 93–98.
Journal articles
Adaskaveg, J., W. Hao, and H. Förster. 2015. Postharvest strategies for managing Phytophthora brown rot of citrus using potassium phosphite in combination with heat treatments. Plant Disease 99(3):1477–1482. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-15-0040-RE
Eckert, J., and J. Ogawa. 1985. The chemical control of postharvest diseases: Subtropical and tropical fruit. Annual Review of Phytopathology 23:421–454. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.py.23.090185.002225
<3M>. 1988. The chemical control of postharvest diseases: Deciduous fruit, berries, vegetables, and root/tuber crops. Annual Review of Phytopathology 26:433–469. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.py.26.090188.002245
Papers presented at conferences
Schoner, C., V. Marble, and C. Langston. 1982. Use of a desiccant on alfalfa hay to reduce drying time (a progress report). Paper presented at California Alfalfa Symposium, Dec. 8–9, Davis, CA.
Public documents
English, H., A. I. Ryall, and E. Smith. 1946. Blue mold decay of Delicious apples in relation to handling practices. Washington, DC: USDA Circular 751.U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1986. Statistical abstract of the United States. 106th ed. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Hord, H. V. V., and R. Sprague. 1950. Silver-leaf disease of apple in Washington. Pullman: Washington State Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 119.
APPENDIX B
Hyphenation
To resolve questions about hyphenation, refer first to Webster’s; then to this summary of policy established by Webster’s and The Chicago Manual of Style.
anti: Webster’s closes up nearly all terms beginning with “anti,” with exceptions such as “anti-English” and “anti-inflammatory.” Chicago’s policy is similar.
co: Webster’s closes up nearly all terms beginning with “co,” with exceptions such as “co-op” and “co-opt.” Chicago’s policy is similar.
free, appearing at the end of a word: Per Chicago, “compounds formed with ‘free’ as a second element are hyphenated both before and after a noun.” Note, however, that Chicago’s policy does not cover “free” terms, such as “carefree,” that are listed in Webster’s.
like, appearing at the end of a word: Per Chicago, section 7.89, “Closed if listed as such in Webster’s. If not in Webster’s, hyphenated; compounds retain the hyphen both before and after a noun.”
long, appearing at the beginning of a word: Webster’s appears to hyphenate all adjective terms such as “long-lived,” “long-standing” and “long-term.” Preserve the hyphenation both before and after a noun.
long, appearing at the end of a word: Terms such as “daylong” and “yearlong” are closed up in Webster’s.
mid: Webster’s closes up “mid” terms, with a few exceptions, such as “mid-rise.” Chicago maintains a similar policy, but hyphenates terms such as “mid-July” and “mid-1990s.”
multi: Webster’s closes up “multi” terms, with a few exceptions, such as “multi-institutional.” Chicago’s policy is similar.
non: Webster’s closes up “non” terms, with very few exceptions. Chicago’s policy is similar. pre: Webster’s closes up “pre” terms, with very few exceptions. Chicago’s policy is similar. post: Webster’s closes up “post” terms, with very few exceptions. Chicago’s policy is similar. re: Webster’s closes up “re” terms, with very few exceptions. Chicago’s policy is similar.
short: Webster’s hyphenates some adjective terms involving “short,” such as “short-term” and “short-lived.” In those cases, preserve the hyphenation both before and after a noun. But Webster’s closes up other terms, such as “shorthanded.”
wise: Close up “wise” terms, such as “clockwise,” that are closed in Webster’s. Hyphenate others.
Note on hyphenation in compound modifiers, from section 7.85 of Chicago: When compound modifiers (also called phrasal adjectives) such as high-profile or book-length precede a noun, hyphenation usually lends clarity. With the exception of proper nouns (such as United States) and compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective (see 7.86), it is never incorrect to hyphenate adjectival compounds before a noun. When such compounds follow the noun they modify, hyphenation is usually unnecessary, even for adjectival compounds that are hyphenated in Webster’s (such as well-read or ill-humored).