Style Guide for Magazines and Journals

General Style for Content
Language and Syntax
Contractions
Quotation Marks
Capitalization and Style for Headlines, Headings, and Subheadings
Awards, Prizes, and Categories of Awards
Titles of Books, Short Stories, Newspapers, Magazines and Journals
Titles of Films and so on
Academic Writing

Sources: AP Stylebook and Dragoman Style

General Style for Content

The clients determine the final layout and preferences for magazines or journals. If the client does not have an in-house style guide or preferences, follow these rules of style. In all cases, be consistent.

Definition of Magazines and Journals (as used in this guide only)

1. In this guide, the word magazine refers to general interest, travel, hobby, advertising, fashion, corporate, entertainment, trade, industry, communications, technology, health, lifestyle, news, children’s, women’s or men’s magazines.
2. The word journal refers to scientific, medical, literary and academic journals.
3. These rules of style refer to both magazines and journals unless specifically mentioned.

Style Guides: use the “AP Stylebook” and “Dragoman Style Guide for Figures” for any rules of style not specifically mentioned in this guide.

Language and Syntax

1. Always use sentence variety for articles in any type of magazine or journal.
2. As a rule, use descriptive or creative language and industry jargon for magazines.
3. As a rule, use appropriate scientific, medical, literary or academic language for journals.
4. Use the language that best depicts the styles, i.e., tone, vocabulary, of the various writers whose articles appear in the magazine or journal.
5. For interviews, use appropriate idioms, contractions, and conversational language.

Contractions

1. Use contractions in magazine articles but do not overuse.
2. Do not use contractions in journals, except in interviews.

As a rule, use industry and not sector, except for “public or private sector.”

Quotation Marks

Follow U.S. capitalization and punctuation rules. Do not use U.K. style. “For quotation marks” follow these rules:

1. Commas and periods always go within the quotation marks for all copy.
   Correct: GarantiBank received the EU Award for the “Best Bank in Turkey.”
   Incorrect: GarantiBank received the EU Award for the “Best Bank in Turkey”.

The dash, semicolon, question mark and exclamation point go within the quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quoted phrase or word only. They go outside when the punctuation applies to the whole sentence.

Correct: The public was outraged over the so-called “healthcare public option”; therefore, the White House dropped the issue.
Incorrect: The public was outraged over the so-called “healthcare public option;” therefore, the White House dropped the issue.

Correct: “This is an absolute outrage!” This was the public’s reaction to healthcare.
Incorrect: “This is an absolute outrage”! This was the public’s reaction to healthcare.

Capitalization and Style for Headlines, Headings, and Subheadings

1. Use ONE of these styles: (use of italics is to highlight the examples only)
   Lower case, except for the first word and proper nouns, i.e., Istanbul at home in a dark room in Tünel.
   Upper case for all words except for “a, an, the” and prepositions if not part of the title, i.e., Istanbul at Home in a Dark Room in Tünel or Thinking About the Creative World.
2. If the headline or heading is a quote use quotation marks, i.e., “BP oil cap is no solution”
3. If part of the headline or heading is a quote use quotation marks, i.e., BP oil cap is “no solution”
4. Do not use single quotation marks in headlines, headings or in quoted content, except for a quote inside a quote, i.e., “BP oil cap is ‘no solution’ only a temporary fix.”
5. Do not use ALL CAPS for headlines and headings, i.e., WORLD GOES MAD.
   NOTE: The client may prefer ALL CAPS, but this should be verified with the client; in all cases, be consistent.
6. In some cases, ALL CAPS are used to begin an article, but these are not headlines.

Awards, Prizes, and Categories of Awards

1. Use initial capitalization for awards or prizes, i.e., Euromoney Award for Excellence.
2. Use initial capitalization and quotation marks for categories of awards or prizes, i.e., “Best Bank in Turkey” in the Customer Service category.
   Please note: Italics is for the examples only; do not use italics for awards in textual content.

Titles of Books, Short Stories, Newspapers, Magazines and Journals

Print media style guides and publishers’ guides use varying styles for titles of books, short stories, newspapers and magazines. In general, use the AP Stylebook.

1. Titles of books:
   In magazines use quotation marks, i.e., “Pride and Prejudice.”
   In journals use italics, i.e., Better Health, Better Society.
2. Titles of articles are in quotations, i.e., “Obesity Drug Companies Are Risky.”
3. Titles of reference books are in italics, i.e., American Heritage Dictionary.
4. Titles of magazines, journals and newspapers are in italics, i.e., Euromoney or Sabah.
5. If magazine or journal is part of the title, follow the same rule, i.e., New York Magazine or Journal of the American Medical Association.
6. If magazine or journal is not part of the title, use lower case, i.e., Time magazine
7. Capitalize the article the if part of the title of a newspaper, magazine, or journal, i.e., The Washington Post or The New Yorker.

Titles of Films, TV Series, TV Episodes, Albums, CDs, Songs, Videos, Visual Media, Works of Art, Sculptures, Paintings, Exhibitions, Advertising Slogans and Radio/TV Spots, Projects, and Clinical or Case Studies or Clinical Trials

Follow these general rules:

1. Use initial capitalization and quotation marks. Do not use italics. Put the year in parenthesis.
2. Follow these examples for each category:
   “Pride and Prejudice” – film
   “CSI: New York” – TV series
   “Here Comes the Sun” – song
   “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” – album
   “Picasso: His Art, His Life” – exhibition “Feed the World” – project
   Picasso’s proto-Cubist, “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (1907) – painting
   “Choose Turkcell and Stay Connected Wherever You Go” – slogan
   “We are Turkish Airlines. We are globally yours” – TV spot and advertising jingle
   “Genetic Formations in Centipedes” – a case study (or clinical study or clinical trial)

Additional Rules of Style for Journals

Academic Writing:

Academic writing is considered formal writing, i.e., literary essays or articles on science or medicine. Use transitions effectively to connect sentences and paragraphs but do not overuse. Do not use slang, colloquialisms, or informal idioms or language.

Passive Voice:

1. The passive voice is used more frequently in journals.
2. Follow these examples when using the passive voice.
   The patients were tested for asthma.
   Tissue samples were taken from each patient.
3. Avoid the following type of passive voice constructions, whenever possible:
   It was shown in the report that patients responded negatively to treatment.
   Stronger: The report indicated that patients responded negatively to the treatment.
   It was observed in the clinical trial that 10 percent of males tested positive.
   Stronger: As observed in the clinical trial, 10 percent of males tested positive.
   It was reported in the study that most patients would recover in six months.
   Stronger: The study reported that most patients would recover in six months.

Helpful Links for Academic Writing
Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu
Journal of American Medical Association: http://jama.ama-assn.org
Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com