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RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
HOUSE JOURNAL STYLE
We follow the current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style for usage and Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (tenth edition) for spelling. Please pay close attention to verb agreement, split infinitives, dangling modifiers, verb tense, and pronouns lacking antecedents.
Please pay particular attention to the following points of style.
1. Use the serial comma:
This book is brilliant, incisive, and timely.
2. Numbers
In most contexts spell out figures up to one hundred as well as large round numbers. An exception is made for numbers that begin a sentence (spell out), for page numbers and units of measure (use numerals), and when following this rule would result in mixed styles within the same paragraph:
“Of 129 voters, 57 were Democrats and 72 were Republicans.”
- In stating percentages, the word percent is always spelled out, but the number is always a figure: 75 percent.
- Keep the traditional style for dates (July 16, 1987).
- Observe the important distinction between that and which. (See the explanation in Words into Type if you are in doubt.)
- Implement proper capitalization for all titles and heads in text and notes.
- Year ranges should be changed from 1978–79 to the full years (1978–1979)
6. Abbreviations
- Acronyms should be spelled out at first use.
- Do not italicize ibid. or et al. when used in endnotes and references.
- The words Hispanic , Latina, Latino, Latinx, Latin@, African American and other ethnic and racial appellations derived from proper nouns should be capitalized. The words white and black should be lower case. Note that per The Chicago Manuel of Style, we lowercase black and white, but authors may capitalize the words as long as all racial designations are capitalized. For question about particular terms please speak with the press.
7. Use of biased, derogatory, or offensive language
- In quoted texts within scholarly works the preference is to elide the word (n––, r––, g––, etc.). It is acceptable to add an s at the end of the dash to make the sentence grammatically correct. We encourage the author to include an explanation for why the word has been changed. If the word is used repeatedly (for example, in an ethnography where the respondents use the word as part of their normal responses) a note of explanation must be included in the FM, whether as a separate note or as part of the introductory material.
- If the author wants to retain the full use, they must speak with the director of publications to get approval to do so, and the author must include some kind of explanation in a note attached to first use.
- If citing the title of a published work in-text, the word or words should be retained but an endnote should be added to explain why it was retained.
- Be alert to sexism and racism. Change or tactfully query the author.
8. Identifications and first names of people mentioned in the text should be queried in the text if not provided. First names should be given the first time an author’s name is used in the text and throughout the references. We prefer the article the before such identifications:
“The psychologist Judith Wallerstein has stated that . . .”
9. The use of they, their, or them as singular gender-neutral pronouns is acceptable (as is the generic “he” or “she” but avoid gender role stereotyping).
10. Drop ellipses from the beginning and end of quoted material.
11. Tables and figures should be sequentially numbered. In-text references to them (and to other chapters) should be lower case: “see table 2.” Use italicized letters when necessary for table footnotes. All table and figures must have sources, even if they are “author’s tabulations.”
12. References and Endnotes
We typically use author and date system of citation: “McFate 1995” in the text, with a complete citation appearing in a reference list at the end of the book/chapter. To include page numbers with a string of citations please use the following style: (McFate 1995, 9; Jones and Murphy 1992, 6–10; Hardin 1990, ch. 4).
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In references if an offensive word is used in the title of a published work, it should be retained.
13. Please use subheads to break up your text, but do not start your article with a subhead and do not use “Introduction.” as a subhead. Subheads and sections of the text should not be numbered (i.e., please do not divide the paper into sections using Roman or Arabic numerals).
14. Any references to color—in text, or in captions, or in the key within the art—need to be worded so that they will work when printed in black and white and when it appears in color as an ebook.
15. Sample References:
Please note the use of first names and issue numbers throughout the references.
Standard entry for single-author book:
Grubb, W. Norton. 1996. Learning to Work: Reintegrating Job Training and Education. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Standard entry for multi-author book:
Spain, Daphne, and Suzanne M. Bianchi. 1996. Balancing Act: Motherhood, Marriage, and Employment Among American Women. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Standard entry for journal article:
Avery, Roger, Frances Goldscheider, and Alden Speare. 1992. “Feathered Nest/Gilded Cage: Parental Income and Leaving Home in the Transition to Adulthood.” Demography 29(3): 375-88.
Chapter in edited volume:
Bianchi, Suzanne M. 1993. “Children of Poverty: Why Are They Poor?” In Child Poverty and Public Policy, edited by Judith A. Chafel. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press.
Two entries/same author (order from earliest to latest; then alpha order by title): Cherlin, Andrew. 1978. “Remarriage as an Incomplete Institution.” American Journal of Sociology 84(November): 634-50.
——. 1992. Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Newspaper article:
Constable, Pamela. 1995. “Md. Church, Holy Matrimony Times Six.” The Washington Post, June 26, 1995, p. B1, 3.
Occasional paper/working paper:
Danziger, Sheldon, and Jonathan Stern. 1990. “The Causes and Consequences of Child Poverty in the United States.” Innocenti occasional paper 10. Florence, Italy: UNICEF International Child Development Centre.
Institutional author:
Families and Work Institute. 1995. Women: The New Providers. Benton Harbor, Mich.: Whirlpool Foundation.
Conference paper:
Hughes, James W. 1994. “Economic Shifts and the Changing Home Ownership Trajectory.” Paper presented to the Office of Housing Research, Fannie Mae, Conference on Understanding Household Savings for Homeownership. Washington (November 12, 1994).
Authored article in government publication:
O'Connell, Marin. 1991. “Late Expectations: Childbearing Patterns of American Women for the 1990s.” Current Population Reports, series P23, no. 176. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office for U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Dissertation:
Robinson, James Gregory. 1988. “A Cohort Analysis of Trends in the Labor Force Participation of Men and Women in the United States: 1890 to 1985.” Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania.
Unpublished paper: Romano, Angela. 1995. “Changing Gender Ideology: 1977-1993.” Unpublished paper.
University of Maryland, College Park.
Government publication:
U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1953. Census of Population and Housing: 1950, vol. 2, part 1. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Department of Labor. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1984. Employment and Earnings. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office (January).
Website (If no ‘last modified” date is found just list the accessed date): Google. 2009. “Google Privacy Policy.” Last modified March 11, 2009. Accessed July 13, 2009.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.
Legal Cases: The names of court cases are italicized in text, with a full citation in a footnote directly following the first mention. The full citation adheres to Chicago style (which mostly follows The Bluebook). For example:
In text: “ … with the Supreme court decision in Grutter v. Bollinger.”
Note: “Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003).”
In text: “In 1973, Adams v. Richardson concluded that…”
Note: “Kenneth Adams et al. v. Elliot L. Richardson, Individually, and as Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, et al., 356 F. Supp. 92 (D.D.C. 1973).”
For Supreme Court decisions, cite the United States Reports (abbreviated U.S.). Lower federal-court decisions are usually cited to the Federal Reporter (F.) or to the Federal Supplement (F. Supp.).
Court cases are not listed in the bibliography.
16. Bios, Contact Information, Abstracts, and Key Words
Contributors should supply a short abstract for their paper consisting of 150 words or less (625 characters including spaces).
Contributors should supply a list of key words (between 3-5 words) for your article.
Full author affiliation and contact information for all of the article’s authors must be listed on the first page of the article. Please start with bios for each author in the following format (e.g., Jane Smith is professor of x at y university).
After the bios are listed for all of the authors please add a paragraph in the following format. List any acknowledgements. Follow them with: Direct correspondence to: name, email address, snail mail address. Once again please include contact information for all the authors.
17. Cross Referencing
Contributors are actively encouraged to engage other articles in the issue. Please refer to the other work as (author X, this issue) and include a full citation in the reference list.
18. Appendix
An article may have an appendix of no more than five pages that may include tables, figures, etc. Any material in excess of that length will not be edited or typeset as part of the issue but will be made available through links on the issue’s webpage. There is no limit to the addition material that can be posted on that website.