Transcript Style Guide

Style guide for The Portal Transcripts. Link.

Word Processor Configuration

• Disable smart quotes
• Disable Substitutions

Spelling Help

Search for unknown terms or names, or search for some of the words in their context to find their proper spelling.

Headings

Generally, our transcripts will be posted on pages under a level 2 heading, so any subheadings in the transcript should begin at a level 3 heading.

Paragraphs

Paragraphs should contain a whole idea.

Paragraph Breaks

Paragraph breaks don't always have to be for total change of topic. The next subtopic in a line of thought can be broken into its own paragraph to help readability. More paragraphs also = more timestamps.

Timestamp

The timestamp is italicized, always of the form 00:00:00 (hours:minutes:seconds). It marks the beginning of a paragraph. It is separated by a line break (shift+enter) instead of a paragraph break. This can be checked by triple-clicking a paragraph to select it, and seeing whether the timestamp is also highlighted as part of the selection.

Speaker Tag

The speaker tag is bold, punctuated by a colon, and in-line with the paragraph.

Punctuation

Our punctuation rules.

Commas

Use the Oxford comma.

Comma before single and double quotes that begin a new clause.

Hyphenation

Hyphenate certain words.

Dashes

Em-dash or long dash (—) for interruptions (mid-word or mid-sentence) or abrupt change in a sentence's topic. No space after the dash.

En-dash in certain

Ellipses

Ellipses can be used in some places instead of dashes, if a speaker is trailing off for instance. Put a space after ellipses. They can be treated as periods or commas for the capitalization of the next word.

Quotations

Comma before single and double quotes that begin a new clause.

Double quotes for dialogue or speech, terms or phrases, and scare quotes. For dialogue and speech, end-punctuation is inside the quote. Otherwise it is outside, or there is no punctuation.

Single quotes for thoughts. If it the sentence ends inside a single quote, end punctuation is placed inside the quote.

Indirect Quotations

Indirect quotes (no quote marks) when it's hypothetical speech or . Use your own judgment. No comma before indirect quotes. Don't capitalize first word of indirect quotes.

Capitalization

Capitalize essay titles.

Capitalize book titles.

Acronyms

Acronyms are capitalized and unpunctuated: PhD, UK, USA, DISC, etc.

Slogans that reduce to acronyms are capitalized, i.e. "Make America Think Harder (MATH)".

Name acronyms are capitalized and punctuated: M.C. Escher.

Portal Terms

Portal terms aren't capitalized: embedded growth obligation, gated institutional narrative, etc.

However, Portal terms that are explicitly proper nouns are capitalized: The Portal, Wokistan, Magastan

Italicization

Italicize book titles.

Italicize foreign language phrases/terms i.e. sine qua non, unless they're in quotes that aren't dialogue quotes.

Numbers

Numbers greater than ten should be written out as numerals. Numbers less than ten can also be written as numerals so long as it's internally consistent within a transcript.

Year references like "seventies" and "eighties" should be rendered as '70s, '80s.

Mathematics

Math grammar rules here.

Typesetting

LaTeX compatible with MathJax.

Editor's Notes

When necessary, add a missing, unspoken word to clarify the meaning of a sentence, i.e. [if], [the], etc. "... I have seen no printed discussion of where the supposed trading records of this person [are, who seemed to amass a fortune."]

If there is an obvious flaw in grammar of something spoken, add [sic] after the mistake, i.e. "I didn’t felt [sic ..."]

If something is inaudible or unintelligible, write [inaudible] or [unintelligible] where it occurs.

Miscellaneous

For words that end in "m" extended with -my, add the ending to the existing word, don't conjugate it. "Spectrum" + "-my" = "Spectrummy"