October 2005 // Volume 43 // Number 5
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Some JOE Style Points: Terminal Punctuation & Superscripts
Abstract
"Some JOE Style Points" talks
about terminal punctuation (yes) and superscripts (no). "October JOE" highlights
three articles that deal with underrepresented audiences and five that deal
in one way or another with information technology.
Some JOE Style Points: Terminal Punctuation & Superscripts
As I said in my August Editor's Page, I am going to start building a JOE style guide in "bits and pieces." The bits I'm tackling this month are terminal punctuation and superscripts.
The phrase "terminal punctuation" sounds so, well, terminal, doesn't it? But it's just the punctuation convention that calls for a comma before the "or" or "and" in every series, even when a series contains only three items. That's not the only approved way to punctuate a series. Associated Press style, for example, does not always call for that "terminal" comma, but JOE style does. So, before the "or" or "and," even in a short series, insert a comma, and make the JOE editor's life a little easier.
As for superscripts, there's nothing wrong with them--except when it comes to the Web. For reasons I do not profess to understand, when you use a superscript on the Web it causes spacing problems in the text. So, for example, instead of writing "21st century" (see what I mean?), please make it "21st century."
These JOE style points will also be posted on the Help for JOE Authors page.
October JOE
The First two Feature articles in this issue, "Hearing Their Needs: Voices of Underrepresented Populations" and "Exploring Agricultural Census Undercounts Among Immigrant Hispanic/Latino Farmers with an Alternative Enumeration Project," deal with underrepresented or undercounted audiences. The first Research in Brief addresses another kind of minority, those caught on the wrong side of the digital divide. "An Evaluative Study of the United States Cooperative Extension Service's Role in Bridging the Digital Divide" reports on a nationwide survey of Extension administrators to gauge their opinion of Extension's role in bridging the digital divide.
I think that there is a digital divide and that we in Extension should do all we can to bridge it. That way, more and more of our clients will have access to the information, tools, and materials described in "An On-Line Survey Process for Assessing Impact of an Email-Delivered Pest Advisory," "Determinants of Irrigation Farmers' Crop Choice and Acreage Allocation Decisions: Opportunities for Extension Service Delivery," "Strengthening Marriages: An Evaluation and Assessment of a Couple's and Marital Enrichment Newsletter," "Strengthening Integration of Land Use Research and Outreach Through Innovative Web Technology," and "Embracing Edutainment with Interactive E-Learning Tools."
And those are just eight of 28 fine articles.
Laura Hoelscher, Editor