Web Capping & Single Spaces Only

Web Capping & Single Spaces Only

This issue I'm tackling two seemingly trivial matters—but they're not. JOE is lean and mean when it comes to staffing. I'm it on the editorial front, and correcting capitalization of Web terms and, especially, correcting spacing eat up lots of time I can't then spend reviewing submissions and revisions, answering questions, tracking down late reviews, putting issues together, or any of the other numerous editorial tasks.

Web Capping

Here's the deal on Web capping in JOE. The word "Web," used alone, should always be capitalized. It should also be capitalized when it's part of a compound modifier, as in "Web-based programs." However, when the word is part of a larger word, as in "website," it should be lower case.

By the way, the related word "Internet" should always be capitalized.

Single Spaces Only

News flash. These days, the convention is single spaces between sentences. The convention of double spaces between sentences is a "typewriter ghost." This applies to spaces after colons, too. The single-space rule holds true for submissions to JOE, letters, reports, or anything you write for publication.

Authors are pretty careless and cavalier about spaces. Despite the fact that the JOE Submission Guidelines state that tables should "contain no extraneous spaces," many authors use multiple—and I mean multiple—spaces for alignment or to indent columns. Some have such a heavy hand on the space bar that I find double and triple and even more spaces between sentences and even between words.

Thus removing those extraneous and incorrect spaces is not the relatively simple matter of finding "space," "space," and replacing them with "space." In some articles, I have to do that over and over and over again.

Equally as annoying are the spaces I find and must remove before the beginnings of paragraphs or before lines of text in the author-identification sections of articles.

So, before you submit an article to JOE, please, please search for and remove those extraneous spaces. Better yet, train yourself not to put those extra spaces in there in the first place. (It's a hard habit to break, I know. But I did it, and so can you.)

Bottom line. In JOE submissions, there should be single spaces—single spaces only.

December JOE

One of the most notable aspects of the December issue is the number of articles on evaluation, really too numerous to single out. Suffice it to say that the Commentary, "From What to How: Targeting Specific Factors That Influence Outcomes," and the first Feature, "Evaluating Multiple Prevention Programs: Methods, Results, and Lessons Learned," are just the tip of the evaluation iceberg. This is a popular topic in JOE, as evidenced by the June 2009 issue, devoted entirely to evaluation and assessment. And it's so popular because it's so important.

Perhaps as important, if not so popular a topic, is branding. I call your attention to the excellent and—yes—important article, "Branding the Land-Grant University: Stakeholders' Awareness and Perceptions of the Tripartite Mission." As a communications professional, I've encountered indifference and even resistance to branding among the colleagues with whom I work. I think the indifference is somewhat short sighted and the resistance downright myopic.

On a different level, I think it speaks to the quality and credibility of JOE authors that the author of the fifth Tools of the Trade article, "Operation Cleansweep in Florida: Extension's Role in an Environmentally Friendly Program Opportunity," is cited in the fourth, "Practical Tips for Pesticide Education." Neat.

That's just five out of 30 fine articles in the last JOE issue 2010.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.