Author: amastyleinsider

Quiz Bowl: Comma

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“Let’s eat Grandpa.”

“Turkeys gobble Grandma.”

“She finds inspiration in cooking her grandchildren and her dog.”

As the saying goes, “Commas save lives!” Just the simple addition of commas to the above sentences and Grandpa, Grandma, the grandchildren, and even the family dog are all free to live another day.

“Let’s eat, Grandpa.”

“Turkeys gobble, Grandma.”

“She finds inspiration in cooking, her grandchildren, and her dog.”

In an effort to end the scourge of comma-related fatalities, this month’s Style Quiz addresses the use of the comma.

Edit the following sentence based on your understanding of section 8.2 of the AMA Manual of Style.

The investigators performed a double-blind placebo-controlled patient-initiated 2-armed parallel clinical trial.

Highlight the text box for the answer: The investigators performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, patient-initiated, 2-armed, parallel clinical trial.

In a simple coordinate series of 3 or more terms, separate the elements by commas (§8.2.1, Comma, Series, pp 337-338 in print).

If, like us at the AMA Manual of Style, you are determined to play a role in ending the epidemic of flagrant and dangerous comma misuse, check out the full quiz at www.amamanualofstyle.com.—Laura King, MA, ELS

Quiz Bowl: Forward Slash

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NOTE:

Thanks to an astute reader (gold star for Regina Scaringella) who noticed that our use of the forward slash in patient/physician relationship contradicted page 345 of the stylebook, we have revised this post. The following terms are correct: obstetrics/gynecology and patient-physician. (updated 2/3/14)

It should be easy, right? The use of the forward slash, that is. However, every time I encounter a forward slash in a manuscript, I know I’m headed for a fight. It’s me against the sinister solidus. Is it obstetrics/gynecology, obstetrics-gynecology, or obstetrics and gynecology? Is it male/female ratio, male-female ratio, or male to female ratio? I won’t let it defeat me! I shall tame the villainous virgule, and you can too. Below are 2 examples from this month’s Style Quiz that will help you fight the forward slash foe.

Edit the following sentences for appropriate usage of the forward slash based on your understanding of section 8.4 of the AMA Manual of Style.

The male/female ratio was 2/1.

Use your mouse to highlight the text box for the answer: The male to female ratio was 2:1.

Although a forward slash may be used to express a ratio (eg, the male/female ratio was 2/1), the preferred style is to use a colon to express ratios that involve numbers or abbreviations (the Apo B:Apo A-I ratio was 2:1) and the word to to express ratios that involve words (the male to female ratio) (§8.4.5, In Ratios, p 354 in print; see also §8.2.3, Colon, Numbers, p 342).

But what about that pesky relationship between obstetrics and gynecology? Maybe this will help.

The study examined academic performance in undergraduate obstetrics/gynecology clinical rotations. to achieve an effective patient/physician relationship was a top discussion priority at the annual meeting.

This example is correct as is. When 2 terms are of equal weight in an expression and and is implied between them to express this equivalence, the forward slash can be retained (§8.4.1, Used to Express Equivalence or Duality, pp 353-354 in print).

We hope these examples have helped arm you in the battle for mastery over the forward slash. If not, the full quiz (available to subscribers at www.amamanualofstyle.com) provides more guidance on the formidable forward slash.—Laura King, MA, ELS

Intention, Intent

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These words are used interchangeably in many contexts, and such usage is often perfectly acceptable. In some contexts, however, they do have slightly different meanings.1

Although both words connote an attitude of resolve toward a contemplated action, intention is the weaker term, often suggesting “little more than what one has in mind to do or to bring about”2 and sometimes also further signaling that the action was not or will not be acted on. If, for example, a speaker begins a sentence by saying “I had every intention of….” the listener knows very well the gist of what’s coming next, regardless of the words that actually follow.

Intent, on the other hand, is all business, suggesting a concentration of will and the active application of reason in making a contemplated action come to pass1: “They were rushing upon the old peasant with no very merciful intent.”3Intent often further signals that a contemplated action actually has been or will be carried out—which perhaps leads to its use in sentences such as “He who wounds with intent to kill…. shall be tried as if he had succeeded.”3 Perhaps for these reasons, intent is now most often encountered in legal communication,1,3 and its connotations in such contexts are well understood. Imagine, for example, that NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent had instead been titled Law & Order: Criminal Intentions. Loses something, does it not?

Another difference between the words is that intention is a countable noun, whereas intent is an uncountable noun.4 So, whereas a person might have a veritable laundry list of intentions related to a contemplated action (one might, for example, speak of one’s intentions for the coming weekend), one typically has only a single state of mind—an intent—related to that action. In short, intention often suggests mere ambition to achieve something, whereas intent often suggests the application of reason to actually achieve it. A clue to the distinction is that the words usually take different prepositions: intention takes to (think “to-do list”) or of, whereas intent takes on or upon.5

Intent and intention can sometimes apply in the same instance. A person might, for example, have every intention of never gambling again, even while heading to the track intent on making a killing.

In medical contexts, the words appear in the constructions “intent-to-treat analysis” and “intention-to-treat analysis”— ie, analyses “based on the treatment group to which [study participants] were randomized, rather than on which treatment they actually received and whether they completed the study.”6 Although both constructions are used, in light of the negative connotations of intent, “intention-to-treat” might be preferable.

The bottom line:

● Intention and intent are often used interchangeably, and in many cases such usage is acceptable.

● However, although intention and intent both connote an attitude of resolve toward a contemplated action, intention is the weaker term, often suggesting mere ambition. Intent, on the other hand, suggests deliberate planning or the active application of the will to make an action come to pass.

● Although in medical contexts “intent-to-treat analysis” and “intention-to-treat analysis” are used interchangeably, given the negative connotations associated with intent, “intention-to-treat” might be preferable.—Phil Sefton, ELS

 

 

1. Ask the Editor: “Intent” and “Intention.” Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary website. http://www.learnersdictionary.com/blog.php?action=ViewBlogArticle&ba_id=78. Accessed September 10, 2013.

2. Intention, intent. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Synonyms. Springfield, MA; Merriam-Webster Inc; 1984:458.

3. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 1991:861.

4. Intention or intent? Glossophilia website. http://www.glossophilia.org/?p=416. Accessed September 10, 2013.

5. Bernstein TM. The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage. New York, NY: Athaneum; 1985:240.

6. Iverson C, Christiansen S, Flanagin A, et al. AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors. 10th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007:873.

Ex Libris: Dangerous Admissions

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How many of you have let your mind wander while editing that difficult genetics manuscript to imagine yourself in a whole new role? Of course, you’d never lose the skills that make you a diligent and gifted editor, but you’d put those skills to more glamorous use. Maybe you daydream of being a Nellie Bly–style reporter, going undercover to reveal corruption at insane asylums. Maybe a witty Nora Ephronesque screenwriter, penning romantic comedies to popular acclaim. Maybe even an adventuresome explorer such as Isabella Bird, chronicling her travels through the Sandwich Islands. If you are an editor prone to flights of fancy, then Dangerous Admissions: Secrets of a Closet Sleuth by Jane O’Connor is the book for you.

Jane O’Connor, author of the popular children’s series Fancy Nancy, has created a heroine for editors who long for adventure—Miranda “Rannie” (rhymes with Annie) Bookman. Rannie has been fired from her job as executive managing editor at Simon and Schuster for approving a print run of 5000 copies of a collector’s edition of the first Nancy Drew book—The Secret of the Old Clock. The only problem is the missing lowercase “l” from the last word of the book title. Heads rolled, and Rannie was forced to roll out the door, thus beginning a less than satisfying career as a freelance editor.

As all freelancers know, you take work where and when you can get it. Rannie is editing a book on Josef Mengele, chief physician at Auschwitz, for $40 per hour and giving tours of her children’s exclusive private school, the Chapel School (Chaps), to make ends meet. She appreciates having the work, but she feels “untethered, superfluous, a forty-three-year-old dangling participle.” Rannie is a woman with a high IQ, a fertile imagination, and too much time on her hands. Therefore, when the (mostly) beloved director of college admissions, A. Lawrence Tutwiler (Mr Tut), is found dead in his office at Chaps and Rannie’s son Nate becomes a suspect, Rannie fills her spare time by investigating the murder.

Dangerous Admissions chronicles Rannie’s encounters with several murder suspects: Chaps student Olivia Werner and her troubled brother Grant, school bully Elliot Ross and his well-connected father David, English teacher Augusta Hollins, and new Chaps headmaster Jonathan Marshall. She encounters romance along the way with fellow Chaps parent Tim Butler. Traveling alongside Rannie as she unravels the mystery  of Mr Tut’s murder is a fast-paced and fun joyride, but for editors the real treat is how Rannie uses her editorial skills to successfully solve the mystery.

The novel is peppered with details that will engage any editor, freelance or full time. Rannie has a proofreader’s eye, quickly noticing misspellings on menus (“You think maybe I should tell them their menu offers ‘French fires’ and ‘dally specials’?”).  She can spot a verbal phrase dangler at 50 paces (“‘Growing up in California, New York was always my dream,’ he stated, Rannie mentally wincing. . . . New York hadn’t grown up in California, he had.”).  She has a mastery of those tricky “-ly” words, cringing at the misuse of the terms badly (“Bad. You felt bad. If you have a defective sense of touch, then you feel badly.”) and really (“A moment later Rannie stood, attempting to convince herself he wasn’t that attractive and taking note of his use of ‘real’ instead of ‘really’. . .). She even knows her who from her whom (“‘Whom shall I say is calling?’ ‘Who’ not ‘whom’ the grammar cop, never off duty, silently corrected.”). Even when she’s cornered by the killer, her mind flits to correcting his use of the word different (“‘Differently,’ her inner copy editor ludicrously insisted.”).  It’s these particulars that make the book such an enjoyable read for editors.

The only quibble I have is the few typos and usage errors that appear in the book. For example, the word psych is misspelled as pysche and psycho as pyscho. In addition, a character foregoes a cigarette rather than forgoes a cigarette. Normally, such minor errors could be easily overlooked, but in a story that hinges on the abilities of an eagle-eyed editor, these errors cause the reader to disengage. As Rannie herself says, “Hotshot editors with fat Rolodexes and expense accounts might dismiss proofreaders as punctuation-obsessed fussbudgets, gnashing their teeth over split infinitives. But reading was such a crazy process when you thought about it. At some point you stopped being aware that you were decoding squiggles printed in black ink on white paper. Suddenly you entered another world. It was all an illusion, and misspellings, inconsistencies, anachronisms, wrong dates—whatever—wrecked the illusion.”

It’s Rannie’s editorial eye and attention to detail that lead her to solve the mystery of Mr Tut’s murder. She does it all armed with only her swift mind and Col-Erase blue pencil. (And let me tell you, that blue pencil really comes in handy!) She’s a heroine all editors who’ve dreamed of adventure can get behind. So, if you’re looking for a distraction from that genetics manuscript, pick up a copy of Dangerous Admissions and let the daydreaming begin.—Laura King, MA, ELS

Non-Human Users of the Manual

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Okay, perhaps he’s not “using” the AMA Manual of Style, but he’s certainly looking very handsome near several editions of it! I’d say he was “gobbling” up style advice, but that might make you want to stab yourself in the eye with the Manual’s sharp corner. And yet I said it anyway. Happy Thanksgiving!

Connie does yoga in the office 03-02-11

This is Conrad, a wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) befriended by Melissa L. Bogen, ELS. This is the second time we’ve featured a pet with the Manual. Should it become a theme?—Brenda Gregoline, ELS

Questions From Users of the Manual

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Q: How do you create a “thin space” in Word?

A: In Word, use the shortcut to the ¼ em space character under Insert/Symbol/Special Characters. The Unicode value for the ¼ em space is 2005, and it’s in the General Punctuation section of any Unicode font. The 1/6 em space is also used as a thin space; the Unicode value for that is 2006, and it’s also in the General Punctuation section of any Unicode font.

Q: Is it necessary to include http:// in a URL? What about www.? I like to avoid long strings for URLs and if it’s OK to shorten them, that’s what I’d like to do. 

A: The http:// in the URL is only necessary in text to ensure that the reader knows that the information provided is a website. If that information is clear from the context without http://, it is not necessary. To know whether www is necessary or not, you should try the URL without it. Some URLs require the www, while others will not work if www is added. To ensure that the URL is correct, you should check it on the Internet.

Q: Can you please tell me how many journals use the AMA Manual of Style?  Does a list of these journals exist?

A: I don’t have the data you request…and I’d certainly be interested myself. I can tell you that we’ve  sold  almost 30,000 copies of the print book, in addition to site licenses and individual subscriptions to the online book. Although this doesn’t answer your question precisely, the number of copies sold might be of some help.—Cheryl Iverson, MA

Quiz Bowl: Electronic References

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From the publication of the first edition of the AMA Manual of Style in 1962 to the publication of the current 10th edition in 2007, the guidelines in the manual that have arguably evolved the most are those on references. From a world of print-only publications to today’s plethora of electronic sources, the changing landscape of what sources to cite and how to cite them has becoming increasingly complex. This month’s style quiz offers a sample of electronic references.

As an introduction to the full quiz, edit the following reference for an article published online head of print:

ZeniJ, Abujaber S, Flowers P, Pozzi F, Snyder-Mackler L. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2013 Jul 25. [Epub ahead of print] Biofeedback to Promote Movement Symmetry After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Feasibility Study. doi:10.2519/jospt.2013.4657

Highlight for the answer:

Zeni J, Abujaber S, Flowers P, Pozzi F, Snyder-Mackler L. Biofeedback to promote movement symmetry after total knee arthroplasty: a feasibility study [published online July 25, 2013]. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. doi:10.2519/jospt.2013.4657.

If an article is published online ahead of print publication, it may appear in 1 of 3 ways: (1) posted without editing; (2) edited and posted as it will appear in print, only ahead of the print publication (with or without print pagination); or (3) edited and posted as part of a specific issue of the journal. The date the article was published should be placed in brackets after the title and phrase as “published online” not “published online ahead of print” (§3.15.1, Online Journals, pp 64-67 in print).

The full quiz (available to subscribers at www.amamanualofstyle.com) provides examples of online articles, CD-ROMs, websites, software, databases, and more. Good luck!—Laura King, MA, ELS

Questions From Users of the Manual

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Q: How should columns with mixed units of measure indicate the unit of measure?

A: In a table with mixed units throughout, use a table footnote for the most common unit of measure, eg, “Unless otherwise indicated, data are expressed as number (percentage).” and specify in the stub or column head only those units that are different. In a table with mixed units in a single column, use the most common unit in the column head and only provide another unit in the table cell for those entries that have a different unit of measure.

Q: Because of the change from the 9th to the 10th edition in the way number and percentage are handled in running text (see page 832 in the 10th edition), should column headings in tables also be changed to read, for example, “No. of Girls (%)” rather than “No. (%) of Girls”?

A: No. The style “No. (%) of Girls” is still an acceptable table column head as here both “number” and “percentage” apply to “of girls,” whereas in the example on p 832, the percentage is given as more of an aside to the numerator and denominator and hence follows: “Death occurred in 6 of 200 patients (3%).”

Q: What recommendations do you have for the preferred typeface of a punctuation mark that follows copy set in something other than roman type?

A: Some specific recommendations are outlined below:

• If an entire sentence is set in a typeface other than roman (eg, italic, bold), any punctuation in that sentence would take the typeface of the rest of the sentence.

• If part of a sentence is set in a typeface other than roman, even if it’s the end of the sentence, the ending punctuation would be roman.

• For heads, sideheads, entries in a glossary, the punctuation would follow that of the preceding word (so, in Correct and Preferred Usage of Common Words and Phrases, the commas between the word pairs are boldface, like the words).

• For parentheses and brackets, unless the entire sentence is set in a typeface other than roman, the parentheses or brackets are roman (see the example with “[sic]” on p 358).—Cheryl Iverson, MA

 

Questions From Users of the Manual

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Q: If there is a column for P values in a table and if a P value “straddles” rows (eg, provides the P value for men vs women), how should this be shown?

A: There are several options, with option 1 being preferred:

1. Center the P value between the items it compares (eg, between the values for men and women) and consider the use of a side brace.

2. If only 2 items are being compared, list the P value on the line giving the overall category (eg, Sex).

3. Use footnotes to indicate the P value for items being compared (eg, use a superscript “a” next to the value for men and the value for women and indicate the P value for this comparison in a footnote labeled “a”).

Q: If some of the confidence intervals given in a table column include negative values, how do you combine the minus sign and the hyphen that would normally be used in such a range in a table?

A: With ranges that include a minus sign, use to to express the range, rather than a hyphen. Carry this style throughout the entire table, even for those values that do not include a minus sign.—Cheryl Iverson, MA

Quiz Bowl: Radiology Terms

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Do you know the difference between TE and TR? How about section and slice? And what exactly is an echo train? That’s right, this month we’re talking about radiology!

The AMA Manual of Style has a brief but informative section on radiology terms (§15.7.2). The section defines terms commonly used in radiology literature and offers instruction on how to use these terms correctly. Some of the terms addressed in the section are b value, k-space, echo time, and repetition time. The style quiz is a sample paragraph that contains commonly used radiology terms.

See if you can identify the problem(s) in the following sentences from this month’s quiz:

Twenty-four contiguous slices, each 2 mm thick, were acquired in an interleaved fashion. Radiologic slices were then examined for consistency of the hippocampal subfields from patient to patient.

Use your mouse to highlight the text box for the answer:

Twenty-four contiguous slices, each 2 mm thick, were acquired in an interleaved fashion. Radiologic sections were then examined for consistency of the hippocampal subfields from patient to patient.

The term section should be used to refer to a radiological image and slice to refer to a slice of tissue (eg, for histological examination).

That’s just a “slice” of what we have to offer in this month’s quiz. If you’re a subscriber, check out the complete quiz at www.amamanualofstyle.com.—Laura King, MA, ELS