Metapedia:Style guide

The Metapedia Style guide is a collection of guidelines for those writing and editing articles for Metapedia. By following these guidelines we are creating a more coherent, readable and credible encyclopedia. "Metapedia sets its focus on topics which are often not covered in or fall outside of mainstream encyclopedias; subjects and topics which are politically distorted and unfactually presented elsewhere." This alternative policy, stated here, makes it clear that we have and need articles that are outside of those in legacy media and affiliated mouthpieces. Initiating articles using the same wording from Wikipedia or similar publications are unnecessary and counterproductive.

Language

• Try to write in a well-founded and objective tone, although without diluting the factual content; we do not adhere to woke "politically correct" guidelines.
• Truth-draining bias should be avoided, also unsubstantiated exaggerations and an unnecessary ironic undertone do not belong in Metapedia.
• Take a look at thousands of Metapedia articles to get a feeling for what the texts should look like stylistically and before initiating own articles. Start with small editions and profit from the responses of your experienced peers.
• We follow current grammar rules.
• Please do not use abbreviations. Unlike many printed encyclopedias, Metapedia does not have any problems with lack of space, and the text is easier to read when it contains complete words instead of abbreviations.
• Do not use oral language or first person form. Encyclopedic texts ought to contain a higher stylistic level.
• Do not use more complicated language than what is necessary.
• Make use of subjects! It isn't encyclopedic to write without subjects, as "Was chief of xx". Instead, write "He/she/name was chief of xx".

Structure

• The first sentence in the article should generally start with the article name in bold typeface (it is however permitted to let the article name be the second or third word if it improves the construction of the sentence).
• The first sentences should preferably consist of a short definition of the subject.
• The plain text in the article ought to describe the topic as detailed as possible. If the text becomes long, it can be advantageous to split it in several subheadings. Illustrations are also a precious component of longer articles.
• Subheadings should be written with no following colon.
• External links are generally placed immediately before the References/Sources section, under a separate headline named "External links". The links should be in a bullet list.
• References/Sources are always wished for. In order to not "hide" other material they ought to be put under a heading at the end of the article.
• Biographical articles have a special structure. Check on formerly inserted biographical articles to see how they're built up.
• Star of David, Swastika, Hammer and Sickle and other symbols placed by the names of persons are no longer used. Race, religion and political views--especially when relevant--should be part of the content and categories.

Italics

The following types of words should generally be italicized:

• Titles of films, books, works of art, magazines and newspapers
• Expressions in foreign languages
• When a word or a concept in itself is being discussed, for example "the concept of patriarchy was not used within the feminist movement until the twentieth century".

Categories

• All articles should be placed in a suitable categories.
  • If you don't find a suitable specific category, it is better to place the article in a more general category than not categorizing it at all.

18 simple grammar rules

• 1. Use active voice. Active sentences have this formula: S (subject) + V (verb) + O (object): Thomas walks a dog. In this sentence, Thomas is the subject, walks is the verb (what Thomas does), and his dog is the object (the receiver of Thomas’s action).
• 2. Link ideas with a conjunction. You can combine two S+V+O sentences with these coordinating conjunctions: but, or, so, and, yet, for, nor. For instance: Anna likes coffee, but her brother prefers tea.
• 3. Use a comma to connect two ideas. When writing, don’t forget to add a comma before the coordinating conjunction: He’s seventy, yet he still swims regularly.
• 4. Use, if you like, a serial or Oxford comma in a list. The serial comma is the last in the list, so make sure not to forget it when writing. It comes before and: Hardy has a dog, a cat, and a goldfish. But note: The sentence is correct with or without the comma before and. There are a few exceptions that require you to use the Oxford comma in a list, but they are pretty rare. Just be consistent. Don’t switch back and forth in the same document between using the Oxford comma and not using it.
• 5. When writing, use a semicolon to join two ideas (in this case, you don’t need coordinating conjunction). Let’s look at an example: Mary's dog is hyperactive; it won't stop barking or sit still.
• 6. Use the Simple Present Tense for habitual actions. These are activities you do regularly (always, often, sometimes, usually, etc.): Lily dances every day. [Don’t forget to add (e)s for the third person singular.]
• 7. Use the Present Continuous Tense for current actions: Tania is talking with her friend now.
• 8. When talking about past actions, don’t forget that there are regular and irregular verbs. Add (e)d to regular verbs: Marcus watched a movie last night. When it comes to irregular verbs, there is a list you need to memorize. Here is an example: I met my wife in 2014.
• 9. Use the Present Perfect Tense with words or expressions of unfinished time: I have drunk three cups of coffee this morning (it is still morning).
• 10. Use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense when the action has not finished as well: I have been drinking coffee all day. (It is still the same day, and I haven’t stopped drinking coffee.)
• 11. When talking about two actions in the past, use the Past Perfect Tense for the older action. For example: The train left at 9 am. We arrived at 9:15 am. When we arrived, the train had left.
• 12. Should there be a space before a percent sign? The brochure of the International System of Units declares in chapter 5: "a space separates the number and the symbol %". The ISO 31-0 standard also specifies a space, and the TeX typesetting system encourages using one. This is in accordance with the general rule of adding a non-breaking space between a numerical value and its corresponding unit of measurement.
• 13. The numerical value always precedes the unit, and a space is always used to separate the unit from the number. […] The only exceptions to this rule are for the unit symbols for degree, minute, and second for plane angle, °, ′, and ″, respectively, for which no space is left between the numerical value and the unit symbol. Please note: 5 cm or 5-cm not 5cm; 45 kg or 45-kg not 45kg; but: 32°C not 32° C or 32 °C.
• 14. If the time phrase comes before an independent clause or sentence, use a comma after the time phrase. If the time phrase comes after an independent clause or sentence, no comma is necessary. Correct: Last week, my wife and I went to the movies; Incorrect: Last week my wife and I went to the movies.
• 15. In British English, the first letter after a colon is capitalized only if it's a proper noun or an acronym; in American English, the first word after a colon is often capitalized if it begins a complete sentence (as done in the German language).
• 16. Capitalize races, nationalities, languages: Germanic, Germans, German, African American, Catholic, Lutherist, Jewish, French, British, US-American, and so on. (Most writers and scholars do not capitalize whites, blacks; Source)
• 17. Prefixes should not be considered as a separate unit. Ignore variations in spacing, punctuation or capitalization. Common prefixes and particles are d’, D’, Da, de, De, Del, Dela, Des, Di, Du, Fitz, la, La, le, Le, M’, Mac, Mc, O’, St., van, Van, Van de, Van der, von, Von, Von der. Alphabetize the prefix St. as though it were spelled out – Saint. Either St. or St (British); the British rule: If the abbreviation includes both the first and last letter of the abbreviated word, as in mister, saint and doctor, a full stop is not used (Oxford A–Z of Grammar and Punctuation by John Seely). If an institution is named after a saint, spell out the word Saint unless you have some reason to save space — Saint Francis Hospital, Saint Joseph College, Saint Joseph's University and so on.
• 18. Space between name initials? The periods in the initials stand for truncations, so you would put a space after each one. Names such as W. B. Yeats, J. C. L. Prillwitz, F. Scott Fitzgerald or J. K. Rowling need at least hair spaces (U+200A) , thin spaces. Some acronyms (Ph.D., e.g., i.e.) do not require spaces. The abbreviation "i.e." is from the Latin id est, meaning "that is." Loosely, "i.e." is used to mean "therefore" or "in other words." On the other hand, the phrase "et al."—from the Latin et alii, which literally means "and others"—must always be typed with a space between the two words and with a period after the "l" (since the "al." is an abbreviation). A comma does not follow the abbreviation unless the sentence’s grammar requires it.

See also

• Metapedia:Content guidelines