All entries and essays must rely on existing scholarship, and you must include the sources of quotes and specific information. You should list your sources at the end of each entry or essay, using the Style Sheet. If you are writing a short entry, please submit up to three suggested readings. If you are writing a long essay, you should submit up to five suggested readings.
The editors prefer entries or essays that are original and not previously printed elsewhere, but on occasion may accept some reprints. If you are submitting an entry or essay which has appeared elsewhere, please state the publication information so that editors can make a decision on your entry.
You are encouraged to write in your own individual style. You should write clearly and present the subject matter in a focused way. Although entries should not be a reflection of your personal opinion, essays, of course, should reflect your opinion and make use of facts to back up your line of reasoning.
If the topic of your proposed essay is potentially controversial and there are not a lot of previous publications on the subject, you should try to be fair and respectful.
You might need to explain local terms, or words that are used in a specific field.
Entries and essays can include brief quotes from the works of others, provided that you give the source. Try to avoid long quotations and quotes from material that require permission such as song lyrics. (See What Material Requires Permission?)
Images: You are encouraged to submit suggestions for appropriate images such as maps to accompany their entries. If you have such items in your collection and wish them to be used, please inform the editors and then send the images according to the editors’ instructions.
See Cheshirepedia Style Sheet (based on the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition).
Suggested Writing Guides: Elements of Style by Wm. Strunk and E.B. White, and The Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice Walker and Todd Taylor.
REVIEW
All entries, except Rumor and Hearsay (see under Subject Matter 2), are subject to external review, fact-checking, and copy editing. Authors have the opportunity to respond to reviewers’ suggestions and to revise their entries. The editors reserve the right to revise the accepted manuscript for clarity, consistency, style, syntax, and punctuation
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