We have designed the Author's Toolkit to help our authors as they prepare manuscripts for publication. The tools we have included should help you work more accurately and efficiently. The more closely your manuscript "follows the rules"—style, capitalization, formatting, and so on—the easier it will be for our editors to turn it into a published book and the sooner you will see the final product.

The toolkit is divided into seven main sections:

• Formatting & Style

• Sending Us Your Disk

• Online Resources

• Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms

• Bible Software

• Downloads

• Microsoft Word: Tips & Tricks

The Formatting & Style section provides information about the standard reference works we follow, e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style, the major style guides we recommend, e.g., The Elements of Style, as well as information about capitalization, how to cite Scripture, how to reference publications in footnotes and bibliographies, and more.

In the Formatting & Style section, the following pages are especially important:

• General Format —  You should own and use the first two books listed here!

• Capitalization Word List — Please follow these examples carefully!

• Scripture Quotations and References — Please use these abbreviations consistently!

• Notes and Bibliographies

• Style and Composition — If you have not read Strunk and White recently, now is the time to do so!

• Guidelines for Computer Use — Please follow these rules, and keep it simple!

The Sending Us Your Disk section covers explains how to send us your manuscript on disk and what to include.

The Online Resources section provides links to online versions of:

• Books on Style, e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style, The SBL Handbook of Style, The Elements of Style.</span>

• Books on English usage, e.g., The King's English, The American Heritage® Book of English Usage.

• Dictionary, e.g., Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary.

• Thesaurus, e.g., Visual Thesaurus.

• Books of Quotations, e.g., Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Simpson's Contemporary Quotations.

The Creeds, Confessions, Catechisms section provides the full texts of all major creeds, confessions, and catechisms. We have provided these texts to make it easy for you to cite them by copying and pasting, thus avoiding the possibility of introducing errors by typing.

The Bible Software section provides basic information about Bible software libraries and texts. We realize that not all authors understand or use Bible software. Our main purpose in providing this information is to point you to software that contains translations of most of the English versions of the Bible. Even if you do not use Bible software in your research, please invest in a program that includes copies of the English version or versions that you will cite from in your manuscript and then copy and paste your citations from those versions. Even the best authors invariably introduce all sorts of errors—spelling, punctuation, omitted words, repeated words, wrong translation cited, failure to maintain small caps—when typing or, worse, typing from memory. You can save yourself and us hours of checking these citations by copying and pasting.

The Downloads section includes TrueType Greek and Hebrew fonts, PDF files of the UBS4 Greek New Testament and BHS Hebrew Old Testament, custom English and Greek dictionaries for Microsoft Word, and PDF versions of the creeds, confessions, and catechisms. If you will be using proper Greek and Hebrew in your manuscript, please download, install, and use these Greek and Hebrew fonts. Also, if you will be citing from the UBS4 or BHS texts, please use these PDF files, and copy and paste your citations to eliminate mistakes introduced by typing Greek and Hebrew.

The Microsoft Word: Tips & Tricks section includes illustrated explanations about using Word's powerful, built-in spelling, grammar, and style tools. These tools can help improve your writing and communication skills. The custom dictionaries we have created can help with certain types of spell checking.

P&R Publishing's Author's Toolkit is a work in progress. If you find mistakes, have questions, or would like to recommend items or information you think we should include in future versions, please Contact Us.

Go To Top