A-manual-for-writers-of-research-papers-theses-and-dissertations

A.3 Submission RequirementsA.3.1 Preparing Your FilesFollowing some basic practices for good electronic file management and preparation will helpyou avoid problems and produce a legible, properly formatted paper in any situation. Thesepractices are especially important if you need to submit the paper electronically (see A.3.3).FILE MANAGEMENT. Try to minimize the risk that data in your files will be lost or corruptedat some point.Prepare your paper as a single electronic file, regardless of its length. Working with asingle file allows you to search and make changes globally, to use your word processor'sautomated numbering functions accurately (for footnotes and the like), and to define andapply styles consistently (see below). Papers submitted electronically must almost alwaysbe in a single file.Name the file simply and logically. If you save different versions of the file over time,name them consistently (always ending in the date, for example) to avoid confusion ofversions.Avoid working on the file in more than one type of software. Conversions alwaysinvolve some risk of errors and lost data, even when moving between standard wordprocessors.Save the file often during each writing session.Back up the file in more than one location after each writing session. In addition to yourlocal hard drive, save it to a local network (if available) or a removable storage medium,such as a CD.Print out the file before your submission date. Look it over for any software glitches,such as special characters that are not supported by your printer, while there is time tocorrect them. Label the printout “Draft” and keep it at least until you submit the finalversion. In an emergency (such as a computer malfunction or a serious illness), you canuse it to show that you did indeed produce a draft.TEXT COMPONENTS. Present all components of your text clearly and consistently.Format each text component consistently, including regular text, block quotations,footnotes, and each type of title and subhead. The most efficient way to ensure consistencyis to define and apply a style for each component (including typeface, capitalization,position, and so forth) using a common software function.Set your word processor to left justify (with a “ragged” right margin), and do not use itsautomated hyphenation feature (see 20.4.1).www.itpub.net