6. Punctuation

2.1.26.1 PleaseWe follow traditional American punctuation conventions. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, with colons and semicolons outside quotation marks. Exclamation and question marks only go inside if they are part of the quotation.

Like this: “Tomorrow morning,” he fumbled, “we will seek out the Camembert.”
Not like: “Tomorrow morning”, he fumbled, “we will seek out the Camembert”.

2.1.36.2 Please always useUse double quote marks for citations, and single quote marks for citations within citations.

Like this: “After long hours of research, they discovered that ‘the cheese’ was in fact an elaborate scheme to bring down the company.”
Not like:  ‘After long hours of research, they discovered that “the cheese” was in fact an elaborate scheme to bring down the company.’

2.1.46.3 Please alwaysAlways use the Oxford comma.

Like this: “He served a smorgasbord with Birdwood Blue Heaven, Duddleswell, and Cotswold.”
Not like: “He served a smorgasbord with Birdwood Blue Heaven, Duddleswell and Cotswold.”

2.1.5 We are no longer in the age of the typewriter (even though we do not discriminate against it as a writing tool). There is no excuse for using a double space after a period unless you just like torturing copy-editors.