This brief has been written to ensure the overall coherence of the book. It is meant to guide your thinking and will apply to all articles. If you feel it is necessary to amend the organizational style of your article, please discuss this with the editors to ensure that the changes will be acceptable.

1. STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK. Entries in the first two volumes will be arranged alphabetically. The third volume will include approximately 200-300 primary documents organized chronologically, a 50-page chronology, a bibliography, a contributor’s list, and a detailed index.
2. LENGTH/WORD COUNT. Articles will be assigned by length. These are:

   A-length article: 5000-6000 words
   B-length article: 4000-4500 words
   C-length article: 2500-3000 words
   D-length article: 1500-2000 words
   E-length article: 1200-1500 words
   F-length article: 800-1000 words
   

   Each article should conform to the ranges specified above. When you are assigned your article/s, you will be told its length category (and the fee amount). If you absolutely need to depart from the assigned length, please discuss this with the editors ahead of time. You will not be paid extra for writing a longer entry unless this has been pre-approved by the editors and MTM Publishing.
3. READERSHIP. The book is designed for upper-level high school and college students as well as for the general public. You should write for this audience, explaining all specialized terminology. Avoid technical vocabulary and jargon as much as possible.
   
   Do not assume knowledge of individuals. Identify them with some sort of descriptive phrase (e.g., “eighteenth-century soldier” or “American scientist”).
4. INTERPRETATION. Your article should present your interpretation of the topic or issue; however, because the encyclopedia is a reference work, it has an obligation to present all significant interpretations on controversial and unresolved questions. Avoid polemic and partisanship.
5. GENDER NEUTRAL LANGUAGE. The book seeks to use nonsexist language, although writers should not torture a sentence to achieve it. Please follow these general rules:
   
   1. Avoid sex-specific terminology, such as mankind, and the use of “man” or “men” as the generic for human being.
   2. Avoid male pronouns to describe people in general. Also, please avoid the awkward “s/he” construction whenever possible.
6. DATES. Your entry should include references to important dates (and date spans), such as for wars, events, books, films, etc. Please double-check all dates to ensure accuracy.
   
   Note: Since this is a historical encyclopedia, please include the life span of any historical figures mentioned in your article. These should be included in parentheses as follows: Abraham Lincoln (1809-65). (See additional notes in “Style Sheet” under “Dates.”)
7. UNDESIRABLE EXPRESSIONS. Avoid expressions that date an article in relation to the time of writing, such as “recent developments,” “ten years ago,” “A new dam is being built,” “By age 28 she had composed three symphonies.” Also avoid first-person writing (e.g., we, our, etc.).
8. VISUAL IMAGES. The encyclopedia will include approximately 115 visual images (photos, illustrations, maps, and charts) to accompany articles, plus approximately 25-30 images in the primary document volume. Feel free to make suggestions, including relevant photos, posters, maps, graphs, cartoons, etc. If you do have a suggestion, please submit a photocopy of the image or data and the copyright page (if from a book), and include complete information on its source (make sure to also submit a photocopy of the photo or illustration credit page if applicable). A brief caption that could be included with it would be welcome. MTM Publishing will be responsible for securing permission to use any suggested visual images or statistical data.
9. QUOTING PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED MATERIAL/PERMISSIONS. The use of quotations from copyrighted works, such as from novels or scholarly works, should be kept to a minimum so as to minimize the need to secure written permissions and to ensure the originality of the articles. If your article requires a quotation of more than a few words, please contact your editor to determine your need to secure written permission for use. See additional notes in “Style Sheet” under “Citations".