Publications Office — Interinstitutional style guide — 5.5. Preliminary pages and end-matter

5.5.1. Dedication
5.5.2. Foreword, preface and introduction
5.5.3. Contents
5.5.4. Bibliographies
5.5.5. Index

5.5. Preliminary pages and end-matter

5.5.1. Dedication

The dedication is generally very short and is printed in characters smaller than those used for the rest of the work. It is placed just above the optical centre of the page. The verso remains blank.

5.5.2. Foreword, preface and introduction

There is often confusion among these three preliminary texts, including in the terminology between languages. The distinction in English is shown below.

Foreword

As with the preface the foreword may be placed before the contents page. It is written by someone other than the author, often a prominent public figure, and comprises background information on the work and/or the author. It too may be printed in a different typeface.

Preface

Because it is not part of the text, the preface is usually placed before the contents page. Written by the author personally, it concerns the work as a whole. The preface may be printed in a different typeface from that used for the main text.

Introduction

This is placed after the contents page and is considered part of the text. It is primarily a preparation for, or explanation of, the text itself.

5.5.3. Contents

The contents is a table made up of the exact titles that form the sections of the work. Opposite each title, the page number on which each section begins is indicated, sometimes linked to it by leaders (a series of dots).

In addition to a general contents, each section may also have a subsidiary contents. It is standard practice for the general contents to be placed at the beginning of a work.

The contents may be followed by a list of illustrations and a list of tables and graphs.

5.5.4. Bibliographies

Reference to a complete work

The following order should be adopted:

(i)

author’s surname and initial(s) or first name followed by a comma;

(ii)

title of the work in italic and, where appropriate, edition number;

(iii)

publisher; place of publication; year of publication; relevant pages, etc.:

Butcher, J., Copy-editing: The Cambridge handbook, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1975, p. 17.

Reference to part of a work (contribution or article) or an unpublished paper or mimeograph

The following order should be adopted:

(i)

author’s surname and initial(s) or first name followed by a comma;

(ii)

title of the contribution, article, unpublished paper or mimeograph, within quotation marks;

(iii)

title of the work in italic; where appropriate the number of the edition;

(iv)

publisher; place of publication, year of publication; relevant page(s):

Hamm, E., ‘Return of the English breakfast’, International Cuisine, Vol. X, No 1, Unwin, London, 1980, pp. 31–34.

Reference to a periodical or one of a series

The following order should be adopted:

(i)

if known, title of the article (within quotation marks);

(ii)

title of the periodical or the series (in italic);

(iii)

number, date or frequency;

(iv)

publisher, place of publication, year of publication:

‘Economic transformation in Hungary and Poland’, European Economy No 43, March 1990, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 1990, pp. 151–167.

NB:

Since 1.7.2009: ‘Publications Office of the European Union’. Make sure that the original name is kept for publications issued before that date.

General

References are cited in the text using the author’s surname and year of publication, for example (Barrett, 1991), and the bibliography is printed in alphabetical order. Where an author has two or more publications cited from the same year, they should be listed as a, b, and so on, for example (Barrett, 1991a).

For convenience, the usual abbreviations should be used: cont., p., Vol. etc. (see Annex A3). Any explanatory information such as publishing frequency, place of publication, etc., should be given in English, even if the publication is only available in another language.

Buigues, P., ‘Les enjeux sectoriels du marché intérieur’, Revue d’économie industrielle, No 45, monthly, Brussels, 1988.

5.5.5. Index

An index is a detailed list of subjects, persons, places and events, etc. mentioned in a publication, indicating their exact position in the text.

An index can be classified according to different criteria: alphabetical, by subject, chronological, numerical, etc.

Often a number of classification subsystems are used in the same index.

Special indexes (of authors, place-names, etc.) can be compiled or all the entries can be contained in a general index.

Presentation of an index

In the print production process, once the work has been made up, the author service must complete and check the index (for example, the author is reponsible for entering the relevant page number(s) against each entry).

If the index to a book is published in a separate volume its title should give the author, title, place and date of the publication concerned, as they appear on the title page.

The title of the index to a periodical or serial publication must give the complete title, volume number and period covered.

In the case of periodicals, it is recommended that cumulative indexes be produced in addition to the volume indexes. References should then give the year and volume number.

If each section of a volume is paginated separately the number or date of the section should be included in the reference.

Running titles must appear on the recto and verso of each sheet and should include the title of the work and type of index. In the case of a large index, it is advisable to print the initial letters of the first and last word, or the words in full, at the top and at the outer edge of each page.

If the index comes at the beginning of the publication, its pagination must be distinct from that of the text.

Indexes to periodicals or other serial publications must be published for each volume, and yearly if possible. In the same way, cumulative indexes must be published at regular intervals.