Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Editorial Manual 

Updates

 

Date Page Change
26 June Numbers

Under Ordinals, percentiles were added as written in figures.

  • Percentiles: 25th percentile
26 June Corrigenda

Under Drafting, the following guidance was added: 
Paragraph numbers, not page or section numbers, are used to indicate the place of a correction unless the original document, or the section to be corrected, has no paragraph numbers; if the correction is to a footnote, only the footnote number needs to be cited

The footnote example was renumbered from 10 to 7

14 May Style/Spelling The entry "guardrail" was added as an exception
6 May Style/Spelling

The entries: sociobiology, sociocultural, **sociodemographic, ***socioeconomic, *sociomedical and sociopolitical
were replaced with:
socio: compound forms are closed

6 May Footnotes The guidelines under III. United Nations sources, A. Masthead documents, Documents issued under a double symbol, was updated as follows (new text in bold):
There are exceptions to this practice. In the annual report of the Security Council to the General Assembly and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, for example, only the Security Council symbol of the source document (the "S/" part of the double symbol) is cited. In the previous example, only "S/2000/809" would be cited. Conversely, in the annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the upcoming sessions of the General Assembly, only the General Assembly symbol of the source document (the "A/" part of the double symbol) is cited. Thus, in the previous example, only "A/55/305" would be cited.
25 April  Mastheads and cover pages The entry under Corner notation> Agenda was updated as follows:

In the case of the General Assembly, the reference is to an item of the preliminary list, or an item of the provisional agenda, or an item of the agenda as adopted at the start of the session. A footnote reference is provided for the preliminary list and the provisional agenda; there is no footnote for the annotated preliminary list or the adopted agenda, including any addenda 

11 April Abbreviations The following entries were added:

RSCE: Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, Uganda
UNLB: United Nations Logistics Base at Brindisi, Italy 

12 March Instructions for the preparation of official documents The following was added under "Revised texts":

For revised versions of reports, rules of procedure and provisional agendas, among others, ¡°revised¡± is not added to the title; the use of ¡°Rev.¡± in the symbol is sufficient to indicate that the document has been revised. The word ¡°revised¡± should, however, be included in the title of a revised draft resolution.

28 February Style/Spelling The entry "noncommunicable" was added as an exception
28 February Capitalization The entries "Contracting Party" and "Party" have been updated to reflect a change in practice in the capitalization of "Contracting Parties" and "States Parties" 
11 February Style/Spelling The entry "sub-option" was added
24 January Style/Spelling The entry "eldercare" was added to the spelling list
2024    
13 December Abbreviations The following entry was added:
JIU: Joint Inspection Unit
4 November Abbreviations The following entry was added:
UNTMIS: United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia
10 October Policy questions Added the link to the Secretariat policy on the preparation of official documents
23 September Style/Spelling The entries for "health-care (adj.)" and "health care (noun)" have been superseded by healthcare (adj. and noun)
23 September Style/Spelling The entry "citywide" was added to the spelling list
11 September Abbreviations The following entry was added:
AUSSOM: African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia 
9 September  Style/Spelling The entry for "ill" has been updated as follows:
ill: compound adjectives are hyphenated only when preceding a noun
    (e.g. an ill-designed project; the project is ill designed) except:
ill-founded, ill-treated
9 September Style/Spelling The following entries were added to the spelling list: single window (noun) and single-window (adjective)
26 June Capitalization The following guidance (in bold) was added:
All words in the titles of books, periodicals, publications and court cases (excluding "et al" and "others")  except articles, conjunctions and preposition
26 June Footnotes

A new example was added under IV. Outside sources, E. Legal references

European Court of Human Rights, Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and others v. Moldova, Application No. 45701/99, Judgment, 13 December 2001.

 

24 June Footnotes The guidelines under II. General instructions on footnotes and text notes, C. Excessive referencing, were updated as follows (new text in bold):
C.   Excessive referencing
Authors are reminded that they should cite only sources that are strictly relevant and necessary. Commonly known or easily verifiable facts do not require a source note, nor should embedded hyperlinks be used. Excessive referencing undermines not only the overall readability of documents but also multilingualism, as many references do not exist in the six official languages of the United Nations, and reduces the accessibility of documents to persons with disabilities.
Footnotes should account for no more than 10 per cent of the total word count of the document as submitted. 

[...]
General references to sources. There is no need to reference each individual contribution to a document or publication. To acknowledge sources consulted used extensively in preparing a document or publication and substantiate the information reported while avoiding multiple footnotes or text notes, a general reference can be given in a single footnote or at an appropriate place in the text. 

Examples:

Footnotes:

1 The analysis in this section is based on the evidence presented in the report of the Secretary-General on ¡­ (A/xx/__).
1 Unless otherwise indicated, the findings in the present report are sourced from ____
1  The present report is based on an analysis of the information contained in the responses received. The responses are on file with the Secretariat.

In text:
The present report is based on contributions from __Member States and __United Nations entities. The contributions are on file with the Secretariat.

The information contained in the present report is based on available data from the United Nations system, compiled from humanitarian agencies, partners and other relevant sources.

Combined footnotes or text notes. The number of footnotes or text notes can sometimes be reduced by combining them, provided that no ambiguity results.

Examples:

Footnotes:
____________
1 The draft resolution (S/2012/77), sponsored by Bahrain, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, received 13 votes in favour (Azerbaijan, Colombia, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Portugal, South Africa, Togo, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America) and 2 against (China and Russian Federation). It was sponsored by Bahrain, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America.

30 May Abbreviations The guidelines were updated to "/dgacm/en/node/4395/addenda/indirect-speech/policy-questions/numbers-dates-time/spelling/footnotes/chap-05/Maps/pbis/Tables/abbreviations" throughout (instead of "abbreviations and acronyms").
30 May Capitalization The following entry was added:
amendment
         first amendment to the Anti-Prostitution Law
        but Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
20 May Capitalization Under "Head", "heads of entity" was added as an example of when not to use capitalization 
20 May Style/Italics and bold print The following guidance was removed under "Italics are used for the following":
The titles of laws and decrees in a foreign language
20 May Style/Spelling

The following entries were added to the spelling list:
amid (not "amidst")
counterspace

20 May Style/Numbers The following guidance was added under "Roman numerals": 
Where there are more than 20 annexes, appendices, enclosures or attachments, they should normally be numbered with arabic numerals
19 April Style/Spelling

The entry "schooldays" was added (the period in someone's life when they attended school) and the entry "schoolday"  was changed to "*school day"(a day on which classes are held in a primary or secondary school)

17 April Style/Italics and bold print "United Nations" was deleted before publications: 

  • The titles of books, publications, CD-ROMs, periodicals, newspapers, films, plays, radio and television programmes, podcast series and works of art
17 April Style/Spelling The entries "consensus-building" and "constitution-making" were added to the spelling list
28 March Abbreviations The entry for the World Tourism Organization was updated to UN Tourism
19 March Capitalization The following capitalization guidance was added:
Proper names for software, including components thereof, operating systems and devices.
19 March Maps and figures The following guidance was added:
In masthead documents, which are printed in black and white, maps and figures should be submitted in greyscale (see DGACM guide to document submission, section II, para. 3 (e)).
19 March  Style/Spelling The entry "chapeau" was added to the spelling list
19 March  Mastheads and cover pages The guidance on corner notations was updated:
Not all of these elements apply to all documents (see models below). There is no need to include the place of the session in documents of the principal organs (General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council), nor of the Human Rights CouncilHowever, the place of the session should be included in documents of the subsidiary bodies of those organs. 
11 March Capitalization

Court cases were added to titles that are capitalized: 
All words in the titles of books, periodicals, publications and court cases except articles, conjunctions and prepositions

26 February Style/Numbers, dates and time The following guidance was added under "Ranges of dates":
The use of ¡°through¡± as a temporal preposition, in the sense of ¡°up to and including¡±, should be avoided. Ranges of dates are assumed to be inclusive, unless otherwise indicated.
26 February Style/Spelling The spelling list has been updated and no longer includes "formulae" as a plural for formula 
26 February Style/Italics and bold print The guidance on the use of italics has been updated as follows:
The names of ships and other vessels, e.g. HMS Frolic, the British ship Frolic; SS United States, the United States; MV Helena; the submarine Le Redoutable
24 January Style/Spelling The entry "re-enfranchise" was added
2023
15 December Style/Spelling The entry "polycrisis" was added
21 November Punctuation

The following guidance was added:

The use of the slash (/) is discouraged since its meaning is unclear. Usually it can be replaced by ¡°and¡± or ¡°or¡±. The term ¡°and/or¡± should not be used as a replacement.

10 November Indirect or reported speech

The following note was added under Verb tenses, present to past tense:

However, in summary records, the verb is always changed from the present to the past:

The speaker noted that, under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone had the right to life, liberty and security of person.

9 November Abbreviations The following entries were added under abbreviations for weights and measures:
MJ megajoules
EJ exajoules
GW gigawatts
9 November Footnotes

The following guidance has been added under Points of style, General instructions on footnotes and text notes:

Use of "e.g." and "i.e."
The phrases "for example" and "that is" (or "namely") are not abbreviated to  "e.g." or "i.e." in sentences, including in the running text of footnotes. The abbreviations may be used, without a comma after them, if they are enclosed within parentheses.

30 October  Style/Spelling

Following the adoption of the online Oxford Dictionary as the authority for spelling in United Nations documents, the following entries have been updated:

Baath party to Baath Party
charge-back to chargeback
law-making to lawmaking
mid-season to midseason
mid-size to midsize
pre-modern to premodern
pre-screen to prescreen
pre-register to preregister
roll-back (v) to rollback
white-list to whitelist

14 September Style/Spelling The entry M¨¡ori was added
24 August Style/Spelling The entry "strived" (not "strove" or "striven") was added 
15 August Footnotes The following example was added to Legal references:
Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Herrera Ulloa v. Costa Rica, Judgment, 2 July 2004, paras. 166 and 167.
15 August Style/Abbreviations The following entry was added to the acronyms and abbreviations list:

CSTO: Collective Security Treaty Organization

31 July Style/Abbreviations The following entry was added to the acronyms and abbreviations list:

UNICRI: United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute 

21 July Numbers, date and time

The following example was added under Ordinals: 

The candidate was ranked eighty-third out of 189 applicants.

11 July Capitalization The guidance for proper names transliterated from Arabic was updated as follows:

  • The definite article al is capitalized when it is the first element in a name (including after Mr. or Ms. or other title) and lower-case when it is in the middle; for example Al-Jazeera, Al-Qaida, Mohammed al-Ansari, Mr. Al-Ansari. The same practice applies to el, where used. 
11 July Style/Spelling The entry "truth-seeking (noun and adj.)" was added
26 May Footnotes The guidance for Outside sources, Multimedia sources was updated as follows:

References to audiovisual material and other multimedia content include the following elements: 
          1.  Author or organization responsible for the material 
          2. Title (in quotation marks) 
          3. Series title (if relevant)
          4.  Format 
          5.  Date posted or last updated, if indicated 
          6.  Location of citation (in hh:mm:ss format; optional) 
          7.  "Available at" URL (should be omitted if the reference is easily located through a web search) 
          8.  Date accessed (in parentheses), if no date is indicated on the material (optional) 

Examples: 
BBC, "Iran nuclear deal 'must be preserved'", video, 3 May 2018. 
United Nations, "Keeping the peace", UNcomplicated, podcast, 13 February 2020. 

26 May  Style/Italics

The entry on italics was updated to read:
The titles of books, United Nations publications, CD-ROMs, periodicals, newspapers, films, plays, radio and television programmes, podcast series and works of art

26 May Style/Spelling The entry "convener" was added
18 May Style/Spelling The entry "peacekeeping-intelligence (noun and adj.)" was added
15 May Footnotes An example was updated under Court cases and related documents
15 May Style/Spelling The entries "carve out (verb)" and "carveout (noun)" were added
8 May Style/Spelling

The entries "digitalize (adapt a system or process)" and "digitize (