# Style guide specifics Here I will list style rules from "The Economist Style Guide" about which I often hesitate. Ideally I would not need this note after some time, but it might be of interest to you. - **Abbreviations**: *ie* and *eg* do not need italics, but *ie* should be followed by a comma. - **Contractions** are not forbidden, but should be used sparingly. - **Countries** are singular, even if their names look plural. *The Philippines has a congressional system, as does the United States; the Netherlands does not.* The *United Nations* is also singular. - **Gerunds** should never be preceded by a personal pronoun: *Please forgive my coming late*, and not *Please forgive me coming late*. - **Oxford comma**: use it only when necessary to avoid ambiguity: *eggs, bacon, potatoes and cheese* but *The musicals were by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, and Lerner and Loewe*. - **Quotation marks**: contrary to most British publications, *The Economist* uses double quotation marks, reserving single quotation marks for quotes within quotes. - **Subjunctive**: *He demanded that the Russians withdraw* is correct, but British English favours *He demanded that the Russians should withdraw*. Alternatively, the sentence could be rephrased: *He asked the Russians to withdraw*. - **Titles** of books, films, plays, etc. should be roman, with capital letters for each main word, in quotation marks. For instance: "Titanic", "Romeo and Juliet", "The Lord of the Rings", "Final Fantasy X". Magazines, newspapers and blogs should be in italics: *The Economist*, *Le Monde diplomatique*, *Wait But Why*.