Editorial Manual
Updates
Date
Page
Change
13 October
Abbreviations
The following entry was added:
UNSOH: United Nations Support Office in Haiti
24 September
Abbreviations
The following guidance was added:
For purposes of alphabetization, abbreviations are considered single units; hyphens or spaces are ignored
19 September
Footnotes
Guidance was added for citing communications in the special procedures database
25 July
Quotations
The following guidance was added:
For quotations within quotations within quotations and for quotations inside a block quotation, use double quotation marks.
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
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"
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
8 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 (削除) used (削除ここまで)extensively
(削除) in preparing a document or publication (削除ここまで) 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). (削除) 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. (削除ここまで)
30 May
Abbreviations
The guidelines were updated to "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
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 Council.
However, 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
2023
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
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:
1 BBC, "Iran nuclear deal 'must be preserved'", video, 3 May 2018.
2 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
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 (convert material into a digital format)" were added
8 May
Numbers, dates and time
The example using an en dash to link to numbers was updated as follows:
An en dash (–): A substantial increase in production (12–14 per cent) is expected. For more examples of the use of the en dash, see Punctuation.
8 May
Punctuation
The examples under "En dash" were updated:
pp. 17–19 (
but pp. 17 and 18)
paras. 19–21 (
but paras. 19 and 20)
para. 73 (b)–(e) (
but para. 73 (b) and (c))
16 March
Footnotes
The example for "Two consecutive page/paragraph numbers" was updated to read "pp./paras. 17
and 18"
16 March
Mastheads and cover pages
Under "Corner notation: agenda", the following was added: 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
16 March
Punctuation
The entry for Apostrophe was edited to read: An apostrophe (
’s or
s’) is not used with an abbreviation or acronym, the name of a country
or the name of a body, for example, an intergovernmental organization, a court or a government ministry.
16 March
Capitalization
"seat of government" was added as an example under Government
2 March
Capitalization
Under delegation, the following was added:
but Delegation if used as equivalent of Permanent Mission: the Delegation of the European Union
17 February
Footnotes
An example was added for citing specific subparagraphs within a paragraph
17 February
Footnotes
An example of a shortened legal reference was added under repeated references
30 January
Punctuation
Examples were added under "Colon".
5 January
Capitalization
The section on proper names transliterated from Arabic was updated to read: The same rule applies to bin,
bint and ibn; for example Osama bin Laden, Mr. Bin Hamdan,
Khawlah bint al-Azwar, Ms. Bint al-Azwar, Abu al-Walid ibn Rushd (Averroës), Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
2022
1 December
Style/Spelling
The entries "capacity development (noun)" and "capacity-development (adj.)" were added
15 November
Capitalization
The entry on "Organization" was edited to read: when used as a short title for the United Nations or for an entity name containing "Organization"; and a separate entry for organizational was added
3 November
Capitalization
Indigenous should be capitalized when referring to cultures, communities, lands, languages, etc., of Indigenous Peoples, e.g.: Indigenous culture in Ecuador, Indigenous languages are dying out. If referring to flora or fauna, lower case should be used.
12 September
Footnotes
The following guidance was added to points of style:
The name of the organization is spelled out, not abbreviated, unless the abbreviation has been defined in a previous footnote,
previously in the text or
in a list of abbreviations at the beginning of the text.
12 September
Style/Abbreviations
The general guidelines were updated as follows:
When they are used, abbreviations and acronyms should always be explained. The name or title should be written out in full the first time it occurs in the main body of a document, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used in footnotes, figures, tables and boxes. If an abbreviation or acronym first appears in a footnote, figure, table or box, it should be written out in full again the first time it is used in the main body of the document.
Alternatively, if a document contains numerous abbreviations and acronyms, a list may be included after the table of contents or at the end of the document if there is no table of contents. A list of abbreviations and acronyms applies to the main document and to any annexes or attachments to it.
25 August
Style/Spelling
The entry "rights holder (not hyphenated)" was added
13 July
Style/Spelling
The entries "sub-goal" and "intra-African" were added
24 June
Style/Spelling
The entries "credentialled" and "credentialling" were added
3 June
Footnotes
The guidance for Documents issued under a double symbol was updated to read: Both symbols, joined by a
hyphen, are included in a footnote or text note.
27 May
Style/Spelling
The entry "asylum seeker" was updated to "asylum-seeker"
26 May
Footnotes
The following guidance was added to court cases and related documents:
2. Title of court case (in italics;
retain "et al" if used, do not change to "and others")
25 May
Numbers, dates and time
The following instruction was added to the information on telephone numbers: use a plus sign (+) before the country code
22 April
Style/Spelling
The entries "tear gas" (noun) and tear-gas (adj.) were added
31 March
Style/Spelling
The entry "subject matter (noun)" was updated to "subject matter (not hyphenated)"
22 March
Style/Spelling
The following entries were added or updated (updates are in bold):
end-user (adj.)
middleman
(preferred: intermediary)
predawn
*seafloor
sub-seafloor
*year-on-year
27 January
Style/Spelling
The entry "Da’esh" was moved from Abbreviations and acronyms to the spelling list
2021
10 November
Style/Spelling
The entry "tele-health" was updated to "telehealth" in the spelling list
2 November
Style/Spelling
The entry "de-risk" was added to the spelling list
8 October
Style/Spelling
The following entry was added to the spelling list: neuro: compound forms are closed
27 September
Corrigenda and reissues
The following updates were made to the entry on Corrigenda and reissues (new language in bold):
Drafting: If a correction consists of a complete sentence phrased like an instruction (i.e. does not contain text for deletion or insertion), normal punctuation is used.
Example: The title of document A/60/496 should read as above.
(See also the examples under Corrigendum to withdraw a document or correct a symbol and Corrigendum to replace a table and those for the corner notation and the title under Corrigendum to correct original language, corner notation or title, below.)
Corrigendum to correct original language, corner notation or title:When a corrigendum is issued to correct the agenda items or any other element in the corner notation, or to correct the title or subtitle (see models 7 and 8 ), the corrigendum is prepared with the correct information, and the text is phrased like an instruction
23 September
Footnotes
The guidance on citing Internet sources has been updated to read: The prefix
may be deleted when the URL contains "www" (e.g.
www.unhcr.org ).
21 July
Style/Capitalization
Under "Organization" the following was added "but organizational even if in reference to the Organization"
14 July
Main page
The link to the "Guidelines for disability-inclusive language" was added to the main page
16 June
Footnotes
The disclaimer under Electronic sources was updated to read: "Information on uniform resource locators and links to
websites contained in the present publication are provided for the convenience of the reader and are correct at the time of issuance."
10 June
Style/Spelling
The entries "roll back (verb)" and "roll forward (noun and verb)" were added to the spelling list
10 June
Headings
The font size for chapter or main section headings was changed from 17-pt bold to 20-pt bold.
8 June 2021
Footnotes
The guidance on Articles in a newspaper was updated to read: "The name of a newspaper should be given as it appears in the masthead. The initial article is retained, in italics, when it is part of the name of a newspaper, both in footnotes and in running text (e.g.,
Al-Ahram, The New York Times, Le Monde, El País). If part of the actual title, an ampersand (&) should be retained."
8 June 2021
Footnotes
The guidance on Articles in a periodical was updated to read: "The initial article is retained, in italics, when it is part of the name of the periodical, both in footnotes and in running text."
3 June 2021
Tables
The following was added under Abbreviations: "Dates should be written out in full: 1 January 2021. If there is not enough space, the month may be abbreviated: 1 Jan. 2021. In order to avoid confusion, dates should
not be abbreviated in a numbers-only format, e.g. 1/1/2021."
1 June 2021
Style/Abbreviations
The following was included under General guidelines: "Forms of address such as "H.E." or "His Excellency" and "H.R.H" or "Her Royal Highness" should not be used in United Nations documents. The title "Dr." may be used for doctors of medicine acting in a medical capacity."
1 June 2021
Style/Capitalization
Under "Some points of style", the following change was made: "The main component of an e-compound referring to an established electronic system or tool, such as eDoc or eMeets (and their successors, gDoc and gMeets); otherwise email, e-commerce and so on; also Email
and E-commerce at the beginning of a sentence
and in titles."
1 June 2021
Footnotes
The entry under Publisher's name has been updated to read: "When the name includes an ampersand (&) as part of the actual name,
it should be retained."
25 March 2021
Maps and figures, including photographs
The guidance on figures was updated to include: "If there is only one figure in a document, it is not numbered and the word "Figure" is omitted from the heading."
23 March 2021
Style/Abbreviations
The entry OECD was updated to reflect preferred spelling (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
11 March 2021
Style/Spelling
The entry "clearing-house (adj.)" was added to the spelling list
3 March 2021
Style/Abbreviations
The entry "GPS (Global Positioning System)" was removed and "GNSS (global navigation satellite system)" was added
24 February 2021
Style/Capitalization
The following entries on geographical terms were updated:
east, eastern
in reference to a geographical direction or an area within a country or a body of water (e.g., the eastern Mediterranean)
but East, Eastern in reference to a major region or in a political context: East Africa, East-West dialogue, the East Atlantic
north, northern
in reference to a geographical direction or an area within a country or a body of water (e.g., the northern Atlantic)
but North, Northern in reference to a major region or in a political context: North America, North-South dialogue, the North Atlantic
south, southern
in reference to a geographical direction or an area within a country or a body of water
but South, Southern in reference to a major region or in a political context: South-Eastern Europe, North-South dialogue, the South Pacific, the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean)
west, western
in reference to a geographical direction or an area within a country or a body of water (e.g., the western Mediterranean)
but West, Western in reference to a major region or in a political context: West Africa, the Western Powers, the West Atlantic, the West Pacific
central in reference to an area within a country or a body of water (e.g., the central Mediterranean)
but Central in reference to a major region: Central Africa
24 February 2021
Style/Spelling
The entry "rule-making" was added to the spelling list
29 January 2021
Addenda
The text "Proposed programme budget for the biennium XXX" was updated to read "Proposed programme budget for [year]"
24 November 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry "small-satellite (adj.)" was added to the spelling list
2 November 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry "syllabuses" was added to the spelling list
28 October 2020
Style/Capitalization
The entry on "Member" was updated to read: a State not a member of the United Nations, a non-member State, a member of a United Nations organ, e.g., member or members of the Security Council, member or members of the Economic and Social Council, etc.
26 October 2020
Footnotes
The practice of using sales numbers as references for United Nations publications has been discontinued. The guidance in the Editorial Manual has been updated accordingly.
19 October 2020
Style/Capitalization
The guidance on transliteration of proper names in Arabic was updated as follows:
The definite article al is capitalized when it is the first element in a name and lower-case when it is in the middle; for example, Al-Jazeera, Al-Qaida, Mohammed al-Ansari.
The same practice applies to el, where used.
13 October 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry "comorbidity" was added to the spelling list
21 September 2020
Footnotes
The guidance on Repeated references was updated to read:
A reference is given the first time that a source or item is mentioned in the text. In resolutions, a reference is given once only, the first time that an item is mentioned, whether in the preamble or in the operative part. Once a reference has been given, it is repeated only when necessary for the sake of clarity or to change a specific element in the reference, such as a section or paragraph number.
A. Repeated footnote references
In a change from past practice, numbered footnote indicators are no longer repeated in resolutions. When a reference must be repeated, a new footnote with the identical text should be inserted.
Repeated footnote indicators may be used in explanatory footnotes.
21 September 2020
Footnotes
The last two sentences on the guidance on Excessive referencing were updated to read:
II. General instructions on footnotes and text notes
C. Excessive referencing
In resolutions, an item is referenced once only, the first time that it is mentioned, whether in the preamble or the operative part. When it is necessary to repeat a reference, a new footnote should be inserted.
17 September 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry "penholder" was added to the spelling list (with * to indicate a change from previous practice)
11 August 2020
Style/Spelling
** added to work-hour to indicate an exception to the twelfth edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary
24 June 2020
Policy questions
The entry on references to commercial firms in United Nations documentation was updated to reflect changes in practice
22 June 2020
Style/Capitalization
The entry on "Organization" was updated to read: when used as a short title, whether for the United Nations or an entity whose name includes "Organization"
22 June 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry "security sector (not hyphenated)" was added to the spelling list
22 June 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry "re-enforce" was added to the spelling list
9 June 2020
Style/Capitalization
"Prefecture" was added as an example under "Proper nouns and adjectives and recognized geographical names"
9 June 2020
Italics and bold print
The following note was added to the guidance on italics
Note: An italicized title used within an italicized title or heading should remain italicized and be enclosed in quotation marks. Other italicized terms (e.g., non-English words, species names, ship names) used within an italicized title or heading should be set in roman.
17 April 2020
Footnotes
Change in guidance on text notes and footnotes:
II. General instructions on footnotes and text notes
Footnotes, text notes or references directly in the text. In masthead documents, sales publications and reports issued as supplements to the Official Records, references to masthead documents, including summary records or verbatim records, supplements, newspaper articles, public statements, interviews, personal communications and material on a website may be given in footnotes, text notes or directly in the text, as appropriate.
III.United Nations sources
B. Reports issued as supplements to the Official Records
Elements in the reference
In documents and publications, supplements may be cited by giving the document symbol in either a text note or a footnote after the descriptive title of the report.
16 April 2020
Style/Capitalization
Examples added under Government (noun only): pro-government elements and anti-government forces
16 April 2020
Country names and currencies
The second paragraph was updated to read:
The country name is normally given after the name of a city, unless the city is the capital or the host city of a United Nations headquarters (Geneva, New York and
The Hague)
28 February 2020
Footnotes
Example added to Footnotes, chapter 4, section F
28 February 2020
Style/Punctuation
The entry on commas was updated as follows:
Commas in pairs
When a non-restrictive relative clause comes in the middle of a sentence, it is marked off by a comma at each end. It is also important to use commas in pairs in other parenthetical constructions:
Not "In article 4, paragraph 6 (a) of the Convention..."
But "In article 4, paragraph 6 (a), of the Convention..." [Note too that, in English, brackets are used in pairs "(a)", even where a single closing bracket is used in another language "a)".]
Not "The court, while preserving its independence should perform..."
But " The court, while preserving its independence, should perform..."
Not "... submit to the Committee for its information, a report on..."
But "... submit to the Committee, for its information, a report on..."
Not "At its 42nd meeting on 18 January 1996, the Committee had decided..."
But "At its 42nd meeting, on 18 January 1996, the Committee had decided..."
28 February 2020
Style/Abbreviations
The entries for Inter-American Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank were updated to reflect current usage
18 February 2020
Communications
The guidance on attachments was updated to read:
The order of attachments is as follows: annex, enclosure, attachment. The heading "Enclosure" should be used for material that is separate from but attached to an annex; the heading "Attachment" is used for material that is separate from but attached to an enclosure. The heading "Appendix" should generally be avoided.
Roman numerals are used for multiple annexes, enclosures and attachments
5 February 2020
Country names and currencies
The currency name should be written in full if it is used only once or twice in a document or if there is any possibility of ambiguity. If a currency that is not well known is used several times in a document, its name should appear in full at the first mention, followed by its symbol between parentheses
30 January 2020
Style/Spelling
The entry for "child-sensitive" was updated to reflect that the term should always be hyphenated, regardless of whether it precedes or follows a noun
17 January 2020
Style/Capitalization
The third paragraph was updated to read:
Initial capitals are not used as a mark of respect; neither does the use of lower case imply a lack of respect. Certain words are capitalized when used in a specialized or restricted sense, the purpose of the capital being to point to the specialized or restricted sense
(e.g. Aboriginal people in Australia, but the consequences of climate change on indigenous communities, black pupils are closing the gap in educational performance on their white classmates).
3 January 2020
Style/Spelling
The following entries were added:
crowdwork, crowdworker, crowdworking
11 December 2019
Style/Spelling
The entry "life-saving" was added to the spelling list
5 December 2019
Style/Spelling
The following entries were added:
lump-sum (adj.)
lump sum (noun)
20 November 2019
Style/Capitalization
The entry "United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework" was added
18 November 2019
Style/Numbers, dates and time
Under the section "Ordinals", the entry on latitude was updated to read:
Latitude and longitude: 32nd parallel, N 36°25'13, W 44°23'01"
15 November 2019
Style/Spelling
The entry "agroprocessing" was added to the spelling list
29 October 2019
Style/Spelling
The entry "behove" was added to the spelling list
25 October 2019
Style/Capitalization
The entry for "State" was updated to include "welfare state" as an exception
4 October 2019
Country names and currencies
The second paragraph was updated to read:
The country name is normally given after the name of a city, unless the city is the capital or the host city of a United Nations headquarters (e.g., Geneva and New York).
3 October 2019
Style/Spelling
The entry "antisemitism" (an exception to the twelfth edition of the
Concise Oxford English Dictionary) was added to the spelling list