NAM Perspectives Author Toolkit

Thank you for your interest in submitting to NAM Perspectives. NAM Perspectives publishes two types of papers – Commentaries and Discussion Papers. You can download the format for Commentaries here; and the format for Discussion Papers here. 

NAM Perspectives Style Guide

NAM Perspectives generally follows the Chicago Manual of Style for all formatting. NAM Perspectives papers must be written in American English, and should be written in the third person (i.e. “the authors” rather than “we”). 

Discussion Papers (not commentaries) may begin with an abstract, but this is optional. 

Tables, figures, and boxes should supplement, rather than duplicate, information in the text. They should be self-explanatory; that is, the information they present should be clear without reference to the text. The text should refer to each table, figure, or box by name – for example, “As the data in Table 2 show, the pattern of results is mixed.” Every table, figure, and box must have a source. If the table, figure, or box is created de novo for the submitted paper, please note so. 

Use italics to emphasize certain words or phrases, not bold or underline.

Hyperlinks are not permitted in NAM Perspectives. If a URL must be included, it should be pasted into the sentence as a parenthetical. 

Footnotes are only permitted in NAM Perspectives if no other solution can be devised. Endnotes are not permitted. 

In-text citations should be formatted as in-line parentheticals that follow Chicago Style, and should always appear at the end of a sentence, even if the phrase the reference is associated with appears at the start of the sentence. Complete references will appear in a numbered list at the end of the paper. If a reference is used more than once, please reuse the original in-line parenthetical. All citations in the body of the paper must have a corresponding entry in the references list.

The references list should appear in alphabetical order. For multiple references from the same author or organization, the references should appear with the most recent first and end with the oldest references; and references by the single author should appear before references with the single author and additional co-authors. For multiple references by the same author in the same year, a letter should be appended to the year to distinguish between them. 

In general, try to avoid appendixes. Supplementary resources, such as glossaries or the history of an organization can usually be included in boxes in the body of the paper. Longer or more complex documents, such as a meeting agenda or related paper, can be included as a reference or via a URL. 

Please include one sentence biographies of every named author, including degrees (without periods). 

Reducing Bias in Language

NAM Perspectives is committed to fairly representing individuals and groups in our publications, and addressing all groups and individuals in humanizing and thoughtful ways. 

As general principles:

• We will attempt to reduce stigmatizing language with specificity and precision, and attempt in all places and times to use language preferred by a group. For example, if a paper can say that someone is “a member of the Lenape tribe” rather than “Native American” that is probably preferable. 
• We will avoid using the word “normal” as it has little basis in any measurable standards. 
• We will always attempt to use language preferred by the group being discussed rather than simply what is in our style guide, unless that language is offensive or discriminatory.
• We will not refer to a group as a plural, as this can be an offensive generalization. Instead, we will use terms for the group as a whole, such as “the Black community” or “a group of gay men.” 
• We will use person-first language as a general rule. 
• We will continue to learn what the appropriate and preferred terms are, as language and identities evolve, and will update our style guide accordingly.