Handbook of writing

Since most of the authors, reviewers, editors, bibliographers, and other colleagues engaged in the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica have prior experience and scholarly activity in the field of encyclopedic writing, we have avoided unnecessary elaboration. For ease of access to the essential points, we share here a concise version of our handbook of writing.

Here, we briefly outline the structure of entries, introduce abbreviations and symbols, explain the method of recording dates according to the Solar Hijri, Lunar Hijri, and Gregorian calendars, summarize the rules of orthography and punctuation, and finally provide notes on the style of footnotes and bibliographies.

Structure of article
Each article consists of the lemma (entry title) and its appendices, the identifier (descriptor), the main body of the article, the author’s signature, the list of sources, and finally the footnotes.

Lemma
In encyclopedic writing, the subject heading of an article is called the “lemma” or “title,” literally meaning the “point of entry”. The lemma serves as the gateway to the article itself. It is always written in bold to distinguish it from the main body of the article. After the lemma, a comma is placed (not a period), to indicate continuation of the entry rather than its conclusion. Following the comma, the identifier or descriptor appears. The identifier is usually a nominal phrase (not a verbal sentence), and most often consists of three elements: profession (commonly for persons), place (origin, affiliation, or ethnicity), and time. A period is placed at the end of the identifier.

Example (Person): Ādhar-Bīgdelī, Iranian poet and biographer, 18^th/12^th century.
Example (Place): Traditional icehouses, public utility structures of Isfahan.

In the lemma of an entry, the most well-known element is placed first, since it is the common search term, e.g.: Sheikh Luṭfullāh, Mosque; Farhang, Newspaper.

For personal names, the family name comes first, followed by a comma, then the given name, e.g.: Sheikh Bahāʾī, Muhammad.

If the lemma is the name of a book, journal, or newspaper, it is written only in bold, never italicized, e.g.: Farhang, Newspaper.

Appendices to the Lemma
Sometimes the lemma consists of a pseudonym, epithet, or pen name, e.g.:

Ṣā‛eb, pen name of Mīrzā Ali, Persian poet of the 17^th/11^th century.
Khayyām, pen name and epithet of Ghīyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ‛Umar b. Ebrāhīm Neyshābūrī, astronomer and poet of the 12^th/6^th century.

Sometimes it represents an alternate pronunciation or a less common name, e.g.:

Dardasht (Bābel-Dasht).
Ester Khātūn (Esther Khātūn).

After the identifier ends with a period, the main body of the entry begins—without the need for a new line. In the body of the article, the historical background of the subject is presented. If the entry concerns a person, it should begin with the date and place of birth, family background, education, and early activities. If the entry concerns a concept or a place, it should begin with its origins, followed by its historical development and transformation, and conclude with its present condition. A chronological sequence (timeline) must be followed in presenting these developments. For persons and notable figures, the account should cover their personal life, professional activities, and major events of their lifetime in historical order, highlighting a few turning points. Information on the individual’s death (including date, cause, and place, if necessary) should then be provided, followed by references to their students, works, and intellectual contributions. If the article is lengthy, subheadings may be used, such as Works, Students, or Intellectual Views. Among the works, any that are particularly significant or influential should be given a dedicated paragraph.

After the conclusion of the article’s main body, the author’s name—referred to as the “signature”—is placed at the end of the entry. It should always appear left-aligned, in bold, and enclosed between two slashes, as in:
/Akbar Thubūt/

This rule of signature formatting is applied consistently in all versions of the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica, whether in Persian, Arabic, or English.

Immediately after the signature comes the Bibliography. Following the bibliography, the footnotes (i.e., in-text references) are provided. In the article itself, the position of each footnote must be marked by inserting a superscript number using the Insert Endnote function in Microsoft Word. Use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+D so that the numbering of footnotes is generated automatically rather than manually.

An asterisk (*) placed above a word in the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica indicates that this word is the subject of a separate entry, and the reader should consult that entry for further information. The author of the current article should not provide additional explanation for such terms which carry asterisk.

It must also be noted that certain subjects may appear across several different entries. In such cases, the information provided should not be repetitive or overlapping. For instance, if there are two entries, one titled Ṣāʾeb and another titled Ṣāʾeb, Mausoleum, the content of the two articles should not overlap or duplicate or contradict each other. This rule is especially important in cases such as entries on the kings of the Safavid dynasty, or entries on Zāyande-Rūd and Gāvkhūnī.

For a complete list of entries, consult the Entry/Title menu on the main page of the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica website, where all entries are arranged alphabetically.

Abbreviations

d.: For persons, when indicating the year of death in parentheses—whether killed, martyred, or deceased—the abbreviation d. is used. Example: Sa‛dī (d. 691/1292).
r.: Used in parentheses for reign, caliphate, rule, emirate, or kingship. Example: Shah ‛Abbās I (r. 996–1038/1588–1629).
p. for a single page; pp. for multiple pages. Example: p. 25; pp. 193–197.
vol.: Volume for books and for the year of magazine publication.
BCE: Before the Common Era (used only in parentheses, not in the body of the text).
l.: Line.
fol.: Folio/leaf.
ca.: Circa, approximate (used only in parentheses, not in the main text). Example: (d. ca. 1310/1892).
cf.: In the references, the abbreviation cf. is employed to indicate “compare with.” Other symbols such as arrows (→) are not used.

See also should always be written out in full, followed by a colon (:). No abbreviation is used.
ibid.: Refers to the same author or same work in repeated references.
loc. cit.: Refers to the same source (same author, same work, same volume, same page).
idem: Same author.

Dates

In the English version of the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica, dates are normally reported according to the common era whether originally correspond to Solar Hijri or Lunar Hijri calendar.

For Western scholars or Western events, Gregorian years are also provided, with Hijri equivalents given first in the Persian version of the text (e.g., 1289/1872; 9th/15th century).
Abbreviations like Ch. or CE. for Gregorian are avoided except in rare cases (e.g., very early dates such as 570 CE to prevent confusion with 570 AH).

In the English version, however, the conventions are different:

Gregorian dates come first, followed by Hijri equivalents: e.g., 1872/1289; 15th/9th century.

Abbreviations such as Sh (Solar Hijri), AH (Hijri), or CE (Gregorian) are not used.

Gregorian years are understood from context, since there is a six-century difference between the two calendars (the first Hijri year corresponds to 622 CE).
Only in the case of very early dates (e.g., 570 CE, which might be confused with 570 AH) is the suffix CE added for clarity.
Hijri dates may be written as “AH” if needed, but often the difference in centuries suffices to avoid ambiguity.
Centuries are written with ordinal numbers (e.g., 9^th/15^th century), not spelled out in words.
For decades, numeric forms are used: in the 1930s, not in the thirties.

Months:

Gregorian months are written in English (January, February, March, etc.). There is no use of French spellings (e.g., “Mars” instead of March) in the English version. For correct spelling of equivalent names in European languages, one relatively reliable source is the following website: www.forvo.com.
Hijri lunar months are given in their standard transliterated Arabic form: Muḥarram, Ṣafar, Rabī‛ al-Awwal, Rabī‛ al-Ākhehr, Jumāde al-Ūlā, Jumāde al-Ākher, Rajab, Sha‛bān, Ramaḍān, Shawwāl, Dhū al-Qa‛da, Dhū al-Ḥajja.
Solar Hijri months are given in their transliterated Persian forms: Farvardīn, Ordībehesht, Khurdād, Tīr, Murdād, Shahrīvar, Mehr, Ābān, Ādhar, Dey, Bahman, Esfand.

Ranges:

Date ranges are given with the earlier year on the left and the later year on the right, e.g. (r. 470–510/1077–1116).
For BCE dates, the larger number comes first, e.g. (560–270 BCE).

Units, Weights, and Measures

All units of weight should be converted into grams and kilograms (not ounces or pounds).
All units of length and distance should be expressed in meters and centimeters (not feet, yards, miles, or inches).
The standard unit for liquids is the liter.
The standard unit for temperature is degrees Celsius (not Kelvin or Fahrenheit).
For traditional or historical measures such as gaz, dherā‛, farsang, etc., when cited directly, their metric equivalents should be provided in square brackets [ ] immediately after the original term.

Note: The online resource “Bahesab” (www.bahesab.ir) offers a reliable unit conversion tool.

Orthography and Editorial Symbols

In the English version of the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica, spelling, word division, hyphenation, and related matters follow international academic standards of English usage, primarily MLA (the Modern Language Association) Manual of Style). Detailed implementation of these conventions is the responsibility of the editors.

For proper names, the transliteration system specifically adopted for the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica is applied (See: System of Transliteration). However, in the case of certain well-known names that already have an established English form (such as Muhammad, Ali, Ayatollah, and similar widely recognized figures), the conventional English spelling is retained in accordance with standard reference works Such Merriam-Webster’s Colligate Dictionary.

The titles of books, journals, and periodicals—whether in the body of the article, in footnotes, or in endnotes—are always written in italics.

The titles of articles, theses, and dissertations—whether in the body of the article, in footnotes, or in endnotes—are always placed within quotation marks “ ” and written in regular (roman) type.

When a name has more than one accepted spelling or slight variation in form or pronunciation, the different forms are separated by a slash (/), e.g.: Ester Khātūn / Estrā Khātūn; Murdād/Amurdād.

In the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica, poetic passages are presented first in a free English translation. Each hemistich (half-line) is separated by a single slash (/), while a double slash (//) separates one couplet from the next.

Beneath each translated hemistich, the corresponding Persian line is given in transliteration.

Example:
Bani Adam are members of one another/ Created from the same essence // If time brings pain to one member / The other members cannot remain at ease.

Transliteration:
Banī Ādam a‛zā-ye yekdīgarand / ke dar āfarīnesh ze yek guhar-and // Chu ‛uzvī be dard āvarad rūzegār / degar ‛uzvhā rā namānad qarār.

Excessive punctuation, unnecessary use of dashes, or repeated parentheses should be avoided. In the rendering of Arabic or Persian words within English text, diacritical marks should follow the Isfahanica transliteration system only; additional or redundant marks are not to be added.

In the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica, the pen names of poets are placed within quotation marks; for example: He was known by the pen name “Bāqī.”

When additional explanation is required for a term, or when the original Latin-script form of a personal name or phenomenon is provided, this information appears in a footnote. To keep footnotes distinct from endnotes, the standard Footnote function in Microsoft Word (References tab, or shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F) is used. Superscript numerals indicating footnotes and endnotes are positioned after punctuation marks, such as periods or commas, e.g., Ernst Herzfeld.

Where the content of a footnote is in Persian, the note is right-aligned; where a Latin-script equivalent is given, the note is left-aligned.

Honorific titles such as the late, Professor, Doctor, Engineer, or Ayatollah are not employed. Religious invocations such as ṣallā Allāhu ‛alayhe wa-āleh wa-sallam and ‛alayhe al-salām are written out in full and not abbreviated. In the English version, religious invocations such as “ṣallā Allāhu ‛alayhe wa-āleh wa-sallam and ‛alayhe al-salām are omitted altogether and do not appear.

Endnotes

In the endnotes, the author’s family name appears first, followed by a comma, and then the page number being cited. The year of publication is included only when more than one work by the same author has been used.

In the Persian version, Solar Hijri years are marked with the abbreviation “ش.” If the publication year is given both in Gregorian and in Hijri (lunar), the Hijri year is taken as the point of distinction. In the English version, however, such abbreviations are not employed; the Gregorian year is written first, followed by the Hijri year after a slash (e.g., 1925/1344).

The division of works into volumes, parts, or sections must always be cited precisely, and references to them should be repeated whenever they occur. In the case of manuscripts, if the division is by folio, the abbreviation fol. is used. When necessary to indicate the recto or verso side of the folio, fol. r or fol. v is specified.

Bibliography

In recording bibliographic information, the title page and its verso are taken as the standard reference. For books, the publisher’s name must also be mentioned, and if the publisher is unknown, the name of the printing house may be given instead, for example:
Hamadānī, Ebn-e Yazdānyār, Rawḍat al-Murīdīn, ed. Muhammad Sūrī and Naṣrullāh Pūrjavādī, Tehran: Farhang-e Mu‛āṣer, 1402 Sh.

For manuscripts, the required information consists of: the author’s family name (in bold), the author’s given name, the title of the manuscript (in italics), the name of the library holding the manuscript, and the manuscript number.

In interviews, if the interview is written and published in a journal, the entry is placed under the name of the interviewee. The title of the interview is then given in quotation marks, followed by the interviewer’s name, and then the full bibliographic details of the journal. If the interview is oral, the entry is also placed under the name of the interviewee in order to establish the link with the encyclopaedia entry. The interviewer’s name follows, and then the full date (day, month, and year) of the interview is recorded.

For theses and dissertations, the format is as follows: the author’s family name (in bold), the author’s given name, the title of the thesis (in quotation marks), the academic degree, the field of study, the name of the university, and the year of defense.

For internet sources, if a specific article is cited, the format is as follows: the author’s name, the title of the article (in quotation marks), the name of the website, the date of the website’s update, and the full URL leading to that article.

For internet sources referring to a specific news item, only the name of the website, the date of the website’s update, and the URL for that news item are given.

For images, if the image is taken from a published work, the complete bibliographic details of that work are listed in the sources, and the author’s name and page number are also indicated beneath the image. If the image has been taken by a photographer, then no bibliographic entry for it appears in the list of sources; only the photographer’s name and the date of the photograph are given beneath the image.

Key Notes

For the use of non-breaking half-spaces in Persian text, the required method in the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica is the keyboard combination Ctrl+Shift+2. Other methods may produce corrupted characters or unwanted joining of words.

For typing articles, the font is Times New Roman (due to limitations of the website platform), with size 12 for the main text and size 10 for the endnotes.

If an article includes images, the files are to be submitted along with the article and must include the details of the image owner. Respect for the intellectual property of photographers is regarded in the same way as for authors.

Articles are to be submitted only through the email address isfahanica@gmail.com. Messaging applications such as Telegram, WhatsApp and similar services are not used for submission. The Academic Deputy of the Encyclopaedia is the recipient of the first version of articles. For all subsequent correspondence and revisions related to the same article, the “reply” option should be used, so that all communications remain in the same email thread. A new “compose” email should not be used for follow-ups concerning an existing article. However, when submitting a new article, a new email with the appropriate subject line is created.