Points of Style
7.2. Minor points of style
7.2.1. Titles
If you choose to abbreviate titles of periodicals and standard works of reference, do so without internal stops: RES, TLS, SQ, etc., not R.E.S., T.L.S., S.Q., Use standard abbreviations found in the PMLA Bibliography, for example, and list in the Abbreviations.
7.2.2. Text of Shakespeare quoted
Indicate the text of Shakespeare (for those plays not yet published in the Internet Shakespeare Editions) and the translation of the Bible you use.
7.2.3. Names of authors
In referring to authors, editors, etc., use the full name, without any honorific on the first occurrence, and the surname only thereafter, thus: "Muriel Bradbrook" (first occurrence; not Prof.); "Bradbrook" (thereafter). This rule need not apply to formal acknowledgments in the preliminary matter, etc.
7.2.4. Full stops
MLA recommends that periods not be used with abbreviations composed of capitals; a period will normally follow an abbreviation that ends with a lower case letter: OED, MS (manuscript), references like SP and SD ("speech prefix" and "stage direction"), and plays like 2H4 (Henry IV, Part 2; compare Ham.). You may choose to omit the period after common abbreviations like Mr, Ms, St (Saint).
7.2.5. Possessive plurals
Use --'s for the possessive in names ending in --s, thus: Davis's (not Davis'). Descartes's. (In the play-text, meter may sometimes call for modification of this rule.)
7.2.6. Plurals of numbers and abbreviations
Do not use an apostrophe for the plurals of numbers or abbreviations: the 1590s, PhDs.
7.2.7. Brackets within brackets
The use of in-text citation referring to your Bibliography should reduce the need for complex levels of brackets. When, however, it is necessary, you should follow the MLA style, using square brackets within round brackets.
7.2.8. Capitalization
In citing titles of articles and books, use initial capitals for the main words. A list of the kinds of words to be capitalized will be found in the MLA Handbook, 2.6.1. Capitalize such words as Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation, Protestant, Catholic (unless it is a matter of catholic taste), and the Church (as an institution).
7.2.9. Ellipsis
Use three dots (spaced from the previous and following words and spaced between the dots) to indicate an omission in text or quotations (a fourth dot is used for a full stop before or after the omitted material.)
7.2.10. Quotation marks
Use double quotation marks. Use single quotation marks only within material already set off by single quotation marks. Follow the MLA style with final punctuation: comma and period always come before the closing quotation mark unless followed by a parenthetical citation; semicolon, colon, question mark and exclamation mark come within the final quotation mark if they form part of the quoted material, outside if they do not.
7.2.11. Commas in a series
Use a comma before the final "and" in a series: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
7.2.12. Pronouns referring to god
As in the heading, the ISE style is to use lower case for references to god, and to use lower case for pronouns referring to him or her.