Manuscript Preparation
Q.I’m editing a series of reports that use abbreviated forms of the sometimes lengthy titles in the footer. Are there any recommended guidelines for abbreviating titles for this purpose (e.g., use of acronyms, elimination of less important prepositional phrases), or is this at the discretion of the author or editor?
A.CMOS doesn’t offer advice on this subject, so I would advise you to keep the reader in mind and phrase running feet or heads in a way that will be most helpful. In some books, this means using a chapter subtitle instead of the title (especially when the actual title is so vague it doesn’t tell you what’s in the chapter, leaving the specifics to the subtitle). Acronyms are fine, as is the elimination of less important words. And yes, the editor should specify rather than leave the chopping to the typesetter.
