Focus Forward Style Guide-ALL DOCS

Compiled by Kevin Ravol.
For transcription inquiries, buying/selling of accounts, and transcription training,

please call +254 720 786 446, or email ravolvoke@gmail.com.
Compiled by Kevin Ravol. For transcription inquiries, buying/selling of accounts, and transcription training,
Clean Verbatim Instructions
CLEAN VERBATIM
In addition to the words omitted for true verbatim, please also omit all instances of the
following secondary filler words. Filler words are defined as words or phrases that do
not contribute to the meaning, such as “I went to the store, you know, and I got like a
really good deal.” These also include leading words moderators use to keep the
respondents talking. For example, “Right,” “OK,” “Fair enough,” etc.
• “so” (unless not used as a filler word)

• “well” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “got ya”
• “exactly” (unless not used a filler word)
• “great” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “fair enough”
• “oh”
• “you know”
• “like” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “wow”
• “I mean” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “thank you”
CLEAN VERBATIM GRAMMAR CORRECTION

We also ask that you please make the following grammar adjustment to clean verbatim
transcripts. The ONLY grammatical correction we ask you to make is to change
instances of “wanna,” “kinda,” “shoulda” etc. to their more proper usages “want to,”
“kind of,” “should have.” Please err on the side of correct grammar usage when dealing
with these, and similar words/phrases.
Instances of informal affirmative answers, like “Yup,” “yeah” “mm-hmm” should be

replaced with “Yes.” In the case of “mm-hmm” only enter “Yes” if the person is
responding to a question. If “mm-hmm” is being used as filler, omit it completely.
Instances of informal negative answers, like “Nope,” “nah,” “uh-uh” should be replaced
with “No.” In the case of “uh-uh,” only enter “No” if the person is responding to a
question. If “uh-uh” is being used as filler, omit it completely.
Please keep in mind this is different than the MODIFIED VERBATIM and TRUE
VERBATIM assignments. Do make sure you know the difference.
Instructions for Edited Summarized
Format Typed:
This is a hybrid transcript between Notes and Clean verbatim, allowing the reader to focus on the respondents’ speech.
1. The moderator should be summarized much like our Notes transcripts. We expect one pass to this section and limited detail as it
is not verbatim. You don't have to type the moderator's questions in detail, but it is important that you paraphrase the key parts of
the question to put the respondents’ answers in context. For example, sometimes the moderator will go into a long explanation
before he shows them a creative concept. We do not need the full explanation but a few key points so that the moderator can
remember what point in the discussion this is.
2. The respondent section should be in clean verbatim. Please capture everything with the exception of filler words. You may find
the Clean Verbatim and Notes instructions attached to your assignment.
3. Timestamps will be added automatically and will not be necessary to input.
Style:
1. Please keep the moderator bolded and the respondent unbolded.
2. Please skip a line between each speaker
Sample View of the TOPS Editor:
You can create a hotkey in TOPS.
1. Click the keyboard icon in the upper right-hand corner of the text editor
2. Adjust default or current hotkeys by clicking into the field beneath the description and pressing a key (or combination
of keys, i.e. ctrl + i)
3. Once you have the necessary changes, simply press “Save” at the bottom
4. NOTE: You cannot have to hotkeys with the same key command prompt, this will cause all hotkeys saved to no longer work
5. NOTE: When creating hotkeys, please keep in mind that the editor has other default key commands such as “ctrl + i = italics” so make
sure to structure your hotkey menu around that.
Every Speaker Format Instructions
General Notes:
• Do NOT include Transcribed by XX at the end of your transcript.
• You NO LONGER need to timestamp before every speaker. TOPS does this for you.
o Please make sure you insert a line-break (double-ENTER) after every change in speaker to ensure the timestamps get
associated correctly upon transcript export.
• You STILL NEED to identify speakers as MODERATOR: and RESPONDENT:

o You will want to set up a hotkey for these if possible (SEE FAQS).
• All text is un-bolded (do not bold the moderator).
• Do not use the [PAUSE] tag.
• If there is a presentation or video playing, do not transcribe the media, please use the [PRESENTATION PLAYS] tag when applicable.
• No extra notes like [end of file 1], etc.
• If Transcribing OUTSIDE OF TOPS – you MUST ensure you include TIMESTAMPS at the change of EVERY SPEAKER.
o See Instructions on “PASTING into TOPS” to ensure you do this correctly.
Sample of Format:
MODERATOR: A statement in the policy about towing, or the fact that your insurance will cover.
RESPONDENT: If it will or it won't.
RESPONDENT: Isn't it the same thing as roadside assistance?
RESPONDENT: Depends how they write it, though.
RESPONDENT: That's right.
Edited Summarized Sample in TOPS
Every Speaker Timestamp Format Sample in TOPS
Instructions for Excel Format:

• Please type your transcript into a Word Document and then paste the information into Excel. You are
REQUIRED to send both the Word document and the Excel file for proofing.
• Please mark in the Word document the section where you pasted the text in the Excel file. For example,
if you pasted the text under Background Info or section P1 in the Excel sheet, please mark it as such
within the Word document. This is for proofing purposes, and will help you as well as us. No particular
formatting is necessary for this.
• Please paste ALL speech into the template (mod, resp, and intros). The intro can go under the
“Introductions/Ice-Breaker” cell.
Formatting:
• Font should be Calibri, 11 point. Make sure each cell is top and left aligned. Turn Wrap Text on.
• Please make sure your text is in only ONE row on the Excel sheet. You should NOT have text in multiple
rows. There should not be any line breaks in a cell.
• If a question on the Excel sheet is not asked in the interview, put an X in that box. All cells must have
either speech or an X indicating that the topic was not covered.
• If a question is asked in the interview but is not in the Excel sheet, you may paste it in the previous cell
discussed and make the font red. Make sure that text is red in the Word document too. When you
submit your assignment, please let us know that you marked unclear areas in red.
• Please run spell check in the Word document BEFORE templating it into the Excel. The spell check in
Excel does not work as well as in Word.
• If you have any questions, please ask. If you are not sure if you’re doing this correctly, please template a
few questions and then send a partial spreadsheet for us to look over before proceeding.
Special Formats (the below instructions only apply if your unit is one of these
formats):
Edited Summarized:
• Moderator speech should be in Clean Verbatim and should only be included in the Excel if it is a
follow-up question or it provides context to a respondent’s answer.
Focus Group:
• Separate all speakers with two backslashes (//). This includes moderators and respondents. This
way, the client will know when different respondents are talking.
Notes:
• All moderator and respondent speech should be in Notes format, only capturing and
summarizing important information.
• Moderator speech should only be included if it’s a follow up question or it provides context to a
respondent’s answer.
M: and R: tags:
• Please add an M: tag in front of all moderator speech and an R: tag in front of all respondent
speech.
Line Breaks:
• To create line breaks in Excel between speakers, press CTRL+SHFT+ENTER in Word, or

ALT+ENTER in Excel.
DEMO
Specialty? Cardiology.
Adult? All adult practice.
Setting? Community, but just recently added some medical students. Urban/rural? Suburban.
KNOWLEDGE
What do you know about LAL-D? It’s a deficiency. There’s accumulation of cholesterols. It’s more of a pediatric
issue. It’s treated with enzymes. More knowledge from magazines. Ever tested? No.
Ever had suspicion? Not really, no.
PRESENTATION
[PRESENTATION] Any questions? The purpose is there’s a different in how we treat the recessive patients. Statins
may help with cholesterol, but liver will progress. If you saw ALT, would you test? Yes. Other questions? I’m sure
a rep will come in. Do I need to mark something specific on the test? The process is in its infancy. A requisition
could be given to you so you could use it even if it’s not in your system. If this could be made easier, would you
be open to have a rep come in to make it easier in the EMR? I would, but I don’t make the decisions. But you’d
make the introduction? You could do it without that, but it would give clarity for you and the other doctors.
Takeaway? I’m glad I was able to hear it. I wouldn’t have had any idea. Underdiagnosed, severe. I thought it was a
childhood or infant disease, and there are adults. There is a treatment, and it’s different than just diagnosing
hyperlipidemia.
Did you get a clear idea of who to consider testing? Yes. What is that? Elevated LDL and ALT. Instead of just being a
statin problem, they may have this.
One to five, likelihood to treat? Four. Why a four? There always will be patients who don’t want more tests or
medications. If it’s free, they don’t want the draw. I can’t give it a lower number, because I have something to
convince them. What’s compelling? We see this. I look for ALT and things because you have alcoholics. AST in
alcoholics. Maybe the statin. Do you not get alarmed with elevated liver tests? We used to be. When statins were
first introduced, we did. Statins are so standard, so don’t stop, lower the dose, and repeat it. We used to jump.
More tolerance. Does this challenge that? No, this is another avenue. Not just a statin, something else to test for?
Yes.
How much is testing predicated on an available therapy? 80%. If you didn’t know an enzyme existed, would you
be at a four? If they can be tested and they’re just given a statin, probably not. One to five? I might broach this to
the patient saying there’s a disorder. “Do you want to be tested? I’m going to give you the same medicine.” I’m sure
some patients wouldn’t want to. Two. How important is treatment? Important. Exactly. What notes did you take?
I knew about these enzymal disorders, which is why I thought they didn’t reach adulthood. Storage disorders are
pretty fatal. Go along with MI. Lots of young adults and maybe older adults. 19% over 40, that’s a lot. Liver
transplant is another treatment. The biggest things are there were nice parameters. These are tests we do on
almost all patients. What LDL? 160. Not for treatment, but for suspecting. Raised LDL and LFTs, you’d suspect.
Anything confusing? No.
Anything from a cardiovascular perspective that wasn’t relevant? The pathophysiology. For the screener, they
asked about cirrhosis. I’m not a gastroenterologist. I see those patients, but I don’t treat those conditions. It’s not
irrelevant; it’s nice to know. Liver biopsy isn’t what you’d deal with. Nice to know, though. Still informative? Yes.
Even though I don’t deal with it, it’s useful.
He asked about your willingness to allow a rep to talk to somebody in the office to set up the EMR. Is that a
reasonable request? Without a doubt. Not overstepping? No, I don’t think so. How important is ease of testing?
Even if it’s not in my EMR, I can pull out the prescription pad. Is EMR preferred? If the bloods get drawn in our lab,
yes. If there were a paper requisition? It’s not an issue.
REVEAL
These were been used. Anything confusing? I wouldn’t say confusing. We’re used to these cartoons and graphs. It
wasn’t confusing. But I would definitely keep that one. Very important message. Age distribution stood out. You
talked about LDL level. And ALT. Talking about ALT seems to make sense. It raises suspicion. It’s a simple test. Do
you routinely order or have access to liver results? Hospital, yes. Offices, we used to, but these days primary care
wants to do everything. We don’t want to step on their toes. We try to get them. But you have access to them?
Yes. These were not used. Would any of these have additive value? Yes and no that one. This one. The infant
mortality? Yes. Differential context valuable? It’s more for cardiologists. Secondary causes. Typically, we just keep
ordering for primary prevention. When we start thinking of secondary causes, we think about hypothyroidism, not
much alcohol or drugs, or familial disorders. Putting this as a cause would be worthwhile. Differential set makes
sense? Yes. You said this wasn’t—Nice to know. The cardiologist might not do anything. If it’s nice to know, should
it be for a cardiologist? Mentioning it would be nice. Is it multidisciplinary? It probably is. You have both these
conditions. Probably this one is reiterating that it’s a simple test. Any lingering questions? What you’ve presented
so far is good enough for me. Not uncertain? Not necessarily.
Impact of a free test? Very important, especially where I practice. A new test costs a lot. Even if it’s $25, if I bring it
up to the patients that they have to pay, 50% would refuse. Patient pushback on cost. Free facilitates? Yes.
WRAP-UP
It looks like the presentation was educational. Without a doubt. No clarifying questions.
As a cardiologist, where would you go to learn about this? A Web site would be fine. Google or a journal. No
specific site? UpToDate. For the amount of information I’d need, any of these would be ample. Anything more
authoritative? I like UpToDate, Medline, WebMD, Medscape. Any physicians? The Houston Medical Center has a
bunch of researchers. Specific names? Zogbhi pops out to me. I forget her first name. I wouldn’t be surprised if
she’s done research on this. She’s done research on a lot of genetic disorders.
Notes Format Instructions
• Notes are not to be typed in verbatim. Your notes should be a thorough summary that
captures the gist of what the speaker is saying. You should be capturing as much
pertinent information as possible and taking notes on all speech in your unit—this
includes any introduction or conclusion segments (unless otherwise noted).
• You are expected to type in one pass, so you can put away the foot pedal for this
assignment. This format serves as a substitute for a note taker being present at the
session taking notes live during the discussion. Keep this in mind while typing, as it will
give you a good benchmark for how much should be omitted/condensed and what
should be included.
• IMPORTANT: The level of detail in your notes should be such that someone who has
not listened to the session can easily grasp the meaning of all speech without typing
word for word.
• Please type in the First-Person (I have four children.) not in the Third-Person. (He has
four children).
Conventions
• You do not need to adhere strictly to conventions of grammar. Sentence fragments and
lists are acceptable, and in many cases, the best way to capture everything. Just be sure
your notes will make sense and create the full picture for someone coming in and
reading your notes without having listened to the audio. In other words, make sure your
notes are coherent to a third party.
• Please review any reference materials (ex. discussion guides, stimuli, or lists of terms)
before taking notes. You are responsible for identifying and correctly spelling key
terminology like product names, medical terms, and other proper nouns.
• Please keep [INAUDIBLE] tags to a minimum. There is no need to include an inaudible

notation if the undecipherable word or phrase does not contribute to the meaning of the
notes you are taking.
• Using abbreviations and acronyms is acceptable when it makes sense to do so and might
help with the flow of note taking. Please use standard abbreviations and avoid using
“texting jargon” in your Notes. Do not abbreviate drug or product names.
CORRECT – corp. for corporation, gov. for government, km for kilometers, NE for northeast,
Oct. for October, maint. for maintenance…
INCORRECT- nxt for next, plz for please, cuz for because or ‘cause, con. for conditions, ystday
for yesterday, otwse for otherwise…
Your Availability and Invoicing
• Because Notes format requires only one pass through the audio, the availability you
have set might not match the length of the audio. Please keep in mind that the amount
of time you spend taking notes should be approximately equivalent to the runtime of the
audio file – not the estimated 4 minutes of typing per 1 minutes of audio.
• If performing Live note taking via a phone line, please mute your end of the line once
the session begins. We recommend that you do not use a Vonage telephone line.
• Deadlines for notes assignments are hard deadlines. Please advise!
• Please take an extra 5 to 10 minutes to run a quick spell check and briefly proof. You can
invoice for the 5 to 10 minutes spent on this.
Sample Notes Format
Please use the sample below to get an idea of how much detail you should include in your Notes,
formatting, and conventions!
Everything’s confidential. Not going to ask for your name, will introduce myself. Name is Tina. Work
at Smith & Co. – marketing research and consulting company. Based in Philadelphia. I want to
confirm some info; in practice for 20 years, correct? Introduce yourselves – name, job responsibilities
and company. Are you in school, major, or if work at home mom. Family composition – who’s living
at home, even if roommates. Reason for that is we are talking about an e-mail solution so if one or
more computers in home, who competes for the computer and competing for the e-mail. Jeffrey?
Jeffrey; own computer company and work part time.
Kind of a computer company?
Everything from installation to architecture. Help people with installation, and with training, networking,
wired and wireless networking.
Employee?
One person.
Office or work from home?
Virtual office.
Who lives at home?
My parents.
Trisha?
Trisha; work for Bank of America.
What do you do for BOA?
Implementation consultant.
What does that mean?
I set up new business products for corp. customers like Walmart, Staples. Getting my Master’s at
Cambridge College in business. Family is my 5.5 year old daughter and my uncle.
Number of computers?
One desktop and laptop.
Jason; work at Admin International doing accounting. Four roommates; all have computers so 5
computers in house. No one competing for that. Technology OK.
Your connection?
DSL.
Brent?
Brent; teach at Cambridge Public School System. Have 4 or 5 computers with DS.
All for family?
All for me.
Living with family at home?
No.
Janet; work for a home health company and do private work.
You go into people’s homes?
Notes Format Sample in TOPS
Respondent Identification Format

Please note to ALWAYS read the Notes to Transcriber provided within an assignment,
prior to starting an assignment. These notes supersede any standard formatting
guidelines we generally follow since they are considered to be specific formatting
guidelines requested by the client. If no formatting guidelines are specified within these
notes, then you would format as follows, based on the instructions below.
Standard Respondent ID Formatting:
• This format has the same overall setup as our Standard format, except that the
ALL speakers are to be identified using specific ID tags whenever they speak.
This usually requires First name identification only unless specific project notes
to transcribers specify otherwise. Examples of different ID tag variations could
consist of, but are not limited to the following:
o First name only
▪ (Example of ID format): Angelica:
o First name last initial
▪ (Example of ID format): Angelica P:
o First name, last initial, degree
▪ (Example of ID format): Angelica P. – PhD:
• Notes to transcribers within these assignments will specify the ID format

required. If no format is specified, please use first name identification only.
• For moderator speech, please bold all speech and tag as Moderator: unless
specified otherwise within the notes to transcribers.
• Unless noted otherwise within the project’s transcriber notes, please format IDs
by capitalizing the first letter in each “word” rather than using ALL CAPS. This
goes for the Moderator tag as well.
• Speakers should identify themselves in the beginning of the group or, have a
name provided within the video (depending on how the session was captured).
Please utilize any video download and streaming links provided within your
assignment as well as reviewing all attachments provided too.
• If you are unable to identify which speaker is speaking in any particular instance,
you should still give that speaker a unique identifier that can be applied in place
of a name throughout the transcript. This should consist of the speaker’s gender,
followed by a number.
o Example:
Male 1: I can’t really do that, because I don’t have the resources.
Moderator: How about others?
Female 1: I agree. I just can’t do it.
Aubrey: I too, agree. I can’t do it.
Male 2: I don’t see it as a problem.
Moderator: And why is that?
• If you are completely unable to identify a speaker uniquely, please label their
speech as “Unknown Male - 00:00:00” or “Unknown Female - 00:00:00”. Please
try to keep these “Unknown” labels to a minimum.
o Example:
Unknown Male - 01:10:31: I can’t really do that, because I don’t have the resources.
Moderator: How about others?
Unknown Female - 01:11:02: I agree. I just can’t do it.
Aubrey: I too, agree. I can’t do it.
Unknown Male - 01:11:14: I don’t see it as a problem.
Moderator: And why is that?
Other Identification Tag Variations You May Encounter
You might encounter instances where the information provided within the Notes to
Transcriber requests IDs to be formatted differently than our traditional formatting
mentioned above.
Below, are just a few examples of different ID formatting requests you may encounter.
Some respondent ID assignments will require Gender Identification tags rather than
specific speaker IDs (if required, this will be noted in Notes to Transcriber). Below, is an
example image captured from the TOPS text editor to display how to format this
instance:
• Please note in this instance that Moderators should NOT be identified by gender,
but still need to be bolded with a Moderator tag in front of their speech.
Some respondent ID assignments will require initials to be used as identification tags (if
required, this will be noted in Notes to Transcriber). Below, is an example image captured
from TOPS text editor to display how to format this instance:
Some respondent ID assignments will require specific roles or title to be used ALONG
WITH the respondent’s name, for identification tags (if required, this will be noted in
Notes to Transcriber). Below, is an example image captured from TOPS text editor to
display how to format this instance:
▪ Note that the instance of the respondent’s degree and practice (Dr. and PhD, PA-C) have all been
included
Some respondent ID assignments will require the moderator to be identified via name
versus “Moderator” (if required, this will be noted in Notes to Transcriber). Below, is an
example image captured from TOPS text editor to display how to format this instance:
Some respondent ID assignments will require simple MODERATOR and RESPONDENT

tags. This is the only instance where both MODERATOR and RESPONDENT should be IN
ALL CAPS (if required, this will be noted in Notes to Transcriber). Below, is an example
image captured from TOPS text editor to display how to format this instance:
Please note that specific respondent ID tag formats and requirements are not limited to the
examples above. If any assignment requires a unique tag style different than our standard
respondent ID tagging format, it will be noted to you with an example of formatting provided.
STANDARD FORMAT INSTRUCTIONS
Contents
Pg 1 – Contents & Overview
Pg 2 – True Verbatim (Leaving out filler-speech like uh and um)
Pg 4 – 3 minute Timestamping (Do’s and Do not’s of timestamping)
Pg 5 & 6 – Working Outside of TOPS (For those experiencing technical issues)
Pg 7 – Common Industry Terms (For reference)
Pg 8 – Common Transcriber Mistakes (Don’t let these happen to you)
When to use Standard Format
This document outlines our standard format for transcription. If ever you’re unsure of
what format you should be using, and there are no instructions given to you in TOPS,
please use the Standard Format. In addition, any file with the attribute “STANDARD
FORMAT” will use this format. This format is different than our “FocusVision Format”
which is another format we use very often. Check the project details before you start
transcribing to confirm which format you should be using.
Identifying the Speakers
In standard format, you do not need to add the speaker’s names, speaker tags like
MODERATOR or RESPONDENT, or Speaker 1: etc. You do need to bold the moderator
speech (the person leading the conversation, asking the questions), and leave the
respondent’s speech (the person being interviewed, answering the questions) unbolded.
Everything else you’ll need to know is in the following pages! If you ever have a
question, it is always OK to reach out either via email or phone to your project manager.
We’re here to help! If you don’t succeed, we don’t succeed!
True Verbatim
You should type all spoken words at all times with the following exceptions:
Always omit all instances of the following non-verbal utterances:
• “uh”
• “ah”
• “um”
• ‘double- doubled words’
• ‘st-st-stutters’
• “OK” (unless used as an adjective)
• “mm-hmm” (unless used as an answer to a yes-or-no question)
• “right” / “all right”
• “yeah” / “yes” (unless used an answer to a yes-or-no question)
Also omit the following phrases when (and only when) they are used very
repetitively and do not contribute to the meaning of the discussion:
• “you know”
• “I mean”
• “like” (unless not used as a filler-word)
• “Great” (unless not used as a filler-word)
Correct the following
• ‘em to “them”
• ‘cause to “because”
• Endings such as thinkin’ to “thinking” and movin’ to “moving”
Oftentimes, a moderator will interrupt a respondent with the following words,

please omit these words as well, unless they contribute to the conversation.
• “Yeah”
• “Got it.”
• “mm-hmm”
• “OK”
Please see a sample of filler language and when to omit this.
o Correct
Tell me your name.
My name is James
Where do you work?
I work at a law firm downtown. I am partner and worked

there for 6 years. I also used to work at a private practice
before that.
o Incorrect
Tell me your name.
Yeah, my name is James
Got it. Where do you work?
I work at a law firm downtown.
mm-hmm
I am partner and worked there for 6 years.
mm-hmm
I also used to work at a private practice before that.
3-Minute Timestamping
Outside of TOPS
If you’re working outside of TOPS and pasting the transcript in, or using an outside
audio player such as Express Scribe, timestamps will not populate automatically. You
will need to follow the timestamping instructions in the “Working Outside of TOPS”
section on page 4.
Within TOPS
If you’re typing into our TOPS system, it will automatically add 3, 5, and 10 minute
timestamps as you type! In order for the timestamps to work properly, they need to be
on their own line, without any text.
The best way to accomplish this is to hit the enter key twice between speakers. This is
the only way the timestamps will work correctly on our end. See the below screenshots
for examples:
______________________________________________________________________________
CORRECT:
______________________________________________________________________________
INCORRECT:
Working Outside of TOPS
If you are unable to work within the TOPS system due to technical limitations or
problems, you are currently permitted to work outside the TOPS system. You will need
to download your audio using the download button to the right of the volume slider on
the TOPS page.
As soon as you start transcribing a unit outside of TOPS, type “TRANSCRIBING

OUTSIDE OF TOPS” into the TOPS editor. This notifies the project manager you are
currently working on the file. Only type this into the editor when you’ve started
transcribing a file.
Timestamping Outside of TOPS
Timestamps must be in the [hh:mm:ss] format, with leading zeros. Ex. [00:03:12]
[01:41:29] [00:00:43]
Timestamps should start at [00:00:00] unless otherwise noted in the assignment details,
and be marked (as close as possible) every 3 minutes. If your transcript does not start at
[00:00:00], you will need to correct the timestamps prior to submission.
Timestamps will be on their own line NOT IN LINE WITH TEXT!!
Timestamps should not interrupt blocks of text. For example, if [00:15:00] comes in the
middle of a long chunk of speech, please mark [00:14:51] at the beginning or [00:15:21]
at the end.
The final timestamp must be included at the end of the interview. After the last line,
skip a line and put the final time [00:01:18].The timestamp will be the last line of the
transcript.
Copying and Pasting into TOPS
If you are working outside of the TOPS system in MS Word, you are REQUIRED to
copy and paste your transcript into the TOPS editor. If you are using another text
processor to transcribe, contact your project manager in order to make arrangements.
1. Run spellcheck in the Word.

2. Convert any Hyperlinks to normal text
3. Press Ctrl+H on your keyboard
4. Click the More >>
5. Check the box to use Wildcards
6. Run the following Find and Replace to maintain both bolding and linebreaks:
Find: ^13
Replace: ^11
7. Copy all text (Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C) and paste it into TOPS (Ctrl+V).
8. Remove any symbols that were added to the bottom of the TOPS transcript in
pasting.
9. Submit the file.
Common Industry Terms
IDI – Stands for in-depth-interview. Usually involves one moderator
and one respondent.
TDI - Stands for telephone-depth-interview. Also usually involves one

moderator and one respondent, and takes place over a phone line.
Also referred to as a “Telephone IDI”.
Focus Group - A group of one or more moderators, who lead a group of two or
more respondents in a group discussion, focused on a specific topic
or idea.
IVR - Stands for “interactive voice response”. IVR assignments involve

transcribing multiple short single speaker clips into a single
document.
Dyad - An interview with one or more moderators and two respondents.
Triad - An interview with one or more moderators and three

respondents.
Ethno - An interview which takes place either at a home or place of

business. Any interview that doesn’t take place in a traditional
research setting or over the phone can be considered an ethno.
Excel Format - Excel format involves typing a transcript into a word document,
then transferring that information into an Excel template based on
question headings. The question and answer in the transcript are
copied/pasted into the Excel sheet under the corresponding
question heading in the template. It is required that you turn in
both a word doc and a completed excel template, and that this
work is done outside of the TOPS system.
Notes Format - For recorded notes format, you will take a single pass through the
audio, capturing as much important speech as you can. You will
summarize both the moderator and the respondent, but still
separate them out by line breaks and bolding.
Common Transcriber Mistakes
1. Not using proper punctuation/capitalization. “I” should always be capitalized, all
sentences require a period or question mark at the end of them (We don’t use
exclamation points ! ).
2. Using Incorrect Tags. The following are the only tags we use: [INAUDIBLE] for when
speech cannot be made out, [CROSSTALK] for when speech cannot be made out due to
multiple people speaking at once, [LAUGHTER] for when speech cannot be made out
due to laughter not for all instances of laughter! [AUDIO SKIPS] for when there is an
audio distortion, [ph] after a word to denote a word is spelled phonetically Not [sp],
[PRESENTATION PLAYS] for when a video or audio presentation is being played. You
need not transcribe presentations, and [PAUSE] which is only to be used for sections of
silence 3 minutes or more.
3. Not hitting enter twice between speakers. This is not correct. See timestamping (pg 4).
4. Transcribing Numbers For transcribing numbers, please spell out numbers zero to ten
instead of using numerics. For numbers 11 or greater, please use the numeric.
5. Not confirming assignments. This is the most important administrative aspect of the
transcriber position. If you are unable to complete an assignment, we need to know.
NEVER CONFIRM ASSIGNMENTS YOU CANNOT COMPLETE AND NEVER REJECT
ASSIGNMENTS YOU’VE CONFIRMED WITHOUT CONTACTING YOUR PROJECT
MANAGER. This is extremely important.
6. Not asking for deadline extensions. If you need more time on an assignment, or are
coming up against a deadline, email us and continue working. It is much much better
for us to receive a full transcript a little bit past the deadline than receiving a partial
transcript at the deadline and having to figure out what to do with the rest. Always
reach out to your PM if you have any issue!! Continue working if through the deadline
until you hear otherwise.
Super True Verbatim Instructions
In Super True Verbatim we capture ALL verbal utterances.
• MUST Capture:
o Uhs and Ums
o Stutters
o False Starts
o Filler language like OK and like
o Machine computer/recorded speech
• Do NOT capture:
o Sighs
o Deep Breaths
o Typing
o Groans
o Laughter, ha ha ha (we would still use a [LAUGHTER] tag)
Conventions to Keep in Mind
• Stutters are separated by dashes, not commas (do you th-think that is co-co-correct?)
• Use only 1 “h” or “m” in um or uh, regardless of how long the word is drawn out.
o Correct – Do you, uh, need more time?
o Incorrect – Do you, uhhhhhh, need more time?
• Spell “Mm-hmm” as it is here.
• Spell “Uh-huh” as it is here.
• Always use OK, never okay.
• Do not use ellipsis (…)
• If a speaker speaks incorrectly, we capture incorrectly. We do not fix their speech

(incorrect homonyms or idioms).
o Eg. Do not correct “spread and butter” to “bread and butter”
1-Minute Timestamping and 30-Second Timestamping
The formatting requirements for 1-Minute timestamping and 30-Second timestamping are the same just at
different time increments. As an example, a file with 1-Minute Timestamping would have timestamps that break up
the speaker’s speech at the exact minute points while 30-Second timestamping has timestamps that breakup the
speaker’s speech every 30-seconds exactly.
NOTE: These timestamps break up a speaker’s speech in order to go exactly on the increment as opposed to other
timestamp formats such as 3-Minute Timestamping.
Within TOPS
If you’re typing into our TOPS system, it will automatically add 1-Minute and 30-Second timestamps as you type! In
order for the timestamps to work properly, they need to be on their own line, without any text.
The best way to accomplish this is to hit the enter key twice exactly on the increment. This is the only way the
timestamps will work correctly on our end.
Note: You should NOT change the grammar of this speech in any way other than adding the line breaks. As an
example, you should NOT add a – to indicate that the speech was disrupted.
Unlike other formats, you should hit the enter key only once between speakers in order to not have extra
timestamps processed. Note: If the Between Speakers point corresponds with the timestamp increment (Ex: The
speakers change at exactly 00:13:00), then you should double enter in order to register the timestamp increment.
See the below screenshot as an example:
Outside of TOPS
Timestamps must be in the [hh:mm:ss] format, with leading zeros. Ex. [00:03:00] [01:41:30] [00:01:30]
Unlike the In-TOPS instructions, when working Outside of TOPS, these timestamps should be placed IN-
LINE with text.
Note: If the increment occurs between speakers (Ex: the speaker changes at exactly 13-minutes), please
place the required timestamp at the end of the previous line of speech.
Unless you are working on a Unit 1, your unit will not start at [00:00:00] and you will be required to
offset the timestamps to match the Overall time. This offset time will be listed the TOPS Notes. Here is
an example of this note:
ONLY APPLIES WHEN MANUALLY TIMESTAMPING: This unit is not the first unit in this transcript.
It is 20:00 into the original audio. Please start your timestamps accordingly.
Unlike the In-TOPS instructions, you should press enter twice with every change in speaker. Copying the
text into TOPS without having this extra line without text between speakers can result in issues pasting,
but having this extra line avoids these issues.
After correctly copying the unit into TOPS (Instructions provided below), your assignment should have
TOPS timestamps that read 00:00:00 (NOTE: These are NOT the manual timestamps – these timestamps
appear on the side of the editor in grey) on only the lines with text. See the below screenshots for an
example:
______________________________________________________________________________
CORRECT (highlighting added just for sample):
______________________________________________________________________________
INCORRECT:
If you are working outside of the TOPS system in MS Word, you are REQUIRED to copy and paste your transcript into the TOPS
editor. If you are using another text processor to transcribe, contact your project manager in order to make arrangements.

Find: ^13
Replace: ^11
pasting.
3-Minute, 5-Minute, and 10-Minute Timestamping
The formatting requirements for 3-Minute, 5-Minute, and 10-Minute timestamping are the same just at
different time increments. As an example, a file with 3-Minute Timestamping would be timestamps
between speakers around the 3, 6, 9, 12, etc. minute points while 10-Minute timestamping would have
timestamps between speakers at 10, 20, 30, etc. minute points.
NOTE: These are the standard rules for these timestamp increments. Please remember that TOPS Notes
on a specific assignment can supersede these instructions. If instructions on a specific unit contradict the
standard instructions, please follow the instructions on that unit.
Within TOPS
If you’re typing into our TOPS system, it will automatically add 3, 5, and 10 minute timestamps as you
type! In order for the timestamps to work properly, they need to be on their own line, without any text.
The best way to accomplish this is to hit the enter key twice between speakers. This is the only way the
timestamps will work correctly on our end. See the below screenshots for examples:
______________________________________________________________________________
CORRECT:
______________________________________________________________________________
INCORRECT:
Outside of TOPS
Timestamps must be in the [hh:mm:ss] format, with leading zeros. Ex. [00:03:12] [01:41:29] [00:00:43]
Timestamps should be marked as close as possible to every 3-Minute, 5-Minute, or 10-Minute point
(whichever increment is required by the assignment).
Timestamps will be on their own line, NOT IN LINE WITH TEXT!!
Timestamps should not interrupt blocks of text. For example, if [00:15:00] comes in the middle of a long
chunk of speech, please mark [00:14:51] at the beginning or [00:15:21] at the end, whichever is closer.
Unless you are working on a Unit 1, your unit will not start at [00:00:00] and you will be required to
offset the timestamps to match the Overall time. This offset time will be listed the TOPS Notes. Here is
an example of this note:
ONLY APPLIES WHEN MANUALLY TIMESTAMPING: This unit is not the first unit in this transcript.
It is 20:00 into the original audio. Please start your timestamps accordingly.
After correctly copying the unit into TOPS (Instructions provided below), your assignment should have
TOPS timestamps that read 00:00:00 (NOTE: These are NOT the manual timestamps – these timestamps
appear on the side of the editor in grey) on only the lines with text. See the below screenshots for an
example:
______________________________________________________________________________
CORRECT:
______________________________________________________________________________
INCORRECT:
If you are working outside of the TOPS system in MS Word, you are REQUIRED to copy and paste your
transcript into the TOPS editor. If you are using another text processor to transcribe, contact your project
manager in order to make arrangements.

Find: ^13
Replace: ^11
pasting.
True Verbatim vs. Clean Verbatim Instructions
True Verbatim
You should type all spoken words at all times with the following exceptions:
Always omit all instances of the following non-verbal utterances:
• “uh”
• “ah”
• “um”
• ‘double- doubled words’
• ‘st-st-stutters’
• “OK” (unless used as an adjective)
• “mm-hmm” (unless used as an answer to a yes-or-no question)
• “right” / “all right”
• “yeah” / “yes” (unless used an answer to a yes-or-no question)
Also omit the following phrases when (and only when) they are used very repetitively
and do not contribute to the meaning of the discussion:
• “you know”
• “I mean”
• “Great” (unless not used as a filler word)
Correct the following
• ‘em to “them”
• ‘cause to “because”
• Endings such as thinkin’ to “thinking” and movin’ to “moving”
Clean Verbatim
In addition to the words omitted for true verbatim, please also omit all instances of the
following filler words:
• “so” (unless not used as a filler word)

• “well” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “got ya”
• “exactly” (unless not used a filler word)
• “great” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “fair enough”
• “oh”
• “you know”
• “wow”
• “I mean” (unless not used as a filler word)
• “thank you”
Clean Verbatim Correct Grammar
Please make the following grammar adjustments to Clean Verbatim transcripts: “wanna”
to “want to”, “kinda” to “kind of”, “shoulda” to “should’ve”. Please err on the side of
correct grammar usage when dealing with these, and similar words/phrases.
Instances of informal affirmative answers, like “Yup,” “yeah” “mm-hmm” should be

replaced with “Yes.” In the case of “mm-hmm” only enter “Yes” if the person is
responding to a question. If “mm-hmm” is being used as filler, omit it completely.
Instances of informal negative answers, like “Nope,” “nah,” “uh-uh” should be replaced
with “No.” In the case of “uh-uh,” only enter “No” if the person is responding to a
question. If “uh-uh” is being used as filler, omit it completely.

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• “so” (unless not used as a filler word)

CLEAN VERBATIM GRAMMAR CORRECTION

Instances of informal affirmative answers, like “Yup,” “yeah” “mm-hmm” should be

3. Timestamps will be added automatically and will not be necessary to input.

Sample View of the TOPS Editor:

You can create a hotkey in TOPS.

• Do NOT include Transcribed by XX at the end of your transcript.

• You STILL NEED to identify speakers as MODERATOR: and RESPONDENT:

• All text is un-bolded (do not bold the moderator).

• Do not use the [PAUSE] tag.

• No extra notes like [end of file 1], etc.

o See Instructions on “PASTING into TOPS” to ensure you do this correctly.

RESPONDENT: If it will or it won't.

RESPONDENT: Isn't it the same thing as roadside assistance?

RESPONDENT: Depends how they write it, though.

RESPONDENT: That's right.

Every Speaker Timestamp Format Sample in TOPS

Instructions for Excel Format:

• To create line breaks in Excel between speakers, press CTRL+SHFT+ENTER in Word, or

Adult? All adult practice.

Ever had suspicion? Not really, no.

Anything confusing? No.

• Please keep [INAUDIBLE] tags to a minimum. There is no need to include an inaudible

Your Availability and Invoicing

• Deadlines for notes assignments are hard deadlines. Please advise!

Sample Notes Format

Kind of a computer company?

Office or work from home?

Who lives at home?

Trisha; work for Bank of America.

What do you do for BOA?

What does that mean?

One desktop and laptop.

All for family?

All for me.

Living with family at home?

Janet; work for a home health company and do private work.

You go into people’s homes?

Respondent Identification Format

Standard Respondent ID Formatting:

• Notes to transcribers within these assignments will specify the ID format

Moderator: How about others?

Female 1: I agree. I just can’t do it.

Aubrey: I too, agree. I can’t do it.

Male 2: I don’t see it as a problem.

Moderator: And why is that?

Moderator: How about others?

Unknown Female - 01:11:02: I agree. I just can’t do it.

Aubrey: I too, agree. I can’t do it.

Unknown Male - 01:11:14: I don’t see it as a problem.

Moderator: And why is that?

Some respondent ID assignments will require simple MODERATOR and RESPONDENT

Pg 1 – Contents & Overview

Pg 2 – True Verbatim (Leaving out filler-speech like uh and um)

Pg 4 – 3 minute Timestamping (Do’s and Do not’s of timestamping)

Pg 5 & 6 – Working Outside of TOPS (For those experiencing technical issues)

Pg 7 – Common Industry Terms (For reference)

Pg 8 – Common Transcriber Mistakes (Don’t let these happen to you)

When to use Standard Format

Identifying the Speakers

Always omit all instances of the following non-verbal utterances: