John Jay College of Criminal Justice

City Univesity of New York

The Art of
Investigation

Style Manual

Michelle Crain, UA Little Rock, Graduate Student

Updated Dec 2021
To: Chelsea Binns, PhD / CUNY

Bruce Sackman, Special Agent Ret.

Personal Friend, Co-author for textbook chapter

Cc: Dr. Cindy Nahrwold

From: Michelle Crain, UA Little Rock Grad Student

Subject: The Art of Investigation textbook style manual

Date: November , 2021

The following memo is in reference to The Art of Investigation textbook style manual,

which we have previously discussed.

Introduction

This style manual reflects the decisions made for the textbook The Art of Investigation, 2nd

edition, based on some of the inconsistencies from the 1st edition textbook published in 2020 by

CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. The textbooks are written by experienced investigators who

have extensive experience both in the field and in the classroom. The primary goal of this

i
textbook, and future editions, is to provide an understanding of the investigative process by

reviewing real-world case scenarios, written by those investigators who worked on the particular

cases.

Procedure

This style manual was developed so that both the contributing authors and the editors can move

throughout the editing process with ease. The style manual includes a checklist for both the

contributing authors and the editors, as well as a style guide in the Appendix sections at the end

of the manual. As we discussed, the most clear way to complete the manual for the contributing

authors would be to create a checklist. Within the “Checklist for Author Contribution” section, I

have included formatting guidelines and the content questions. The “Checklist for Editors”

includes sections for content clarity, content responses, and formatting guidelines. Originally, we

discussed including verbiage and spelling decisions in the checklist for the contributing authors.

The last draft we revised together contained some of the specific decisions in the checklist.

However, because I have also included a style guide in Appendix A, it made more sense to

include all of the specific spelling decisions in the style guide.

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Document Design

The style manual was created with two different pieces of software. The content of the style

manual was created in Google Docs for the purpose and ease of sharing the progress with my

professor and classmates for feedback. The front matter was created in Canva and downloaded

into a PDF document. Because these were created on different platforms, I have printed each

document and scanned them in as a single PDF file. The header on both the cover piece and the

style manual documents are the top of the front matter for consistency within the document. I

chose to only include the header on the first page of the style manual because I did not want to

clutter the style manual throughout the document with all the other information already provided.

Style Manual Reference

The style manual decisions were made in reference to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition

and the Taylor & Frances Contributing Author Guidelines. Taylor & Frances is the parent

company to the publisher CRC Press, which is used to publish The Art of Investigation. Taylor &

Frances specifically states in their “Contributing Author Guidelines” for contributors and editors

to use the most up-to-date version of the Chicago Manual of Style for spelling and technical

iii
choices: the most recent version is the 17th edition, published in 2017.

Intended Usage

The intended usage of this style manual is to distribute the “Checklist for Author Contribution”

among the contributing authors so that they may do their own editing and formatting of their

piece before submitting to the editors. This will make it easier for the editors to effectively edit

the contribution before compiling and sending the manuscript for publication. Each new edition

to the textbook The Art of Investigation will contain roughly 15 chapters. Each chapter will have

at least one contributing author with their own experiences and ideas. The textbook currently has

two editors with 15 authors. It will best benefit the editors to have minimal formatting edits to

allow more concentration on content, grammatical, spelling, and punctuation changes that may

need to be made. Once these suggestions have been made, the editors will send the content back

to the contributing authors for corrections. Once these have been made and resubmitted to the

editors, they will then continue the copy-editing process.

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Future Usage

At the end of this style manual, you will find three Appendices. Appendix A is the completed

style sheet with the specific decisions made with the current editors of The Art of Investigation

(2021). Appendix B contains two blank style sheets: the first has categories for additional, future

decisions, the second for additional spelling decisions. Appendix C contains one completely

blank table for any new decisions that cannot be included in the style sheet in Appendix B.

Delivery Method

The agreed-upon delivery method for the documents will be as follows: an email containing the

final PDF version of the style manual and a hard-copy will be sent by mail in the same document

order as the pdf file, including a flashdrive. Each individual file and consolidated document will

be placed on a flash drive, which will contain four documents. All documents will be delivered

to the editors by email, hard-copy by mail, and digital form by mail.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER LETTER ......................................................................................................................................... I

CONTENT ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
Purpose................................................................................................................................................... 1
Contact Information ............................................................................................................................... 1
CONTRIBUTORS ........................................................................................................................................ 3
CHECKLIST FOR AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS ................................................................................................. 3
Full Work ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Contribution Title ................................................................................................................................... 3
Author Information ................................................................................................................................. 3
Headings and subheadings ..................................................................................................................... 3
Contributing Content .............................................................................................................................. 4
Body Text ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Quotes and Block Quotes ....................................................................................................................... 5
Reference Style ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Notes Format .......................................................................................................................................... 6
EDITORS ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
CHECKLIST FOR EDITORS ............................................................................................................................ 7
Comprehension/Light Line Editing......................................................................................................... 7
Submitted Images.................................................................................................................................... 7
Images for text ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Headers .................................................................................................................................................. 8
Contributing Content .............................................................................................................................. 9
Reference Style ......................................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................................................12
APPENDIX A ...............................................................................................................................................12
APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................................................19
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Content
Purpose

The purpose of this manual is to provide a consistent style guide for The Art of Investigation
textbooks.

Contact Information
College Information:

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York University, New York City, New York
Website: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/
Address: 524 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 237-8000

Publisher Information:

CRC Press
Website: https://www.routledge.com/

Editor Information:

Chelsea Binns, PhD/CUNY

Email: cbinns@jjay.cuny.edu
Phone: (212) 393-6221
Room number and address: Haaren Hall, 430

Bruce Sackman, Special Agent Ret.

Address: 329 South Oyster Bay Rd #161 Plainview, New York 11803, United States
Phone: (718) 490-7288
Email: bruce@behindthemurdercurtain.com
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Checklist for Author Contribution

Each contributing author should complete this check list of their work before submitting their
piece to the editors. Please check off the list below and return it to the editors with your
contribution.

Contributing Content

Tell us about your background, education, experience and

career path.
How would you define [the subject quality]?

How important is [the subject quality], in an investigator?

Did you have [this quality] inherently, or were you able to develop it
over time? If you were able to develop it, how did you do that?
What is an example (or several examples) of how you have used [the
subject quality] successfully? CASE STUDIES
What is an example of how you and or your colleagues failed to
implement [the subject quality], and what were the consequences?
What advice would you give to an investigator on how they can
develop [the subject quality]?
Contribution Title

Times New Roman type font.

No bold.
Left-Align.
No line spacing above/below.
No ending punctuation.
Author: CMS 13.16-24

Correct author name spelling—contact author—included.

Underneath the title.
12 point font.
Left-align.
Full Work

Times New Roman, 12 point font—not bold.

1 inch margins.
Submitted content should be double-spaced.
Line Space→ Custom→ zero before/after.
Remove items in header and footer.
Use rulers to format paragraph indentation and blocked text. Remove CMS 2.11-2.12
all tabs. (everywhere: paragraphs, block quotes, notes, etc.).
Delete extra returns at the end of the document; last return should be
next to the period (remove space if there too).
Order: Title, Author, Epigraph (if applicable), Text, Notes, Footnotes.
One empty line after the end of the story if it has footnotes or notes.

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Headings and Subheadings

Times New Roman, 12 point font, left-align, no extra spacing above

and below.
Heading 1: Bold.
Heading 2: Italic.
Heading 3: Regular type.
Body Text

One space between sentences.

Single end punctuation mark (period, exclamation point) at end of a
sentence.
Ellipses are manually entered with three periods with spaces between
them and surrounding the ellipses.
Ex: ( . . . ).
Use smart quotation marks, also referred to as “curly” quotation marks. CMS 6.115, 6.117
Ex: “make sure the quotation marks are directional, facing together,
enclosing the content you want in quotes.”
Check for opening AND closing quotation marks. CMS 6.9
Verify there is both an opening AND closing parenthesis.
Ex: (The closing one likes to run off.
Verify that exclamation points are used sparingly and correctly . CMS 6.71
EM dash — CMS 6.75-6.94
Verify correct usage and punctuation of;
no spaces surrounding it;
used to express a breath.
Ex: The influence of the most potent image in modern
democracy—the revolutionary idea.
EN dash – CMS 6.75-6.94
Verify correct usage and punctuation of;
no spaces surrounding it
used between a range of numbers.
Ex: (1–3).
Hyphen - CMS 6.75-6.94
Verify correct usage and punctuation of;
Used to connect words, usually adjectives.
Ex: well-known.
List numbers: use for ordered lists for chronological and hierarchical CMS 9.7
order.
Period after list numbers.
Ex: (1. 2. 3. ).
All other list items: use bullets.
Colon: two spaces after colon.
Include short lists in the surrounding text after a complete sentence. CMS 6.128
Be sure to use the Oxford comma here to separate the “and” in a series
of information in the list.
Place longer lists vertically and in columns. CMS 6.128
Numbers in text: spell out, stay consistent. CMS 9.2, 9.7
Spell out numbers that start a paragraph and sentence. CMS 9.5

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Internal dialogue does not use quotes. CMS 13.43

Quotes and Block Quotes
A comma to introduce a quotation is generally used, however, if it is CMS 13.15
introduced mid-sentence as a part of the sentence, no comma is needed.

Ex: One of the protestors scrawled “Long live opera!” in huge red
letters.
Colon or comma introduces a quote. CMS 13.16
Initial capital or lowercase for run-in quotations (not block quotes): CMS 13.19

When introduced mid-sentence, words need to be lowercase even if the

original is capitalized when the quotation is obvious. If the quote is
more remote, the first word should be capitalized.
Block quotes = 4 line/40 words/editor discretion.
No quotation marks around blocked quotes.
Block quotes —1 inch (use the ruler).
Quote within a quote uses single quotes
The author wrote “I was surprised to see that Bob said ‘Yeah haw
Thunder’ in his book because I said that first.”
Correct punctuation placement: CMS 6.114

In text
The author wrote “I was surprised to see that Bob said ‘Yeah haw
Thunder’ in his book because I said that first” (234).

If block quote
The author wrote “I was surprised to see that Bob said ‘Yeah haw
Thunder’ in his book because I said that first.” (234)
Reference Style—Notes
In the reference (Note) section, for more than six authors list first 3 T&F
authors then et al. For the in-text citations list first author followed by
et al.
For in-text citations, please use superscript numbers or name-date T&F
format.
Name-date formatted references are in alphabetical order. T&F
Consistency of format is paramount; CMS reference style is the T&F
preferred format.
Book T&F

Reference:
Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue
Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York:
William Morrow, 2005.
Note:
1. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A
Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. (New
York: William Morrow, 2005), 20-21.

In text:
(Levitt and Dubner 2005)

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Book Chapter T&F

Reference:
Phibbs, Brendan. “Herrlisheim: Diary of a Battle.” In The Other Side
of Time, 117-63. Boston: Little, Brown, 1987.

Note:
1. Brendan Phibbs, “Herrlisheim: Diary of a Battle.: in The Other
Side of Time (Boston: Little, Brown, 1987), 117-63.
Journal Article T&F

Reference:
Terborgh, John. “Preservation of Natural Diversity.” BioScience 24 no.
1 (1974): 715-22.
Notes: CMS 2.24
Format hanging indent with ruler. CMS 2.11
Check punctuation in Notes and URLs. CMS 6.8
Avoid using contractions in research/academic (I’m or I am/can’t or
cannot).
Remove links from the body, should be in the Notes section only.
In-text citations cross-referenced with the Notes, with CMS. See
“Reference Style” section above.

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Checklist for Editors

Comprehension/Light line editing Notes

Do you understand?

All needed words are in sentences?

Correct spelling errors

Consistent pronoun reference

Correct order of words

Contributing Content Notes/Comments for Contributing Authors

Tell us about your

background, education,
experience and career path.

How would you define [the subject

quality]?

How important is [the subject

quality], in an investigator?

Did you have [this quality] inherently,

or were you able to develop it over
time? If you were able to develop it,
how did you do that?
What is an example (or several
examples) of how you have used [the
subject quality] successfully? CASE
STUDIES
What is an example of how you and
or your colleagues failed to
implement [the subject quality], and
what were the consequences?

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What advice would you give to an

investigator on how they can develop
[the subject quality]?

Submitted Images (Figures, pictures, line art, graphs, etc.) Notes

Images must be a separate file, high
resolution file—NOT in a word
document. The higher the resolution
the better image we get.
JPEG preferred
Figures must be introduced before
appearing
Check numbering in manuscript

Check numbering of the actual tables

Check if copyright permission is
needed, provide all copyright
information
Have crediting language from
copyright holder
Reference Style—Notes Comments for Contributing Authors

In the reference (Note) section, for

more than six authors list first 3
authors then et al. For the in-text
citations list first author followed by
et al.
For in-text citations, please use
superscript numbers or name-date
format.
Name-date formatted references are in
alphabetical order.
Consistency of format is paramount;
CMS reference style is the preferred
format.
Book

Reference:
Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J.
Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue
Economist Explores the Hidden Side
of Everything. New York: William
Morrow, 2005.

Note:
2. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J.
Dubner. Freakonomics: A
Rogue Economist Explores the
Hidden Side of Everything.
(New York: William Morrow,
2005), 20-21.

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In text:
(Levitt and Dubner 2005)

Book Chapter

Reference:
Phibbs, Brendan. “Herrlisheim:
Diary of a Battle.” In The Other Side
of Time, 117-63. Boston: Little,
Brown, 1987.

Note:
2. Brendan Phibbs, “Herrlisheim:
Diary of a Battle.: in The Other
Side of Time (Boston: Little,
Brown, 1987), 117-63.
Journal Article

Reference:
Terborgh, John. “Preservation of
Natural Diversity.” BioScience 24 no.
1 (1974): 715-22.

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Images for Final Text (Figures, pictures, line art, graphs, etc.) Notes
Publishing Logo:
White type on black background

Black type on white background

Book Cover:
White type on black background

Headers Notes

Header 1:
Section headers

Header 2:
Contributor names under H1 section
headers.

Note: Image from Kindle version,

print version will have black
(automatic) type.

Header 3: Define subject quality

Subtopics within the chapter Importance of subject quality
Case Study
Header 4: Any specific subtopics within Case Study
Supporting subtopics within H3 Case Study 1
Case Study 2

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Appendix A—Style Sheet

Style manual? Abbreviations Bibliography Capitalization

The Chicago Manual of Style, Spell out terms for first use, put
17th ed. abbreviations in parentheses.
Dictionary? Be consistent with CMS, ex. Department
of Investigation (DOI).
Merriam-Webster No apostrophe after abbreviations for
American English plural abbreviations, use lowercase “s”.
Abbreviate states using two letters,
capitalize both letters, ex. AR.
Abbreviate titles such as prefixes.
Title as “Notes” at the end of each
chapter.
Use numbered footnotes which correlate
to the end of your contribution in the
“Notes” section.
Be consistent.
Abbreviations should be
capitalized, use lowercase
“s” for plural forms.
Capitalize seasons, ex.
Fall, Spring, Summer,
Winter.
Capitalize cardinal
directions when used for
regions of the world.
Drive slow in Northeast
AR, the roads are windy.

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Currency
Do not indicate the type of
currency when using American
dollars, ex. I have $1500 (NOT I
have 1500 USD).
Only indicate the type of
currency when it is not American
dollars, ex. The plate cost CAN
2000—about $1500.
Use $ when talking about the
American dollar, not USD.
Dates
No apostrophe after decades, ex. 1980s.
MM/DD/YYYY form.
Spell out units of time, ex.
minute/minutes, year/years, ect.
Spell out centuries, ex. twentieth century,
not 20th ce. (use all lowercase letters
unless starting a sentence.)
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Design Images
Submit completed chapters to When discussing an image,
participating editors in Word or Latex. use JPEG unless it is at the
end of the saved image.
8 ½ inches X 11 inches (or A4). Ex: submit your image as a
JPEG
1 inch margins all-around. Ex: image.jpg
Submitted content should be
double-spaced.
Must submit a hard and digital copy to
the editor.
Page numbers should be in header, left
facing page, number should be top left,
right facing page, number should be top
right.
Dec 6, 2021
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Lists Measurements Numbers Punctuation

Use square bullet points.
End each sentence or phrase with
a period.
Use SI (International System of Units) for
all measurements.
Spell out units of measure.
Spell out numbers less than 10, unless the
number is part of a statistic or a unit of
measurement.
Roman numerals should be lowercase and
contain no ending punctuation when it is
used as a page number.
Be consistent with Oxford
comma usage.
Forward slashes should not
contain spaces between the
content.
Ex: and/or NOT and / or

Roman numeral page numbers should be Include two spaces after

at the bottom right of the page for the use of a colon (:).
right-facing pages, and bottom left for
left-facing pages.

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Typography URLs Misc.

Whole piece: Cite URLs as consistent with CMS. Abbreviate time without
12 point font punctuation and lowercase,
Times New Romans Include links/URLs in Notes section only; ex. am/pm.
Double-spaced do not have links in body text.
Flush left
Single tab intent
1inch margins all around

Cover of book:
Arial bold, editors and title
Arial, supporting details

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A/B C/D E/F G/H

Adaptability Cancel (or canceled) Empathy

Confidence Energy
Creativity
Curiosity
Discretion
Double-spaced (your document should
be double-spaced)/double space(please
double space your document)

I/J/K L/M N/O P/Q

Ingenuity mid-sentence Patience (being patient)/Patients

Initiative (medical) be clear with spelling.
Integrity Professionalism

R/S T/U V/W X/Y/Z

Run-in Tenacity Victim/Victimology

Self-control Travel (or traveled)
Skepticism

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Appendix B—Blank Style Sheet

The blank style sheet below is provided for any additional notes to be added for future manual changes.
Style manual? Abbreviations Bibliography Capitalization

Dictionary?

Dates Design Lists Punctuation

Numbers Typography URLs Misc.

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The blank style sheet below is provided for any additional notes to be added for future manual changes.
A/B C/D E/F G/H

I/J/K L/M N/O P/Q

R/S T/U V/W X/Y/Z

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Appendix C—Blank Sheet for additional usage

The blank style sheet below is provided for any additional notes to be added for future manual changes.

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