References:

Please follow the Chicago Manual of Style and use footnotes, rather than endnotes or in-text citations.

Abbreviations:

If utilising abbreviations, the full name of the institution, organisation or country must be stated the first time, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, e.g. National Library of Australia (NLA). The abbreviation may be used subsequently.

Contractions:

Contractions such as ‘don’t’ and ‘it’s’ – should not be used within the submission unless as part of a quotation from a primary or secondary source.

Numbers: 

Numbers under 100 should be spelled out, e.g. ‘one’, ‘five’, ‘sixty-eight’. Numbers above 100 can be given as figures, e.g. ‘103’, but round numbers should be spelled out, e.g. ‘ten thousand people attended the demonstration’.

Dates: 

Spell out centuries, e.g. ‘seventeenth century’ instead of ’17th century’.
Dates should follow the day month year model – e.g. 31 December 2000 – not December 31, 2000. Sentences should not start with the date unless this is part of a quotation.
Always spell out months in full, e.g. December not Dec.
No apostrophe is used in ‘1940s’, ‘1780s’ etc.
Year spans should appear as 1830-50, not 1830-1850.

Quotations:

Quotations should use single quotation marks, e.g. ‘quote’ rather than “quote”. In the instance of a quote within a quote, utilise double quotation marks, e.g. ‘The author quoted the observer as saying, “I have been misquoted”.’
Generally, quotations three lines long or less should remain within the body of the main text, with single quotation marks. Quotations longer than four lines should be separated from the main text as an indented paragraph and without quotation marks.
Quotations must replicate the quoted text exactly. In the instance of obvious errors in spelling, grammar or word use, utilise the term [sic] following the error. e.g. ‘The man said he didn’t reconise [sic] the subject.’

General:

Carefully check the use of apostrophes within the text to ensure you have indicated the correct possession. e.g ‘The history student’s journal’ (singular possessive, i.e. a journal belonging to an individual history student) OR ‘The history students’ journal’ (plural possessive, i.e. a journal belonging to many history students) OR ‘The history students enjoyed the journal’ (plural, but no apostrophe). ‘It’s’ is short for it is, e.g. ‘it’s sunny outside’, while ‘its’ indicates possession, e.g. its eyes are blue.