Formatting Woes

Published by

Clarissa

August 6, 2015

I loved, loved, loved the Oxford conference. But I hate, hate, hate their publication requirements.

First of all, I am only allowed to do the formatting in MS Word 2013. I used to have it but had it uninstalled because it is as hateful as everything Microsoft created since 2007.

Second of all, there are 9 pages of single spaced instructions on formatting and 2 YouTube videos that guide you through the process. There is a template, and it’s very unforgiving. And messy.

It’s not MLA, it’s not Chicago, it’s some very confusing mix of the two.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m brilliant. I also love following instructions and formatting. This whole thing is way too frustrating even for me, however. Maybe I should go buy some fish to promote my brain development because this formatting process is defeating me.

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11 responses to “Formatting Woes”

David P. Bellamy

August 6, 2015

Can you find an IT person who specializes in using weird software, maybe?

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 6, 2015
  
  I don’t like getting in touch with people. I’d just rather suffer in silence.
  
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cliff arroyo

August 6, 2015

Wait…. there’s a Word 2013 and it’s even worse than Word 2007? How in the name of all that’s decent is that even possible?

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 6, 2015
  
  Yes, it exists. And it is an abomination. I also thought Word 2007 was bad. But then I met Word 2013, and realized that the term “bad” has been redefined completely.
  
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Pen

August 6, 2015

How can they require you to do everything in a program that not everybody would have access to? You could probably get the same result in LaTeX or a processor outside of Word 2013. How would they have any way of knowing it was from Word 2013 and not some other processor?

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 6, 2015
  
  There’s apparently code hidden in the template and it doesn’t work with other versions of MS Word. It’s the first time I’m seeing something like this.
  
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  1. Pen
    
    August 6, 2015
    
    That doesn’t make any sense. Why make a template with special code that prevents using programs that many people use? It’s the first time I’ve heard of something like that. Is this the case in any other publication guidelines? Or is it just Oxford?
    
    I’d offer my services in formatting assistance, but I don’t have Word 2013. If you could submit in PDF, I could maybe offer some assistance in formatting a LaTeX document. But that’s all I could really do. $:\$
    
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    1. Clarissa
      
      August 6, 2015
      
      Thank you, you are very kind. But I’ve located a computer with MS WORD 2013 and will bravely contend with it tomorrow.
      
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Shakti

August 6, 2015

Hire a student to format it/proof it for formatting. #lifehack

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1. Clarissa
  
  August 6, 2015
  
  I feel very misunderstood. 🙂 Solutions that involve human contact are not really solutions in my world. 🙂 The goal is to avoid humans. 🙂
  
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  1. Jones
    
    August 7, 2015
    
    Perhaps this reminds you of someone …
    
    🙂
    
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