Q&A for How to Write a Glossary

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Is putting a glossary after each chapter acceptable?

Community Answer

No, unless you are writing a textbook and wish to include a list of "key terms," and even then you should still have one complete glossary at the end of your book.

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Question

Should I include references (where I got the term explanations from) in my glossary?

Community Answer

I believe as long as you cite the definition in-text (at the time of its use) and add the page number to the term in the glossary you should be fine.

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Question

If a term occurs multiple times in a document, should I distinguish it in the different font I use every time or just the first time?

Community Answer

Distinguish the term only the first time. It would be unnecessary to let one word stand out multiple times and it may remove the distinction altogether, depending on how often your glossary terms occur in your text.

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Question

How can I compose a book glossary from italicized words in the text if vernacular names are italicized and need a glossary to explain them?

Community Answer

You may be able to accomplish this by defining some of your glossary terms in the text rather than putting them in your glossary.

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Question

Should I bold the unfamiliar words in the text every time the words appear or should I just bold it the first time I see it in the text?

Community Answer

Only bold your glossary terms the first time it occurs in the text. It would be unnecessary to bold the term multiple times, and it may remove the distinctive effect from your text if various words are bold.

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Question

Would the phrase, "Bro Science" come before or after the entry for the word, "Broken" in a glossary?

Community Answer

Yes, "Bro Science" would come before. Sorting based on the first word in a multi-word term yields the following: sort by first letter and within that group, subsequently by second, third and fourth letter, and so on. Since there is no fourth letter in "Bro", it comes before any word starting with "bro" and containing subsequent letters.

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Question

Are words that are italicised within the text also italicised within the glossary?

CageyCat

Top Answerer

No, you do not need to italicize the words. Set up your glossary like a standard dictionary of definitions.

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Question

Is there a method to type the glossary in alphabetical order on computer?

CageyCat

Top Answerer

You should collect the words, then you can use an online tool to alphabetize. Copy and paste that list into Word or other text editor of your choice. Then, type in the definitions/explanations.

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Question

Should I put the page that each word is found on?

CageyCat

Top Answerer

Page numbers are not necessary. Readers can refer to the glossary if a word is unclear. The word in the text can be italicized to indicate it is in the glossary.

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