ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Religion Newswriters’ Religion Stylebook is a product of a tremendous amount of expertise. Religion is far from an exact science, and many individual terms are hotly debated. We consulted multiple sources on most stylebook entries in an effort to determine the most appropriate spellings, definitions, pronunciations and usage for journalists who write about religion in the mainstream media.

Because of the difficulty of translating Arabic, Sanskrit, Pali and other languages into English, multiple spellings and pronunciations are often used within a faith tradition. This is particularly true in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. In such cases, we consulted experts as well as texts and style guides, but journalists should be aware that they may encounter a range of spellings and pronunciations in their reporting.

Below is a list of some of the many publications we consulted. We did not list the countless religious organizations whose Web sites we consulted, as they are too numerous to list here. For questions about individual entries, please write to comments@religionstylebook.org.

• The A to Z of Buddhism by Charles S. Prebish (Scarecrow Press, 2001). • The A to Z of Catholicism by William J. Collinge (Scarecrow Press, 2001). • The Associated Press Stylebook (Basic Books, 2006). • The book series Key Words in... Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Religious Studies by Ron Greaves (Georgetown University Press, 2007). • Buddhist Text Translation Society’s Buddhism A to Z by Ronald B. Epstein (Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003). • The Centre for Faith and Media’s religion guides series, posted at www.faithandmedia.org. It includes A Journalist’s Guide to... Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. • Catholic News Service Stylebook on Religion (Catholic News Service, 2000). • National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association Stylebook Supplement. • The New Encyclopedia of Islam: Revised Edition of the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam by Cyril Glassé (AltaMira Press, 2001). • The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone (Oxford University Press, 1997). • Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn’t by Stephen Prothero (HarperSanFrancisco, 2007). • South Asian Journalists Association Stylebook.

Special thanks to the following religion journalists who shared their expertise: Adelle Banks, Paul Buckley, David Crumm, David Gibson, Janet Perez, Ann Rodgers, Holly Lebowitz Rossi, Omar Sacirbey, Peggy Fletcher Stack, Jeffrey Weiss and Kimberly Winston.

Special thanks to these experts who provided guidance on entries: Neelima Shukla-Bhatt, visiting professor of South Asian studies at Wellesley College; Adarsh Deepak, member of the board of trustees of the Dharma Association of North America; documentary filmmaker Valarie Kaur; Ramdas Lamb, associate religion professor at the University of Hawaii; Jeffrey D. Long, associate professor of religion and Asian studies at Elizabethtown College; Mihir Meghani of the Hindu American Foundation; Anantanand Rambachan, religion professor at St. Olaf College; and Karen Ready, copy editor for Tricycle.