TEXT FORMAT DESCRIPTIONS

FULL VERBATIM
The text is transcribed exactly as it sounds and includes all the utterances of the speakers.
Those are:

 Speech errors: "I went to the bank on Thursday-- no, Friday."

 False starts: I, um, wanted-- I have dreamed of becoming a musician.
 Filler words: um, uh, kind of, sort of, I mean, you know…
 Slang words Kinda, gotta, gotcha, betcha, wanna, dunno…
 Stutters: I-I went to the bank last Tu-Thursday.
 Repetitions: I went- I went to the bank last Friday.
 Only use these forms for the affirmative/negative:
   Mm-hmm, Mm (affirmative) or Mm-mm (negative)
   Uh-huh (affirmative) or Uh-uh (negative)

CLEAN VERBATIM
The transcribed text does not include:

 Speech errors
 False starts (unless they add information)
 Stutters
 Repetitions. Note: Keep repetitions of words that express emphasis: No, no, no. I
am very, very happy.
 Filler words: Words often excessively used by the speaker but when you take them
out, you’re left with perfectly understandable sentences. uh, um, *you know, *like, *I
mean, *so, *kind of, well, sort of… Be mindful of the context. Some of these filler
words do not always function as filler words.
 Expressions should be kept regardless of verbatim type: Oh my God, Oh dear, Oh
my, Oh boy, Oh, et cetera.
  Slang words must be written as "got you" instead of "gotcha", "going to" instead of
"gonna", "want to" instead of "wanna", "because" instead of "'cause" et cetera.
 "Yeah", "yep", "yap", "yup", "mm-hmm" must be written as "yes"; "alright" must be
written as "all right."
 Never spell "Ok" or "OK." It must always be spelled as "Okay."
 Avoid starting phrases with conjunctions in clean verbatim. If you really need to add
the conjunction, just expand the sentence. For example: "I went outside but forgot to
bring my umbrella."

Note: For CV: Omit all the "yeah", "yes" reactions to retain a fluent text, unless they are
answers to given questions.
DO NOT remove filler words if they change the meaning of the phrase.

FV EXAMPLE:

Speaker 1: Hey, Maya, I'd like to ask you something.

Maya: Okay.
Speaker 1: Someone told me, applicants must now present an ID before they can sign up.
Maya: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But I'm not sure if that is true.
Maya: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Okay, uh, is it true?
Maya: Yep.
CV EXAMPLE:

Speaker 1: Hey, Maya, I'd like to ask you something.

Maya: Okay.
Speaker 1: Someone told me, applicants must now present an ID before they can sign up.
I'm not sure if that is true. Is it true?
Maya: Yes.
TIMESTAMPING TYPES:
Timestamping time format must be: [00:00:00] (always in bold)
ALWAYS CONSIDER THE WHOLE FILE WHEN YOU'RE TIME STAMPING.
For example, if you do the 20-30 minutes part, your time stamping should start at 20, not
00.

NOTE: If there's a comment next to the audio file saying, "Please use the embedded time"
or "burned-in time," you will need to download the file in order to watch the video and use
the correct time.

MAJOR RULES:

1. If you cannot hear what word is being said, mark that as inaudible or unintelligible
and specify the time. Do NOT make up your own markings. Only use [inaudible
00:00:00] and [unintelligible 00:00:00]
 Use [inaudible 00:00:00] when speech cannot be heard due to poor
recording or noise (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + K).
 Use [unintelligible 00:00:00] when speech can be heard but it cannot be
understood due to the speaker's manner of speech, accent, et cetera (Ctrl +
I).
2. When a speaker is using conjunctions like "and", "so", or "but" to connect longer
stretches of thought, it's often a good idea to create sentence divisions in those
places. Also, don't forget to cut out the conjunctions in those places when
they're not necessary.
3. Longer speeches should be separated into smaller paragraphs. Paragraphs
shouldn't be longer than 500 symbols (about 100 words or 3-4 lines in the
transcription tool).

Exception: transcribe lyrics like a poem.

4. Never paraphrase or reconstruct the speech in the audio you are transcribing.
5. Do not correct grammatical errors made by the speakers.
   NOTE: Do not use [sic] tag
6. Always use the correct spelling for misspoken words.

Example: If a speaker pronounces "niche" [neesh] as nitche.

7. Everything with a time-stamp (e.g. [pause 00:04:24] [unintelligible 00:04:24]

[00:04:24] [inaudible 00:02:24]) should be bolded. Nothing else besides the
speaker labels and marks with time-stamps should be bolded.
8. Never use () instead of []
9. Every sentence should end with a punctuation mark. Except when the sentence
ends with a double dash which means the sentence was incomplete, or an
unintelligible or inaudible mark when you cannot be sure whether the sentence is a
question or not.
10. The beginning of every sentence should be capitalized.
11. Never change spoken contractions (e.g. y’all, ain’t, don’t, can’t, it’s, et cetera.)
   Example: If the speaker says "it's", it should be kept as "it's" regardless of the
verbatim
12. Never use exclamation marks.
13. Speaker labels
 If the speaker's name is mentioned at some point or indicated in the title of
the file, use it as the speaker's label.
 Always use a speaker label even if there is only one speaker.
 Make each speaker's role in the audio as descriptive as possible. For
example, "Interviewer", "Interviewee", "Participant
1", "Host", "Facilitator", "Caller", "Receiver", et cetera.
 If the speaker's full name is used at some point (for example, David
Butterfield:), later in the transcription, the last name can be dropped (for
example, David Butterfield: becomes just David:). The same goes for the
 titles (Doctor, Pastor, et cetera). This is optional and is not considered to be
an error.
 If you cannot identify who exactly is speaking, add a question mark before the
speaker label. For example, ?Speaker 2, ?Interviewee 3. But if you cannot
identify who is speaking throughout most of the transcript, it's better to then
mark the speakers with a generic label like Interviewee or Participant. Still,
it's important that you are able to at least identify the person asking questions
or leading the discussion.
 Speaker labels must be written in bold, followed by  a colon and
space. NEVER use the Tab button, only one click of the Space button.

Mark: Hello.
Speaker 1: Some text.
Speaker 2: Some more text.

14. Occasionally customers dictate instructions to format the transcription while they are
speaking. These instructions should be followed when possible, but never
transcribed. Follow customer requests for spoken directions such as a new
paragraph, comma, period, or a bullet point (use a dash). Do not type out the
instruction.

If a speaker spells a word or a name, Example: My name is Anna. A-N-N-A.

15. Italicize film, book, magazine, song titles, as well as artworks, plays, TV and radio
programs, foreign expressions et cetera. Example: I watched an episode
of Friends the other day.

NOTE: There is no need to italicize social media sites, company names, the

Bible, books within the Bible, versions of it or other sacred writings (Koran, New
 Testament, Genesis, et cetera). John 1:2–3. If multiple citations: John 1:3; 3:16;
6:14, 44.

16. Abbreviations and acronyms should not contain dashes or periods.

Right: USA, PhD
Wrong: U.S.A., Ph.D.
Right American English: Dr., Mrs.
Right British English: Dr, Mrs (without the period)

17. Always research the proper capitalization e.g., iPhone, UCLA, SaaS
18. Always write links like this: www.facebook.com/groups/gotranscript. Never write it
like this: w w w dot facebook dot com slash groups slash gotranscript
19. Sound events
 Sound events that are significant to the audio should also be noted. Use
brackets [ ] for notes. The notes are always written in lower
case regardless of the position in a sentence.
 Sounds that the speaker makes are always on the same line and always in
the present tense. [snaps fingers] [phone rings] [laughs] [chuckles] [giggles]
[scoffs] et cetera. [laugh] is a normal laugh; [chuckles] is a soft laugh.
 Sounds not made by the person speaking are always on separate line
[present and gerund]: [applause] [cheering] [chuckling] [laughter] [phone
ringing] et cetera.
 Use [background noise] on a separate line for ambiance noise. Use
[background noise] on the same line if a significant unidentified sound
occurs while the speaker is talking.
 [crosstalk], [silence] - can be placed on a separate line or same line wherever
they occur. [silence] is used to demonstrate a short pause in speech; not less
than 4 seconds but not longer than 10 seconds.
  [pause 00:00:00] bolded and time-stamped is used to demonstrate a pause
significant in a speech. It must be longer than 10 seconds for it to be marked.
It is always is put on a separate line.
 When the audio is cut or edited, use [sound cut] on a separate line or the
same line; wherever the sound cut was done.
 If a foreign language or a word (in this case, a language that is not English) is
spoken, mark it as [foreign language] or [French language], [German
language], et cetera if it can be identified.

Note: Authors/titles/personalities/common sense things are an exception

from this rule and must always be researched. For example: carpe diem,
Jacques Chirac, Frédéric Chopin, Alea Jacta Est, et cetera.

20. Numbers
 Spell out single-digit numbers, use numerals for all other numbers: zero, nine,
10, 1492.

Exceptions can be applied for readability (incomplete list):

Money: $1, $1.5 million, $1,000 (1 grand is 1,000, 5 bucks is $5, 8 quid is £8.
Half a million dollars is $500,000).
Years and eras: '90s, 1990s
Age: 70s, 30s
Percentages: 0.2%, 100%
Measurements: 3 degrees, 12 feet, 8 centimeters, 7 pounds, 1.5 kilos, 28
square meters
Mathematical equations and formulas: x = x + 2 or x ^ 3 = 8
Bible citation: John 1:2–3
Fractions: 1/3
 Postal code: 91210
Phone number: 123-456-789
Combination: If a sentence combines small [0-9] and large numbers [10 and
up], transcribe all numbers in numerals.

21. Times of the day and dates: always capitalize AM and PM. Do this: 2:45 PM, 5:00
AM. When using o'clock, spell out the numbers: eleven o'clock.
22. Double dashes or a single dash
 Use double dashes -- when there is a change of thought (false start) or a
speech error, or to mark an incomplete sentence. Do this:
 FV Speech error: I went to the bank on Tu-Thursday-- no, Friday.
 FV False start: I, um, wanted-- I have dreamed of becoming a
musician and--
 CV False start that adds to information: Sage is-- You’re right, that
boy is my son.
 INCOMPLETE SENTENCE regardless of verbatim type:
 I wanted to say something but--
 Are you done with that or--
 Use single dash -
 When the speech is interrupted in a conversation, but the speaker
continues his thought. Do this:

Speaker 1: I thought he was-

Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: -gone.

FV Stutter: Why is this m-m-moist?

FV Repetition: Why is this- why is this moist?
23. Quotation marks
 Double quotation marks "" are used whenever there is a direct quotation.
Example: She said, "Don't bother telling me." Quotations are introduced by a
comma, not a colon.
 Internal dialogues are seen as direct quotations as well. Example: And then I
thought to myself, "What if I can't make it?" (Notice how the question mark is
inside of the quotation. This is because the quotation itself is a question.
However, if the rest of the sentence is a question containing a quotation, then
the question mark would be outside of the quotation marks).
 When quoting, the first word of a complete sentence should be capitalized.
 Do not use quotation marks in indirect quotations (when the speaker
paraphrases what has been said). Example: The man said that he was in a
hurry.
 Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks.
24. If there are curse words in the audio, transcribe them word for word.
25. Capitalize logical divisions and nouns followed by numbers or letters that are part of
a series (E.g. Grade 8, Section B, Chapter 1, Article VI, et cetera). However, do not
capitalize smaller divisions: page 1, paragraph 7, et cetera.
26. If the conjunction [and, for, or, nor, so, yet] precedes an independent (main) clause,
use a comma before the conjunction.

Correct: Jack tried a new diet, but he still gained weight.

Correct: Jack tried a new diet but still gained weight.
Incorrect: Jack tried a new diet, but still gained weight.

27. Do not remove the word et cetera unless the client asks otherwise in the comment
section.
28. If you do not prepare the transcriptions according to these requirements, you
might be removed from the team of transcribers.
Ratings which are given by editors:
5 - from 96% to 100% accuracy
4 - from 92% to 95% accuracy
3 - from 88% to 91% accuracy
2 - from 83% to 87% accuracy
1 - from 0% to 82% accuracy

 Transcribers should know that mistakes like the following will be harshly
penalized by editors. Along with accuracy, editors will be rating your files
based on your grammar mistakes and/or lack of research.
 If a new transcriber finishes 3 transcriptions and has 3.6 or a lower average
rating, he/she will be removed from the team.