User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Spelling debates/@comment-188432-20130428153100/@comment-188432-20130428171041

No there's no rule for how we decide spelling debates. They're arbitrary. I wouldn't call these results a "perfect tie". It's not a numbers game really. I would say that this merely demonstrates that the spelling has been entirely random in DW publishing history. The only pattern I see is that editors of the ranges consistently didn't care how the word was spelled, even to the point that individual authors flipped back and forth.

The other factor, which I haven't laid out in as much detail, is that it's always American in the title of DW reference books. So
 * Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia
 * The Completely Useless Encyclopedia
 * Encyclopedia of the Worlds of Doctor Who
 * The Completely Unofficial Encyclopedia
 * Torchwood: The Encyclopedia
 * Character Encyclopedia
 * this list may include redlinks, but the books definitely use American spelling