Do recipes which measure flour by volume assume that I'll sift the flour? I would like to try some baking recipes where the flour is specified by volume, with no alternative measurement for weight.  Do recipe authors generally assume that I'll sift the flour to measure it?
In all the recipes I've followed with a cup measurement (volume) of flour, it is unsifted. 

From what I've read, if a recipe calls for sifted flour there's two ways to do it:
If it calls for "sifted flour" you sift the flour first, then measure it.
If it calls for "flour, sifted" you measure first, then sift it.