Text and document formatting standards
A
style guide
, or style manual, is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field. The implementation of a style guide provides uniformity in style and formatting within a document and across multiple documents. A set of standards for a specific organization is often known as "house style". Style guides are common for general and specialized use, for the general reading and writing audience, and for students and scholars of various
academic
disciplines, medicine, journalism, the law, government, business, and industry.
International
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Several basic style guides for technical and scientific communication have been defined by international
standards organizations
. These are often used as elements of and refined in more specialized style guides that are specific to a subject, region, or organization. Some examples are:
Other style guides that cover international usage:
Australia
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General
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Science
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- Australian manual of scientific style (AMOSS)
by Biotext; illustrated by Biotext. 1st ed.
ISBN
9780994636904
Canada
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- The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing
: by Dundurn Press in co-operation with Public Works and the Government Services Canada
Translation Bureau
.
ISBN
1550022768
.
Newspapers
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European Union
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United Kingdom
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In the United Kingdom, major publications, academic institutions and companies have their own style guides, otherwise they would normally rely on
New Hart's Rules
available in the
New Oxford Style Manual
.
For general writing
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For legal documents
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For academic papers
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For journalism
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For electronic publishing
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For the computer industry (software and hardware)
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- Acorn Technical Publications Style Guide
, by
Acorn Computers
. Provides editorial guidelines for text in
RISC OS
instructional publications, technical documentation, and reference information.
[8]
- RISC OS Style Guide
[9]
by
RISC OS Open Limited
. Provides design guidelines, help and dialogue box phrasing examples for the software user interface.
United States
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In the United States, most journalistic forms of mass communication rely on styles provided in the
Associated Press Stylebook
(AP). Corporate publications typically follow either the AP style guide or the equally respected Chicago Manual of Style, often with entries that are additions or exceptions to the chosen style guide.
A classic grammar style guide is
The Elements of Style
. Together, these two books are referenced more than any other general style book for US third-person writing used across most professions.
[
citation needed
]
For general writing
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For legal documents
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For academic papers
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For journalism
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For electronic publishing
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- The Columbia Guide to Online Style
, by Janice Walker and Todd Taylor.
- Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites
, by
Patrick J. Lynch
and
Sarah Horton
.
- The Yahoo! Style Guide
, 2010.
[11]
For business
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For the computer industry (software and hardware)
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- Apple Style Guide
, published online by
Apple Inc.
[13]
Provides editorial guidelines for text in Apple instructional publications, technical documentation, reference information, training programs, and the software user interface.
An earlier version was the
Apple Publications Style Guide.
[14]
- DigitalOcean documentation style guide,
published online by
DigitalOcean
.
[15]
- GNOME documentation style guide,
published online by
GNOME
.
[16]
- Google Developer Documentation Style Guide,
published online by
Google
.
[17]
Provides a set of editorial guidelines for anyone writing developer documentation for Google-related projects.
- The IBM Style Guide: Conventions for Writers and Editors
, 2011,
[18]
and
Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors
, 2014,
[19]
from
IBM Press
.
- Mailchimp content style guide,
published online by
Mailchimp
.
[20]
- Microsoft Writing Style Guide
, published online by
Microsoft Corporation
.
[21]
Provides a style standard for technical documentation including use of terminology, conventions, procedure, design treatments, and punctuation and grammar usage. Before 2018, Microsoft published a book, the
Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
.
- MongoDB documentation style guide,
published by
MongoDB
.
[22]
- Mozilla Writing Style Guide,
published online by
Mozilla
.
[23]
- Rackspace style guide for technical content,
published online by
Rackspace
.
[24]
- Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry
, by Sun Technical Publications, 3rd ed., 2010.
[25]
- Red Hat style guide for technical documentation,
published online by
Red Hat
.
[26]
- Salesforce style guide for documentation and user interface text,
published online by
Salesforce
.
[27]
- The Splunk Style Guide
, published online by
Splunk
.
[28]
Provides a writing style reference for anyone writing or editing technical documentation.
- SUSE documentation style guide,
published online by
SUSE
.
[29]
Editorial style guides on preparing a manuscript for publication
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Academic
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- ACS Style Guide
?for
scientific papers
published in
journals
of the
American Chemical Society
.
- American Medical Association Manual of Style
?for
medical papers
published in journals of the
American Medical Association
.
- American Psychological Association Style Guide
?for the behavioral and social sciences; published by the
American Psychological Association
.
- American Sociological Association Style Guide
?for the social sciences; published by the
American Sociological Association
.
- The Chicago Manual of Style
. The standard of the academic publishing industry including many journal publications.
- Geoscience Reporting Guidelines
?for
geoscience
reports in industry, academia and other disciplines.
[30]
- Handbook of Technical Writing
, by Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu.?for general technical writing.
- IEEE style
?used in many technical research papers, especially those relating to
computer science
.
- The Little Style Guide
by Leonard G. Goss and Carolyn Stanford Goss?provides a distinctively religious examination of style and language for writers and editors in
religion, philosophy of religion, and theology
?
ISBN
9780805427875
.
- A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
(frequently called "
Turabian
style")?Published by
Kate L. Turabian
, the graduate school dissertation secretary at the
University of Chicago
from 1930 to 1958. The school required her approval for every master's thesis and doctoral dissertation. Her stylistic rules closely follow
The Chicago Manual of Style
, although there are some differences.
- MHRA Style Guide
?for the
arts
and
humanities
; published by the
Modern Humanities Research Association
. Available as a free download (see article).
- MLA Style Manual
, and the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
?for subjects in
the arts
and the
humanities
; published by the
Modern Language Association of America
(MLA).
- Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers
?for scientific papers published by the
Council of Science Editors
(CSE), a group formerly known as the Council of Biology Editors (CBE).
[31]
- SBL Handbook of Style
?
Society of Biblical Literature
style manual specifically for the field of ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and early Christian studies. The
SBL Handbook of Style
includes a recommended standard format for abbreviation of Primary Sources in Ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and early Christian Studies.
- The Style Manual for Political Science
?used by many
American
political science
journals; published by the
American Political Science Association
.
Communities
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- Conscious Style Guide
[32]
-- A website "devoted to conscious language. My mission is to help writers and editors think critically about using language?including words, portrayals, framing, and representation?to empower instead of limit." Created by author and
Robinson Prize
winner Karen Yin.
- GLAAD
Media Reference Guide
, 8th ed.,
GLAAD College Media Reference Guide
, 1st ed.,
GLAAD Chinese Media Reference Guide
, 1st ed. - published by GLAAD to encourage media outlets to use language and practices inclusive of LGBT people. Available as a free download.
[33]
- Association of Art Editors Style Guide
[34]
See also
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References
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External links
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