Astyle guide is a set of standards for the writing,formatting, and design ofdocuments.[1] A book-length style guide is often called astyle manual or amanual of style (MoS orMOS). A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen pages, is often called astyle sheet. The standards documented in a style guide are applicable for either general use, or prescribed use in an individual publication, particular organization, or specific field.
A style guide establishes standard style requirements to improvecommunication by ensuring consistency within and across documents. They may require certainbest practices inwriting style,usage,language composition,visual composition,orthography, andtypography by setting standards of usage in areas such aspunctuation,capitalization,citing sources, formatting of numbers and dates,table appearance and other areas. Foracademic andtechnical documents, a guide may also enforce the best practice inethics (such asauthorship,research ethics, and disclosure) and compliance (technical andregulatory). For translations, a style guide may even be used to enforce consistent grammar, tones, and localization decisions such asunits of measure.[2]
Style guides may be categorized into three types:comprehensive style for general use;discipline style for specialized use, which is often specific toacademic disciplines,medicine,journalism,law,government, business, and other industries; andhouse orcorporate style, created and used by a particular publisher or organization.[3]
Varieties
editThis sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Style guide" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Style guides vary widely in scope and size. Writers working in large industries or professional sectors may reference a specific style guide, written for usage in specialized documents within their fields. For the most part, these guides are relevant and useful for peer-to-peer specialist documentation or to help writers working in specific industries or sectors communicate highly technical information in scholarly articles or industrywhite papers.
Professional style guides of different countries can be referenced for authoritative advice on their respective language(s), such as the United Kingdom'sNew Oxford Style Manual fromOxford University Press; and the United States'The Chicago Manual of Style from theUniversity of Chicago Press. Australia has a style guide, available online, created by its government.[4]
Sizes
editThe variety in scope and length is enabled by the cascading of one style over another, analogous to how styles cascadein web development andin desktop cascade overCSS styles.
In many cases, a project such as abook,journal, ormonograph series typically has a short style sheet that cascades over the larger style guide of an organization such as apublishing company, whose specific content is usually calledhouse style. Most house styles, in turn, cascade over an industry-wide or profession-wide style manual that is even more comprehensive. Examples of industry style guides include:
- The Associated Press Stylebook (AP Stylebook) andThe Canadian Press Stylebook for journalism
- The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) andOxford style for general academic writing and publishing
- Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) style andAmerican Sociological Association (ASA) style for the arts and humanities
- Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) andBluebook style for law
- US Government Publishing Office (USGPO) style andAustralian Government Publishing Service (AGPS) style for government publications
Finally, these reference works cascade over theorthographic norms of the language in use (for example,English orthography for English-language publications). This, of course, may be subject to national variety, such asBritish, American, Canadian, and Australian English.
Topics
editSome style guides focus on specific topic areas such asgraphic design, includingtypography. Website style guides cover a publication's visual and technical aspects as well as text.
Guides in specific scientific and technical fields may covernomenclature to specify names or classifying labels that are clear, standardized, andontologically sound (e.g.,taxonomy,chemical nomenclature, andgene nomenclature).
Style guides that coverusage may suggest descriptive terms for people which avoidracism,sexism,homophobia, etc. Style guides increasingly incorporateaccessibility conventions for audience members with visual, mobility, or other disabilities.[5]
Web style guides
editSince the rise of the digital age, websites have allowed for an expansion of style guide conventions that account for digital behavior such asscreen reading.[6] Screen reading requires web style guides to focus more intently on a user experience subjected to multichannel surfing. Though web style guides can also vary widely, they tend to prioritize similar values concerning brevity, terminology, syntax, tone, structure, typography, graphics, and errors.[6]
Updating
editMost style guides are revised periodically to accommodate changes in conventions and usage. The frequency of updating and therevision control are determined by the subject. For style manuals inreference-work format, neweditions typically appear every 1 to 20 years. For example, theAP Stylebook is revised every other year (since 2020).[7]The Chicago Manual of Style is in its 18th edition, while the APA and ASA styles are both in their 7th as of 2025. Many house styles and individual project styles change more frequently, especially for new projects.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Shigwan, Ramchandra (2016)."Chicago and Apa Style Manual in Research Activities: A Comparative Study".Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute.76:163–172.ISSN 0045-9801.JSTOR 26264780.
- ^"The Whys and Hows of Translation Style Guides. A Case Study".American Translators Association (ATA). 17 September 2019. Retrieved7 November 2024.
- ^Bright, Mark R. (2005)."Creating, Implementing, and Maintaining Corporate Style Guides in an Age of Technology".Technical Communication.52 (1):42–51.ISSN 0049-3155.JSTOR 43089158.
- ^"Australian Government Style Manual".Australian Government Style Manual.
- ^"Write accessible documentation | Google developer documentation style guide".Google for Developers. 9 November 2023. Retrieved18 November 2023.
- ^abJiménez-Crespo, Miguel A.; University (USA), Rutgers (2010)."Localization and writing for a new medium: A review of digital style guides".Tradumàtica: Traducció i tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació (8):1–9.doi:10.5565/rev/tradumatica.104.ISSN 1578-7559.Archived from the original on 18 November 2023.
- ^"How often is the AP Stylebook published?".AP Stylebook. 1 June 2022.Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved1 January 2025.
External links
edit- But the stylebook says ... – Blog post about stylebook abuse, byBill Walsh ofThe Washington Post
- Handouts about writing style guides, from a conference of theAmerican Copy Editors Society in 2007
- William G. Connolly."How to Write a Stylebook in 10 Easy Steps"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 21 August 2010.
- Doug Kouma."Creating an In-House Stylebook"(PDF). Meredith Special Interest Media. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 21 August 2010.
- Language Log » Searching 43 stylebooks