By Dave Bailey — PPS Editor
Style manuals are something every writer and editor has used at some point, and when working within specific disciplines, that discipline’s style manual can become their “bible,” where a style manual’s rules and guidelines can become second nature to a person’s writing or editing.
Why Are Style Manuals Important?
Style manuals provide guidance for more concise, structured writing within a specific discipline. While a few style manuals (Chicago Manual of Style is a prime example) offer a wide range of rules and guidelines that covers a myriad of writing, most style manuals are created with a specific discipline in mind. These focused manuals provide standards in style mechanics, grammar, spelling, and references for writers in that field. This makes life easier for editors putting together journals and magazines because the writers are already providing articles with similar styling and formatting to other submissions. This, in turn, makes reading easier for the end user, as they aren’t forced to navigate six different reference styles in six different articles in the same journal. Instead, there would just be one reference style for the entire journal, and the reader would already be familiar with that style.
What’s in a Style Manual?
While every style manual is different, and can include many guidelines and rules, most cover writing and editorial styles for the following topics:
- Grammar (appropriate sentence construction, verb and pronoun usage, etc.)
- Style Mechanics. These include:
- Punctuation (e.g., Does the style manual allow for series commas? When should en dashes be used?)
- Capitalization (e.g., When is the word “capitol” capitalized? Is it the “state of Washington”? If so, is “Washington State” correct?)
- Numbering (e.g., When should numerals be used and when should they be spelled out?)
- Spelling and abbreviations (e.g., Does “e.g.” get periods or OK with no periods? Is “health care” one word or two? Does it need a hyphen, or no hyphen?)
- References, bibliographies, and notes (e.g., what information to include in references, how to call out references in text [Numbers? Author-date citations?])
- Formatting (how to style lists, heads, tables, etc.)
Many manuals include guidelines for manuscript preparation, indexing, mathematics, figures, and tables. Also, certain manuals cover discipline-specific areas, such as chemistry (ACS Style Guide), legal citations (The Bluebook), and technical writing (Microsoft Manual of Style).
Which Style Manuals Should I Use?
Choosing a style manual, or manuals, depends on two things: (1) what discipline you are writing in, and (2) what publisher/organization you are writing for. Many publishers and organization have their own in-house style guides, which are normally based on a larger style guide, but with additional instructions unique to that specific guide.
But with that said, there are four style manuals writers and editors will need to know as they progress throughout their career.
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)
Currently in its 17th edition in print, and also available online for a subscription fee, CMOS is the gold standard for many publishers and organizations in a wide variety of fields and disciplines. It is a wide-ranging guide and often influences publishers’ house styles. CMOS also has one of the best set of guidelines for creating indexes.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
Currently in its 7th edition, this style guide, according to Dana Sitar in her article on The Write Life website, is most often used in the medical/healthcare field, and in social sciences, natural sciences, and the humanities. Its citation style is often used outside of these fields. There is also an APA style blog that is updated periodically.
Associated Press (AP)
This style guide, also available in print and online, is a well-respected style guide for newspapers and online news organizations and similar media.
MLA Handbook
Currently in its 9th edition, this stylebook is mostly used in scholarly papers for the humanities in the academic world. Its focus is on citations and formatting. There is an MLA Style Center online with useful information from the print book. An easy-to-read print resource for this style is Andrea Lunsford’s Everyday Writer, currently in its 7th edition.