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What's the best style guide for your proofreading project?

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Proofreading is a crucial skill for any writer, editor, or communicator. It ensures that your text is clear, accurate, and consistent. But how do you know which rules and conventions to follow? That's where style guides come in. A style guide is a set of standards and preferences for writing, formatting, and presenting your content. Different style guides may have different recommendations for spelling, punctuation, grammar, citations, and design. Choosing the best style guide for your proofreading project depends on several factors, such as your audience, purpose, and discipline. In this article, we'll explore some of the most common and widely used style guides and how to decide which one suits your needs.

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1 The Big Four

The Big Four are the most popular and authoritative style guides in the English-speaking world. They are: The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), The Associated Press Stylebook (AP), The Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA), and The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). Each of these style guides covers a broad range of topics and genres, but they also have specific areas of focus and expertise. CMOS is the preferred choice for academic, literary, and historical writing. AP is the standard for journalism, news, and media. MLA is the go-to guide for humanities and liberal arts. APA is the dominant style for social and behavioral sciences.

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Robin J Samuels

Friendly, experienced professional editor, detail-obsessed, dedicated to making your words sing!
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CMOS is the industry standard for book publishing, both fiction and nonfiction. That said, many style decisions come up in fiction writing that CMOS doesn't cover, which is why it's important to work with a trained, experienced editor who understands the conventions of the genre you're writing in and how to ensure consistency and readability in your style choices.

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Stacie Shonkwiler

Visual Storyteller/Proofreader/Editor Assistant
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I have mainly used CMOS and AP, but always ask if there's an in-house/personal style guide to consult also when proofreading. If I do a lot of work with a company/writer and they don't have an in-house guide, I take notes as I proof and then discuss themes I see throughout my project and ask if they'd like help developing an in-house guide. That has helped me get more work from what might've only been a one-time project.

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2 Other Style Guides

The Big Four are not the only style guides available. Depending on your field, topic, or organization, you may need to follow a different or more specialized style guide. For example, if you are writing or proofreading a scientific paper, you may need to consult The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (CSE), which covers the conventions and terminology of various scientific disciplines. If you are working on a legal document, you may need to refer to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Bluebook), which provides rules and examples for citing legal sources. If you are creating or reviewing a web page, you may need to use The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which provide standards and best practices for making web content accessible to people with disabilities.

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Virginia (Ginny) Eggerton

End User Services Consultant at Fannie Mae
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The first thing to do is find out if there is an existing organization-specific style guide you should follow. Many large companies have custom style guides.

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3 Custom Style Guides

Sometimes, you may not find a style guide that perfectly matches your project or organization. In that case, you may need to create or use a custom style guide. A custom style guide is a document that defines and explains the specific rules and preferences that apply to your content. It may be based on an existing style guide, but with some modifications or additions. For example, you may have a custom style guide that follows CMOS, but with some exceptions for spelling, capitalization, or abbreviations. A custom style guide can help you maintain consistency and clarity across your content, as well as reflect your brand identity and voice.

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Leandro Atencio

Higher Education Professional
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It really all comes down to consistency. Therefore, if you have a custom style guide, it’ll basically help you guarantee that your “voice” doesn’t vary throughout the text, regardless of how long the entire composition actually is. This adds credibility and value to the weight of your writing.

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4 How to Choose a Style Guide

When selecting the best style guide for your proofreading project, it's essential to consider your audience, purpose, and discipline. Who will be reading your content and what are their expectations? What do you want to communicate and achieve? What conventions and standards are used in your field? Depending on the answers to these questions, you may opt for a style guide that is widely recognized and respected (e.g. CMOS or APA), simpler and more flexible (e.g. AP or MLA), clear and concise (e.g. AP or MLA), detailed and nuanced (e.g. CMOS or APA), consistent and precise (e.g. CSE or APA), or flexible and expressive (e.g. CMOS or MLA). Ultimately, the best style guide is the one that works for you and your audience, as it can help improve the quality and credibility of your content while saving time and hassle.

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Beth Gibson

Manager, Administrative and Maintenance Procedures
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We write technical documents with scientific information and formulas. We use an in-house style guide derived from multiple sources to ensure clarity and consistency.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What's the best style guide for your proofreading project?

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1 The Big Four

2 Other Style Guides

3 Custom Style Guides

4 How to Choose a Style Guide

5 Here’s what else to consider

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