Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Style Guides (But Were Afraid to Ask)

What is a Style Guide?

Style guides provide rules and recommendations designed to create consistency within an organization. This consistency makes it much easier for writers, editors, and proofreaders to work together. Guides dictate formatting and structure without relying on personal preference, which in turn informs tone and enhances readability.

Pre-internet style guides were well-worn reference books that could be found on the desk of almost any level of writer, including students, professional writers, journalists, and researchers. Now most style guides can be accessed online, and digital tools exist to correct writing to conform to established styles. For example, if you want to create citations following The AP Style Guide, you can use Grammarly's free citation generator. Or, if you're unsure how to capitalize a headline following The Chicago Manual of Style, you can use this online tool.

Why Do I Need a Style Guide?

The English language is complex. There are millions of ways to express yourself and even more ways to write. When you factor in regional dialects, idioms and cliches, slang, and personal writing style, it's a wonder we can communicate at all.

While using regional terms and phraseology is widely acceptable, incorrect grammar is not, especially in journalism, marketing, and business writing. English grammar features a variety of tenses, irregular verb forms, and intricate rules for sentence structure, but there is no single reference for the rules of the language. That's why professionals rely on style guides.

Which Guide Should I Use?

There are a lot of choices out there, but your decision depends in part on your needs and the type of writing you are doing. We've listed a few options here, but this is not a complete list. If you don't see what you need, keep looking.

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is often used for writing, editing, and publishing, especially in academic, professional, and publishing contexts.

The AP Style Guide, or The Associated Press Stylebook, is often used by journalists, writers, editors, and public relations teams. This guide is regarded as a standard reference for many news organizations.

The MLA Style Guide is published by the Modern Language Association. It's often used in academic circles to ensure consistency and clarity. It also instructs on properly crediting sources.

The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage is published by (surprise!) The New York Times. While it's a mandatory rulebook for writers and editors at the Times, it's also used by many other news outlets around the country.

AMA Manual of Style?from The American Medical Association focuses on writing, grammar, and terminology for health and medicine.

Scientific Style and Format?is produced by The Council of Science Editors for scientific writing.

APA Style was created to guide writing and publishing in the social and behavioral sciences but is also used by researchers and educators in various fields.

ACS Style Guide from The American Chemical Society was created for chemistry professionals.

Diversity Style Guide?helps journalists and other media professionals write in a sensitive and culturally aware manner.

Conscious Style Guide?provides guidance for inclusive representation.

GLAAD Media Reference?focuses on approaches and considerations for LGBTQ stories and issues.

When Should I Consult a Style Guide?

All writers encounter multiple consistency issues within any document, which may trigger the need to consult a style guide. But there are a handful of situations in which style guides can be particularly helpful. We've listed a few instances here.

Capitalization Rules

Rules vary widely, so it's smart to find a rule and stick to it. While it's okay for capitalization to vary among authors or articles, it's not okay to do so within a single piece or document, so reference your style guide early and often.

Punctuation Usage

Guides vary on the use of the Oxford comma, hyphens, dashes, and placement of commas. Some even share rules for the spacing of text and spaces between sentences.

Use of Numbers

Guidelines for numerals or figures (15) versus spelling out numbers as a word (fifteen) vary widely among guides. Style can also change within a document, dependent on usage and context. There are also rules about percentages, mathematics, measurements, and more.

Compound Words

Health care or healthcare? On site or on-site? Email or e-mail? Both usages are technically correct in each of these examples, so check your guide for the preferred use.

Media Reference

Should you italicize book titles or use quotation marks? What about the names of TV shows, magazines, or articles? Style guides have the answers.

Citations and Footnotes

Most style guides outline formats for citing sources. There is a wide variance in styles, so pick one and stick with it

Can I Break the Rules?

Some organizations require writers to conform to the rules of a style guide. In these cases, don't break the rules. If you see an issue, check with your editor or client, and let them decide whether an exception is warranted. ?

If you're writing for yourself or clients who don't know or care about style guides, you have more elbow room. However, consistency increases readability and signals professionalism. So, even when a style guide is not strictly necessary, we recommend you pick a guide and stick to it. If you must make exceptions, make them consistently.

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