We have print books that you can access at all of our campuses and eBooks that you can access anywhere!
This print copy of APA's official publication lays out every aspect of APA style formatting. We have copies at every campus!
We also have eBooks, like this online guide that can be accessed anywhere through our library!
¡Incluso hay una guía APA en español disponible en línea!
We have print books that you can access at our campuses and eBooks that you can access anywhere!
This print copy of MLA's official publication lays out every aspect of MLA style formatting. There's a copy of the 9th Edition at every campus!
We also have eBooks, like this online guide that can be accessed anywhere through our library!
A writing style guide is a set of standardized writing practices required for a project, brand, industry or field of study. Style guides establish rules for writers and editors so they can produce content with consistent capitalization, spelling, punctuation, formatting and grammar conventions. Some companies use style guides to control other writing variables, like tone, voice and sentence fluency. These guides help writers achieve a high level of consistency and professionalism.
Many academic institutions and publications require the use of style guides. Guides help ensure clarity and provide a consistent framework. They can inform formatting, like how citations, footnotes and margins look, and the tone's formality. Maintaining consistency, especially for published works, can help writers produce content that meets certain academic publishing requirements.
Companies sometimes incorporate style guides to ensure their writers are using the business' brand voice and adhering to its values. For example, some companies may choose to omit things like negative language, idioms and advanced word choice to make their content more accessible to a wide range of readers. The style guide may also define specifications like how to capitalize the brand's name.
From: Indeed Editorial Team. (2023, February 3). What Is a Writing Style Guide? Definition and Uses. Indeed.com. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/writing-style-guide
| Style Guides | Associated Industry |
|---|---|
| APA - American Psychological Association | Mental Health & Natural Sciences |
| CMoS - Chicago/Turabian | Social Sciences |
| MLA - Modern Language Association | Art & Humanities |
| AMA - American Medical Association | Nursing & Medical Fields |
| ACM - Association for Computing Machinery | Computing & Information Technology Fields |
Your discipline may have its own style guide not represented here; if you're not sure, take a moment to look it up!
APA - Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) can also cater to academic writers within the humanities, such as social science, health science and natural science students. APA citations and style preferences can also be common for many high school and college-level research papers. One goal of APA's Publication Manual is to make scientific writing more accessible. The manual includes formatting recommendations and best practices for grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage and in-text citations. The style guide also reviews ethical considerations. Writers can expect a new edition every decade.
The Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook places heavy emphasis on academic citations and formatting and provides little direction on acceptable style, mechanics and usage. Those writing academic papers and journals for humanities subjects often use MLA style. Specifically, writers working within language studies and literary criticism. The MLA usually updates its style guide about once every three to five years.
From: Indeed Editorial Team. (2023, February 3). What Is a Writing Style Guide? Definition and Uses. Indeed.com. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/writing-style-guide