How to Work with a Style Guide and Style Sheet
How to Work with a Style Guide and Style Sheet
A style guide is the set of standards that should be applied to a document, both in terms of the writing and the format. A style guide is also a collection of solutions, guidelines, best practices, and examples all carefully organized in one place.
A style guide can be an official publication, or it can be the house style of a particular organization or publication. Some organizations use a combination of an official publication and then a smaller guide to cover internal or organization-specific issues. Some of the major style guides include:
AMA Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Associated Press Stylebook
The Turabian Style Guide
The Publication Manual of the APA
The MLA Handbook Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different style guides in use around the world.
A style guide is an editor's best friend, and it should be used whenever possible to make the editing process quicker and easier. When you come across a problem or a usage issue, you can simply look it up rather than having to guess.
Style guides ensure consistency, and consistency is incredibly important in editing. One of the editor's most important jobs is to make sure a document is consistent both internally and with respect to other related documents.
Style guides also ensure that everyone working independently on parts of the same project make decisions consistent with one another.
Before beginning any project, be sure to verify what style guide should be followed. After determining which guide you must follow, spend a little time studying anything you are not familiar with.
Take notes on any areas of particular importance to the project or on any unusual rule that you may be apt to overlook. For example, if you know the project contains many dates, check the style guide to see how dates should be formatted before beginning so you know what to look for. If you are using or creating a style sheet, these are things you may wish to add to it.
If you find that the projects you take on require you to use several different style guides (for example, The Chicago Manual of Style for your Monday job, and APA 6th Edition for your Tuesday project), always take the time to look things up! Style guides may share several rules but differ (sometimes only slightly!) in others, and it is not reasonable to expect that you'll have each guide memorized right down to the last tiny detail.
Remember, it is important to be persistent when looking up an answer. For example, when trying to find out whether to use superscripts in dates (e.g., March 19th, 2011), you might first try looking up superscripts in the Chicago Manual. When the answer can't be found there, you might try looking up date format. Finally, you can try looking up numerals, at which point you would find the answer in section 9.32.
House styles may be based on a published style guide, but they will often make changes to that guide based on the organization's preferences. While you want to maintain the author's voice as much as possible, the in-house style should always be applied to maintain consistency with the organization's overall body of work. This is especially true for nonfiction work such as journal articles. If, according to house style, you need to use a serial comma, the serial comma should always be added, even if it is not the author's preference.
A style sheet is used by an editor or proofreader to keep track of particular spellings, style choices, and decisions regarding issues with punctuation or numbers. Style sheets are especially helpful when an editor has not been instructed to follow a particular style guide or in-house style and instead needs to create a "style guide" particular to the document at hand.
Style sheets should include notes on the judgment calls that an editor makes during an edit. Because there are often multiple ways of doing things (i.e., there is no standard), an editor must make a decision and apply it consistently.
For example, when using ranges, it is acceptable to use the word to or to use an en dash. When an editor comes across work that uses both, he or she must decide which to use and possibly which to use in particular cases. The editor may decide to always use to, or he or she may decide to use an en dash when numbers are used and to when numbers are spelled out. Whatever the decision, it is noted on the style sheet.
A style sheet is useful and necessary for several reasons, but the main benefit is that a style sheet ensures consistency. When an editor uses a style sheet, he or she is ensuring that the same changes are being applied consistently throughout a document. The style sheet can be passed on to any other editors working on the project, so it ensures that everyone working with the document or any of its various revisions follows the same guidelines. Too many cooks spoil the broth—unless they are following the same recipe!
A style sheet also saves time throughout the editing and revising process for anyone working on the project. There is no need to keep verifying certain words or going back over your work to see how you've treated something in the past when you have it all on the paper or screen in front of you.
So why should you use a style sheet? A style sheet will not only make you a more consistent editor, it will make you a more efficient editor as well.
A great deal of information could be included in a style sheet. The basic rule you should remember when creating a style sheet is to include all the instances in which you have made a judgment call or when you have created a standard for an issue in which there are multiple correct methods. The following are the most commonly used style sheet categories:
Abbreviations
Capitalization
Punctuation
Word list (alphabetized)
Numbers, dates, and measurements
Quotations
References
Formatting
Additional style notes
At the top of your style sheet, you may wish to create a space for identifying information about the project you are working on. This might include the following:
Date
Author's name
Title of work
Dictionary used
Style guide followed
While you can include anything you'd like in your style sheet, there is generally no need to include standard grammar rules, a typo you've fixed, or a simple misspelling you've noticed. For example, if you come across a missing s in asured, there is no need for you to add the correct spelling to your word list—just correct it and move on—but you would include the decision to hyphenate (or not) the term self-assured in the punctuation section as a guide for hyphenating.
There are two exceptions. The first exception would be if the author has spelled assured incorrectly every single time it has been used. It would then be perfectly acceptable to make a note of this error. The second exception would be a word you thought was spelled incorrectly or correctly but wasn't. If it's an unusual spelling and it threw you for a loop, go ahead and add it to your word list. If it gave you pause, it will probably do the same to others. Err on the side of caution. It is better to add too much to your sheet than too little.
Depending on the type of project you are working on, you may find a need for additional categories in your style sheet. For example, a style sheet for a novel would include specific categories that you wouldn't need for an article in a scientific journal. If the project contains many references to a specific thing (for example, names of banks), you'll probably want to create a category on your style sheet just for that item.
The following is a list of other common categories you may need to include in your style sheet:
Locations
Characters (fiction) or names (nonfiction)
Foreign words
Tables
Lists
Footnotes
Bibliography
Captions
Special symbols
There is no standard format for style sheets. Generally, the previously mentioned categories are listed as headings, and the word list is often created in table or chart form. You may find that with a particularly long project, the table does not give you enough space. You can also simply make the word list another heading—just remember to list your words in alphabetical order.
When you are listing your rules, standards, and judgments, be sure to do so as succinctly as possible. To make it easier on yourself, just use the example that led to your decision. If you decided to hyphenate self-assured, use that as your example for hyphenating terms. You can also add the page number to your examples to make later referencing easier.
Finally, be sure to proof your style sheet! This is particularly important if you will be sharing it with others.
This may seem obvious, but keep a copy of your style sheet close by when you are working. If you are doing hard copy editing, keep a printed copy in front of you. If you are editing electronically, either use a physical copy or, if your screen is wide enough, have both the style sheet and the project open.
If you have received a style sheet with an editing project, review it thoroughly before you begin to edit. You might find it helpful to highlight or make note of particularly strange or minute things that you think you might miss. Don't forget to continue to add to the style sheet as you go.
Finally, if you are working with an electronic document, you may find it helpful to use the search and replace function to consistently apply decisions you've made. If you've decided to hyphenate self-assured, use the search function to find all instances of self assured, and change them. This isn't always possible, but doing so when it is ensures consistency and saves you time.
Consistency in a document means that all similar ideas are handled in the same way, thoughts are logical from beginning to end, and all formatting within a document is uniform.
Editing is as much about consistency as it is about correctness. Obviously, there will be some forms of expression that fall outside the bounds of normal usage. As an editor, you are required to make numerous decisions. Sometimes you have to choose between two equally acceptable usages and ensure that the changes are consistent throughout the work
We really can't say this enough: the best way to ensure consistency is to make use of a style sheet. Names, dates, and statistics must be accurate, and any inconsistencies within the text must be eliminated. Several readings may be required to edit all factual errors and inconsistencies.
Consistency is a problem for a number of reasons. The English language offers a multitude of alternatives in spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, and punctuation. It is also changing rapidly, as it generates new compounds from within and borrows new words from other languages. This creates enormous scope for inconsistency in the way words and phrases are written.
A style sheet helps an editor keep track of particular usages throughout a document. If an author has a particularly difficult time with a certain word or phrase, the editor should keep track of this to facilitate consistency in the paper overall.
Following are some of the main sources of format inconsistency:
Font type and size: Inconsistencies in the type of font and the point size are often found in long documents, particularly if the document has been authored by more than one person.
Headings: Headings are a big source of inconsistency. Capitalization inconsistencies and fonts of varying sizes, and in some cases varying colors, appear in headings of the same level. These issues should either be rectified or brought to the attention of the author.
Mechanics: The following items are often subject to inconsistent use in the body of the document:
Hyphens and dashes
Capitalization
Treatment of numbers
Quoted information
Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms
Italicization, underscores, and boldface type
Charts, tables, and graphs
Spacing
Punctuation
Because of the number of differences between the various style guides, it would be senseless (and even a bit silly) for us to try and cover these differences in anything less than a comprehensive lesson. In order to prevent you from taking any shortcuts, we'll recommend here at the outset that you always consult the appropriate style guide if you have any questions during the editing process. Instead of covering all the ins and outs, we've defined why you should use a style guide and how to go about doing so.
Adding a style sheet to your editor toolbox will help increase your speed, accuracy, and consistency when editing. We recommend that you use a style sheet regardless of whether you are also using a particular style guide. It will help you keep track of elements unique to the document at hand.
Last Updated: 09/29/2022