Help for the Harried Editor
Everyone who has to look over, edit, or approve of copy for publication should have access to the most basic of the following sources for help and support in their decisions.
Note that this list is targeted at the U.S. audience. Our brothers and sisters above and below our borders as well as those east and west across the various ponds which separate us may prefer other sources and their variations. However the references may prove interesting or useful to them too.
I. Basic References
A. Dictionaries [Spelling, Hyphenation, and Usage]
The following are the references which are most often cited for both spelling and usage – and therefore are probably your safest guides. If you do not have the latest versions of these dictionaries, it is suggested that you get them – it should not break your budget
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), 2004, Merriam-Webster Incorporated. Springfield, Mass. 2004
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
Fourth Edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000
The American Heritage® Book of English Usage
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996
B. General Style Guides [Overall Style]
Published Style guides reflect current best practices. They often need to be supplemented or overridden by local or house variations. For example, if the publication comes out from a high school, how does it refer to the president of that institution: Fr. Jones, Rev. Jones, Father Tom Jones, or simply Jones. This is only one of the many issues which a local style guide should decide and follow. The following are the most commonly-cited general style guides. In looking at them it should be noted that the audience as well as the format of the publication might be different. Decisions should be made accordingly. It is assumed that you will adopt a “house” style which tailors these general style to the vagaries and idiosyncracies of your local scene.
One of the first two following guides is, by-and-large, the one which is most commonly used. It is interesting that neither of them is specifically aimed at publishing a magazine, brochure, or newsletter – items on which most AEJP folks probably spend most of their time. This guide is usually supplemented by other guides, either published or local.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Discusses more than just style. Topics include manuscript preparation, proofs, indexes, bibliographies. Primary focus is on the book, though most of it is applicable to other printed materials. Organized by major topics and sub-topics.
The Associated Press Stylebook. Basic Books, 2004.
Has separate sections on guidelines for sports and business. Includes also a section on media law. Very popular with newspaper-types. Organized alphabetically with cross references as needed. Initial focus is for a newspaper-type of publication. For example, the styles of the New York Times and Rolling Stone differ significantly. The AP style falls somewhere in between, aiming at a general audience with a tone that is neither too elite nor too common.
The CNS Stylebook on Religion 2000 is the only resource of its kind, combining usage and reference material on religion in a single work. This probably could serve as the final arbiter for God, Jesuit, and Church items. For more information or to order, contact CNS at (202) 541-3289 or cns@catholicnews.com.
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. Three Rivers Press, 1999.
Similar in coverage to the AP Stylebook. Organized alphabetically, with references to other entries if needed. Probably more “conservative” in its approach thant the Associated Press style.
The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications. Amy Einsohn. University of California Press, 2000.
Organized like CMS in major topics. Has exercises (and answers!). It is aware of the major style guides and refers to them as appropriate. This book is probably best considered as a supplement or companion volume to one of the previous style guides.
Words into Type, 3rd edition. Prentice-Hall, 1974.
Easy to use. Similar in style and tone to Copyeditor’s Handbook. Includes a lot of good grammar explanations. Main drawback is that, given its publication date, that they have been very slow in updating the text. Hence, there is nothing about computers, computer-related terms, or Web publishing.
Other
There are a number of other style guides around. These are usually focused on a specific type of publication (for example, a master’s thesis) or on specific area of knowledge (for example, papers written for the Modern Language Association publications.) We mention only in passing that such guides include the MLA Style Guide, the APA Style Guide, Turabian (a guide for papers written to fulfill course requirements in college or graduate school.) Since AEJP has a wider view, these guides will not be discussed.
II. Useful Web Sites
A. Synonyms and Choice of Words
Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, 3rd ed. (1995)
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995
Roget’s International Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1922)
Mawson’s modernization of Roget’s classic structure
B. Other References
The Chicago Manual of Style, Q & A
The folks at CMS also have a Web site with a lot of frequently-asked-questions (FAQs). You can also sign up for a monthly e-mail newsletter they put out.
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/cmosfaq.html
A Quick Reference to the Associated Press Style Guide.
This is a five page pdf document which summarizes the Associated Press’ way to handle the fundamental issues which come up in editing your copy.
http://www.bu.edu/com/writingprgm/ap_styleguide1.pdf
Bartley.com
A collection of various online reference materials, including the Columbia Encyclopedia, gazetteers, fact books, books of quotations, etc.
C. Online Style Guides for Publications
Writing911.com
This Web site can give you the fast help you need to write well at work. They specialize in helping staff at nonprofit organizations, but most of their resources will be helpful to everyone who writes in a professional setting.
College and University Online Style Guides
A collection of links to style guides. Possibly of use to publications emanating from academic institutions. This also illustrates the way in which almost every institution supplants one or more standard style guides by their own local standards.
http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/writing/others/
University of Texas Style Guide
This is a particularly comprehensive style guide which is applicable to various sorts of publications. It is strange that it is not included in the previous listing, though there may be local Texas issues at work here (another of the Texas school is included). It also includes a Pet Peeves section which is helpful in avoiding the dreaded P3, the Proliferation of Pompous Phrases. Look at their list if your publication reads as though it was translated from the Hindi by someone whose second language is Jamaican English! It also suggests shorter, cleaner phraseology when possible. For example, why not say “postpone” rather than “postpone until later”, or “since” rather than “due to the fact that”, “to” rather than “for the purpose of”, and so on.
http://www.utexas.edu/visualguidelines/styleguide.html
D. Let’s Go On the Web
There is a lot of local variation whether the folks who are responsible for print publications have any input into what we might call cyber publications. Often there is a separate entity which is responsible for an institutional “look and feel” on its Web pages. Without trying to build an empire, those who are involved in the print media might like to look at the online media and see if there is a consistent approach. If not, there is possibly an opportunity for a synergistic relation between the two generating entities. This can involve a certain amount of diplomacy as well as learning both the capabilities as well as the limitations of the respective media.
There are a number of (minor) issues related to the Web in general publishing. Your general or house style sheet should decide these issues, once and for all – at least until changed. Here are some issues related to Web issues:
■ Does one include “http\\” in Web references?
■ If one omits that particular protocol reference, does one include any others, such as ftp?
■ Why and when does one put a slash at the end of an Web address?
■ Where does one break a Web address when necessary?
■ Do you put ‘angle brackets’ (< ..>) around e-mail addresses?
III. Interesting Web Sites for the Language Maven or the PR Person
Alt-Usage-English
A wide-ranging collection of items related to the language we call English. It is historically derived from the e-mail group devoted to English usage group on the Web. Have fun!
http://alt-usage-english.org/fast_faq.shtml
Wired!
The anarchistic folks at Wired magazine have managed to drop their anarchistic image and produce stuff which is interesting and useful. Look into this site when you are just cruisin’.
http://hotwired.wired.com/hardwired/wiredstyle/biblio/bookshelf.html
Grammar Gurus
You want an outside authority to force the rest of your office into submitting to your vision of English? You might find it here. We be the grammar gurus!
http://www.webgrammar.com/grammar.html
Learn from Others!
The following Web site is focused on folks who are trying to promote various museums, especially through press releases. They are one of the clearest sites in emphasizing that It is important to realize what the press wants and can easily use! However, their advice extends well beyond the museum-types. If you are at a high school, retreat house, university, or whatever, just replace the word museum with what your organization is and you might find something interesting. There is a moral here! If you want to promote your institution, ministry, work, or individuals do not just look at similar institutions, ministries, or works! Step outside of the box! What will generate interest from your readers (that ‘interest’ may be negative or positive) which you can follow up on.
http://www.museummarketingtips.com/articles/pub_press.html
Dick VandeVelde, SJ
Loyola University of Chicago
Company Magazine
Updated: July 21, 2005