Your Guide to Style Guides A Workshop Provided

Your Guide to Style Guides A Workshop Provided by the TTU Graduate School Spring 2013

What is a style guide? �Contains essential information regarding the practice of writing within your field �How to cite or reference other works �How to organize your bibliography �How to present visual information (such as tables or graphs) �Formatting requirements �Sometimes will “weigh in” on issues such as spelling, capitalization and grammar (but not all disciplines will do this)

Which is my style guide? � Check with your advisor or department � Here are the most common ones we see: �APA � http: //owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/section/2/10/ � http: //www. apastyle. org/ �MLA � http: //owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/01/ � http: //www. mla. org/style �Chicago � https: //owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/717/01/ � http: //www. chicagomanualofstyle. org/home. html �Turabian � http: //www. press. uchicago. edu/books/turabian_citationguide. h tml �IEEE � http: //www. ieee. org/documents/stylemanual. pdf

Which do I use again? � Some style guides specific to certain disciplines may not have much advice or guidelines/rules about more complex aspects of writing, but simply notes about formatting �For example, a style guide written for engineers may not contain a lot of information about paraphrasing, etc. (See IEEE) � This doesn’t mean that the mechanics of writing, and writing as a critical, professional practice is unimportant �Would you look in an English textbook for a periodic table? NO! Why would you look for writing advice in a chemistry one? You wouldn't! �In this case, your style guide may tell you what other style guide to follow for such information (for example, IEEE tells you that except for certain formatting requirements, to follow Chicago) � Or, choose for yourself (just have a good reason why you use the one you do!) � And again, check with the place you will be sending the document (whether it is the grad school or a journal)

When do I use a style guide? � The short answer is before, during and after the writing process � Before you write: �Rely on discipline specific style guide �The style guide will tell you basic information about when and how to cite other work �Some style guides give you basic organizational information �Some style guides even have research and planning/drafting advice �Some style guides will give you useful information about finding/choosing sources �The style guide will give you basic formatting requirements (it is always easier to format before you

Cont. �During the writing process �Again, rely on discipline-specific style guide �May answer questions that arise about writing mechanics such as paraphrasing and quoting (when and how) �Check as a reference for more detailed information about how to cite certain works �Use as a reference for more detailed questions about formatting that come up during writing (like when to use endnotes, footnotes and/or parenthetical citations) �The style guide may answer important questions like when to capitalize or spell certain words

Continued �Toward the end of the writing process �Start checking other style guides that may come into play (like the grad school’s style guide or a specific journal) �Start tailoring your document for submission, looking for areas where you may need to “convert” your document to satisfy the journal �Pay attention to margins, titles, short hand titles, page numbering, headings, tables, figures and citations �You may need to re-format each submission for each journal! �When in doubt, find an editor! Or at least have some one else check for you (our own errors can become

In sum… � A style guide is more than just formatting rules. � A style guide is credibility and ethos. � Each style guide is crafted to be in support of a particular philosophy about writing, research and scholarship, as well as the role of the scholar (you!) and the reader � This reflects the importance of writing as a professional practice of your specific discipline. � Writing is how you communicate with the scholars and professionals of your field. To be one of them, you must be able to communicate to them and like them (that is what the style guide helps you to do!). � Style guides are how you avoid unprofessional and unethical practices such as plagiarism.

Journals have style guides too �Always check with each journal’s submission requirements before you submit a paper �Just because that journal is in your field doesn’t mean they use exactly the same style requirements �If the journal’s guide conflicts with the main style guide, always change according that to that journal’s requirements �Examples: �http: //www. elsevier. com/authors/home#prepare- your-paper �http: //www. journals. elsevier. com/acta-tropica/ �http: //wcx. sagepub. com/

TTU Graduate School has a style guide too! �http: //www. depts. ttu. edu/gradschool/current/thd. p hp �Our style guide covers specific style/formatting that is required for your dissertation or thesis submission �Follow your own style guide’s rules, especially for citations, but check ours before you start writing to see where there might be conflict �When your style guide and our style guide conflict, ours is what you follow!

Resources �http: //library. duke. edu/research/subject/guides/sty le_manuals/by_discipline. html �http: //library. ttu. edu/ �http: //uwc. ttu. edu/ �http: //www. depts. ttu. edu/gradschool/current/thd. p hp �http: //gradschoolsite. wordpress. com/