Style guides and formatting
Deciding on a preferred style before beginning the writing process can save you time. This is particularly true if multiple authors or collaborators are involved in the project.
Style guides
There are several commonly used style guides:
- APA Style. APA (American Psychological Association) style is typically used to cite and style works in the social sciences and education.
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Chicago style is most often used to cite and style works in the humanities. This style was developed by the Chicago University Press in 1906.
- MLA Style Manual. MLA (Modern Language Association of America) style is most frequently used to cite and style works in the literary and humanities fields.
- Australian Government Style Manual. This guide is produced by the Australian Public Service Commission.
The University of Queensland’s Written style guide is another useful resource and can be consulted for UQ-specific content.
Style sheet
In addition to choosing a style guide, you can use a style sheet to help decide and record styling-relating decisions, including:
- when and how learning objectives should be added
- when and how exercises should be added
- how key terms should be defined (in a glossary or in-text)
- agreed spelling.
BC Campus has published a Style Sheet template (.docx, 70KB).
Referencing
UQ Library has referencing style guides you can use for your book project.
This content was adapted from the BCcampus Open Education Self-Publishing Guide by Lauri M. Aesoph, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.