A Brief Guide to Document Style

A full text on manuscript style is given in The EODG Style Guide.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a ready reference of the most important style points:

• Writing Style
• Punctuation
• Spelling and Grammar
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Numbers and Units
• Mathematics
• Tables and Figures
• References
• Latex Tips

Making these choices once allows the writer to concentrate on the substance of the work rather than the flummery. Of course any style guide is exactly that a guide. In making choices I have mostly followed

• University Press, The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press, 2010,
• R.M. Ritter, The Oxford Style Manual, Oxford University Press, 2003,
• New Zealand Government Printing Office, Style Book, Government Printer, 1981.

One of the reasons I have prepared this guide is because these sources are not always definitive, especially for highly technical writing. Another reason is that these sources occasionally disagree so that a choice has to be made between different recommended styles. In making a choice the three principals I have applied are; to maximise clarity, to be consistent and to follow commonsense.

I would welcome feedback on these pages. My contact address is r.grainger@physics.ox.ac.uk.