Editorial Style Guide
2015 Edition
How to use this guide
• As a reference tool. If you need to confirm a point of grammar, first check here.
• As a guideline. A detailed style guide stretches to several hundred pages. This guide is not intended to be
that long but many parts of it can be used to guide your spelling, grammar and usage decisions.
• As a living document that you, collectively within your department or across departments or the
organization, will update regularly.
Introduction
An editorial style guide usually lists correct or preferred spellings, explains points of grammar, and provides
guidelines on document formatting.
This style guide is trying to reach beyond that. It assumes that writers and editors can spell or at least use a
dictionary. It also assumes a grasp of all except perhaps a few subtle points of grammar and, based on solid
evidence, that your opinions on some points of grammar and of style may differ—as may the degree to which
you hold on to these opinions.
Instead, this style guide tries to point out some of the issues that can arise when giving educational documents a
final polish.
A professionally prepared document achieves several goals:
•
•
•
•
It is addressed to a specific, well-defined readership.
It is written in language that that readership can comfortably understand.
It is editorially consistent.
It takes full advantage of the medium being used.
This style guide is organized around these four goals.
Earlier steps in the process of crafting well-organized documents are outlined in a series of individual ADLC
writers’ guides.
Part 1: Serving Our Populations
The ADLC mandate is to “serve unique populations.” ADLC materials are targeted to prospective and current
school-aged students and their parents, adult learners, educators or facilitators looking for resources, home
educators, recent immigrants, and First Nations and Inuit populations. All materials must take into account
variations in online access as well as technical ability.
Keep in mind the following factors:
Bias
Is it likely that anyone working at ADLC is racist, sexist, homophobic, and so on? No, but other forms of bias can
be more subtle. Assumptions about people’s age, religion, location, native language, and interests and attitudes
can creep in unexpectedly. For example, a piece on knitting seemed to be perfectly unbiased—until you saw
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
1 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
that the writer had assumed that only girls knitted. Or someone describes a group of 20-year-old women as
“girls.” Similarly, take care with using descriptions associated with behaviours, for example, red-headedness with
temper; grey hair with age; slenderness with health—none of which are true.
Canadian (and Alberta) Usage
Canadian English has a distinct vocabulary, and using non-Canadian words may be jarring for a Canadian
readership. Even if it isn’t jarring, because of our frequent exposure to US English in particular, you could argue
that it is the duty of Canadian educators to uphold Canadian English. Either way, watch for variations and
information that seems right, but doesn’t reflect life in Canada, especially when your source material isn’t
Canadian. Some examples:
ABM or bank machine versus automated teller machine
Firehall or fire station, not firehouse
British public schools versus Canadian private schools
Railway not railroad
Running shoes not sneakers
Shareholder not stockholder
American textbooks describe the “three forms of private business”: sole proprietorship, partnership, and
corporation. But in Canada we have a fourth, cooperatives.
In the USA, corn in sold in bushels. In Canada, it is sold in tonnes.
Ontarians are lucky to have a cottage. Albertans, on the other hand, would prefer to have cabins.
Part 2: Using Language our Readers Can Understand
Abstraction
Abstract language is more difficult to understand than concrete language. For example:
Very abstract: The insured sued the insurer.
Abstract: The customer sued the insurance company.
Concrete: Sam Bloggs sued Royal Insurance.
Very abstract: Interacting with a colleague
Abstract: Communicating with another teacher
Concrete: Exchanging emails with Sam Bloggs
Most readers would have to stop and think through the “very abstract” examples. The “concrete” ones are clear
to almost any reader.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
2 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Negative Constructions
In English, two negatives in a sentence cancel each other out. Double (and triple) negatives are just inherently
confusing, so avoid them. (“I had not agreed to you not grading the papers.”)
However, even simple negative instructions can confuse. If you tell your group of students to not sit down, some
of them will, some won’t, and others will vacillate like yoyos. In Quick Fixes for Business Writing: An Eight-Step
Editing Process to Find and Correct Common Readability Problems, Jim Taylor points out that “negatives force
readers to take two mental steps instead of one,” that to understand “non-White” you must first understand
“White.”
Avoiding negatives is particularly important in instructions and test questions. Saying “leave the building” is more
effective than “do not stay indoors.” If you must use a negative, lead with a positive: “Leave the building. Do not
stay indoors.”
Passive Voice
Passive voice can be more difficult to understand. More importantly, it often hides critical information. Converting
the sentence to active voice makes it easier to understand and makes the missing information stand out. For
example:
Original: The town of Barrhead was established in 1906.
Convert to active voice: [Who? Why?] established the town of Barrhead in 1906.
Better: James McGuire established the town of Barrhead in 1906.
Of course, sometimes we don’t have all the information or we want to hide it intentionally (a good example:
“mistakes were made”). At other times, for example in a methods section of a research paper, your readers may
tire of “the researcher did X… the researcher did Y” construction repeated, so change it for their benefit. As with
leading a negative with a positive (see Negative Construction), lead a passive construction with an active one.
Also, sometimes—though rarely in instructions, etc.—it is the object that needs to be emphasized.
Informality
Our voice for educational materials is approachable and somewhat informal, but not casual. As much as
possible, write as you would talk in a classroom. Use shortened forms (e.g., you’re, wasn’t) as you would in
speech and personalize your voice by using “you,” “we,” and “I.”
Some people (chiefly academics) consider the passive voice more formal, more authoritarian. We don’t.
Wordiness
Eliminate unnecessary words. For example:
The decision that was reached by the government after jointly conferring together with stakeholders in
discussions was to postpone construction of the new school.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
3 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Better: The government reached a decision to postpone construction of the new school after conferring
with stakeholders.
Better yet: The government decided to postpone construction of the new school after talking with
stakeholders.
Best: The government postponed construction of the new school.
Similarly, can the remaining words be simpler? Do you have to inform or can you tell? Facilitate or make easier?
Instruct or teach? Do we need to tell students that “It is important to realize” something, or should we just tell
them the something?
Original: It is important to realize that solar energy is a major source of stored energy on Earth.
Better: Solar energy is a major source of stored energy on Earth.
As we become more used to jargon, we forget that the more easily understood words are more effective:
Original definition for sustainable development: A mode of human development in which resource use
aims to meet human needs while ensuring the sustainability of natural systems and the environment so
that there [sic] needs can be met not only in the present but also for generations to come.
Better: Using the resources we need in a way that does not affect natural systems and the environment,
so that future generations can also use them.
In fact, rephrasing sentences and deleting jargon can often show you if information has been left out.
For a list of troublesome words and their plain language equivalents, see The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling.
Length
Eliminating unnecessary words may also shorten your sentences. Shortening your sentences is often the easiest
way to fix a text, as is converting two clauses into two sentences.
Original: You should be aware that some carbon-containing compounds are not considered organic and
it is best to commit the names of these inorganic compounds to memory: X, Y, X, etc.
Better: Some carbon-containing compounds are not considered organic, and it is best to try to remember
their names: X, Y, X, etc.
Best: Some carbon-containing compounds are not considered organic. Try to remember their names: X,
Y, X, etc.
For adult readers, sentences should not exceed 18 to 20 words, or two lines. Shorter sentences work better for
younger readers. (See the ADLC writers’ guides for recommended sentence lengths for different grades.) Ideally,
simplify sentences and limit each to one idea.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
4 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Flow/cohesion
Equally important as sentence length is the flow within each. Keep content flowing logically, so that no one has
to backtrack to check if they understood or, worse, correct themselves. (“Cut the green wire after you cut the red
wire” would be unnerving instructions for a bomb disposal crew.)
Example: Have you ever tried to walk in very breezy weather? It can be difficult! Often, we
experience wind, but we do not often think about it until it blows in our faces or causes damage. The
interesting thing about wind is that, if we understand it, we can use it to our advantage.
Err on the side of repetition and clarity, rather than forcing backtracking. Do your pronouns correspond with your
nouns? Do your readers have to go back to check what “it,” “these,” and “they” correspond with?
Part 3: Consistency
When writing, we constantly make choices. Ten or 10? The Globe and Mail or the Globe and Mail? Colour or
color? Commas, em-dashes, or parentheses around a nonrestrictive clause? To hyphenate a prefix or to close a
compound?
These are not decisions about what is right and what is wrong. In a professionally edited document, these
choices are made consistently. In a professionally run publications program, they are made the same way in all
materials.
In this section, we provide some guidance on the issues where we face such choices.
How we treat words
Spelling
Set the language of the Word documents you work on to English (Canada).
Use The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling (the current edition is the 20th) to check spelling. Caps and Spelling
tells you which words to capitalize and the preferred spellings for those words that have variants (see a very short
list below). For words that aren’t in Caps and Spelling, the editors at Canadian Press suggest you look in the
Oxford Canadian Dictionary. This dictionary hasn’t been updated since 2006, and probably won’t be again, but
no more recent Canadian dictionary is as good, and Caps and Spelling is written to be used in conjunction with
it.
As a general rule:
• Use –our instead of –or when there is an option: colour, not color; favourite, not favorite; humour, not
humor
• Use –re instead of –er when there is an option: centre, not center; theatre, not theater; kilometre, not
kilometer
• Words ending in ward do not have an s.: inward, not inwards; forward, not forwards; westward, not
westwards
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
5 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
• Use double consonants when they are optional: labelled, not labeled; modelling, not modeling;
counsellor, not counselor
• Use –ize endings, not –ise ones, and –yze endings not –yse ones: rationalize, not rationalise; legalize, not
legalise; analyze not analyse
• Diphthongs: anaemia not anemia; manoeuvre not maneuvre; but estrogen not oestrogen and hemorrhage
not haemorrhage; pediatrician not paediatrician but aesthetics not esthetics. Use Caps and Spelling and
the Canadian Oxford Dictionary to verify variants in spelling
• Plurals of imported words: appendixes not appendices; indexes not indices; formulas not formulae
• Practise as the verb and practice as the noun; similarly, license and licence
Hyphenation
A hyphen is the shortest of the dashes that you use in writing: it is the connector, joining parts of words to make
another word or joining to other words to alter their meaning.
Hyphens within words are disappearing. Words are closing, driven largely by the advertising industry, which
doesn’t like little lines cluttering up pretty copy. As much as possible, join prefixes to their stems:
online; substandard; postdoctoral; nonrestrictive; antiapartheid
Use a hyphen between two of the same vowel (pre-empt), three of the same consonant (doll-like) and between
two prefixes (anti-disestablishment).
Always take into account possible misreading (“Re-sort the resort photos”) or hesitation or unintended giggles
(cooperating with chickens, agricultural coworkers).
Hyphens between words are used to clarify meaning. Hyphenate compound modifiers before the word they
modify:
Well-researched project vs. a project that is well researched; third-floor office vs. the office on the third
floor; mental-health worker;
unless the first word is an –ly adverbs. Because adverbs modify only the adjective, hyphens are unnecessary:
An extensively researched project cannot be confused for an extensively project
One of the best guides on the hyphenation is the Chicago Manual of Style. It’s free and online:
www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/images/ch07_tab01.pdf
Noun Strings
Nouns strings are nouns in a row. The more there are, the more difficult it is to read. For example:
Original: NASA continues to work on the International Space Station astronaut living quarters module
development project.
Better: NASA is still developing the module that will provide living quarters for the astronauts aboard the
ISS.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
6 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
• Eliminate those nouns that add little meaning to the sentence, for example, project in the example above.
• Look for nouns that are nominalizations (nouns formed from verbs. These often end in “tion” (e.g.,
nominalization, implementation, modification) or “ent” (e.g., development) and convert them back to the
verb (e.g., implement, modify, develop) to make your sentence clearer.
• Break up the remaining nouns.
• Replace a name with its well-known abbreviation (e.g., ISS for International Space Station) but only use
abbreviations if each shows up more than three times in the text. And remember that an abbreviationpeppered text is not necessarily more readable.
Abbreviations
Use abbreviations, acronyms (pronounced as words, e.g., NATO), and initialisms (where you pronounce the
letters, e.g., WHO) if the term that they come from is used more than three times in your text.
As a general rule, the first time a term you want to abbreviate appears in text, write the complete term first and
then its abbreviation in parentheses:
World Health Organization (WHO)
Sometimes, however, the abbreviation is better known than what it stands for (e.g., DNA stands for
deoxyribonucleic acid). That being the case, you may choose to explain the term after the abbreviation.
Use abbreviations, etc., sparingly; a text dotted with abbreviations becomes very difficult to read.
Use periods in
but not in
abbreviations that end in lowercase, for example, etc.;
e.g.; i.e.; St.; a.m.; p.m.; Mr.; Mrs.; Jr.; Sr.; Assoc.;
Asst.
acronyms, which are said like a word, e.g., CD-ROM,
NORAID
except degrees, e.g., MPhil; MDiv
or initialisms, where the individual letters are spelled
out, e.g., WHO, AD, BCE (before the Common Era),
CST
Imperial units, e.g., in
metric units
postal abbreviations of provinces, e.g., AB, and
countries, e.g., US
Treat plurals and possessives of acronyms as common nouns.
How you pronounce an abbreviation determines whether a or an precedes it, e.g., a CD-ROM holder, an ADLC
employee.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
7 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Capitalization
In headings:
• Capitalize all words except articles, conjunctions, and prepositions of four or fewer letters.
• Capitalize articles, conjunctions, and prepositions if they immediately follow a period, colon, or dash or if
they are the first or last word.
• Do not capitalize the second word in a hyphenated compound unless it is a proper noun or adjective.
• Do not use a terminal period.
Comments on Venues and Governance Suggestions Through Volunteer-run Conferences
In text:
• All sentences start with a capital letter unless


You have a sentence within a sentence
The first word is a name that uses lowercase (e.g., k.d.lang, iTunes)
• Please Don’t Capitalize Important Words. Neither job titles (the prime minister vs. Prime Minister Steven
Harper) nor places (the university vs. the University of Alberta) need this treatment.
• Capitalize languages (German), nationalities (French), and races (Black, White).
• Generally speaking, capitalize people’s and place names and things named after people or places (e.g.,
Kenora dinner jacket; Phillips screwdriver; Labrador or Great Dane vs. dachshund).
• Start all lists, unless consisting of one- or two-word entry items, with a capital letter (see Lists).
• Grade 3 (but third grade student), Chapter 4 (but fourth chapter).
• AVOID CAPITALIZING TOO MANY WORDS. ALTHOUGH THIS IS OFTEN DONE TO INDICATE THAT
SOMETHING IS IMPORTANT, words in uppercase are less readable. It may also come over that you are
shouting.
To check capitalization, use Canadian Press Caps and Spelling. (The current edition is the 20th.)
Apostrophes
Use for possession and to show that you’re leaving out stuff.
For possession:
Singular nouns and plural nouns that don’t end with an s take an apostrophe s:
Alberta's First Nations’ homes, ADLC’s website, children’s toys, a month’s pay
but plural nouns or places or organizations that end with an s take the apostrophe alone:
students’ grades, 22 months’ pregnant, the United States' president
Singular nouns and those ending with an s (or an s sound) used to take just an apostrophe but now tend to take
an apostrophe s: Saks’s front door; Sussex’s views.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
8 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
However, try saying words with more than one s-sounding syllable out loud with the added s. If they are too
difficult to pronounce, add the apostrophe alone: Jesus’ cross, Mars’ colour, Brahms’ concerto.
French names that end with a silent s or x take an apostrophe s: Boulez’s score.
If the usage is more descriptive than possessive, drop the apostrophe: First Nations and Inuit lands.
If you share something with another person, share the apostrophe too: Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
Otherwise: Ben’s and Jerry’s mansions.
Inanimate objects can’t possess. They take an of: the flavour of the ice cream, the size of the mansion
For left-out letters and numbers and when verbs are made from capital letters: Dad ok’d it and we’re headin’ to
the ‘80s party.
Use an apostrophe in plurals of lowercase letters and in words being discussed as words:
She played x’s and I played o’s in Tic Tac Toe
but not for uppercase letters or numbers:
I got As in my mid-term in the 1980s
nor for plurals of words that don’t usually form plurals:
ifs and buts
How we treat numbers
Numbers
Spell out the numbers one to nine unless the number:
•
•
•
Represents data (e.g., 6%) or a measure (5 °C)
Is part of a group (e.g., 1 out of 100, 2 out of 17)
Is part of a name (e.g., Chapter 3 vs. third chapter, Grade 5 vs. fifth grade)
Use commas (not spaces) between triads of digits in a number, e.g., 4,000
Do not use ordinals in dates e.g., March 21, 2015, not March 21st, 2015.
Write out ordinal numbers in text e.g., one-hundredth footman, sixth grade.
Use a colon to separate hours, minutes, and seconds and periods before fractions of a second: 8 a.m. (not
8:00 a.m.); 7:30 p.m.; a record time of 1:25:15.4.
Symbols
Use symbols in data-rich documents, e.g., for science, math, economics, etc. texts. Otherwise, use the words.
However, incorporate all into a glossary.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
9 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Is there any time that you need to use Imperial units of measure rather than S. I. units? If so, use parentheses to
show equivalents: 75 centimetres (68 inches) in height; bake at 200 °C (400 F)
Use a non-breaking space [Ctrl + Shift + Space] between the numeral and the symbol so the symbol will stay on
the same line as the value. Add such space before all symbols, even % and °C, but not before plane angles:
Barrhead, Alberta, which lies at 54.1167° N, 114.4000° W, is where 0.1 % of Albertans live and enjoy
average spring temperatures of 10 °C.
Periods are unnecessary after scientific and metric symbols (but do include them after Imperial units, e.g., in.).
Use a hyphen in the written but not the numerical adjectival form: a 35 kg weight versus a 35-kilogram weight.
How we treat sentences: punctuation
Here follows the quickest of guides, arranged alphabetically. For more information, see the resource we
recommend for grammar.
Remember: Add only one space after punctuation—even terminal punctuation like a period, an
exclamation mark, or a question mark.
Colons
The friendly colon introduces many things:
• A direct quotation that is set off from the rest of the sentence. It can be something short:
He gasped: “Rosebud!”
or much, much longer (in which case it is usually set off in a block quote)
• Lists, texts, and tables
• A statement within a sentence: This is the rule: write in easy, conversational English.
• What is said in a Q&A format or in interviews:
A: How are you?
B: I’m fine. And you?
A: Good!
• For writing time, to separate hours, minutes and seconds in clock and elapsed times: 8 a.m.; 7:30 p.m.;
a record time of 1:25:15.4
• A letter, a speech, or other formal greeting: Dear Dr. Smith:; Mr. Speaker:
Commas
Use a closed style of punctuation, which uses more commas. A closed style is easier for writers to use and for
students to parse.
Use a serial (“Oxford”) comma before the last entry in a list:
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
10 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Biology is just chemistry, chemistry is just physics, and physics is just math.
Pepper your adjective strings with commas:
Use commas between your numerous, necessary, descriptive, colourful adjectives.
Use commas with co-ordinate conjunctions that join two clauses (FANBOYS is the mnemonic to use to
remember the co-ordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so):
The writers loved the lengthy descriptions, but their readers found these incomprehensible.
unless the co-ordinate clauses are very short or very closely related:
Writers write and readers enjoy
or have the same subject:
The writers loved the subject matter and wrote extensively about it all day long
unless the clauses are not closely related:
The writers wrote extensively, but found the task to be joyful and lucrative as the subject matter was so
enthralling.
Use commas with subordinate conjunctions if these lead the sentence:
Re-read this style guide if it helps you to remember rules of punctuation.
If it helps you to remember rules of punctuation, re-read this style guide.
Use commas to offset a parenthetical element or nonrestrictive phrase:
But, as my former teacher, Ms. Zola, used to say, “Make sure that you do, in fact, really need it.”
and etc., e.g., and i.e., though only use the last two in parentheses:
My tools, that is, my pencils, rulers, erasers, etc., are all in my bag
and years and place names that follow a smaller place:
I’m looking forward to the next seminars because Barrhead, Alberta, is a place I’ve never visited.
Use commas with an introductory clause or phrase, even a very short one:
If you miss this seminar, you will have to borrow someone’s notes. [introductory clause]
Of all the chemical changes in living and non-living systems, electrochemical reactions are the most
common. [introductory phrase]
In 2010, he gained notoriety as an editor [even with an introductory phrase as short as this]
and with conjunctive adverbs and prepositional phrases:
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
11 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
However, no one noticed his notoriety. As a result, he frequently kicked the furniture, for example, his
locker.
Eventually, she got to the point.
But not with an adverbial clause
She got to the point as the lecture was drawing to an end.
Dashes: em ’n’ en
The longest of the dashes, em-dashes (Word shortcut key: [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [-] on number keypad), set off an
interjection in a sentence while emphasizing it (unlike parentheses, which minimize the additional information) or
showing a marked change in thought.
Despite—or maybe because of—long hours spent washing dishes in the restaurant, he worked hard to
get good grades.
However, remember the guideline to reduce wordiness and limit sentences to one idea? That being the case,
use em-dashes sparingly.
En-dashes (Word shortcut key: [Ctrl] + [-] on number keypad) behave like hyphens, joining prefixes or suffixes to
a compound:
post–nine-eleven policies; pre–World War II
and nouns (or names) of equal weight:
mother–child bond; London–Paris train
Use them in ranges of numbers:
pages 111–115
Note: both em-dashes and en-dashes are closed up, meaning that there are no spaces around them.
Exclamation Marks
Show surprise (What a shot!) or strong emotion (Oh, shoot!) or a command (“Shoot now!” shouted the coach)
and in questions that are really exclamations (How could our team have let them get away with that shot!)
Use exclamation marks sparingly. Most sentences neither need nor benefit from this terminal punctuation and
the wording alone suggests the untended meaning. And never use more than one exclamation mark!
Ellipses
Ellipses mean something has been left out from your text or quote. “Mary had a little lamb … the lamb was sure
to go.”
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
12 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
In the middle of a sentence text, frame the three dots on either side with a space. At the end of a sentence,
position the three dots immediately after your terminal punctuation. “Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as
snow….”
Parentheses
Outside of math, use parentheses sparingly. Parentheses denote (wait for it) parenthetical information that has
little or no effect on the meaning of the sentence. Rather than use them, try to recast the sentence.
Use parentheses to enclose:
• Equivalents: two inches (five centimetres) of rain
• Translations: Ministère de la santé et services sociaux de Québec (The Ministry of Health and Social
Services in Quebec)
• Acronyms, initialisms, or other abbreviations when you first bring them up: World Health Organization
(WHO)
Periods
Periods stop, space, and divide.
Use them:
• At the end of a declarative sentence, an indirect question, a request phrased as a question, or a rhetorical
question
• In and at the end of abbreviations that end in lowercase letter, for example, etc.; e.g.; i.e.; Gr.; St.; vs.;
a.m. and p.m. (see also Abbreviations)
• Between initials, e.g., R. F. Staples High School
but not in initials that have become a name, e.g., JFK, or acronyms and initialisms, e.g., WHO, UNICEF,
NORAID.
• Between numbers—as a decimal point.
Omit periods after headings, figure captions (which are mini headings), roman numerals, single letters (except
initials) and S. I. symbols.
NB. Add only one space after a period at the end of a sentence.
Question Marks
Use a question mark after a direct question.
What time is it?
“What time is it?” he asked.
but not after an indirect one.
He asked what time it was.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
13 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
or if your “question” is not really a question:
Would you mind passing me that file.
How could our team have let them get away with that shot!
Use a question mark if you are unsure of something,
Anne Hathaway, who was born in Shottery in 1555 (?), married William Shakespeare when he was still an
unknown, in 1582.
Quotation Marks
Use double quotation marks around quoted material. Use North American publishing standards of punctuation
with quotation marks:
• Commas and periods go inside the quotations marks.
• All other punctuation goes inside the quotations marks if they are part of the quote. Otherwise, colons,
semicolons, exclamation points, and dashes of all shapes and sizes go outside the quotation marks.
Use single quotation marks to set off a quote within a quote:
He turned to me and asked, “Are you aware that ‘homogenous’ means the same as ‘homogeneous’”?
For emphasis, foreign terms, etc., use italics. See Italics or Quotation Marks (or bolding or nothing).
Semicolons
Unless you’re really comfortable with using semicolons, turn your two closely related statements or independent
clauses into one or two sentences or into one.
I’m too tired to continue this; I am going to bed.
I’m too tired to continue this so I am going to bed.
Where semicolons are worth their weight in gold commas is in lists made up of phrases with internal punctuation.
ADLC was represented at the symposium by Esther Kupsch, High School Assistant Principal; Jason Wiks,
Project Development Coordinator; Donna Silgard, Learning Resources Business Manager; and Ralph
Helder, Director.
Slash
Slash away to:
Present choices: and/or, either/or
but not he/she (see “The Singular and the Epicene They”)
• Show per in measurements: 50 km/h
• Separate the numerator and denominator in fractions: 1/50
•
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
14 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
How we treat text
Definitions
Although glossary entries should be short and to the point, they need to be written at the grade level of the
intended audience. Include specific examples for readers.
Headings
Headings serve to:
• Guide readers through a document, helping them find things in it. Written properly, headings are like a
map of the document.
• Connect new material with readers’ current knowledge.
• Act like introductions, and entice readers.
• Guide the writing process.
• Show how well balanced your text is
Have headings explain, concisely, what the following text is about. This helps readers navigate through the table
of contents, reminding them what they’ve read and hinting at what’s to come.
Original: Have you ever wondered what GMOs are or what all the hype is about with genetic
technology?
Better: What are GMOs and what is all the hype about with genetic technology?
Best: Break into two lessons, the first with the heading (and answering the question) “What are GMOs?”
and the second with the heading (and answering the question) “What is all the hype about genetic
technology?” (or, “Why all the hype about genetic technology?”)
ADLC learning resources are partitioned into:
• Unit: A complete learning experience where the chosen general and specific outcomes align to the
instruction, assessments, and resources.
• Section: A subdivision of a unit that includes multiple lessons.
• Lesson: A period of instruction equal to one class, where students move through a planned learning path
based on a specific set of outcomes.
Use the predefined font and size for all headings of the same weight.
All figure captions in print need to be numbered.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
15 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Italics or Quotation Marks (or bolding or nothing)
Italics
Quotation marks
Non-English and foreign words, including
species (Latin) names, but not words that
are now commonly used in English, e.g.,
et al., a priori, etc.
Bolding
Nothing
Words and
terms linked to
the ADLC online
glossary
New and key terms, e.g., The word
bungalow is derived from Hindi.
For emphasis
Titles of longer works:
Titles of shorter works:
CD, movie, DVD titles
Names of songs
TV program
Episode name
Books title*
Chapter title
Magazine or journal title
Article title
Epic poems
Shorter poem
Collections of short stories
Short story titles
Blogs*
Blog posts
Titles of websites
Website pages
*Book series
and websites
are unformatted
though pages
within the sites
are set in
quotation marks.
Paintings and photographs
Names of ships, trains, airplanes, etc.
Acts and legal cases
For emphasis
Justification
Left-justify text. The ragged right look to a left-justified text makes it easier to read and follow it. It stops you from
jumping lines and it’s easier to find your place again if you have to look away.
Lists
Use lists to present:
• A collection of similar or related items. Explain what the relation is if it isn’t clear:
The circulatory system has three distinct circulations:
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
16 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
•
•
•
The coronary circulation, which provides blood to the heart muscle
The pulmonary circulation, which oxygenates blood and releases carbon dioxide from the body
The systemic circulation, which transports blood to the rest of the body
• A group of items that have some sort of order (rank, time, spatial, alphabetical, numerical, logical,
indexed):
1. Click here to view the self-assessment for this assignment. Copy and paste it into your
assignment and complete your self-assessment.
2. Click here to view the rubric the teacher will use to assess your work. You’ll see that it’s quite
similar to the self-assessment you just used!
3. Save this assignment as <suggested filename>.
4. Submit the self-assessment via your Dropbox.
Other rules to lists include:
Follow the sentence or phrase that introduces the list with a colon.
Use parallel constructions in lists. Each entry here starts with the imperative form of a verb.
End list items with periods if all of them are complete sentences; otherwise omit terminal punctuation.
Number your list if the entries are in a particular order. Otherwise, use bullets or checkboxes.
Have nine items or fewer in your list. If you have more items:
o Break the list into two or more.
o Chunk items in a list.
 Indent a list to show internal hierarchy (like with the items above).
 Complete your list.





Alberta Distance Learning Centre
17 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Visuals/Graphics
Visuals or graphics are meant to complement and add clarity to your text. Often they can convey information
more effectively than words alone do. However, as with an overuse of words or
Lists
Show similar or related items in a group
This table is, in fact, a list
Tables
Present a large amount of material in a smaller
space than you could do in text. Tables also allow
you to compare information quickly and easily
Compare the surface areas of
all the countries
Photos
Show the actual appearance of a person,
scenery, etc.
Videos
Show movement or, if in slow motion, changes
with time, with or without sound
A horse running; a volcano
exploding; a leaf growing
Auditory clips
Demonstrate sound only
Historic clips, e.g., “The King’s
Speech”
Drawings and diagrams
To show the appearance of an object but not in
great detail, either because using a photo would
not be clearer or because additional information
would be distracting
Plans (vs. aerial views)
Maps
To show the geographical relationship between
places
Charts
Graphs and pie-charts display numerical material
Symbols / icons
Quick labels for text
Flowcharts
To show processes
e.g.:

Biochemical chains of reaction,
e.g., Krebs cycle
How we treat sections
To see how we partition ADLC learning resources, see Headings.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
18 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Usage
The main point of this section is that language changes and you need to be aware of and open to these
changes. You need to decide, as an organization, how you are going to proceed with some “optional”
grammatical constructions.
The Singular and the Epicene They
A lot has been written about this recently. How this is not a new way to talk about males or females but is a term
has been revived as a way to avoid:
• Using “he” to speak for all genders: Everyone should get his handout.
• Using “he or she” to include for all genders: Everyone should get his or her handout.
• Assigning any gender.
Everyone should get their handout.
Some people may still balk at this usage—you can try rephrasing the sentence if you wish—but the epicene they
is more than likely here to stay.
Which/That/Who/Whom
Which pronoun to use? That is the question. Whom should we ask?
The pronoun who refers to people, and which and that to nonhumans.
The seminar had 12 participants, who all brought dogs. [who used for people]
The seminar had 12 participants and their dogs, which irritated the cats. [which used for nonhumans]
The organization that let the dogs and cats come to the seminar lost their deposit.
You can use that with people but editors tend to wince:
The people that [preferable: who] let the dogs and cats come to the seminar lost their deposit
Conversely, some people get offended when you refer to their pets as “it.”
Who/Whom
Which do you use?
Who (subjective) should help us?
Whom (objective) should we ask to help us?
How do we work out which to use? Rephrase the question or statement and see if you can use “him” in the
answer
Who (subjective) should help us? He should.
Whom (objective) should we ask to help us? We should ask him.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
19 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
But not using whom is gradually gaining acceptance. Most people would use “who” in speech and many writers
think writing should be like speech.
Other Things to Consider
Remember: language changes. And we need to be open to changes. Twenty years ago, the instructors
teaching my editing courses were lamenting the use of the expression “grow your business” as grammatically
incorrect. Presently (which is, after a three-century break, again gaining acceptance to mean now or currently),
this expression is still stock phrase, a cliché, in fact, that impacts few of us. (See what I’m doing here?). Other
expressions currently frowned upon in formal writing may be generally accepted soon. While we recommend
being careful and, in particular, avoiding slang (because nothing dates your document faster), keep checking
reputable sources (see For Style and Usage).
Use the following words with care as their usage is not universally accepted:
access (v.) vs. gain access
action (v.) and actionable (adj.)
whom vs. who
alternate (adj.) vs. alternative
as to mean because
while vs. whereas
although vs. even though
orientate (v.) vs. orient (v.)
fulsome
over vs. more than
author (v.) vs. write
impact (v.) vs. affect
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
20 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Part 4: Working with SEO
Websites and SEO
How you present information depends on the medium that will be used to present it. Everything that has been
outlined so far in this style guide applies to both online and print documents.
We use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make it easier for people to find ADLC sites when they do an
online search through Google or another search engine.
SEO relies heavily on keywords that users are most likely to use. As a result, your copy may morph between
leaving your desk and going live. Words and terms and the overall length of your carefully crafted text may
change.
Trust the ADLC SEO experts who know the alternate spellings and terms and other means to bring readers to
the ADLC website.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
21 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4
Part 4: Resources
This style guide is intended as a quick reference. It doesn’t pretend to cover every possible issue that can come
up in writing.
If you’ve checked the spelling or grammatical issue that concerns you and not found it here, look in the following
places:
For Spelling
The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling. (The current edition is the 20th.) This book is just what it sounds like:
guidance on which words to capitalize, and preferred spellings for words that have variant spellings.
For words that aren’t in Caps and Spelling, the editors at Canadian Press suggest you look in:
The Oxford Canadian Dictionary. It hasn’t been updated since 2006, and probably won’t be again, but no more
recent Canadian dictionary is as good, and Caps and Spelling is written to be used in conjunction with the
Oxford Canadian.
For Style and Usage
Much of the material in The Canadian Press Stylebook (the current edition is the 17th) is not relevant to
educational writing. Its main readership is journalists, especially those working for Canadian Press. But the “Tools
and Technical Guides” section is clear, well-organized, and very useful.
For the finer points of Canadian usage, see the Editors Canada’s Editing Canadian English (3rd edition).
For usage and changes in usage, Garner’s Modern American Usage is extremely useful. He defines
contemporary English (principally US, though much also applies to Canadian English) to five levels of
acceptance, from “rejected” (for an entirely new form) through “widely shunned” (used by a significant number of
people but still not standard), “widespread but...” (avoided in careful usage), and “ubiquitous but…” (still adhered
to by some “linguistic stalwarts” or “die-hard snoots”) to “fully accepted.”
For Grammar
Anne Stilman, Grammatically Correct, second edition (2010). There are many good grammar books. Stilman’s
has several advantages—it is readable, easy to use, and has good examples and even a few exercises. And,
unlike most grammar books, it seems to be virtually free of errors and unsupported assertions.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre
22 |
Editorial Style Guide – June 2015
4601 – 63 Avenue (Box 4000)
Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1P4