Open Educational Resources (OER) Program

Readability & Consistency

When information is structured in a consistent and predictable way, it is easier for readers to navigate and comprehend accurately—in line with your intention. "Styles" provide this structure by creating a framework of rules and guidelines for how information is presented and organized within the work. There are many different styles and many subject areas have their own. This guide is primarily based on The Chicago Manual of Style (7), combined with experience developing OER for undergraduate courses. CMS was chosen for its coverage of many subject areas and content types, as well as its consideration for exceptions and variation in writing.

It is important to keep in mind that not all traditional conventions for style or grammar may suit your particular OER project. It may help to keep record of how you use formatting and punctuation to ensure you make consistent choices throughout your project, especially when you deviate from the existing conventions of your chosen style.

• Style focuses on reducing ambiguity, not just grammatical correctness.
• Once you make a style choice, be consistent.
• Don’t rely solely on spell checkers and Grammarly. Reread your content.
• Bold is a good option for key terms or emphasis. The Glossary function in Pressbooks can be used to build a navigable glossary of key terms.
• Focus on clear, simple sentences. Sentences should be complete thoughts, though it can take multiple thoughts/sentences to communicate complete ideas.
• Use the serial (Oxford) comma when ending a list with "and".
• Use one space between words and sentences.
• Don't use underscores to create "blank" fields for activities, especially because they cannot function or be filled in by the learner. Consider using tools like H5P to create interactive content or create and link worksheets that can be downloaded/printed and utilized by the learner.
• Punctuation is typically joined to a word on one or both sides. However, spaces can be used between punctuation and diacritic marks for distinction.
• Use an indent at the beginning of paragraphs or a horizontal space between paragraphs.
• Write in clear, concise statements. Avoid using an overly conversational tone. The way that you speak and the way you write should be different. Remember that readers will not be able to discern your inflections, tone of voice, or facial expressions for clarification. If your sentence can be interpreted in many different ways, rewrite it.
• Utilize existing style conventions for your subject area. It might help you decide how to best represent or communicate some piece of information, but it will also familiarize students to the way information is presented in their field.
  (e.g., Chicago, AP, ACS, APA, AMA, etc.)

Figures

• Place images near the concepts they illustrate.
• Label diagrams and images using a consistent system for easy reference.

Numerals

• Use numerals for numbers 10 and larger, spelling out one through nine.
• Use numerals with quantifiers, such as million or billion.
  (e.g., 2 million)
• Use numerals for measurements, addresses, times, and dates.

Italics

• Italicizing fonts can create a barrier for readers with difficulty reading. We recommend avoiding italics whenever possible. Some instances require their use and are unavoidable, such as citations for certain styles.
• To emphasize a word, choose bolding or quotation marks instead.

Hyphens & Dashes

- Hyphen

• Hyphens are for connecting words that function as one word.
  (e.g., much-needed, high-profile, mass-produced, Spanish-speaking)
   

– En Dash (option ⌥ + hyphen) or (ctrl + hyphen)

• Use an en dash between ranges of numbers.
• Use for a negative (minus) symbol.
• Join names in titles with an en dash.
  (e.g., Myers–Briggs, Wisconsin–Madison)

— Em Dash (shift ⇧ + option ⌥ + hyphen) or (ctrl + alt + hyphen)

• Em dashes can be a better choice than a comma for sudden insertions or breaks in a sentence.
• Denotes interruptions when placed at the end of a sentence.
• Use before attribution at the end of a quote block.

Quotation Marks "x"

• Always use quotation marks in pairs.
• Use quotation marks to indicate exact quotes of people or works.
• Quotation marks can denote when a term is being used ironically.
• Use quotation marks around terms referred to as they appear elsewhere.
  (e.g., Click on “File” and then “Open...” to open a document.)
• Be careful not to use apostrophes as "single" quotation marks unless it is a nested set of quotation marks inside another.
  (e.g., "Yeah, I'd 'love' to go," replied Mark sarcastically.)

Lists

• Use the “Bulleted list” and “Numbered list” options in the PressBooks editor to
  create lists.
• Use bulleted list formatting to emphasize a sequence outside of a sentence.
• Use numbered list formatting for any sequence or list where order or quantity is important.

Title Case

• Use title case in headings and for titles of chapters and sections, especially when punctuation is not present.
  (e.g., An Introduction to Plants and Fungi)
• Title case is not necessary when the heading or title is a question or sentence with punctuation at the end.

Parentheses (x), Brackets [x], & Braces {x}

• Parentheses are for including additional material that has no grammatical relationship to the surrounding text.
• When new acronyms are introduced for the first time, spell them out completely in parentheses.
  (e.g., MSU (Michigan State University) is a land-grant university.)
• Use parentheses for the translation of a preceding term or phrase.
• Use square brackets for the phonetic spelling of a preceding term or phrase.
• Use square brackets to add your own commentary or additional content to work by another author.
• Use square brackets inside parentheses rather than a second set of parentheses.
• Braces are not interchangeable with parentheses or brackets.