Publishing Guide
8.11 Copyediting
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to
- Identify inclusive elements of style for your OER style guide.
Following, Making, and Breaking Rules of Style
As part of the OER review process, a copyeditor will polish your content. Before you turn over your work, though, it will be good for you to document the rules of style you would like your copy editor to follow. In your team’s Google folder we have placed a style sheet for you to modify with specific guidelines for your copy editor. Below you will find the style guides we included in your style sheet as well as some guidance for modifications.
Creative Commons Attribution
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Your references of copyrighted materials are distinguishable from attributing openly licensed materials with the TASL (Title, Author, Source, License) format. To review TASL formatting, visit our chapter on Creative Commons (CC) licensing, take a peak at the example below, or dive into CC’s recommended practices for diverse media.
Disciplinary Style Guides
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Below are the primary academic style guides for the various disciplines. On your style sheet we ask that you remark any preferences or practices, such as using footnotes or chapter endnotes, which you can learn to add in Pressbooks here.
- “APA (American Psychological Association) Formatting and Style Guide” by Purdue Online Writing Lab
- “Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition” by Purdue Online Writing Lab
- “MLA (Modern Language Association of America) Formatting and Style Guide” by Purdue Online Writing Lab
University Style Guides
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While you may use disciplinary style guides for your OER, OERFSJ suggests teams supplement with your academic institution’s style guide for localized information not covered by academic style guides. Institutional style guides are based on the Associate Press (AP) Style, which is used by news organization and should be used for anything published on the web. We recommend using your institutional style guides for local terminology, references, or anything related to branding.
Inclusive Style Guides
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While disciplinary or university style guides are frequently updated you may want to follow style guides designed by and for specific communities. Doing so will ensure you consistently adapt inclusive language or, in the case of Reporting Guides by the Indigenous Journalists Association, understand best practices for engaging with significant or legal events. Consider the following examples:
Representational Style Resources
- APA Guidance on Sexual Orientation
- Disability Style Guide
- Gender references/pronouns
- GLAAD Media Reference Guide
- (Indigenous and Tribal) Reporting Guides by the Indigenous Journalists Association
- Mental health
- National Association of Black Journalists Style Guide
- Diversity and Representation Guidelines (general guide for OER by OpenStax)
- Religion Stylebook
- Teaching Tolerance Terms/Definitions
You should note of any inclusive style guides at the top of your style sheet under the style guides heading and specific rules in the A-Z listing.
Setting Your Own Rules
Now that you have reviewed the possibilities of style guides, deciding what combination will best support your OER, we would like you to document your style rules and exceptions for your publishing team. Particularly your copy editor will utilize your style sheet as a quick reference to uniformly proofread your OER content.
To Do: Create Your Style Sheet
In your team’s Google Drive folder you will find a copy of the OERFSJ style sheet. Complete the style sheet to communicate your style preferences to your publishing team, particularly your copy editor. Remember to add any specific exceptions or rules to the A-Z listing. Please reach out to the OERFSJ team with any questions.
Noting Style for your Reader in your Front Matter
Some of you may have very intentional reasoning and purpose for using some terminology or other stylistic elements in your OER. At times it is beneficial to clarify your decisions for your reader.
For example, when revising The Basics of Health, Wellness, and Fitness (2025), Jessica Alsup distinguished the terms sex and gender for reader’s of the health and exercise science OER (pictured left). Alsup shared the terminology source, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and then defined the terms in the front matter.
Most of you will likely write in terms of gender. In this OER we strove to include a variety of pronouns and used the singular “they” for non-binary folks or unidentified genders. Because the singular they is fairly common in style guides and everyday parlance, we did not make a note of this in our front matter. If you are working with any terminology that may benefit from establishing a common definition and usage for your reader, we encourage you to add a note in your front matter.
Resources
The Basics of Health, Wellness, and Fitness by Jessica Alsop is licensed CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Chicago Manual. (June 22, 2020). “Black and White: A Matter of Capitalization,” CMOS Shop Talk: From The Chicago Manual of Style.
Meir, N. (July 20, 2020). “Why we will lowercase white,” Announcements (Associated Press).
Purdue Online Writing Lab. APA Formatting and Style Guide.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. MLA Formatting and Style Guide.
“Recommended Practices for Attribution” by Creative Commons is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
