Communicating Style Rules to Editors of International Standards: An Analysis of ISO TC 184/SC4 Style Documents    

Committees within international standards organizations write standards. Prior to approval, these standards must pass through several reviews for technical accuracy and stylistic appropriateness. The style considerations are based on documents published by both the umbrella organization (International Organization for Standarization, or ISO) and the various committees and subcommittees within it. Because authors and editors who use these documents frequently do not have English as a first language, the documents must explain unambiguously just how committees should prepare their documents. This study looks at a sample of those instructional documents using Restricted and Elaborated Code and metadiscourse analysis to determine how easily users can read and understand the material. The findings suggest that the documents do not send a clear message to authors and editors and can be stylistically hard to understand. Consequently, the approved standards themselves are hard to read and interpret.

Warren, Thomas L. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Standards

The Curse of Yocto

Several years ago, four new prefixes, for representing very large and very small measurements, were introduced into the International System of Units (Système International d'Unités, or SI): yotta, zetta, zepto and yocto.

Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Style Guides>Standards>Scientific Communication

Nonstandard Quotes: Superimpositions and Cultural Maps      

We regularly chastise students for placing quotation marks around words that are not direct quotations. Yet, as this research shows, professionals use nonstandard quotations routinely and to rhetorical advantage. After analyzing the various purposes nonstandard quotations serve, I argue student use of the marks jars us not because it departs from good practice but because, through them, students invoke voices we do not want to recognize.

Schneider, Barbara. CCC (2002). Articles>Style Guides>Standards>Rhetoric

Spelling in TC-Forum

There are several ways of spelling English – the English/Canadian style, and the American style. Both are correct.

Dobsen, David. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Style Guides>Standards