7 :.; . 1, United States General Accounting Office * ‘gp- G A O Office of Publishing and Communications II SHilIlli iil11I1lll11Il1T 1i 11111111 ___-~-- -.-/ r: 136074 The attached chapters on "Words," "Capitalization," and "Itemization" are part of 11 revised chapters that will supersede chapters of the GAO Style Manual. Please insert them in the red binder and remove any corresponding material. (Additional binders are available from the Writing Resources Branch, 275-3798) These revisions to the GAO Style Manual are generally consistent with the first edition: Words Into Type remains the basis for most editorial decisions except for those on numerals, which continue to be derived from the Government Printing Office's Style Manual. The Editorial Style Committee has also ensured consistency between this revision and the GAO Operations Manual: Supplement for Secretazs and Typists, The manual has been revised to -- reflect changes in GAO's new design, -- provide an efficient format for deciding issues of editorial style, and -- provide a guide for using various references as tools to improve the quality of our products. I would like to thank the members of the Editorial Style Committee--Jean Knowles (OPC), Diane Lee (OPC), Donna Leiss (GGD), Judy Manhan (GGD), Beth Morrison (RCED), Nancy Ragsdale (NSIAD), and Earl Williams (RCED)--whose deliberations were essential to revising this manual, as well as all the other contributors--too many to name here --whose comments were beneficial. Larry/E. Rolufs, Director Office of Publishing and Communications GAO/:OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7187 ~- L.___- *-- r Chapter 1 Words Standard Dictionary 1 Spelling 1 Word Division 1 Technical Language and Jargon 2 Abbreviations and Acronyms 3 Compounding 6 Usage 19 Chapter 2 Capitalization General Guidance 21 Titles and Headings 21 Proper Nouns and Adjectives 21 Chapter 3 Itemization Advantages 25 General Principles 25 Bulleting 26 Determining Punctuation and Capitalization 27 Chapter 4 Numerals Chapter 5 Quoted Material Chapter 6 Footnotes Chapter 7 Bibliographies Chapter 8 Legal Citations Chapter 9 Sexism in Language Chapter 10 Tables Chapter 11 Miscellaneous Page i GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7/87 Contents Appendixes Appendix I: List of Alternatives to Bureaucratic Language Appendijr II: Passage Illustrating How to Reduce Acronym Usage Annotated Bibliography Glossary Page ii GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7/87 L. * TRANSMITTAL SHEET NO. 2 l The following three chapters of the Style Manual have been revised in response to review comments: "Words," "Capitalization," and "Itemization." Significant changes include expanding and clarifying guidance on -- compounding, -- acronyms, -- rephrasing bureaucratic language, -- capitalizing position titles, and -- punctuating items in a series. FILING INSTRUCTIONS REMOVE INSERT chapters 10 and 12 chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 2 chapter 7 chapter 3 appendixes I-II . Rolufs, Director Office of Publishing and Communications GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7187 L1* CEMXLIST OF TRAN!%ITFAL SHEETS PEOCEDDRES Upon receipt of each transmittal sheet, the recipient should date and briefly describe the subject(s) in the blanks following the appropriate number. A,break in the continuity of transmittal sheets will indicate missing changes. Copies of missing transmittal sheets can be obtained from Distribution, room 4026. Transmittal Date Subject(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ( 15 16 17 18 GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7/87 Chapter 1 WORDS STANDARD DICTIONARY GAO's standard authority on spelling, usage, and word division is Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Consult Webster's Third New International Dictionary (unabridged) or an appropriate technical dictionary for any words not found in this dictionary. (See chapter on references.) SPELLING Follow Webster's for preferred spellings (not.the U.S. Government Printing Office's Style Manual). Be careful with words such as "gauge" (not "gage"), "align" (not "aline"), "judgment" (not "judgement"), "programming" (not "programing"), and "acknowledgment" (not "acknowledgement"). Use only the first spelling given in the dictionary (e.g., "requester" and "adviser"). Be careful with the plurals of these words. appendix, appendixes maximum, maxima basis, bases memorandum, memorandums crisis, crises minimum, minima criterion, criteria minutia, minutiae curriculum, curricula money, moneys datum, data parenthesis, parentheses formula, formulas phenomenon, phenomena index, indexes stimulus, stimuli synopsis, synopses WORD DIVISION Do not divide words (other than hyphenated words, such as "step-by-step") in documents that will be typeset because line length will change during typesetting. However, during the page proof stage, carefully check division of words that can be used as more than one part of speech since the typesetter cannot make such distinctions (e.g., whether "project" is a verb or noun). In addition to following the guidance in Words Into Type (especially the rules on p. 239), ensure that word divisions on page proofs for typeset reports and on final copy for all other products follow this guideline: maintain a minimum of three characters on the first line and four characters on the second line (e.g., the verb "pro-ject" can be divided at a line's end, but the noun "proj-ect" cannot). Page 1 GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7/87 Chapter 1 Words If you are unable to check the division of a word you are unsure of, revise the sentence to avoid breaking the word at all. During a final proofing, use professional judgment to determine if correcting the rare "error" in word ( division warrants the extra delay. Also, ensure that a word is consistently divided throughout a document. TEXXNICAL LANGUAGE Distinguish between accepted technical terms recognized AND JARGON by a general audience ("biotechnology") and those recognized only by a limited audience ("hybridoma"). Avoid words not commonly in use except for necessary technical terms. If you cannot find a word in Webster's and it is not a necessary technical term, try to find a plain English synonym. Rephrase all jargon into more meaningful expressions. (Also, see ch. 6 on technical language in GAO's Writing Guidelines.) BUREAUCRATIC LANGUAGE Avoid stilted, inflated language whose tone would annoy readers, and choose words that are appropriate for the context. (See app. I for alternatives to bureaucratic words and phrases.) Notice how revising the following constructions reduces wordiness and avoids a bureaucratic tone. -- Replace weak nouns with stronger verb forms (e.g., "GAO made an evaluation of" should become "GAO evaluated"). -- Replace wordy phrases with more concise words (e.g., "at this point in time" should become "now"). -- Avoid redundancies (e.g., 'basiC fundamentals" should become "basics" or "fundamentals" and "absolutely complete" should become "complete"). Avoid new coinages created by juggling suffixes (e.g., "numeralize" or "safetywise"). Even though Webster's may include some of these trendy words, avoid overusing them, especially those ending in "ize" or "ization" (e.g., "finalize," "prioritize," "politicization," or "institutionalization"). Avoid using "input" as a verb. Page 2 GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7187 Chapter 1 Words ABBREVIATIONS AND Be careful not to overuse abbreviations and acronyms. ACROMyMS Always use professional judgment to determine whether an abbreviation, acronym, shortened title, or full name will be easiest for the reader to understand, especially in introductory sections of a report. To verify the exact wording of a federal name, use the United States Government Manual. USAGE Write out the full name of any title the first time it is used. However, since report covers contain GAO's full name and acronym, there is no need to write "GAO" out the first time it is used in the body of a report. Write out the name of a division before using its acronym. Titles, headings, and executive summaries may use familiar acronyms, such as the following: CIA, CPA, FAA, FBI, DCD, GAO, IRS, NASA, NATO, U.N., U.S., U.S.S.R., and VA. Abbreviations and acronyms are especially useful to conserve space in captions, charts, tables, financial statements, footnotes, and bibliographies. As an aid to the reader, consider writing out a title instead of using an acronym if the acronym has not been used recently. While sentences can begin with acronyms, do not begin a sentence with an abbreviation. When the last letter of an acronym refers to a generic noun, such as system, plan, or program, do not repeat the generic noun after the acronym (e.g., write "system" or "HIS" to refer to "Health Information System"; do not write "HIS system," which is redundant). LISTING ABBREVIATIONS List all abbreviations and/or acronyms in the table of AND ACRONYMS IN THE contents. Include "GAO" so it will be correctly TABLE OF CONTENTS typeset throughout the report. In the list of abbreviations, acronyms composed of all capitals will be typeset in small caps. Acronyms that are composed of upper- and lowercase letters (e.g., "FmHA") and abbreviations with multiple words (e.g., "Trident 11/D-5") will be set in regular typeface. Page 3 GAO/OPC-87-l Style Manual 7/87 Chapter 1 Words SHORTENED VERSIONS OF Sometimes a shortened form of a title can be more OFFICIAL TITLES meaningful than its acronym form (e.g., "Justice" for "Department of Justice" is better than "DOJ"). Check with the evaluator to determine agency usage and wording for shortened versions of titles or names, or refer to GPO's "List of Standard Word Abbreviations" and "List of Letter Symbols for Units of Measure" (pp. 143-153). If the usage is not covered there, refer to Webster's Guide to Abbreviations. When using the shortened form of a federal entity, retain the same appellation throughout the product (e.g., consistently use "Census" as the shortened form for "Bureau of the Census" rather than alternating to "Bureau" occasionally). ABBREVIATING "UNITED Abbreviate "United States" when used as an adjective STATES" (e.g., "U.S. Geological Survey," "U.S. monitor Nantucket," or "U.S. wheat production"). However, to maintain parallelism in a compound, write "United States" so it corresponds to the other part of the expression (e.g., "U.S.-U.S.S.R. armament negotiations" but "United States-Soviet trade talks"). Write out "United States" when used-as a noun (e.g., "gross national product of the United States"). If at all possible, revise report titles to meet length limitations without using "U.S." as a noun (e.g., instead of "Forest Trade in the U.S.," write "U.S. Forest Trade"). ABBREVIATING STATE NAMES Use zip code abbreviations (e.g., "CA" for California) only in addresses. Otherwise, use the abbreviations in Words Into Type, page 108 (e.g., "Calif." or "Cal."). ABBREVIATING FISCAL YEAR Write out "fiscal year" in the narrative. If space is needed, abbreviate it in captions, charts, and tables in this order of preference: FY 1986, FY 86. ABBREVIATING TEXTUAL Write out "page," "chapter," "footnote," and "appendix" REFERENCES when they are used in a direct textual reference. Abbreviate them if they are used in parentheses and accompanied by a number(s) (e.g., "p. 16," "ch. 3," "fn. 2," and "app. I"). Write a shortened version of a document's official title the same way as the original (e.g., Webster's refers to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Page 4 GAO/OPC-87-1 Style Manual 7/87