Style Manual

Version 2.3 (April 13, 2005--minor updates)

Notes on This Update

The manual is now available both as a single, complete file (which facilitates electronic searches of the entire book) and as individual chapters and appendixes. If you are using Acrobat, clickable bookmarks will appear to the left in the full PDF to aid navigation through the document.

We appreciate hearing any suggestions you might have; we expect to improve this manual often.

Preface to the Second Edition

The RAND Publications Style Manual is intended to provide staff with information on how to handle the mechanics of style--the treatment of words and numbers, citation of sources, and various other conventions--while preparing written documents. The purpose of having a single style for all RAND publications is to simplify the writing, editing, and proofreading processes by setting standards on which forms to use and codifying them so that everyone has access to them.

RAND does not expect everyone to know everything contained in this volume. The quality of the writing and the scholarship should, however, be high enough that documents do not require more than a standard edit (as described in the Levels of Edit document).

Certain units have additional requirements, such as standard text that prefaces must include, material that prefaces and summaries must address, and sections that must be included. Additional useful information is available on the Publications intranet site, such as the Writer's Guide to Front Matter and sample FFRDC and domestic unit prefaces. Adjunct staff may obtain materials available only on the internal Web by contacting the appropriate production editor or unit staff member.

What's Covered

This manual covers punctuation, spelling and compound words, capitalization of names and terms, abbreviations and symbols, treatment of numbers, use of footnotes, and creating references and bibliographies. The appendixes following the main text touch on what is involved in typography, explain proofreading symbols, address common challenges in English usage, and present editorial policies. A bibliography provides information on other sources of information on style, including specialized volumes for legal, medical, and other documents.

What's Not Covered

The manual does not cover unit and corporate content requirements, formats and templates, art styles, classification marking, procedures for publishing documents at RAND, or grammar. Information on some of these topics is available via the Publications homepage or via the RAND Intranet. The bibliography lists additional sources for information on language- and style-related topics.

--Phyllis Gilmore
Senior Research Editor