Preface
Clear writing conveys clear thought. NARA writers in all offices must strive for clear communication to explain their increasingly complex work. They write letters, memorandums, finding aids, web pages, blogs, leaflets, reports, articles, exhibit scripts, brochures, budget requests, speeches, forms, and email messages. This style guide establishes agency standards of punctuation, word usage, and grammar that will answer writers' most common questions and will, we hope, promote clear and effective writing throughout NARA.
Style changes over time and even from place to place, depending on the intended audience. These differences do not necessarily make one choice wrong. What is right is consistency within your own work and using the appropriate language and usage for your audience.
The NARA Style Guide fills two needs. First, the section Writing for Plain Language will help us comply with the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Second, it addresses many of the questions and issues unanswered by the Government Printing Office Style Manual (GPO manual). This guide is based on the GPO manual but includes modifications that reflect current usage.
The most notable difference from the GPO manual concerns the treatment of numbers. This style guide simplifies the rules. In most cases, writers will spell out numbers under 10 and use numerals for numbers 10 and over. (See section 4.10.)
The GPO manual is still NARA's primary reference for style. For issues not covered in the NARA guide, continue to consult the GPO manual.
The appendix, "Quick Reference", may be particularly helpful to NARA writers. This list of words and phrases provides quick answers to common questions about capitalization, spelling, compound words, and plurals.
The NARA Style Guide took shape from the agency`s specific language needs and will continue to change to reflect the needs and concerns of NARA writers.
Use the NARA Style Guide for all NARA communications.
If you have questions about spelling, grammar, or usage that are not addressed by this guide, contact the Strategy and Communications staff (SC, Mary Ryan: mary.ryan
nara.gov, telephone 202-357-5482).
