Resources for Writing and Citation in the Agricultural Sciences
Selected Style Guides

General Grammar Usage and Style Guides | Science and Technical Writing |
Agricultural and Life Sciences | Chemistry | Communications | Humanities | Law and Political Science | Psychology | Sociology

General Grammar Usage and Style Guides

Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. (2003). The Allyn & Bacon Handbook, 5th ed. New York: Longman.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (2003). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Penn State University Libraries Call Number: Z253.C5701 15th.ed. 2003
Location: PA Center for the Book, 201 B Pattee - Reference (nocirc)

Sabin, William A. (2005). The Gregg Reference Manual: A Manual of Style, Grammar, Usage, and Formatting, 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Contents: Preface / William A. Sabin -- Acknowledgements -- How to look things up -- Part 1. Grammar , usage, and style. Sec. 1. Punctuation : major marks -- Sec. 2. Punctuation : other marks -- Sec. 3. Capitalization -- Sec. 4. Numbers -- Sec. 5. Abbreviations -- Sec. 6. Plurals and possessives -- Sec. 7. Spelling -- Sec. 8. Compound words -- Sec. 9. Word division -- Sec. 10. Grammar -- Sec. 11. Usage -- Part 2. Techniques and formats. Sec. 12. Editing and proofreading -- Sec. 13. Letters, memos, and e-mail -- Sec. 14. Reports and manuscripts -- Sec. 15. Notes and bibliographies -- Sec. 16. Tables -- Sec. 17. Other business documents -- Sec. 18. Forms of address -- Part 3. References -- Appendix A. Essays on the nature of style -- Appendix B. Pronunciation problems -- Appendix C. Rules for alphabetic filing -- Appendix D. Glossary of Grammatical terms -- Index.

Turabian, Kate L. (1996). A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Penn State University Libraries Call Number: LB2369.T8 1996
Locations: Life Sciences, 4th Floor Paterno - Reference Collection (nocirc); Arts & Humanities, Pattee, 2nd Floor - Ready Reference (nocirc); Social Sciences, 2nd Floor Paterno - Dictionaries (nocirc), etc.

Merriam-Webster, Inc. (1998). Merriam-Webster's Manual for Writers and Editors, Completely rev. ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Maimon, Elaine, Janice Peritz, and Kathleen Blake Yancey. (2007). The New McGraw-Hill Handbook.
Penn State University Libraries Call Number: PE1408.M3364 2007
Location: Pattee--Stacks 2A.

Ritter, Robert M. (2003, 2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). (2000). Style Manual: 2000 (U.S. Government Printing Office). Washington, DC: U.S. GPO.

Harman, Eleanor. (2003). The Thesis and the Book: A Guide for First-time Academic Authors, 2nd ed. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press.

McGovern, Gerry, Rob Norton, and Catherine O'Dowd. (2002). The Web Content Style Guide: An Essential Reference for Online Writers, Editors and Managers. London; New York: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference, 5th ed. (2003). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Contents: Composition/Style. Composing and revising -- Document design -- Sentence style -- Word choice -- Correctness. Grammatical sentences -- ESL trouble spots -- Punctuation -- Mechanics -- Research/basic grammar . Researching -- MLA : MLA papers APA/CMS : APA papers, Chicago papers -- Basic grammar -- Index.

Science and Technical Writing

Rubens, Philip. (2001). Science and Technical Writing: A Manual of Style, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
Penn State University Libraries Call Number: T11.S378 2001
Location: Engineering Library, 325 Hammond Bldg. - Reference Collection (nocirc)
Note: Electronic version of book also accessible to the Penn State community via NetLibrary.

Council of Science Editors (CSE), Style Manual Committee. (2006). Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th ed. Reston, VA: Council of Science Editors in cooperation with the Rockefeller University Press.
Note: Earlier edition also known as The CBE (Council of Biology Editors) Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers.

Agricultural and Life Sciences

Iverson, Cheryl. American Medical Association Manual of Style, 9th ed. (1998). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). Publications Handbook & Style Manual.
"The Publications Handbook and Style Manual serves as a guide for authors in preparing manuscripts and other material submitted for publication by ASA-CSSA-SSSA. It should be used as a primary source for writing, style, editing, and procedures for ASA-CSSA-SSSA publications."

Chemistry

Coghill, Anne M. and Lorrin R. Garson. (2006). The ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society; Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

Communications

Papper, Robert A. (2002). Broadcast News Writing Stylebook, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Riley, Christopher. (2005). The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style. Studio City, CA: M. Wiese Productions.

Arnold, George T. (2003). Media Writer's Handbook: A Guide to Common Writing and Editing Problems, 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Siegal, Allan M. (1999). The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, Rev. and Expanded ed., 1st paperback ed. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Penn State University Libraries Call Number: PN4783.S57 1999b
Location: PA Center for the Book, 201 B Pattee - Reference (nocirc)

Bowles, Stephen E. (2006). The Screenwriter's Manual: A Complete Reference of Format and Style. Boston: Pearson A & B.

Bourhis, John. (2002). Style Manual for Communication Studies. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Penn State University Libraries Call Number: P96.A68S89 2002
Location: Social Sciences, 2nd Floor Paterno - Reference Collection (nocirc)

Humanities

Gibaldi, Joseph. (1998). Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America.

Modern Language Association. (2003). What is MLA Style?

Law and Political Science

Harvard Law Review Association. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 17th ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law Review Association.

American Psychological Association (APA). (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Contents: Content and organization of a manuscript -- Expressing ideas and reducing bias in language -- APA editorial style -- Reference list -- Manuscript preparation and sample papers to be submitted for publication -- Material other than journal articles -- Manuscript acceptance and production -- Journals program of the American Psychological Association -- Appendix A: Checklist for manuscript submission -- Appendix B: Checklist for transmitting accepted manuscripts for electronic production -- Appendix C: Ethical standards for the reporting and publishing of scientific information -- Appendix D: References to legal materials -- Appendix E: Sample cover letter.

American Psychological Association (APA). Electronic References.
Excerpts from the 5th edition of the APA's Publication Manual (© 2001) regarding how to cite electronic media.

Sociology

American Sociological Association. (1997). American Sociological Association (ASA) Style Guide, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.