Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers by University of Chicago (Editor), Margaret D. Mahan (Preface by)

From the Publisher

The Fifteenth Edition is available in book form, on CD-ROM for Windows, and as a subscription Web site.  The same content from The Chicago Manual of Style is in all three versions.

In the 1890s, a proofreader at the University of Chicago Press prepared a single sheet of typographic fundamentals intended as a guide for the University community. That sheet grew into a pamphlet, and the pamphlet grew into a book—the first edition of the Manual of Style, published in 1906. Now in its fifteenth edition, The Chicago Manual of Style—the essential reference for authors, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers in any field—is more comprehensive and easier to use than ever before.

Those who work with words know how dramatically publishing has changed in the past decade, with technology now informing and influencing every stage of the writing and publishing process. In creating the fifteenth edition of the Manual, Chicago's renowned editorial staff drew on direct experience of these changes, as well as on the recommendations of the Manual's first advisory board, composed of a distinguished group of scholars, authors, and professionals from a wide range of publishing and business environments.

Every aspect of coverage has been examined and brought up to date—from publishing formats to editorial style and method, from documentation of electronic sources to book design and production, and everything in between. In addition to books, the Manual now also treats journals and electronic publications. All chapters are written for the electronic age, with advice on how to prepare and edit manuscriptsonline, handle copyright and permissions issues raised by technology, use new methods of preparing mathematical copy, and cite electronic and online sources.

A new chapter covers American English grammar and usage, outlining the grammatical structure of English, showing how to put words and phrases together to achieve clarity, and identifying common errors. The two chapters on documentation have been reorganized and updated: the first now describes the two main systems preferred by Chicago, and the second discusses specific elements and subject matter, with examples of both systems. Coverage of design and manufacturing has been streamlined to reflect what writers and editors need to know about current procedures. And, to make it easier to search for information, each numbered paragraph throughout the Manual is now introduced by a descriptive heading.

Clear, concise, and replete with commonsense advice, The Chicago Manual of Style, fifteenth edition, offers the wisdom of a hundred years of editorial practice while including a wealth of new topics and updated perspectives. For anyone who works with words, whether on a page or computer screen, this continues to be the one reference book you simply must have.

What's new in the Fifteenth Edition:

* Updated material throughout to reflect current style, technology, and professional practice

* Scope expanded to include journals and electronic publications

* Comprehensive new chapter on American English grammar and usage by Bryan A. Garner (author of A Dictionary of Modern American Usage)

* Updated and rewritten chapter on preparing mathematical copy

* Reorganized and updated chapters on documentation, including guidance on citing electronic sources

* Streamlined coverage of current design and production processes, with a glossary of key terms

* Descriptive headings on all numbered paragraphs for ease of reference

* New diagrams of the editing and production processes for both books and journals, keyed to chapter discussions

* New, expanded Web site with special tools and features for Manual users at www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.

Publishers Weekly

Countless publishing professionals have learned the details of their business from this classic guide for publishers, editors and writers. It's updated every 10 years or so, and the 15th edition is the most extensive revision in decades. The Internet's influence is pervasive, with substantial sections on preparing manuscripts for electronic publishing, editing for online publications and citing electronic sources. The "Rights and Permissions" chapter is by attorney William S. Strong (The trace the publication process for books and journals, both print and electronic, from manuscript development to distribution and marketing. For the first time, the manual includes a chapter on grammar and usage, by Bryan A. Garner (A Dictionary of Modern Usage). Gone is the 13-page table showing when to hyphenate compound words of all sorts, but it's replaced by a six-plus-page list and a narrative overview, which will be simpler for the overworked manuscript editor ("copyeditor" has vanished, and the index relegates "copyediting" to a cross-reference to manuscript editing) to use. Traditionalists may be bothered by the new edition's preference for ZIP Code state abbreviations and dropping periods from such abbreviations as Ph.D. and even U.S. Some things do remain the same. The style guide still endorses the serial comma (which PW does not) and numerals are still spelled out from one through one hundred and at the beginning of a sentence. Those in the publishing industry will need this edition, both for what's new and for what they will want to argue about. 150,000 first printing. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Since 1906, the incomparable Chicago Manual has been the reference for writers, editors, copyeditors, publishers, and anyone else working with words. This historic new edition reflects the huge impact that computer technology has had on writing and publishing in recent decades. Novelties include a new chapter on American English grammar and usage by Bryan A. Garner (A Dictionary of Modern American Usage), significant updates of copyright and permissions information, a new typographic presentation of American Sign Language, and an "almost new" chapter on mathematical copy, especially useful for electronic notations. From elements to proofreading marks to bias-free language, the manual provides directions, preferences, and even suggestions to the publishing and writing professional. Chapter 16, for example, concentrates on the two documentation systems preferred by Chicago: the notes and bibliographic system and the author-date system. Chapter 17 concentrates on the style and items of bibliographic entries, notes, and parenthetical citations, while also providing information on interview, audiovisual, manuscript, and legal citations. In comparison, Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is a useful resource for students, but it does not tackle publication and production issues. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, now in its fifth edition, also omits that information, while the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, now in its second edition, is more directed to the author's needs. Meanwhile, Chicago encompasses a variety of fields and professions, making this significant revision an invaluable addition to all public, academic, and special libraries.-Marilyn Searson Lary, North George Coll. & State Univ. Lib., Dahlonega, GA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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Table of Contents