Official CrowdSource Style Guide

Our style guide is available in two forms! Read the "Full Style Guide" - or view each individual category.

Full Style Guide
Abbreviations and Acronyms General Rules:  In general, do not use abbreviations or acronyms on first reference. Exceptions: The mo...
Fri, 8 May, 2015 at 9:27 AM
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Abbreviations and Acronyms General Rules:  In general, do not use abbreviations or acronyms on first reference. Exceptions: ...
Wed, 15 Apr, 2015 at 2:07 PM
Apostrophes
General Rules: Apostrophes are used to show omission, show plurals of single letters and show possession. Never use apostrophes with pers...
Wed, 7 Jan, 2015 at 8:00 PM
Capitalization
Title Case When composing titles or headings that mandate the use of title case, use the following guidelines:  1. Capitalize all noun...
Mon, 19 Jan, 2015 at 12:25 PM
Colons
General rules: Colons are most commonly used at the end of a sentence to introduce texts, tabulations and lists. Only capitalize what fol...
Thu, 8 Jan, 2015 at 10:55 AM
Commas
General rules: Only use commas when necessary for clarity or when following a particular rule. For help with commas outside of rules expl...
Fri, 8 May, 2015 at 9:28 AM
Company Names
General Rules: A company’s formal name should appear at least once in an article. To look up a publicly traded company’s formal name, consult...
Thu, 8 Jan, 2015 at 12:22 PM
Conjunctions - Coordinating and Subordinate
Coordinating Conjunctions Rule: Do NOT begin sentences with coordinating conjunctions: and but or nor yet for so ...
Fri, 16 Jan, 2015 at 10:47 AM
Contractions
Rule: Contractions may be used, but avoid overusing them. Stick with those that appear in the dictionary and are commonly used in everyday speech and writing...
Fri, 16 Jan, 2015 at 9:41 AM
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
Dangling Modifiers Rule: Avoid ambiguous sentence constructions in which a modifying phrase applies to the wrong word or to no word at all. ...
Thu, 8 Jan, 2015 at 12:48 PM