Grammar and formatting

Refer to the Australian Style Guide,^[1] paying particular attention to:

• punctuation
• numbers and measurements
• dates and time
• shortened forms (abbreviations, contractions, initialisations and acronyms)
• person and organisation names
• lists.

Spelling

Australian English spelling is preferred, but document other spelling variation choices in your Style Sheet.

Specialist vocabulary

If your subject matter uses specialist vocabulary, provide this with your submission.  Use your Style Sheet to:

• document specialist vocabulary
• provide a separate vocabulary list
• nominate a specialist dictionary, preferably with an online location.

Use the Pressbooks glossary tool to create embedded definitions within the published text. This tool also creates a complete glossary at the end of the resource.

Abbreviations

Spell out in full any acronyms or initialisms the first time they are used in a chapter.

If the abbreviation is something that is commonly used in the discipline you are writing about, you may choose to use the Pressbooks glossary tool to do this.  Pressbooks then creates an embedded definition within the published text, as well as providing a complete glossary at the end of the resource.

If the abbreviation is not a term specifically associated with the discipline, such as an organisation name, then simply spelling it out may be more appropriate the first time it is used in a chapter, with the abbreviation in brackets.  Subsequent mentions in the chapter can just be the abbreviation.

There are some circumstances where an abbreviation is so commonly understood that it is not necessary to define it for your intended audience, for example NASA, LASER.