Style Guide for Company X

By Sarah Keenan
Created: May 23, 2016

What is Company X?
Company X is a nonprofit human rights organization that works to
terminate the practice of child trafficking and exploitation. The company is
based in the United States, but it is also active internationally in areas such
as Cambodia, Thailand, England, India, and the Philippines. Company Xs
main function is to provide survivor care, to teach prevention education, and
to contribute to research on human trafficking. Because of the nature of their
work, Company X works closely with organizations that rescue children and
serves people regardless of religion, ethnicity, race, or gender. Although
Company X is not a faith-based organization, it incorporates elements of
faith/spirituality into its programs (www.companyx.org).
Over the last twelve years, the company has greatly contributed in the
effort to stop child trafficking through numerous projects. These projects
include the building of several safehomes worldwide and the creation of the
Not a #Number curriculum, which was focused on human trafficking and
commercial sexual exploitation prevention and was targeted at youth.

The Need for a Style Guide

The Company X website features a blog and several research papers
on prevention of child trafficking. The articles and documents posted on the
website are often written by various authors, leading to discrepancies in
punctuation and overall style, for example, whether or not the title of
director should be capitalized. A style guide would solve these problems and
provide consistency that would give the organization more legitimacy.
As a global organization, the company would also benefit from using
global English. Slight changes in Company X articles and research papers
would help the material to become clearer and, therefore, easier to translate
into other languages.

What the Style Guide Will Include

My in-house style guide, created May 16, 2016, primarily reinforces the
principles listed in The Chicago Manual of Style: 16th Edition that have been
repeatedly violated by Company X authors or editors. However, the style
guide does deviate from Chicago when necessary to either cover situations
that are not discussed in Chicago or better meet the stylistic needs of the
Company X organization. The style guide also incorporates aspects of global
English, from John R. Kohls Global English Style Guide, which will assist in
eliminating ambiguity or unusual grammar structures that increase the
difficulty of translating material into other languages. Although the style

guide is not comprehensive, it provides much needed consistency and

increases the organizations overall effectiveness in the professional world.

5 Grammar and Usage

5.1 Pronoun Agreement
Typically, a collective noun takes a singular pronoun if the members are
treated as a unit, but a plural if they act individually (Chicago 5.31).
However, in Company X research papers, only the plural pronoun should be
used when talking about a company.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center also found that a
significant portion of trafficked minors had interacted with the child
welfare system in some capacity while in their trafficking situation.
Walk Free Foundations definition of modern slavery encompasses
definitions for the terms trafficking, slavery, and forced labor that have
been used in previous reports. This means that their definition
includes.
NOT
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center also found that a
significant portion of trafficked minors had interacted with the child
welfare system in some capacity while in its trafficking situation.
Walk Free Foundations definition of modern slavery encompasses
definitions for the terms trafficking, slavery, and forced labor that have
been used in previous reports. This means that its definition includes.
5.2 Unnecessary Future Tense
Using future passive, future perfect, or future present tense is necessary in
many situations in order to communicate the time in which an event has
happened, is happening, or will happen. However, as it says in Kohl 3.5.1,
there are also many contexts in which simply using present tense works just
as well (Kohl 39).
I let my body do the turns and the front wheel also makes the turn
automatically.
NOT

I let my body do the turns and the front wheel will also make the turn
automatically.
5.3 Introductory Adverbials
Although Chicago 5.207 suggests that however is more effectively used
within a sentence, Kohl 3.9.2 argues that conjunctive adverbs, such as
therefore and however, that interrupt a clause are more likely to interfere
with a readers processing ability. Therefore, Kohl suggests that, if the
conjunctive adverb is meant to relate the clause to the previous clause, the
adverb should be used at the beginning of the sentence.
However, commercial distribution persists and is evolving, including
new forms of activity on the hidden net.
NOT
Commercial distribution persists, however, and is evolving, including
new forms of activity on the hidden net.
5.4 Fragments
In more formal documents (such as Love126 research papers), fragments of
any kind should be avoided. However, in more casual Company X articles, a
fragment can be used occasionally for emphasis.
Kids needs to know there is someone who will pick up the phone when
they call and who is willing to journey with them no matter what.
NOT
Knowing someone who will pick up the phone, who is willing to journey
with you no matter what, is someone everyone needs. Especially kids.
5.5 The Conjunction and in a Series
When listing a series of items, use a comma and the conjunction and before
the last item. (See Chicago 6.18.)
When I think about the passions of people around me, I think of sports.
I think of pursuing the American dream. I think of holiday shopping,
wedding planning, and online dating.
NOT

When I think about the passions of people around me, I think of sports.
I think of pursuing the American dream. I think of holiday shopping,
wedding planning, online dating.