OECD Style Guide (Fourth Edition)

Resources

Dictionaries

• Angus Stevenson, A. and M. Waite (2011), The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• “YourDictionary.com” is a collection of online dictionaries, one of the oldest and best sites for language links in English and a host of other languages: https://www.yourdictionary.com/.

Style guides and grammar resources

• Fowler, H.W. and F.G. Fowler (1924), The King’s English, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, London. (Later editions are known as Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage; the most recent was published in 2015.) Of its time, but useful for grammar questions. Early editions are in the public domain and available online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/75439/pg75439-images.html.

• Lane, G. (2023), Writing with Style: The Economist Guide, The Economist, London.

• Oxford University Press (2016), New Oxford Style Manual, Third Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Strunk, W. (1918), The Elements of Style, Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York. The one and only “Strunk & White”, a classic guide to the “plain English style”. Earlier editions are in the public domain and available online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37134/pg37134-images.html.

Plain language, clear writing

• The “Plain English Campaign” helps organisations to ensure their public information is as simple and understandable as possible: https://www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.

• The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) supports clear communication in government writing: https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/.

• Orwell, G. (1946), “Politics and the English Language”, Horizon 13, London, pp. 252-265. Contains the six most famous rules for clear writing in English. Available at https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/.

• OECD editorial standards and writing guidelines are available for OECD staff on the “OECD Communications Guidance Portal” (https://com-apps.oecd.org/com-guidance-portal/en).

• “Clear writing tips” provided by the OECD Translation Service help staff to produce clear and easily comprehensible content and navigate the hidden subtleties of writing in English at the OECD. They are available for OECD staff on the “Translation Portal” (https://portal.oecd.org/eshare/exd-csi/kc/Wiki/Translation Division_en.aspx).

Data visualisation

Nussbaumer Knaflic, C. (2015), Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals, Wiley, Hoboken.