By act of Congress the Public Printer is authorized to determine the form and style of Government printing. The GPO Style Manual is the product of many years of public printing experience, and its rules are based on principles of good usage and custom in the printing trade.
Editors and writers whose disciplines have taught them aspects of style different from rules followed in this Manual will appreciate the difficulty of establishing a single standard. The GPO Style Manual has served Federal printers since 1894, and with this 30th edition, the traditions of printing and graphic arts are carried forward in the 21st century.
Essentially, the GPO Style Manual is a standardization device designed to achieve uniform word and type treatment, and it aims for economy of word use. Such rules as are laid down for the submission of copy to GPO point to the most economical manner for the preparation and typesetting of manuscript. Following such rules eliminates additional chargeable processing by GPO.
It should be remembered that the GPO Style Manual is primarily a GPO printer's stylebook. Easy rules of grammar cannot be prescribed, for it is assumed that editors are versed in correct expression. Likewise, decisions on design and makeup are best determined by the individual publisher to meet the needs of the intended audience. As a printer's book, this Manual necessarily uses terms that are obvious to those skilled in the graphic arts.
Users of the GPO Style Manual should consider it as a general guide. Its rules cannot be regarded as rigid, for the printed word assumes many shapes and variations in type presentation. An effort has been made to provide complete coverage of those elements that enter into the translation of manuscript into type.
The GPO Style Board made significant revisions to update this edition of the GPO Style Manual. The changes include redesigning the format to make it more modern and easier to read; replacing "What is GPO Access?." with "GPO's Online Initiatives"; removing the atomic weights column from the Chemical Symbols table; expanding and updating time zone abbreviations;
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