“Have you ever noticed that no matter what type of printed material you read—books, articles, papers, etc.—each industry-specific publication looks much the same as the next: one space after periods; a certain placement of commas; a particular format to block quotations; and footnotes and endnotes all tidy and consistent? This continuity is due to one thing: use of a style guide. A style guide lays out the standard for the way the contents of any written work—including punctuation, numbers, abbreviations, illustrations, tables, citations, and even certain spellings—should appear.”

Source: Editor’s Corner: What Is a Style Guide … and Which Should I Use?