Style Guides by Government Agencies

Style guides are used to set the tone and guidelines for how an agency communicates with the public. This page is a collection of style guides created by government agencies.

Federal style guides

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• CDC Guide to Writing for Social Media (PDF, 1.6 MB, 60 pgs)
• CDC Social Media Tools, Guidelines & Best Practices
• Emerging Infectious Diseases Additional Style Guides and Print Resources
• Emerging Infectious Diseases Author Resource Center
• Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal Editorial Style Guide (PDF, 794 KB, 88 pgs)
• Plain Writing at CDC
• Facebook Guidelines and Best Practices
• The Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkit (PDF, 2.5 MB, 59 pgs)
• Twitter Guidelines & Best Practices (PDF, 250 KB, 7 pgs)

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

• Directorate of Intelligence’s Style Manual & Writers Guide for Intelligence Publications, 8th edition, 2011 (PDF, 7 MB, 190 pgs)

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

• A Guide to Style and Usage (PDF, 1.8 MB, 100 pgs)

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

• CFPB’s Glossary of English-Spanish Financial Terms (PDF, 132 KB, 20 pgs)

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

• NARA Style Guide (PDF, 428 KB, 63 pgs)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

• Administration for Children & Families Editorial Style Guide
• HealthCare.gov Styleguide - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
• HHS.gov Style Guide
• HHS Web Style Guide
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) Style Guide
• Underage Drinking Prevention National Media Campaign Style Guide, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (PDF, 285 KB, 4 pgs)

U.S. Department of the Interior

• Indian Affairs Web Standards

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

• VA.gov Content Style Guide
• Documentation Style Guide (PDF, 408 KB, 17 pages)
• DigitalVA Accessibility Guide

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

• EIA Writing Style Guide (PDF, 1.3 MB, 139 pgs)

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

• 18F Content Guide
• PlainLanguage.gov
• USAGov Bilingual Style Guide: Table of Contents

U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO)

• U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual

U.S. Postal Service (USPS)

• USPS Digital Style Guide

U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)

• Program Operational Manual for Notice Standards

Other writing resources

Here’s a collection of guides created by digital communities of practice and other groups.

• Department of Defense’s Introduction to Plain Language (PDF, 398 KB, 44 pgs)
• PLAIN’s Federal Plain Language Guidelines
• Bilingual Glossaries, Dictionaries, and Style Guides
• Spanish Language Style Guides and Glossaries