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.
Note
You can add your agency’s guide here by emailing DigitalGov. You can also share it with the Plain Language Community of Practice.Federal style guides
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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
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
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)
Plain Language
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Administration for Children & Families Editorial Style Guide
- HealthCare.gov Styleguide
- HHS.gov Style Guide Underage Drinking Prevention National Media Campaign Style Guide, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (PDF, 285 KB, 4 pgs)
- HHS Web Style Guide
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
- EIA Writing Style Guide (PDF, 1.3 MB, 139 pgs)
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO)
U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Other writing resources
Here’s a collection of guides created by digital communities of practice and other groups.
- Bilingual Glossaries, Dictionaries, and Style Guides
- Department of Defense’s Introduction to Plain Language (PDF, 407 KB, 44 pgs)
- PLAIN’s Federal Plain Language Guidelines
- Spanish Health Care Terms in the United States
- Spanish Language Style Guide & Glossaries: Frequently Mistranslated English Terms
- Spanish Language Style Guide and Glossaries: Grammar
- Spanish Language Style Guide & Glossaries: Information Technology Terms
- Spanish Language Style Guide & Glossaries: Internet Resources