Honorary president: Judith Butcher Honorary vice-president: David Crystal OBE
SfEP recommended reference books
Style
New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors: The essential A-Z guide to the written word (ODWE) (Oxford University Press, 2005).
New Hart's Rules: The handbook of style for writers and editors (Oxford University Press, 2005).
These veteran reference books are also available as part of the Oxford Writers' Reference Pack (see 'General editing reference' page). OUP gives a discount to SfEP members and associates for the pack or for each individual book. Instructions for this are in the Members' area
An incredibly comprehensive reference book that is very useful on this side of the Atlantic, it is particularly good for checking things that are done differently in American English (such as single-within-double quotation marks).
The Economist Style Guide (Profile Books, 9th ed. 2005).
The style guide created by the British journal. Profile Books gives SfEP members and associates a discount on this book. Instructions for this are in the Members' area. You can also find some of its content online.
Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking by John Seely (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 2005).
The Cambridge Guide to English Usage by Pam Peters (Cambridge University Press, 2004).
A guide to 'international English', showing the differences in English as it is used in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Geographic Names (UN Department of Public Information, Cartographic Section, September 2000).
The United Nations' own agreed list of spellings of the names of member states and their capitals. It can be downloaded as a pdf (151 KB).
The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World (Times Books, 2007).
Lapsing into a Comma: A curmudgeon's guide to the many things that can go wrong in print – and how to avoid them by Bill Walsh (Contemporary Books, 2000).
An American guide to style by the copy chief of the Washington Post.
Scientific style guides
For the SfEP's recommendations, see Science, technology and medicine