This page covers both the resources and references cited within the Biotext content manual, and other useful resources and online tools. 

Online accessibility resources

Online resources for accessibility include:

Content strategy resources

Casey M (2015). The content strategy toolkit: methods, guidelines, and templates for getting content right, New Riders, United States. 

Content strategy guide(Opens in a new tab/window), Digital Profession, Australian Government, Canberra.

Halvorson K & Rach M (2012). Content strategy for the web, Pearson Higher Education, United States. 

Richards S (2017). Content design, Content Design London.

General writing and editing information

Flann E, Hill B & Wang L (2014). The Australian editing handbook, 3rd edn, Wiley, Brisbane.

James N (2007). Writing at work: how to write clearly, effectively and professionally, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.

Kaplan B (2013). Editing made easy, Penguin, Melbourne.

Mackenzie J (2011). The editor’s companion, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Montagnes I (1991). Editing and publication: a training manual, International Rice Research Institute, Manila.

Pauwels A (1991). Non-discriminatory language, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Powers H (2007). Making Word work for you: an editor’s intro to the tools of the trade, Editorial Freelancers Association, New York.

Purdue University (2016). The Purdue online writing lab(Opens in a new tab/window), West Lafayette, Indiana.

Stern G (2004). Writing in English: an invaluable guide to effective writing, Didax Educational Resources, Rowley, Massachusetts.

Sword H (2016). The writer’s diet: a guide to fit prose, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London. 

General style and grammar guides

APSC (Australian Public Service Commission) (2024). Australian Government style manual(Opens in a new tab/window), Canberra.

Butterfield J (ed) (2015). Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage, Oxford University Press.

Fogarty M (2008). Grammar Girl’s quick and dirty tips for better writing, Holt Paperbacks, New York.

Murphy E (2011). Working words, Canberra Society of Editors, Canberra.

Murphy E & Cadman H (2014). Effective writing: plain English at work(Opens in a new tab/window), Lacuna Publishing, Sydney.

Peters P (2004). The Cambridge guide to English usage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Peters P (2007). The Cambridge guide to Australian English usage, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Stern G (1997). Using grammar in your prose, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Stern G, Bolitho R & Lutton R (eds) (1993). The guide to Australian usage and punctuation, Collins Dove, Melbourne.

Strunk W Jr (2009). The elements of style: everything you need to know to write, WLC Books.

The Chicago manual of style: the essential guide for writers, editors, and publishers, 17th edn (2017). University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London. Online version available by subscription.

Scientific writing and style guides

Alley M (2000). The craft of editing: a guide for managers, scientists and engineers, Springer, New York.

American Medical Association (2007). AMA manual of style: a guide for authors and editors, 10th edn, Oxford University Press.

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edn, APA, Washington, DC.

Cargill M & O’Connor P (2009). Writing scientific research articles: strategy and steps, Wiley Blackwell, United Kingdom.

Coghill AM & Garson LR (eds) (2006). The ACS style guide: effective communication of scientific information, 3rd edn, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.

Council of Science Editors (2014). Scientific style and format: the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers(Opens in a new tab/window), 8th edn, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Davis M (2012). Scientific papers and presentations, 3rd edn, Elsevier, Oxford.

Day RA & Gastel B (2011). How to write and publish a scientific paper(Opens in a new tab/window), 7th edn, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom.

European Association of Science Editors (2013). Science editors’ handbook, 2nd edn, EASE, United Kingdom. 

Glasziou PP, Del Mar C & Salisbury J (2007). Evidence-based practice workbook, 2nd edn, John Wiley and Sons, United Kingdom.

Goodman NW & Edwards MB (2006). Medical writing: a prescription for clarity, 3rd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Hofmann AH (2010). Scientific writing and communication: papers, proposals, and presentations, Oxford University Press, London.

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (2019). Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals(Opens in a new tab/window), ICMJE.

Katz MJ (2006). From research to manuscript: a guide to scientific writing, Springer, Netherlands.

Kirkman J (2005). Good style: writing for science and technology, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.

Kirkman J (2006). Punctuation matters: advice on punctuation for scientific and technical writing, 4th edn, Routledge, London.

Lareo I & Montoya Reyes A (2007). Scientific writing: following Robert Boyle’s principles in experimental essays – 1704 and 1998(Opens in a new tab/window). Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 20:119–137.

Mack C (2018). How to write a good scientific paper, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Bellingham, Washington.

Mastrandrea MD, Field CB, Stocker TF, Edenhofer O, Ebi KL, Frame DJ, Held H, Kriegler E, Mach KJ, Matschoss PR, Plattner G, Yohe GW & Zwiers FW (2010). Guidance note for lead authors of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report on consistent treatment of uncertainties(Opens in a new tab/window), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva.

McMurrey D (2014). Online technical writing(Opens in a new tab/window), textbook.

Miller JE (2015). The Chicago guide to writing about numbers, 2nd edn, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Schimel J (2011). Writing science: how to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom.

Stevens M (2007). Subtleties of scientific style(Opens in a new tab/window), ScienceScape Publishing, Thornleigh, New South Wales.

Dictionaries

Australian Oxford dictionary, 2nd edn (2004). Moore B (ed), Oxford University Press.

Black’s medical dictionary, 43rd edn (2017). Marcovitch H (ed), Bloomsbury, London.

Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary, 33rd edn (2019). Saunders, Philadelphia. Online version available by subscription.

Macquarie dictionary, 8th edn (2020). Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, Sydney. Online version available by subscription.

Oxford concise medical dictionary(Opens in a new tab/window), 10th edn (2020). Law J & Martin E (eds), Oxford University Press. Access to the complete online version requires a subscription.

Visual style information

Börner K & Polley DE (2014). Visual insights: a practical guide to making sense of data, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts.

Bringhurst R (2008). The elements of typographic style, version 3.2, Hartley & Marks, Canada.

Correll M & Gleicher M (2014). Error bars considered harmful: exploring alternate encodings for mean and error. Visualization and Computer Graphics 20(12):2142–2151.

Few S (2008a). Line graphs and irregular intervals: an incompatible partnership. Visual Business Intelligence Newsletter November/December.

Few S (2008b). Dual-scaled axes in graphs: are they ever the best solution? Visual Business Intelligence Newsletter March.

Few S (2009). Now you see it: simple visualisation techniques for quantitative analysis, Analytics Press, Oakland, California.

Few S (2012). Show me the numbers: designing tables and graphs to enlighten, 2nd edn, Analytics Press, Burlingame, California.

Hodges E (2003). The guild handbook of scientific illustration, 2nd edn, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

Jordon L (2014). Tips to pick the best fonts for video(Opens in a new tab/window), Los Angeles.

Kirk A (2012). Data visualization: a successful design process, Packt Publishing.

Knight C & Glaser J (2009). Diagrams: innovative solutions for graphic designers, RotoVision SA, Mies, Switzerland.

Meggs PB & Purvis AW (2011). Meggs’ history of graphic design, Wiley.

Peterson GN (2015). GIS cartography: a guide to effective map design, 2nd edn, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

Tufte ER (2001). The visual display of quantitative information, 2nd edn, Graphics Press, Connecticut.

Tufte ER (2006). Beautiful evidence, Graphics Press, Connecticut.

Whitbread D (2009). The design manual, 2nd edn, UNSW Press, Sydney.

Williams R (2007). Robin Williams design workshop, 2nd edn, Peachpit Press, Berkeley, California.

Wong DS (2010). Guide to information graphics: the dos and don’ts of presenting data, facts, and figures, WW Norton & Company Inc, New York.

Zeldman J & Marcotte E (2010). Designing with web standards, 3rd edn, New Riders, Berkeley, California.

Professional groups for science communication

Australasian Medical Writers Association(Opens in a new tab/window) – promotes excellence in health and medical communications in Australia and New Zealand through conferences, continuing education, networking and mentoring.

Australian Academy of Science(Opens in a new tab/window) – promotes science through a range of activities, information on fellowship election, science policy, grants and awards, publications and reports.

Australian Graphic Design Association(Opens in a new tab/window) – a connecting force for the Australian communication design industry.

Australian Science Communicators(Opens in a new tab/window) – a national forum for science communicators and science journalists; supports and represents those who make science, technology and innovation accessible.

Australian Society for Technical Communication Incorporated(Opens in a new tab/window) – the national association for Australian Technical Communicators.

Institute of Professional Editors Limited(Opens in a new tab/window) (IPEd) – advances the profession of editing, by planning and implementing activities that support its members.

Society for Technical Communication(Opens in a new tab/window) – the world’s largest and oldest professional association dedicated to advancing the field of technical communication.

Other tools

Approved terminology for therapeutic goods(Opens in a new tab/window), Therapeutic Goods Administration, Canberra

The Editorium(Opens in a new tab/window) – shortcuts for editing in MS Word 

PerfectIt(Opens in a new tab/window) – proofreading software that finds errors and inconsistencies in MS Word

Ridpath JR, Greene SM & Wiese CJ (2009). PRISM (Program for Readability in Science & Medicine) readability toolkit(Opens in a new tab/window), 3rd edn, Group Health Research Institute, Seattle.

GovCMS content administration training manual(Opens in a new tab/window) – training manual on editing and managing websites using GovCMS, Australia’s whole-of government website management platform built on the open source content management system Drupal

TermFinders – searchable online banks of terms in various disciplines, developed by staff at Macquarie University:

TinyUrl(Opens in a new tab/window) – online tool to replace long URLs