Communicating Style Rules to Editors of International Standards: An Analysis of ISO TC 184/SC4 Style Documents

Abstract

Committees within international standards organizations write standards. Prior to approval, these standards must pass through several reviews for technical accuracy and stylistic appropriateness. The style considerations are based on documents published by both the umbrella organization (International Organization for Standarization, or ISO) and the various committees and subcommittees within it. Because authors and editors who use these documents frequently do not have English as a first language, the documents must explain unambiguously just how committees should prepare their documents. This study looks at a sample of those instructional documents using Restricted and Elaborated Code and metadiscourse analysis to determine how easily users can read and understand the material. The findings suggest that the documents do not send a clear message to authors and editors and can be stylistically hard to understand. Consequently, the approved standards themselves are hard to read and interpret.

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References

Standardization Process Summary, http://www.cme.nist.gov/sc4.

ISO Directives—Part 3, 1997, http://www.cme.nist.gov/sc4.

10303 Supplementary Directives (2nd Edition), http://www.cme.nist.gov/sc4.

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