Dialects and style

[Raya Wolfsun]

I was reminded recently of what happened a few years ago when I got a job as a copy editor. The company that employed me was based in the US and expected me to work according to American conventions for written English - but I grew up learning the British rules. It quickly became evident that there were more differences than spellings (which I knew to expect) - there were some significant variations in punctuation usage as well. Let's just say that there were days when it felt like I spent more time reading the Chicago Manual of Style than doing actual editing...

So I thought I'd best ask: should I assume that American spelling and punctuation conventions are preferred here? Is there some particular style guide I should check against? Any advice from other non-US authors here?

[J. A. Young]

I typically submit articles for an American audience; however, the site has many British clients. These customers usually write in their requests to submit for a British audience using British spellings and so forth.

The editors may have more advice on this topic though. JA

[Liberty]

Blah.
I just wrote out this long reply and then went back to reread your question.
I completely misread what you asked. lol

I was wondering the same thing myself and asked in another post, I think the answer was no.

[Keesa]

One of the editors will be able to tell you for certain, Raya. Until they do, my suggestion would be to include a note in the short summary something like [[Note: British spelling, grammar, and punctuation.]]. That's the best way I've found of letting the editors know there's something different about the article so it doesn't get rejected for "wrong" usage.

But, again, the editors will be able to tell you conclusively.

[Ed]

We really only care that the spelling is correct - whether it's American or British English. It's also necessary that the author stay consistent throughout the piece.