“Citing Business Sources.” Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, anderson.ucla.edu/rosenfeld-library/citing-business-sources.

In this online quick guide, individuals from UCLA create a database of sample citations for common business source types in the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition (2017). This database includes citation guides for genres such as analyst reports, journal articles, annual reports, SEC documents, and more.

Corbitt, Stacey, and Dawn Atkinson. “Unit II: Writing Documents.” Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals, TRAILS, Montana University System, 2021, pp. 68-125, drive.google.com/file/d/1GmxWSx6bMb_X3-3PSqwOG8uhRAXyEjqQ/view.

In this textbook unit, Corbitt and Atkinson delve into the minutiae of style, grammar, and professional tone. Corbitt and Atkinson split the unit into three distinct sub-sections: Writing sentences, organizing paragraphs, and using appropriate style and language. Reviewing the mechanics of grammar while also addressing the foundations of professional “style,” Corbitt and Atkinson develop a thoroughly exemplified foundation for new and experienced professional writers alike.

Cruthers, Arley. “Workplace vs. Academic Citation.” Business Writing for Everyone, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 7 May 2020, kpu.pressbooks.pub/businesswriting/chapter/workplace-vs-academic-citation/.

In this textbook chapter, Cruthers discusses different conventions for citing in professional vs. academic contexts. Cruthers also explores how citation practices vary across cultures, as well as the ethical imperative and analytical use of proper professional citation.

“Harvard Citation Style: Introduction.” Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, George Washington University, guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/harvard_citation.

In this online quick guide, individuals from George Washington University create a database of sample citations for common business source types in the Harvard citation style. This database includes citation guides for materials such as conference proceedings, company information, patents and standards, ebooks, and more.

Last, Suzan. “2. Professional Style.” Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in the Technical Fields, Pressbooks, University of Victoria, 1 January 2018, pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/part/documentdesign/.

“In the previous chapter, we defined technical writing as a ‘transactional’ and primarily ‘problem-solving’ genre and described some of the key conventions and considerations technical writers must keep in mind. In this chapter, we will look more deeply into the style of writing expected of this genre.” After reading this section, readers should understand the following:

“2.1 Reader-Centered Writing: Understand how to take a reader-centred approach (rather than a writer-centred one) that focuses on knowing your audience and writing specifically to meet their needs.”
“2.2 Communicating with Precision: Review and practice techniques to make your writing more precise and concise.”
“2.3 Writing to Persuade: Understand how to use rhetoric in a professional context, avoiding logical fallacies and inappropriate marketing language.”
“2.4 The Importance of Verbs: Recognize how to choose strong verbs as the ‘engines’ that drive efficient and effective sentences; revise passages to improve concision and flow.”

McMurrey, David. “5.7 Basic Patterns and Elements of the Sentence.” Open Technical Communication, 4^th ed., Affordable Learning Georgia, Kennesaw State University, alg.manifoldapp.org/read/open-technical-communication/section/c50c84d7-a84d-4358-b281-6c3f54a21adc.

In this textbook section, McMurrey gives “a quick review of the fundamentals of the sentence.” McMurrey deconstructs sentence patterns, identifying and exemplifying such terms as direct/indirect objects, compound sentences, subjects, verbs, and more. By the end of the chapter, McMurrey hopes for his readers to be able to do the following:

“Explain and apply basic patterns of the sentence as they relate to technical writing.”
“Explain and apply basic elements of the sentence as they relate to technical writing.”

Pope, Adam Rex. “Professional Voice and Technical Communication.” Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing, Open Educational Resources, University of Arkansas, 18 April 2019, pp. 28-30, scholarworks.uark.edu/oer/4/.

“Another fundamental aspect of being a good professional and technical writer is developing a professional voice. One of the things that I tell all my students, graduate and undergraduate, is that there is a clear and fundamental difference between knowing what you’re talking about and sounding like you know what you’re talking about. The difference between these two is often the presence or lack of a professional persona or professional voice.” In this textbook section, Pope identifies and describes professional voice and uses examples to help students harness it in their own writing.

Pope, Adam Rex. “Signposting and Taxonomy.” Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing, Open Educational Resources, University of Arkansas, 18 April 2019, pp. 31-37, scholarworks.uark.edu/oer/4/.

“For our final subject in Chapter 1, I want to mention a crucial duo central to effective technical writing: signposting and taxonomy. These two subjects are closely related, in that signposting relies on a taxonomy of sorts to operate, and is an expression of taxonomy, but they are worth treating individually as well as jointly. In a nutshell, these two tools are used to shape your text so that it has a definite structure that can be seen, ideally, at a glance. We’ll get more into the idea of taxonomy a bit later in the text, and in many ways the Cardsorting resource in the back of the text is entirely about these two subjects, viewed through the lens of potential users. We’ll look at signposting first before moving to taxonomy and then back between the two.”

“Should I Cite This?” Purdue Online Writing Lab, Purdue University, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/documents/20200617ShouldICiteChart.jpg.

In this online flowchart, the Purdue OWL identifies and walks through the questions one must ask oneself when deciding if and how to cite a piece of information (e.g., “Is the info common knowledge?,” “Are you copying the source exactly?,” “Have you published the info before?,” etc.). This flowchart would be helpful for students still learning when they need to cite information in academic and professional discourse.

Schemm, Naomi, et al. APA 7th Edition Citation for Business Sources, BusLib-L, 2020, bit.ly/APA7business.

In this online quick guide, Naomi Schemm et al. create a database of sample citations for common business source types in the APA 7th ed. citation style. This database includes citation guides for materials such as industry profiles, stock reports, infographics, eMarketer pages, census data, and more.