Style Guide for Research Paper

Target audience:
My target audience for this research paper is members of this class, which makes the writing for a key group aspect easier to identify. Because I know the content that you all have been exposed to lately and what you’ve been reading, I have a good idea about which aspects of my paper I’ll need to spell out and which I can just jump right in to. The fact that the audience and I interact daily also gives me a good feel for what types of jargon I can and can’t use. Specifically, terms that deal with the internet, web style, and journalism can be used with little to no explanation of their definitions, while terms that refer to the business aspects I will be discussing may need to be more defined.

Content of interest to the target audience:
Again, this is relatively easy to define since my audience is members of this class. We are all interested in some way or another in media, technology, and writing. Because the focus of my paper lies in these areas (specifically traditional media’s solutions to bloggers), it generally caters to the interests of those in the intended audience group.

Format most familiar to the target audience:
Because this is a research paper for a class, I plan on presenting it in the typical format that a research paper would contain. Some ways to incorporate the format of online media would be breaking up the text with headings, incorporating any applicable graphic elements (when they don’t take away from the text), and using consistency between both terms and stylistic elements.

Mindset of the target audience:
The audience in this case has a certain level of knowledge in the area that the paper will discuss. While they want details pertaining to the issues at hand, they do not need a history or overview of the topics discussed. As members of the same classroom community, they already possess a good understanding of the issues and jargon involved.

Tone:
The tone that I would like to work in is moderately formal, i.e. one that clearly presents the research in a way that is not overly formal but at the same time not overly chatty. A good example of the tone for the paper is that which is used in this style guide. Sarcasm and humor will not be a part of the tone used in the research paper.

Format and references:
I will default to AP style for format and references.

Area-specific terminology (this will be updated as needed):
blog instead of weblog
bloggers
blogging
internet
online
the web
website