Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center R&D Communication Reference Guide

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

This Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) R&D Communication Reference Guide (CRG) is for FHWA staff members and contractors who develop, write, edit, and produce RD&T reports, fact sheets, technical flyers (e.g., TechBriefs and Application Notes), brochures, booklets, Web pages, articles, other publications, events, and marketing outreach. HRTM recommends that you read this guide before beginning to write and format a publication.

The CRG provides you with tools, techniques, and timelines to effectively plan, schedule, and produce your print or electronic publications, marketing and outreach materials, and events. The CRG contains publication formatting requirements, editorial style preferences, printing-publishing policies and procedures, and examples. The CRG is available online on the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) research website.⁽¹⁾

The CRG provides editorial and formatting guidance from the most recent versions of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Style Manual (GPO Style Manual), Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, and The Chicago Manual of Style by the University of Chicago Press and it also contains details that are specific to research, development, and technology (RD&T) products.^(2–4) Writers must use the CRG for writing their documents; however, the choice to use a style outside of the GPO Style Manual is at the discretion of the writer. The chosen style must be consistent throughout the document. Therefore, if you choose to follow The Chicago Manual of Style, for consistency, you should not switch to using GPO style.

A complimentary piece to the CRG is the Research Publication Development Web page at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/publishing/. The Web page, designed to assist researchers, contracting office representatives, and contractors with developing, writing, and submitting FHWA research publications, is located at www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/publishing.^(5,6)