Useful websites

Most UK library card holders can access resources from Oxford University Press for free. You can find out more here: https://global.oup.com/academic/online/library/?cc=gb&lang=en&

If you need to use special characters and symbols, this is a helpful list of Windows alt key codes: http://symbolcodes.tlt.psu.edu/accents/codealt.html

I used WorldCat extensively when I was at university. Search for the publication and it will show you how to reference it in the major styles. It isn’t foolproof but it is a good guide. Here’s the link: https://www.worldcat.org/

If you aren’t confident about using the Track Changes feature in Word, Microsoft has support pages to help. I suggest starting here: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Track-changes-in-Word-197ba630-0f5f-4a8e-9a77-3712475e806a

Recommended books

I regard the following books as invaluable:

• Fowler, H. W. and Butterfield, J. (2015) Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Trask, R. L. (1997) The Penguin guide to punctuation. London: Penguin Books.

The following books are useful:

• Cutts, M. (2013) Oxford guide to plain English. 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Manser, M. H. and Curtis, S. (2002) The Penguin writer’s manual. London: Penguin.
• New Hart’s rules: the Oxford style guide (2014) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Seely, J. (2013) Oxford A-Z of grammar and punctuation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• The Chicago manual of style: the essential guide for writers, editors, and publishers (2010) 16th edn. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Trask, R. L. (2000) The Penguin dictionary of English grammar. London: Penguin Books.
• Ward, L. J. and Woods, G. (2007) English grammar for dummies. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

The following books may be helpful for students:

• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. 9th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Peck, J. and Coyle, M. (2012) The student’s guide to writing: spelling, punctuation and grammar. 3rd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Further reading

• Butterfield, J. (2009) Damp squid: the English language laid bare. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Marsh, D. (2013) For who the bell tolls: one man’s quest for grammatical perfection. London: Guardian Books.