For anything not covered in this House Style Guide, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (APA-7). For grammar, style, and usage questions not covered by APA-7, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed. For legal citation formatting not addressed in APA-7, refer to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.). Several sections from APA-7 have been repeated in this document for emphasis.
ACA style uses the first spelling listed in the Merriam-Webster.com Collegiate Dictionary (revised 2022); for entries not found in the Collegiate Dictionary, check the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. Exceptions are noted in the ACA Word List below. For the spelling of psychological terms not included in the Word List, refer to the APA Dictionary of Psychology (2nd ed.). For the spelling of statistical terms not included in the Word List, refer to the APA Dictionary of Statistics and Research Methods.
Download the House Style Guide as a PDF or view below.
Acknowledgments thank contributors to a book’s production in a professional yet sometimes personal manner. They may mention agents, colleagues, mentors, friends, family, or organizations that provided support. Mentions of the ACA should be general, acknowledging the Association and "staff" without naming individuals.
Dedications are more personal, expressing honor or affection. They are typically brief, directed to a specific person, group, or concept (e.g., hope or justice), and appear on a separate page near the book’s front.
Biographies of the primary authors or editors will be compiled and included at the end of the book. The biography statement should be concise, professional, and relevant to the book’s subject matter. Elements that may be included in brief mention:
The author or editor bio statement should not exceed 150 words. Note: on the cover we will not include post-nominal credentials after the author’s or editor’s names.
Example:Dr. Jane Doe is a Professor of Psychology at XYZ University. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from ABC University. Her research focuses on trauma-informed therapy and mental health interventions. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of Understanding Trauma in Therapy. Dr. Doe has received the XYZ Award for Excellence in Research and serves as an associate editor for The Journal of Mental Health Studies.
APA-7 Section 5.7 focuses on the following guidelines for bias-free language when writing about people. The goal is to ensure clarity, accuracy, and respect in all descriptions of people and populations, calling for:
Authors and editors are also strongly encouraged to become familiar with the Toolkits for Equity, published by the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). The toolkits are intended to “support all those seeking to build a more inclusive editorial and reviewer community … [recommending] practical and relevant actions for editors and publishers … to ensure fairness and minimization of bias in the peer review process” (C4DISC, 2022, 2024)
We do not require a finalized title at the time of contract, but we do need it by submission of the manuscript. ACA also reserves the right to change or alter a title if it’s too similar to one of our current titles.
The following guidelines are helpful to crafting a title:
Use the following reference formats for the 2024 CACREP Standards:
Reference list:
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2024). 2024 CACREP standards. https://www.cacrep.org/cacrep-2024-standards-resource-page/
Example citations:
Use the following reference formats when referring to the ACA Code of Ethics:
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
Guidelines for citation:
Per APA-7, do not use copyright, trademark, or similar symbols for product/brand names.
When referring to counselors, the counseling profession, or members of the American Counseling Assocation, please note the following guidelines and recommendations:
Use of the editorial “we” or “our” is permissible in certain instances (e.g., “We are committed…,” “Our profession is committed…”) if the subject (e.g., counselors, counseling profession) has been discussed in the text.
The use of the editorial “we” or “our” is discouraged unless the authors are referring to themselves as a group of co-authors (e.g., “In our study, we found...”).
Rewrite sentences to avoid the editorial “we” and make the subject of the statement clear. For example:
In nearly all cases, quotes of source text should not have any changes made to the wording of the citation.
Example If the cited author describes their work as “an inquiry into the concerns that members of the LGBT community have …”, the paraphrase or quote should NOT replace “LGBT” with “LGBTQIA+”, even though the replacement is more reflective of inclusive language in the acronym of the additional communities.
The tone and voice of the text should reflect the significance of the subject matter while maintaining clarity, engagement, and accessibility. We aim to balance professionalism with an authentic authorial voice, ensuring our texts are credible, compelling, and impactful.
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