Whether you are editing your journal paper or PhD thesis, it is always helpful to use a professional style guide, as well as another style guide provided by your academic institution. Writing an academic document requires you to follow a variety of professional styles and standards that may not be covered in entirety by your institutional style guide. Thus, it is critical to combine the styles from both these manuals.
Additionally, you should ensure to understand and use a professional style guide that fits your academic area needs. Several academic institutions help students in choosing the right style for their papers. Thus, you should avoid assuming that one style would suit the custom needs of all areas. It is also better to seek your advisor’s help before picking up either the APA or Chicago manual or another randomly selected manual for editing your work.
Further, you should check with your department about the right edition of a selected style guide to be used. Usually, these manuals keep coming up with newer editions that include updated styles. Thus, universities mostly recommend students to use latest editions. Although a professional style guide indicates most of the standards that would help in your editing task, always prefer to use your institutional style guide when there is a rule contradiction between both. Thus, a better knowledge of different style guides can help you make the right choice toward perfect editing.