British versus American spelling (‘-z-’ and ‘-s-’)

A lot of people in the UK, and indeed in other parts of the world, will tell you that ‘z’ spellings (usually verbs, e.g., realize, organize and summarize) are American English and examples of Americanisation (Americanization!). They maintain that ‘realise’, ‘organise’ and ‘summarise’ are the correct way to spell those verbs in British English.

These days, ‘-ise’ spellings are more common in British English texts but you can actually use either ‘s’ or ‘z’ spellings, as long as you are consistent and bear certain things in mind.

American English generally uses ‘-ize’ spellings. However, in both American and British spelling, if the noun form of a word contains an ‘s’ (e.g., revision, compromise and exercise), then the ‘s’ spelling is also used for the verb (i.e., revise, compromise and exercise).

In British English, words ending with ‘-yse’ (‘analyse’ probably being the one most often seen in academic work) cannot be spelled using ‘-yze’. British English uses ‘analyse’, but ‘analyze’ is the correct spelling in American English.

Many journal guidelines state that they want documents to be submitted in British or American spelling, but not a mixture of the two. If a journal states that it wants British English, it might also specify if it wants authors to use ‘-ize’ spellings (usually by referring to Oxford spelling). Examples of journals that use Oxford spelling are Nature and Wiley’s International Journal of Auditing. Otherwise, ‘-ise’ spellings are fine.

---

Oxford spelling is a standard form of spelling so named because it is used by Oxford University Press. The Oxford English Dictionary lists ‘-ize’ spellings first and then gives ‘-ise’ suffixes as an alternative, and acceptable, spelling in British English.

---

I can work with either British or American spelling, whichever the journal, or the author, wants. If British English is specified, and the author has used a mix of ‘-ise’ and ‘-ize’ spellings, I will usually note whichever the author has employed most often, use that to inform a style decision and stick to it.

A quick recap on spelling

Pronouncing the letter 'z'

In the UK, we pronounce ‘z ’ as /zed/ to rhyme with head, whereas in American English ‘z’ is pronounced /zee/ to rhyme with bee.