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I'm responsible for most of the copy editing at my job. While it goes pretty smoothly most of the time, there is one area that keeps creating a bit of cognitive dissonance for me:

  • decisionmaking
  • decision-making
  • decision making

I almost want to go German on it and make it into a compound word as in the first choice, but then I start thinking that a space would be more readable. Then the hyphen appears out of nowhere as a less-than-satisfying compromise between the two.

No matter how I decide to go, I really haven't been able to find any peace on the matter. Are there any official declarations from any of the major style guides on this matter? For what it's worth contextually, the final customer for a lot of my writing is the US Federal Government.

Kaji
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1 Answers1

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Not decisionmaking in any case.

As for decision-making and decision making they can imply different things in certain contexts, for example, in adjectival use: a decision-making ability.

Sometimes the latter two could be used interchangeably.

The present trend and preference is to avoid the hyphen to the extent possible without causing ambiguity.

ODO: decision-making

The action or process of making important decisions: the system encourages workers' participation in corporate decision-making

[as modifier]: the decision-making process

WP: decision-making

… Decision-making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. …

reference.com: decision making

noun
the cognitive process of reaching a decision; "a good executive must be good at decision making "

The same page quotes Elaine Heffner for the adjectival sense:

It is only by having his needs considered, by becoming a participant in the decision-making process, that a child develops the capacity for autonomy."

Kris
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