Effective OER are engaging, adaptable, and easy to use. Focus on clear structure, plain language, purposeful interactivity, alignment with learning outcomes, and future-proofing so others can update or remix your work.

• Structure & clarity: Organise content into small, modular sections with consistent headings and simple templates for repeatable elements (e.g. key terms, activities, summaries).
• Pedagogical alignment: State learning objectives for each section, scaffold complexity, and include brief self-checks to reinforce learning.
• Engagement & relevance: Use prompts, reflections, and authentic examples/case studies that fit your learners’ context; add multimedia/interactive elements (e.g. H5P) only when they add value.
• Reuse & adaptability: Provide editable source files, clear CC licensing and attribution notes, and keep a simple version/changelog to support updates and remixing.
• Visual coherence & delivery: Apply a clean, consistent style for readability and offer web-first content with a downloadable/offline option where possible.

For more information see: Accessibility and UDL 

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Along with keeping accessibility standards in mind, we encourage you, where possible, to comply with the Australian Government Style Manual. We also encourage you to refer to the latest version of the Macquarie Dictionary for preferred spelling.

Keep the university style guide and brand guidelines in mind when writing. 

• Style guide 
• Charles Sturt brand guidelines

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If you’re publishing in Pressbooks, it helps to plan your draft with its structure in mind - front matter, parts, chapters, and back matter. For other platforms, review how they organise content and adjust your outline to fit their format.

Typical book outline

Front matter (choose what suits your book; you can add more):

• Acknowledgement of Country
• Disclaimer
• Preface
• Foreword
• Adaptation statement

Main body:

• Part I (often used to introduce the part or state key learning outcomes)
  • Chapter 1 (In Pressbooks, chapter titles are H1; use H2+ for sections within the chapter.)
  • Chapter 2
• Part II
  • Chapter 3 (Chapter numbering usually follows the order of chapters across parts. Adjust as needed in your book settings.)

Back matter (select as needed; add others if useful):

• Appendix
• About the authors
• Acknowledgments

Figure and table numbering (recommended approach):

Plan your numbering before adding content. Using the chapter number as a prefix keeps updates localized:

• Chapter 1: Figures 1.1–1.9
• Chapter 2: Figures 2.1–2.15

If you later add or remove a figure in Chapter 1, you won’t need to renumber figures in Chapter 2. The same approach works well for tables.