|
Goucher College Style Guide
If you've ever written anything for publication, you know that as soon as you begin, you run into a million different questions about the style of the piece: What should you capitalize? How should you refer to someone's job title? Should you use the "serial comma" or not?
To keep things consistent here at Goucher, we've created the following guide to help you navigate the stylistic minefield. We've included entries about all of the issues that we commonly run into, but we also expect this guide to evolve over time, so if you can't find something -- or have a question about something you do find -- please feel free to contact Chris Iseli, our writer/editor, at ciseli@goucher.edu.
A B C D E F G H I J L N O P R S T U V W
- Use the following abbreviations when used before a full name outside direct quotations: Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Mr., Mrs., Rep., the Rev., and Sen. Spell out all except Dr., Mr., and Mrs. when they are used before a name in direct quotations. Use the abbreviations Jr., Sr., and Esq. when used after a full name.
- Use the abbreviations Co., Corp., Inc., and Ltd. in the formal names of businesses.
- Use the abbreviations a.m., p.m., A.D., B.C., Ave., Blvd., and St. when used with specific numbers: 6:00 p.m.; 600 B.C.; 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
- With place names, abbreviate St. (St. Louis) but spell out Fort (Fort Lauderdale).
- See also the guidelines under the separate entry on states and academic degrees.
- If possible, refer to academic degrees in a phrase rather than with an abbreviation: The lecture featured David L. Yow, who holds a bachelor's degree in English literature, a master's degree in psychology, and a doctorate in neurobiology.
- Use apostrophes in bachelor's degree, master's degree, etc.
- Do not capitalize bachelor of science, master of arts, etc. Likewise, do not capitalize the field (bachelor of arts in philosophy) unless it is a proper noun (bachelor of arts in English).
- Use abbreviations only in cases where applying the above rule would make whatever you're writing too cumbersome or confusing.
- If you do have to abbreviate, capitalize and punctuate as follows: B.A., M.A., Ph.D., J.D., M.Div., M.A.T., M.Ed.
- Use these abbreviations only after full names, and set them off with commas: David L. Yow, Ph.D., will give a lecture.
- If possible, do not use courtesy titles (Dr. David L. Yow) to indicate academic degrees.
- Acceptable on second and subsequent references if given in parentheses after a first spelled-out use: The Student Government Association (SGA) held its first meeting today. The next SGA meeting will take place in two weeks.
- Acceptable without first spelling out if initials are widely recognized (e.g., CEO, SAT, NCAA, AIDS, HMO, NASA, FBI).
- Do not put in parentheses after a first spelled-out use if the organization will not be mentioned again.
- Use abbreviations only in numbered addresses: She works at 2700 N. Charles St.
- Otherwise, spell out directional modifiers and road designations: He lives on North Charles Street.
- Note the "s" at the end of Admissions.
- The preferred spelling is adviser, not advisor.
- Do not hyphenate.
- Graduates of Goucher College are referred to singularly as alumna and alumnus, and alumnae/i as a group. Alumnae/i are referred to by full name and year of graduation on first reference as follows: Rebecca Gates '72.
- The name of the official Goucher College alumnae/i body is the Alumnae & Alumni of Goucher College (note ampersand).
- The name of the office on campus responsible for coordinating alumnae/i relations is the Alumnae/i Resources Office.
- The building in which you can find the Alumnae/i Resources Office is the Alumnae & Alumni House. If necessary to save space, it may be referred to as the Alumnae/i House.
- To find out whether someone is an alumnus or alumna and, if so, his or her year of graduation, check the Goucher College Alumnae/i Directory.
- Do not use to form plurals (1950s, not 1950's) except in the cases of single letters (straight A's).
- Possessives of singular nouns, even those ending in s, are formed by adding 's: Susan's desk, Chris's office.
- Possessives of plural nouns not ending in s are formed by adding 's: women's studies.
- Possessives of plural nouns ending in s are formed by adding an apostrophe only: the horses' mouths.
- In the case of plural nouns modifying other nouns, such as the Parents' Newsletter, the use of the apostrophe is preferred.
- Where possible, use first-year students instead of freshmen.
- International students is preferred over foreign students.
- Juniors and seniors is preferred over upperclass students.
- See also nonsexist language.
- Capitalize when referring to Goucher College's.
- It may be acceptable to omit the first name of the person for whom a building was named (Kraushaar Auditorium, Meyerhoff Arts Center). Follow the lead of the list below.
-
All of the buildings on campus:
- Alumnae and Alumni House
- Dorsey College Center (includes Kraushaar Auditorium, Merrick Hall, and the Rosenberg Gallery)
- Facilities Management Services
- Mary Fisher Hall (includes Bacon House, Dulaney House, Hooper House, the Pearlstone Student Center, the Post Office, the Bookstore, Mary Fisher Library, the Pearlstone Student Conference Room, and the Gopher Hole)
- Froelicher Hall (includes the Academic Center for Excellence, Alcock House, Gallagher House, the Thormann Center, Tuttle House, and the Writing Center)
- Gatehouse
- Haebler Memorial Chapel
- Heubeck Hall (includes Bennett House, Gamble House, Jeffrey House, and Robinson House)
- Hoffberger Science Building (includes Kelley Lecture Hall)
- Julia Rogers Library
- Meyerhoff Arts Center (includes the Dunnock Theatre)
- New House
- President's House
- Psychology/Music Annex
- Riding Arena
- Sports and Recreation Center (includes the Todd Dance Studio, Welsh Gymnasium, and Von Borries Pool)
- Spring House
- Stimson Hall (includes Conner House, Lewis House, Probst House, Wagner House, Winslow House, Stimson Dining Hall, and the Kosher Dining Hall)
- Van Meter Hall
- Do not capitalize.
- Capitalize all proper nouns and proper names.
- As a rule, official names are capitalized (Department of Chemistry, Office of Admissions) and unofficial names are not (chemistry department, admissions office).
- Capitalize geographical areas and localities (the Eastern Shore, New York City), government bodies (the U.S. Congress, the Baltimore City Council), historical periods (the Depression, the Enlightenment), names referring to a specific deity (God, Allah), sacred books (the Bible, the Koran), religions (Christianity, Judaism), holidays (Memorial Day, Halloween) and registered trademarks (Xerox, General Electric).
- Lowercase job titles (president, professor) when they are not used before a proper name; unofficial names of departments or offices (the admissions office); nouns used with numbers to designate chapters, rooms, pages, etc. (chapter 1, room 234, page 125); derivative adjectives (french fries); simple directions (the east coast of Maryland).
- Except at the beginning of a sentence, do not capitalize the word "the" before a formal name: He attends the Johns Hopkins University.
- See also headlines and titles.
- Use a caption if there's a person, place, or situation that the reader is likely to want to identify.
- Use (left), (from left), or the like if there might be confusion about who's who.
- Do not use a middle initial if the full name with initial is already in the story.
- Do not use periods in captions that are not full sentences.
- Use instead of chairman or chairperson (chair of the English department).
- Capitalize city when used as part of a proper name: Baltimore City, New York City.
- Lowercase elsewhere: a Maryland city, the city government, the city of Baltimore.
- In running text, some cities do not need to be identified by state. These include Atlanta, Baltimore, Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis.
- Foreign cities commonly associated with a country do not need a country identification (e.g., London, Bangkok, Tokyo, Toronto).
- Capitalize only when used as part of a proper name: Goucher College is located in Towson, MD.
- Lowercase elsewhere, even when referring to Goucher College: The college is located in Towson, MD.
- Use to introduce bulleted lists and long quotations that require their own paragraph. For short lists, do not use a colon (e.g., Classes offered this semester include yoga, fencing, and aerobics).
- Capitalize the first word after the colon if what follows can stand on its own as a complete sentence: He knew one thing: He would never go back there again.
- Unless they are part of a quotation, leave colons outside quotation marks.
- Use a comma before and or or in a series: Red, white, and blue.
- Use a comma to introduce direct quotations: He said, "I will see you in class."
- In general, if you set something apart with a comma, you must follow it with a comma: The bus to Washington, DC, will leave at noon on Friday, November 15, from Mary Fisher Hall.
- Commas always go inside quotation marks. Always.
- In a series that includes within it other series long enough to require commas, use semicolons to separate the items: Courses include Frontiers, Boundaries, and Passages: Ritual and Culture; Tom Wolfe: Satire on the Postmodern Frontier of America; and From Dreamscape to Cyberspace.
- Capitalize in reference to Goucher's.
- Capitalize formal names (the National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty).
- Capitalize in reference to Goucher's.
- To avoid dating a publication that will be in use for a long period of time, use a job title rather than a name in contact information unless there's a compelling reason for using a name.
- For invitations and materials with a very short lifespan, using a name is preferred.
- Capitalize.
- Do not put in quotation marks or italicize.
- After a first reference, subsequent references generally use only a person's last name, except in obituaries. Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Rev., Dean, and Professor should not be used in second references except in quoted material.
- See also academic titles for discussion of Dr.
- Use a single hyphen to denote a range (pages 40-48) and to join compound adjectives (Baltimore-Washington Parkway).
- Em dashes (-) may be used for material that amplifies, explains, or digresses. Commas often may be used for the same purpose.
- Do not use spaces around em dashes: The three professors-Tipton, Downing, and Halford-were joined by several students.
- Hyphens, not em dashes, should be used in sports scores.
- Use a single hyphen to show a range of dates and do not repeat the first two numbers of the year if the second year is part of the same century as the first: 1991-94; 2001-02; 1999-2002.
- If the day of the month appears, use a comma before and after the year: Please return your application by the January 15, 2002, deadline.
- Do not use a comma between the month and the year alone: Please return your application by the January 2002 deadline.
- Use the year with the month only if it's not the current year.
- Use st, nd, rd, or th only if dates are adjectives: The event will take place on March 1; The March 1st event has been cancelled.
- Times come before days and dates: at 4 p.m. Friday; at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 7.
- Do not abbreviate months.
- Use numerals for decades: the 1960s; the '60s.
- See academic degrees.
- Full formal names of Goucher College departments and programs are capitalized: the Communication and Media Studies Department; the International and Intercultural Studies Program; the Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program.
- Lowercase the majors they offer unless they are proper names: She is double-majoring in psychology and English.
- The formal names of all Goucher College departments and programs can be found in the Academic Catalogue.
- People with disabilities, not the disabled or disabled people.
- Avoid words like victim, afflicted, and stricken.
- Do not use normal to mean the opposite of having a disability.
- In general, use only when referring to medical doctors and dentists. See academic degrees.
- Hyphenate and lowercase e-mail except at the beginning of a sentence.
- Most dictionaries now define e-mail as a verb as well as a noun, but you should use it sparingly (if at all) in formal writing.
- Avoid ending a sentence with an e-mail address; readers may think that the period ending the sentence is part of the address.
- Do everything within your power to avoid breaking a line in the middle of an e-mail address.
- If an address absolutely cannot fit on one line, do not introduce hyphenation when breaking it, and do not break the line at a punctuation mark (a dot or slash) within the address.
- Used to indicate that an individual has retired, but retains his or her rank or title.
- Follows the title: professor emeritus, not emeritus professor.
- Use emeritus for a man, emerita for a woman.
- Use emeritae/i for the plural.
- Capitalize whether before or after the name: the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Visiting Assistant Professor.
- Use as a plural noun to refer collectively to the teachers within an educational institution or department: The history faculty will participate in the conference; The committee consisted of faculty, staff, and students.
- To avoid confusion about whether or not you're referring to the entire faculty, use faculty members or members of the faculty.
- The formal name is capitalized (Fulbright Fellowship), but informal references (Fulbright grant) are not.
- In general, italicize unless the word has been Americanized or is commonly used.
- Write out and hyphenate: two-thirds, three-fifths.
- If possible, use first-year student instead.
- One word, no hyphen.
- Do not put in quotation marks: He received straight A's.
- Use an apostrophe for plurals: A's, B's.
- Depending on the publication and context, it may be acceptable to abbreviate GPA in first reference, but keep in mind that GPA is also the acronym for the Goucher Parents' Association.
- The use of downstyle or upper- and lowercase headlines is generally determined by the formality of the publication and the design, but once a style is chosen, it should be followed consistently within a publication. In downstyle headlines, the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. In upper- and lowercase headlines, every word is capitalized except articles (a, an, the), coordinate conjunctions (and, or, for, nor), prepositions, and to in infinitives.
- Latina or Latino is considered more politically correct, but Hispanic is acceptable. Defer to the preference of the subject.
- In general, do not hyphenate words beginning with th e prefixes co, non, pre, post, or re unless there is a possibility of confusion (co-op, post-master's) or the root word begins with a capital letter (post-Renaissance, Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program).
- Hyphenate words beginning with the prefix self.
- When a compound modifier - two or more words used to express a single concept - precedes a noun, use hyphens to link all of the words in the compound except the adverb very and all adverbs that end in -ly: a study-abroad program; on-campus housing; a devil-may-care attitude; a very difficult class; an exceptionally good performance.
- Many combinations do not need to be hyphenated when they occur after a noun: He plans to study abroad; She lives on campus.
- However, when a modifier that would be hyphenated before a noun occurs after a form of the verb to be, the hyphen usually must be retained: The professor is very well-known.
- And then there are some combinations that are so familiar that they need no hyphenation in any case (a liberal arts college). Use the dictionary as your guide: If it lists a compound term without hyphens as its own separate term, you do not need to hyphenate it. Around the communications office, we use The American Heritage Dictionary as our standard guide; you can find it online at www.dictionary.com.
- Do not hyphenate compounds with vice: vice chair, vice president.
- Hyphenate artist-in-residence, writer-in-residence, etc. before a name, do not hyphenate after: Writer-in-residence Seamus Heaney will read; Seamus Heaney is the Fall 2002 writer in residence.
- When more than one prefix is joined to a base word, hyphenate any prefixes that stand alone (micro- and macroeconomics).
- Do not hyphenate fundraising, freelance, online, yearlong, health care, African American, Asian American.
- Use middle initials in formal publications unless a person prefers otherwise.
- Be consistent from person to person in use of the middle initial.
- Two initials should be separated by a space (J. P. Morgan).
- In scientific citations, it is acceptable to use only a single initial and a last name. A single initial should not be used in running text, however.
- Preferred over foreign students.
- Capitalize.
- See also e-mail and websites.
- Invitations do not require end-of-line punctuation.
- Numbers greater than 10 may be spelled out.
- Street numbers may be spelled out.
- O'clock or :00 may be used in times.
- See foreign words and titles.
- Do not set off with commas: Sammy Davis Jr.; Hank Williams Sr.; Clarence Williams III.
- Preferred over Hispanic, but either is acceptable. Defer to the preference of your subject.
- Put quotation marks around the formal title.
- If possible, avoid breaking a proper name, breaking a hyphenated word except at the hyphen, ending a column at a hyphen, and allowing more than two consecutive lines to end in a hyphen.
- Do not use a colon after a verb or a preposition introducing a list (members include Halford, Tipton, and Downing instead of members include: Halford, Tipton, and Downing) except when the introductory phrase contains some variation of the following or as follows, or when the list is so long as to require bullets.
- Maintain parallel construction in listed items.
- Avoid numbering unless there will be a reference to the numbers in later text.
- If you must number a list in running text, place numbers (without periods) in parentheses.
- In bulleted lists, use a period after each item if one or more is a complete sentence. In that case, the first words should be capitalized. Otherwise, capitalization of the first words depends on the context.
- Alphabetize or put listed items in some other logical order.
- No comma before Jr., Sr., or III.
- Space between initials (J. P. Morgan).
- Use whenever possible: chair, police officer, actor, etc.
- One way to get around the his or her dilemma is to recast in the plural.
- Spell out one through nine; use numerals for 10 and above.
- Spell out first through ninth; thereafter, 10th, 11th, etc.
- Use two letters with 22nd, 23rd, etc.
- Use numerals with percent (1 percent), dollar sign ($3), temperature (6 degrees), scores (7-3), page (page 2), room (room 9), and chapter (chapter 6).
- Numbers beginning a sentence are always spelled out.
- For figures greater than 999,999, use million or billion: 2.3 million, 4 billion.
- Use a comma in a figure greater than 1,000 unless it's a date.
- For inclusive numbers, the second number should be represented by only its final two digits if its beginning digit(s) are the same as the first number's: pages 343-47.
- A dash should not be used as a substitute for to in a range: from 1967 to 1983, not from 1967-83.
- Capitalize the formal names of all offices (e.g. Office of Communications, Residence Life Office, etc.).
- Do not hyphenate.
- If the material inside the parentheses ends a sentence but is not itself a complete sentence, place the period outside the closing parenthesis (as in this example).
- (If the material inside the parentheses is a complete sentence, as in this example, capitalize the first word and place the period inside the closing parenthesis.)
- Always go inside quotation marks.
- See parentheses (right above this entry) for information about how to use periods with them.
- See titles (people).
- Spell out resident assistant in first reference; use RA thereafter.
- No periods in RA.
- No apostrophe in the plural (RAs).
- Second and subsequent references to a person generally use only the last name, except in obituaries. Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Rev., Dean, and Professor should not be used in second references except in quoted material.
- Capitalize as follows when used with a specific year: She has been accepted for the Fall 2002 semester.
- Lowercase elsewhere: Commencement marks the official end of the spring semester.
- Unless you are working with a font that does not include them, smart (curly) quotation marks and smart apostrophes are typographically correct in all cases.
- Straight quotes are used to designate inches, straight apostrophes to designate feet.
- Except where a greater degree of formality is required, abbreviate state names using two-letter postal codes when they accompany city names: Towson, MD.
- In running text, some cities do not need to be identified by state. These include Atlanta, Baltimore, Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis.
- Use state abbreviations with smaller and lesser-known cities.
- Use commas before and after state abbreviations when they appear with cities: The Towson, MD, campus is eight miles north of downtown Baltimore.
- If a newspaper bears the name of its city, insert the state in parentheses: The Catonsville (MD) Times. You need not do this for the major newspapers of the cities listed in the second bullet point under this entry, or for The Washington Post.
- In text, spell out the words percent, degrees (temperature), feet, inches, and cents. In tables, it is acceptable to use symbols for these.
- Amounts greater than 99 cents should be in numerals with a dollar sign ($4).
- Use a hyphen between area code and phone number.
- If an extension is part of a phone number, denote it as follows: 410-555-1234, x123.
- Do not substitute an extension number for a campus number in any publication that will be read by audience members off campus.
- Lowercase before the name of an organization, business, or other group, no matter how they capitalize it: He attended the Johns Hopkins University.
- Capitalize at the start of titles of publications or works of art if it is part of the formal title: The Washington Post, The Canterbury Tales.
- Use theatre in referring to the Department of Theatre, the Dunnock Theatre, and any courses or plays related to them. Otherwise, use theater.
- Use figures except for noon and midnight. Do not use :00 with a time; otherwise, separate hours from minutes with a colon: 10 a.m.; 2:30 p.m.
- Lowercase a.m. and p.m.
- Noon and midnight, not 12 p.m., 12 noon., 12 a.m., or 12 midnight.
- Do not use a dash in place of to in a range of times introduced by from: from 5 to 7 p.m., not from 5-7 p.m.
- Do not use o'clock except in quoted material or contexts such as formal invitations.
- Capitalize and place in quotation marks.
- Italicize and use v. for "versus": Brown v. Board of Education.
- Names of associations, organizations, conferences, meetings, etc., follow the same guidelines as for compositions, except that the article the preceding a name is lowercased even when it is part of the formal title and the organization capitalizes it. Use the group's punctuation and abbreviations for its name.
- Use Co. when a business uses the word as part of its formal name. Inc., Corp., and Ltd. are usually not needed but when used after the name of a corporate entity should be abbreviated.
- Such words as club, team, and conference are lowercased when used alone.
- Capitalize and spell out formal titles when they precede a full name (Professor Horace Hanrahan); use lowercase elsewhere (Horace Hanrahan, professor of history, will give a lecture).
- Use lowercase for modifiers such as history, even when they precede a name: The lecture featured history Professor Horace Hanrahan.
- Always capitalize endowed professorships whether before or after the name: Horace Hanrahan, the Fall 2002 Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Visiting Assistant Professor, will give a lecture.
- Italicize titles of books, newspapers, periodicals (including online magazines), movies, television and radio series, plays, works of art, musical compositions or albums, collections of poetry, and long poems published as singular works.
- Titles of lectures, speeches, individual episodes of television and radio series, songs, poems, articles from newspapers and periodicals, chapters, short stories, essays, and individual parts of books should be placed in quotation marks.
- Unless they come first in a title, lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinate conjunctions (and, or, for, nor), prepositions regardless of length, and to in infinitives. Capitalize everything else, including those parts of speech if they appear as the first or last word in a title: To Kill a Mockingbird; The Sopranos; On the Waterfront; Blood on the Tracks.
- If possible, use juniors and seniors instead.
- No hyphen.
- Capitalize Web in reference to the World Wide Web.
- Lowercase website and use as one word.
- Writing out World Wide Web is not necessary; Web is sufficient.
- http:// is not needed at the start of a Web address unless the address doesn't start with www or there might be some confusion about whether it is a Web address.
- Brackets (< >) are not needed around a Web address.
- Use homepage as one word, unhyphenated.
- Use database as one word.
- Avoid ending a sentence with a Web address; readers may think the period ending the sentence is part of the address. In running text it may be helpful to set off the Web address in parentheses or put it in midsentence.
- Do everything within your power to avoid breaking a line in the middle of an website or e-mail address.
- If an address absolutely cannot fit on one line, do not introduce hyphenation when breaking it, and do not break the line at a punctuation mark (a dot or slash) within the address.