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USF produces hundreds of print and electronic communications each year, and the quality of each should be representative of the university’s mission and goals. This style guide is intended to help bring stylistic consistency to all university publications, from newsletters to brochures to flyers. The guide is a compilation of rules from The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, The Chicago Manual of Style, and the USF Office of Publications. Listings cover everything from Internet terms (email or E-mail?) to troublesome words (toward or towards?) to the proper names of university departments and programs (University Ministry or Campus Ministry?). For a complete listing of names of departments, programs, etc., refer to the university’s telephone directory. If your question is not answered in this guide, consult The Chicago Manual of Style. This style guide will evolve and adjust to the needs of users. Please contact Angie Davis at ext. 5948 or email davisa@usfca.edu with questions and/or suggestions as you use this resource to create your own university publications. |
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academic abbreviations – See degrees. academic departments – Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives: the history department, the English department. academic titles – Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, dean, etc., when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere. On second reference, use only the last name, NOT Professor Brown. acronyms – If an acronym will be used on subsequent references, write it in parentheses after spelling out the name on first reference. The Associated Students of the University of San Francisco (ASUSF). An exception is USF, which does not need to be placed in parentheses after the first reference. adviser – Always spell with an “e.” Never use advisor. African American – No hyphen. afterward – Not afterwards. ages – Always use figures. Use hyphens for age expressed as an adjective before a noun or as a substitute for a noun: A 5-year-old boy. The boy is 5 years old. alumni – Use alumnus (or alumni in the plural) when referring to a man who has attended a school. Use alumna (or alumnae in the plural) for similar references to a woman. Use alumni when referring to a group of men and women. a.m., p.m. – Lowercase, with periods. See time. American Indians – Preferred term for those in the United States. Where possible, be precise and use the name of the tribe. Native American is acceptable in quotations and names of organizations. among, between – Use between for two things and among for more than two. archdiocese – Capitalize as part of a proper name. Lowercase when it stands alone. ASUSF – Associated Students of the University of San Francisco awards – Capitalize the formal title of an award: Fr. William Dunne Award.
books – See composition titles
Center for Law and Global Justice – Housed in the School of Law, it includes the Cambodia Law and Democracy Program and the Center of Community Legal Education for Eastern Indonesia. CELASA – Center for Latino Studies in the Americas. Center for Multicultural Literature for Children and Adults – Housed in the School of Education. Center for the Pacific Rim – Housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, it includes the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History and publishes the Pacific Rim Report. chair – Use chair or chairperson. Do not use chairman or chairwoman. Church – Capitalize when referring to the Catholic Church: Next month Church leaders will meet in Rome. Lowercase when used generically: I go to church every Sunday. city – Capitalize city as part of a proper name: New York City. Lowercase elsewhere: a Texas city, city government. Use The City when referring to San Francisco. See addresses Class of – Capitalize: The Class of 1950 held a reunion. BUT The ’52 class… cohort programs – Refers to programs that are offered in a “lock-step” manner, where the students stay together as a group, take the same courses at the same time, and the faculty members rotate in and out. college and school names – The formal names of colleges and schools are capitalizedz: She attended the College of Arts and Sciences. Do not capitalize the college on second reference: School of Law BUT the law school. Commencement Mass – Often incorrectly referred to as Baccalaureate Mass. committee – Do not abbreviate. Capitalize when part of a formal name: the Service Learning Committee. Do not capitalize “the committee” on second reference. composition titles – For books, magazines, newspapers, television shows, movies, and plays, capitalize and italicize the titles and do not use quotes: the San Francisco Chronicle, New Yorker magazine, Meet the Press, The Corrections. For lectures and articles, use quotes and no italics: The professor published an article, “Study Habits of Highly Successful Students,” in a top scholarly journal. Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters. Capitalize an article (the, a, an) or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title. computer terms – Web site, email, Internet, online, dot-com, chat room, data base, homepage, HTML, laptop, log on (verb), login (noun), log off, megabyte. For further information, refer to Wired Style. conference names – Capitalize, but do not place in quotes. course titles – Capitalize formal course names: Yoko Arisaka’s course, Living Ethics, is full. Lowercase the names of subjects unless they are proper nouns or adjectives: He is taking an English class, a history class, and a French class this semester. Crossroads Cafe – Student-run food service located in University Center. It is part of ASUSF.
dates – Do not use a day of the week with a date. Use a comma before the year: Dec. 1, 2000. BUT December 2000 (no comma). For information about an event, give the time, date (without the day of the week), and location, in that order. Also May to June NOT May-June BUT May 20-25. Do not use on before a date or day of the week when its absence would not lead to confusion: The conference will be Dec. 1. decades – Do not use apostrophes when all four digits are used: the 1960s, the ’60s. The apostrophe should turn away from the year, not toward it.
degrees – Lowercase, and use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, a master’s, etc., but not in bachelor of arts: Tom is working on a master’s degree in fine arts. (Note: Not “his” master’s) Eugene received a bachelor of arts in chemistry. Discourse – The philosophy department’s journal. doctor – See degrees. dorm – Always use residence hall rather than dorm or dormitory. Dorraine Zief Law Library – The USF School of Law’s library. email – See computer terms. ensure, insure – Use the former to mean guarantee: Steps were taken to ensure accuracy. Use the latter for references to insurance: The policy insures his life. entitled – Use it to mean a right to do or have something. Do not use it to mean “titled”: She was entitled to the promotion NOT The book was entitled Gone With the Wind. ESL/IEP – English as a Second Language/Intensive English Program. Evening and Weekend College Program – Often incorrectly referred to as Extended Education. events – State in order of time, date, and location: The lecture will be at 4 p.m. Dec. 1 in McLaren Center, Room 252. every dayevery day (adv.), everyday (adj.) – She goes to work every day. He wears everyday shoes.
fax – Do not capitalize. fewer, less – Use fewer for individual items, less for bulk or quantity: Fewer than 10 applicants called. I had less than $50 in my pocket (an amount) but I had fewer than 50 $1 bills in my pocket (individual items). foreign particles – Lowercase particles such as de, la, and von when part of a given name: Connie de la Vega. foreign titles – Translate a foreign title into English unless a work is known to the American public by its foreign name: Rousseau’s War not Rousseau’s La Guerre. Forum, The – The School of Law’s newspaper freshman, freshmen – Freshman is used as a singular noun (The freshman history major). Freshman is also used as an adjective (The freshman class is larger this year). Freshmen is the plural form of the noun (The freshmen are living on campus). A gender-neutral alternative to the term is “first year.” Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning fundraising, fundraiser – Do not hyphenate: They planned a fundraising campaign. A fundraiser was hired.
grade-point average – Note hyphen and no capital letters. Use GPA on second reference.
hyphen – See dashes.
INOM – Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management. ICB – Institute of Chemical Biology. Ignatian, The – Student-run literary magazine. ITS – Information Technology Services. initials – Use periods and no space when an individual uses initials instead of a first name: B.J. Johnson. BUT: R. James Brown. Do not give a name with only a single initial: J. Jones. inter – In general, no hyphen. Exception: inter-American. Internet – Capitalize. See computer terms. it's, its – It's is a contraction for it is: It’s raining outside. Its is a possessive pronoun: The university has updated its master plan.
KUSF – Campus radio station that broadcasts throughout the Bay Area. Frequency is 90.3 FM.
Lone Mountain – Capitalize Lone Mountain, but not campus: The meeting will be held on the Lone Mountain campus OR The meeting will be on Lone Mountain.
MAPS – Master of Arts in Asia Pacific Studies. Mass – It is celebrated, not said. Always capitalize when referring to the ceremony, but lowercase any preceding adjectives: high Mass.
nonprofit – Do not hyphenate. North Bay Regional Campus – Often referred to as the Santa Rosa campus. numerals – Spell out one through nine, use numerals for 10 and above. Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence, except for a calendar year. Spell out first through ninth when they indicate sequence in time or location. Starting with 10th, use figures.
over/more than – Over generally refers to spatial relationships: The truck drove over the grass. In most cases, use more than with numerals: More than 1,800 new students enrolled this year. The trip will cost more than $500.
percentages – Use figures: 1 percent, 2.5 percent, 10 percent. For amounts less than 1 percent, precede the decimal with a zero: The cost of living rose 0.6 percent. Never use %. PhD – See degrees. plural – For proper names ending in es, s, or z, add es: Joneses, Gonzalezes. For proper names ending in y add s: Kennedys. Add s with no apostrophe to figures such as 1920s and 727s. Use 's for single letters: p's and q's. Add s to multiple letters: ABCs, IOUs, GPAs. podium – A person speaks on a podium, not at a podium. pope – Lowercase unless it immediately precedes the name of the individual who holds the position: The pope will visit the United States. In June, Pope John Paul II will visit. possessives - Add 's to plural nouns not ending in s: the alumni’s contributions. Add an apostrophe to plural nouns ending in s and to proper names ending in s: mathematics’ rules, United States’ wealth. president - On first reference use USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. Use Fr. Privett or the president on subsequent references. priests – On first reference, use name and religious order abbreviation: Francis Buckley, S.J. On subsequent reference use Fr. Buckley. Do not use the redundant Fr. Francis Buckley, S.J. Use a comma before (but not after) “S.J.”
RA – Resident Adviser. Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History – See Center for the Pacific Rim. room numbers and names – Use figures and capitalize room when used with a figure: Lone Mountain Room 103. Capitalize the names of specifically designated rooms: Pacific Rim Conference Room.
San Francisco Foghorn – Student-run weekly newspaper. It is published on Thursdays during the academic year. seasons, months, and days of the week – Names of days of the week and months of the year are capitalized. The four seasons are lowercased SII – St. Ignatius Institute. serial commas – Use commas to separate elements in a series. Do put a comma before the conjunction of both simple and complex series: The flag is red, white, and blue. The main questions facing the university are how to increase enrollment, where to house students, and how to attract faculty. Services for Students with Learning Disabilities – Often incorrectly referred to as LD Student Services. South Bay Regional Campus – Often referred to as Cupertino Campus, where it is located. states – See addresses. telephone numbers – Use figures: (212) 621-1500; 621-1500 ext. 421. television stations – The call letters alone are frequently adequate, but when this phrase is needed, use lowercase: television station WTEV. USF Cable Channel 3. theater – Use this spelling, except if proper names dictate otherwise. time – Use figures except for noon and midnight: 8 a.m. 9:30 p.m. Avoid the redundant "10 a.m. this morning," "12 noon." titles, non-academic – Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as president, general manager, etc. when they precede a name: USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. Lowercase elsewhere: Stephen A. Privett, S.J., president of the university. toward – Never towards.
University Ministry – Formerly known as Campus Ministry.
who, whom – Who is the word when someone is the subject of a sentence, clause, or phrase: The student who earns the highest grade point average will receive the scholarship. Whom is used when someone is the object of a verb or preposition: The student to whom the scholarship was awarded had the best grades. World Fare – Cafeteria located in University Center that is operated by Sodexho Marriott. worldwide – No hyphen.
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