The following style guide highlights editorial style rules for Nazareth communications. These standards are to be followed when writing and editing copy for any and all communications from Nazareth. Such communications include, but are not limited to, print publications (letters, press releases, newsletters, etc.) and web content.
In general, Nazareth publications follow the guidelines in The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook. For entries not listed here or in AP, please refer to a good reference dictionary (e.g., Webster’s New World College Dictionary).
The Nazareth Style Guide will be updated periodically.
Nazareth’s deviations from AP style are denoted by an asterisk.
Insert only ONE space after the punctuation at the end of a sentence.
Correct: This is a style guide. Please refer to it often.
Incorrect: This is a style guide. Please refer to it often.
Preferred: Spell out degrees, rather than abbreviating, in running text, such as Fazal Kamar, who has a doctorate in psychology.
Don't capitalize: bachelor's degree, master's degree, or doctorate. But capitalize the formal degree title, such as Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science; however, lowercase the area of study. Example: Bachelor of Arts in history; Master of Science in chemistry.
Use an apostrophe in bachelor's degree, a master's, etc., but there is no possessive in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science.
Also: an associate degree (no possessive).
In very formal references, use baccalaureate degrees.
For short abbreviations, use periods and set off by commas: B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Jed Metzger, Ph.D., associate professor of social work.
Ed.D. is correct.
For longer abbreviations (three letters or more) when the individual letters are pronounced, use all caps, but no periods: BFA, MSW, LCSW, SSJ.
For a graduate of Nazareth, put the graduation year(s) before the degree:
No commas for a single graduation year:
Use one comma between multiple graduation years and none after:
For any college, lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives: the department of history, the history department, the department of English, the English department, or when department is part of the official and formal name: University of Connecticut Department of Medicine, Nazareth College Art Department.
Academic departments at Nazareth: As of August 2015, Nazareth College's naming convention for departments is X Department, not Department of X. So capitalize Nursing Department but not the departments of nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.
See AP entry for details, including to avoid Dr. except for medical doctors. (Instead: John Smith, Ph.D.)
In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name.
Do not capitalize an occupational designation, only a true title: We met President Obama. The speaker will be artist Heather Butterfield.
Exception to the rule: Titles after names can be capitalized at the designer's discretion (for visual appearance), when listed in a conference program or invitation.
Note: In the Nazareth Directory, we add short bios that include faculty member's degrees and from which institution. (We don't put Dr. before the name nor add degrees or credentials after the person's name.)
Terms designating academic years are lowercased: first-year, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior.
Class years are capitalized: Class of 2016, Junior Class
But use lowercase when identifying individuals: senior Kari Steinbock
Also see: academic degrees & graduation years (above)
Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Spell them out and capitalize when part of a formal street name without a number: Pennsylvania Avenue. Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name: Massachusetts and Pennsylvania avenues.
Do not italicize.
The terms alumnus (singular) and alumni (plural) for men, and alumna (singular) and alumnae (plural) for women, are acceptable.
(New from AP in 2022:) If a gender-neutral term is desired, alum or alums is acceptable.
For graduation years, see YEARS.
Use the ampersand when it is part of a company or group's formal name: Procter & Gamble, Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.
Note the plural Arts, and that both words are capitalized.
In general, introduce a bulleted list with a colon. Capitalize the first letter of the first word of each bulleted list item. Bulleted items should be in parallel construction. End bulleted sentences with periods (not semicolons or commas), and do not punctuate the end of fragments.
Example of bulleted list of sentences:
Additional information for applicants:
Example of bulleted list of fragments:
There are a number of things to keep in mind when writing a style guide:
Spell out the word cents and lowercase, using numerals for amounts less than a dollar: 5 cents, 12 cents. Use the $ sign and decimal system for larger amounts: $1.01, $2.50.
(AP refers to the dictionary for -making; Nazareth's style is an exception.)
Nazareth is committed to changemaking and supporting changemakers.
There are many rules regarding commas; see AP for a comprehensive discussion. Here are some common instances when commas are, or are not, used.
A comma should always be used between each element in a series: He nominated Tom, Dick, and Harry. (Exception to AP, which does not insert a comma before the conjunction in a simple series.)
Do not use a comma before Jr. or Sr. after a person's name: John Smith Jr.
The of is necessary. Never use a couple tomatoes or a similar phrase. The phrase takes a plural verb in constructions such as: A couple of tomatoes were stolen.
em dash, en dash, hyphen. See AP entry for details, which includes putting a space on both sides of a dash.
However, when using dashes to off-set a section of a sentence, do not use two hyphens. Instead, use an em dash symbol. (From the "Word" menu at the top of the screen: Insert > Symbol > pull down screen: "normal text.")
Correct: The workshop included a variety of tips — from job hunting to networking — for recent graduates.
Incorrect: The workshop included a variety of tips - from job hunting to networking - for recent graduates.
Incorrect (lack of space): The workshop included a variety of tips—from job hunting to networking—for recent graduates.
Always use Arabic figures, without st, nd, rd, or the.
Abbreviate months if a date follows:
Correct: Aug. 28 - Dec. 16
When a year is needed for clarity, put a comma before and after it:
The meeting at noon Aug. 28, 2023, will focus on student engagement.
The Associated Press updated its guidelines in 2021. They include:
When possible, ask people how they want to be described. Some people view their disability as central to their identity, and use identity-first language such as an autistic woman or an autistic. Others prefer person-first language such as a woman with autism or a woman who has autism.
In describing groups of people, or when individual preferences can’t be determined, use person-first language.
Avoid writing that implies ableism: the belief that typical abilities — those of people who aren’t disabled — are superior. Ableism is a concept similar to racism, sexism and ageism in that it includes stereotypes, generalizations and demeaning views and language. It is a form of discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities.
Do not describe an individual as having a disability unless it is clearly pertinent to the story. For example: Merritt, who is blind and walks with the help of a guide dog, said she is pleased with the city’s walkway improvements. But not: Zhang, who has paraplegia, is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Be specific about the type of disability, or symptoms. For example: The woman said the airline kicked her family off a plane after her 3-year-old, who has autism, refused to wear a mask. She said her son became upset because he does not like to have his face touched.
More resources:
The National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University has created a style guide covering almost 200 words and terms commonly used when referring to disability, most of which are not covered in The Associated Press style guide.
Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title before the name of an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, or doctor of pediatric medicine degree.
If appropriate in context, Dr. also may be used on first reference before the names of individuals who hold other types of doctoral degrees. However, because the public frequently identifies Dr. only with physicians, care should be taken to assure the individual's specialty is stated in first or second reference. The only exception would be a story in which the context left no doubt that the person was a dentist, psychologist, chemist, historian, etc.
Also see academic titles.
Always lowercase. Use whole figures without the cents whenever possible: $5, not $5.00. Use figures and the $ sign in all except casual references or amounts without a figure: The book cost $4. Dad, please give me a dollar. Dollars are flowing overseas.
The first is a noun, the second an adjective. She received a good education at a reputable educational institute.
Means for example. Use sparingly. Follow with a comma: She bought many things today (e.g., clothes, shoes, food).
( ... ) See AP entry for comprehensive explanation. In general, treat an ellipses as a three-letter word, constructed with three periods and two spaces, as shown here.
Short form of electronic mail. Per AP, all "e-" terms are lowercase and hyphenated, except for email.
Avoid using. If necessary, list at least three examples/items/listings before following with "etc."
Incorrect: He teaches philosophy, etc.
Correct: She studied math, chemistry, physics, etc.
See AP entry. Avoid overuse.
In general, use fewer for individual items, less for bulk or quantity.
Incorrect: The trend is toward more machines and less people. (People in this sense refers to individuals.)
Incorrect: She was fewer than 60 years old. (Years in this sense refers to a period of time, not individual years.)
Correct: Fewer than 10 applicants called. (Individuals.)
Correct: I had less than $50 in my pocket. (An amount.) But: I had fewer than 50 $1 bills in my pocket. (Individual items.)
Means that is (from the Latin "id est"). Equivalent to that is to say or in other words, and should be offset with a comma. Example: He didn't do very well on his exam (i.e., he failed).
Writers or speakers imply in the words they use. A listener or reader infers something from the words.
Lowercase. Also, intranet. As a colleague once said, "You wouldn't capitalize telephone, so why internet?"
Do not capitalize academic majors, minors, programs, specializations, or concentrations (biology, women's studies) except for languages and titles containing geographic locations (English, Spanish, African studies, Asian studies).
Course titles are capitalized: Modern Europe II: 1890-Present, Management 410: Management Ethics
Examples: January 1972 was a cold month. Jan. 2 was the coldest day of the month. His birthday is May 8. Feb. 14, 1987, was the target date.
Use instead of over when discussing amounts.
over
It generally refers to spatial relationships: The plane flew over the city.
more than
is preferred with numerals: Their salaries went up more than $20 a week.
See AP entry for details. In general:
One word and lowercase in all cases for the computer connection term. Also, offline.
(The AP changed this rule in 2019.)
Use the % sign when paired with a numeral, with no space, in most cases: 95%.
For a comprehensive explanation, see AP listing.
Capitalize only if the room has been named: 1924 Room, Golisano Academic Center, room 165.
The abbreviation for the French respondez s'il vous plait, it means please reply. Please RSVP is redundant. Instead: RSVP by calling ..., Please respond by calling ...
Lowercase spring, summer, fall, winter and derivatives such as springtime unless part of a formal name (Winter Olympics, Nazareth College Spring Fest), or as part of a heading or chart.
Nazareth's schools: the School of Health and Human Services (SHHS), the School of Business and Leadership (SBL), the School of Education (SOE), and (as of 2019) the School of Music (SOM — not to be confused with the previous School of Management, which became SBL).
The School of Music is within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Capitalize school when it refers to a specific school: The School was founded a few years ago.
When to use the with school initials:
Use one space (not two) after the punctuation at the end of a sentence:
Back in the typewriter days, two spaces were the standard between sentences. But on a computer, you should only use one.
In general, refer to AP entry. Use figures without parentheses: 585-389-2499. The form for toll-free numbers: 800-111-1000. Do not use periods between parts of a phone number (incorrect: 585.389.2499).
If extension numbers are given: ext. 2, ext. 364, ext. 4071. Note the space between ext. and the number. Not necessary to use a comma to separate the main number from the extension (different from AP).
According to AP, use theater unless the proper name is Theatre: Shubert Theatre. In general, use theater to describe the building and/or physical space and theatre when referring to the theatre arts program at Nazareth.
Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. Write a.m. and p.m. in lowercase, with periods between the letters. Note the space between the numerals and the letters: She ate at 6 p.m. The event takes place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
See academic professional titles.
Italicize titles of books, periodicals, newspapers, plays, motion pictures, television and radio programs, and long poems and musical compositions. Put titles of songs, poems, TV episodes, short stories, and newspaper and magazine articles in quotation marks.
Not towards. Upward, not upwards.
It means one of a kind. It does not take a qualifier: Do not describe something as very unique, rather unique, and/or most unique.
Capitalize the word university when it refers specifically to Nazareth University. Currently, the University is undergoing renovations. A university education is considered necessary nowadays.
In print: For most URLs, it is safe to drop the http:// when typing an address. Example: www.naz.edu instead of http://www.naz.edu. It's preferable to also drop the www and use naz.edu. Always test the exact link before using it.
When the URL does not fit entirely on one line, break it into two or more lines without adding a hyphen or other punctuation mark.
There is no need to italicize or underline URLs when they appear in printed text. (The underline on a webpage, generated automatically when you make the words clickable, shows the user that the text is an active hyperlink.)
On naz.edu webpages, rather than showing the exact URL, make a text phrase clickable, such as: The Nazareth style guide shows how to write and edit copy for all communications from the College.
Do not use "click here." The text phrase you use as the link should match the words at the top of the page the link goes to, for a seamless experience.
Ranking per the magazine's policy, the first reference to this publication should be U.S. News & World Report. Note: U.S. News is two words, and is represented by an ampersand symbol, and report is singular.
For secondary use, U.S. News (italicized, with a space between words).
Or the web.
Use figures, without commas: 1975. Use commas only with a month and a day: Dec. 18, 1994, was a special day. Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries: the 1890s, the 1800s. Years are the lone exception to the general rule in numerals that a figure is not used to start a sentence: 1976 was a good year.
When abbreviating years to two digits, add an apostrophe before the numerals: Blizzard of '78, the '60s.
When referencing a span of years, use an en-dash and use all four numbers of the second year: 1979-1991.
When listing Nazareth student and alumni graduation years, note the apostrophe: John Smith '85. To denote students/alumni obtaining/with graduate degrees, use a G after the year of graduation: Anne Klein '76G or Sue Star '14, '16G.
August and December grads are recorded as being the following year, so a December 2017 grad will appear in our database as '18. But the grad may feel an affiliation with the 2017 class. In writing about alumni, we defer to the alum's preference as to which year we list.
[Added 2021] For those who didn't complete a degree at Nazareth: Nazareth's Alumni Engagement office gives alumni benefits to anyone who completed 30 credits at Nazareth. But we don't write a graduation year after their name, since that's for degree completions. Instead could write: who attended Nazareth or who attended Nazareth 1985-1988.
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