The American University of Paris. Editorial Guide

Transcription

1 The American University of Paris Editorial Guide The following guidelines are intended to ensure consistency in the written communications across all offices of The American University of Paris. If you have a question about the editorial guide, please contact the Online Communications Manager Sebastian Ordelheide in the Office of Communications at sordelheide@aup.edu or (33/1)

2 Punctuation Apostrophes For plurals, use an apostrophe only to prevent confusion: CPAs, 1980s, PhDs, A s and B s, the Joneses. For possessives, do not use s after nouns ending in s. The hostess invitation; the hostess seat. Bullets Treat all items within a bulleted list consistently in terms of capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. Treat all bulleted lists consistently within a document. Don t use periods after each item in a list if the items are not complete sentences. For instance: o The pantry contains: apples bananas oranges When a bullet point contains a complete sentence, use a period after each bullet in the list and capitalize each item. Capitalization of titles and names Upper case is used only when the title is directly before the name: President Bill Clinton, but John Jones, associate vice president of planning. Upper- case all titles when used in an address or headline. Colon Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is the start of a complete sentence. Comma Use a comma before the last item in a series: a, b, and c. Use it to set off nonessential clauses and phrases. After a city name, use it to set off names of states, counties, and countries. Use it in numbers higher than 999: 1,000,000 Em dash ( ) Use an em dash to indicate emphasis or explanation, to define a complementary element, or to denote a sudden break in thought. Don t put spaces around it. The influence of three impressionists Monet, Sisley, and Degas can clearly be seen in his development as a painter.

3 En dash ( ) Use an en dash to connect continuing or inclusive dates, times, or reference numbers. Don t put spaces around it. May June Hyphen Phrases are hyphenated when used before a noun, but not after unless the hyphen is needed to prevent confusion: A well- known man He was well known. A fuel- efficient furnace The furnace is fuel efficient. Her reply was thought- provoking. A word ending in - ly followed by a participle or adjective is always open: Poorly attired man Overbearingly arrogant person Italics Use italics for titles of complete, independent works: newspapers, books, magazines, movies, plays, etc. Put quotes around titles of works that are contained within other works, such as articles. Parentheses Try to avoid using parentheses. If you do, follow these rules: Put the period outside the parentheses if they don t contain a full sentence (like this). (Put the period inside the parentheses if they contain a full sentence, like this one.) Quotation marks Commas and periods always go inside quotation marks. The dash, semicolon, question mark, and exclamation point go inside quotation marks when they only apply to the quoted matter. They go outside when they apply to the whole sentence: Did you know that she said, Let them eat cake?

4 Spacing Use one space, not two, between sentences and after a colon. Insert one line space before and after a bulleted list. Don t insert the line spaces before or after a bulleted list within a bulleted list. Ellipses If you shorten someone s quote, signify this by using ellipses. The result should look like the following sample, with a space between each dot: "I m studying computer programming with a great professor." General Terminology Academic Degrees MA, MBA, MSW, PhD, BS, JD, etc. When spelled out, degrees should be lower- case, as in "master s degree in history" or "doctorate in philosophy." Academic Terms fall semester, spring semester, summer term Academic Titles professor emeritus (masculine); the professor emerita (feminine); professors emeriti (masc. or masc. and fem.); professors emeritae (fem.); e.g. Professor Emerita Smith or Emma Smith, professor emerita. Alumni, Alumnae alumni (adj.), i.e.; "alumni events" and "alumni relations office." "alum" or "alums": Although "alumnus" and "alumna" may be used in reference to individuals, the shortened versions "alum" (s.) or "alums" (pl.) are more frequently used to avoid gender- linked words. Areas of Study lower- case, as in "He earned a PhD in anthropology" or "She holds a master s degree in political science." Buildings Capitalize official names of buildings (Combes, Grenelle, Bosquet) Centers

5 Capitalize when part of full formal name (The Center for Writers and Translators). Use lower case when used informally: "The center will open " Committees Lower case when used informally (finance committee, faculty committee). Upper case as part of formal name (The Board of Trustees Enrollment Committee). Dates and Times "December 2012," not "December of 2012." January 2012 was cold. January 24, 2012, was cold. May 24, 2013 at 14:00. He graduated on May 20. He graduated on the 20th of May. For times, use the 24- hour clock (13:00, not 1 PM). Hours should be written hh:mm, e.g., 09:00. In tables, use European format: 20 May. Do NOT use terms such as "today" or "tonight" or "tomorrow" in publicizing events, always use the exact date. Funds Lower case (the annual fund, campus fund, etc.). Upper case when part of formal name ( Campus Fund). Lecture Series The term "lecture series" is capitalized when it refers to a specific series and is part of the proper name, as in: "Working Paper Lecture Series." When referring to individual lectures in a series, titles should be capitalized and placed in quotation marks, e.g. "Jayson Harsin delivered a lecture on "Narrative and Persuasion" in the Grand Salon. Locations national: Write out full names of cities and states. (e.g., Ile- de- France instead of IDF) international: Write out full names of foreign countries. Write out names of small foreign cites and towns, followed by the country ("Auroville, India"). But there s no need to include the country when mentioning major foreign cities (e.g., "Paris," not "Paris, France"). Numbers Use 1990s (not 1990 s unless possessive or to clarify meaning). Nineteenth century, twentieth century; do not use 19th century, 20th century. Twenty- first century contains a hyphen. Spell out numbers one through ten (one, two, etc.). Above ten, use number (65, 106, etc.) except when number is used at the beginning of a sentence. When a number starts a sentence, it is always written out ("Sixty- four students came to the

6 meeting."). Significant round numbers (fifty, thousand) may be written out. Use the % sign when numbers are used (as in tables, financial information, etc). Spell out percent when numbers are spelled out. ( The new style guide has divided the ranks with 50% of people preferring it or The new style guide has divided the ranks with fifty percent of people preferring it. ) Treat all instances the same within a document. 3,000 (not 3.000) 1 (not 1) $1 (not 1$) Offices Lower case (admissions office, office of outreach & advancement, office of student affairs as in Feel free to contact the admissions office... ) Upper case when part of a formal name ( Admissions Office is located...). Organizations Capitalize the official names of organizations: "John Wayne is now assistant director at Procter & Gamble." School Names Individual schools should be capitalized, as in "The Graduate School of Global Studies. Write out full official names of universities and colleges Spaces In all published matter or computer- generated correspondence, place one space only between sentences. Telephone numbers In college publications and on the website, telephone numbers should be formatted (33/1) Titles of jobs When formal title precedes proper name, capitalize (Chief Financial Officer Valerie Gille). When title follows proper name, use lower case (Valerie Gille, chief financial officer). When title alone is used, use lower case (the director of enrollment management) with the exception of the President, which should always be capitalized when used as a stand- in for President Schenck. (The President gave a speech at commencement.) Program titles

7 Capitalize all words in a title except conjunctions and prepositions of less than seven letters (Cross- Cultural and Sustainable Business Management). In keeping with branding, the The should never be omitted from the University s name. This is also a legal requirement. Title of works Generally, the titles of sizeable works are italicized, and shorter ones are put in quotes. Italicize names of books, magazines, movies, long musical compositions, albums/cds, and titles of works of art. Plays, poems, articles, short stories, songs, essays, radio, and television shows appear in quotes. Do not underline. University When the University is used as a stand- in for, University should always be capitalized. (The University has been open for sixty years.) When university is used as a general term, it is not capitalized. (More and more teenagers are planning to go to university.) URL All URLs and addresses should contain aup.edu not aup.fr Miscellaneous Usage Avoid use of "his/her" and "he/she." Use plural form (e.g., "their, "they"). Avoid beginning a sentence with "However" (except meaning " in whatever way"). Avoid using "thus" or "therefore." Do not use "presently" in the sense of "now," only in the sense of "soon." Use "that" instead of "which" for non- clausal phrases (those that cannot be set off by commas). For example: "the cups that broke," not "the cups which broke." Avoid using terms like "feedback," "input," and "state- of- the- art," except for appropriate technical subjects. Use "disabled" instead of "handicapped." Do not use "firstly," "secondly," "thirdly," etc. Use "first," "second," and "third." Do not use "more importantly." Use "more important." Do not use "prioritize." Use priorities as a noun: "We must establish our priorities." In general, avoid making verbs out of commonly used nouns. Use "initiative," not "new initiative." "New" is implicit in the meaning of "initiative." Use "consensus," not "general consensus." "General" is implicit in the meaning of "consensus." Never have a break in "," should the name ever fall on more than one line of type. Ampersand (&): Ampersands are only to be used when there isn t enough space to spell out "and." The word "and" is always preferable to an ampersand.