University Style Guide

For most communications, the Office of Marketing and Communications uses the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Chicago is the standard style guide for publishing for a general audience.

The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual is also used, particularly in work produced by the Media Relations and Sports Information offices.

For some technology-related style issues, the Digital Team also uses the Microsoft Manual of Style, 4th edition. Manuscripts destined for academic journals and works of a similar scholarly nature may adhere to styles represented by other style guides such as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the MLA Style Manual.

The Marketing and Communications Office refers to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and has specialty dictionaries on hand for use with certain kinds of manuscripts and terms.

Questions regarding the University Style Guide should be directed to Matt Burglund at burglund@iup.edu.

academic classes

Use the full name of a class, not the abbreviation from the Undergraduate Catalog.

• Correct: College Chemistry I
• Incorrect: CHEM 101

academic titles and offices

Capitalize a title when it immediately precedes a personal name.

The examples Chicago gives are President Lincoln; the president; Dean Mueller; the dean. (Note: Different rules may apply in lists, as opposed to running text).

Avoid stacking titles before the name; choose one and use others elsewhere.

• Correct: Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Yaw Asamoah
• Incorrect: Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Mr. Yaw Asamoah

• Correct: Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Yaw Asamoah
• Incorrect: Humanities and Social Sciences dean Yaw Asamoah

• Correct: Yaw Asamoah, dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Incorrect: Yaw Asamoah, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Incorrect: Yaw Asamoah, dean of humanities and social sciences

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 8.19, 8.28

acronyms and initials

Use the full name of an organization on first reference; thereafter, use the official acronym or initials of the organization. Do not mention the acronym in parentheses immediately after the first reference. This creates redundancies.

No matter how familiar acronyms might be to some people, there will surely be readers who do not know what they stand for. Therefore, it is a courtesy to readers to give the full name on first reference and the abbreviation on subsequent references. (Exception: referring to the Hadley Union Building as the HUB is acceptable on first reference.)

Initials and acronyms do not get periods.

Acronyms of five or more letters tend to become upper and lowercase words with frequent use. For example, Aluminum Company of America becomes Alcoa.

• Correct: SGA held its meeting Monday night.
• Incorrect: S.G.A. held its meeting Monday night.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 10.1-10.10

affect/effect

Generally speaking, affect is a verb (meaning to influence) and effect is either a noun (meaning result) or a verb (meaning to cause).

• Correct: The weather will affect our plans this weekend.
• Incorrect: The weather will effect our plans this weekend.

• Correct: Bad weather could have an effect on our plans this weekend.
• Incorrect: Bad weather could have an affect on our plans this weekend.

• Correct: Bad weather will effect many changes to our weekend plans.
• Incorrect: Bad weather will affect many changes to our weekend plans.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 5.250

all caps

• In print publications, save all caps for headlines or subheads. Avoid them in running text, save for acronyms. If you need to emphasize something, use bold fonts.
• On the IUP website: Do not use all caps. Use bold or italics to emphasize single words or short phrases. Don't emphasize long phrases or whole paragraphs. Headings and page titles should not be entered into the CMS in all capital letters, even though they will automatically appear as all caps because of the website's template, which may change in the future. Entering headings in all caps creates search engine optimization and accessibility issues (see headings for more information).

• Correct: The application deadline is January 1, 2020.
• Incorrect: THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS JANUARY 1, 2020.

alumni

Use the proper form for the individual or group in question. Do not use alum.

• alumnus: one man
• alumna: one woman
• alumnae: a group consisting of only women
• alumni: more than one man or mixed group

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

ampersands

Do not use ampersands unless a company or organization uses one in its official name.

Note: There are some instances where the ampersand is acceptable, if it is used in a commonly used term, such as Q&A. But in almost every other instance, an ampersand should not be used to replace the word and.

• Correct: The Department of Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Science
• Incorrect: The Department of Kinesiology, Health, & Sport Science

• Correct: She works at S&T Bank
• Incorrect: She works at S and T Bank

Source: Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual

boldface, italics, and underlining

• In the IUP website CMS: Use boldface only to emphasize something. Using italics is preferred. Do not use boldface in headings. Do not use boldface on entire paragraphs of text. Better options are to place the text in a call-out box or use a heading to break it out. Do not underline. Underlining makes text look like a link.
• In print publications: Use boldface to emphasize something. Be wary of using italics because in many instances, the Chicago Manual of Style mandates using italics for things such as book titles and newspaper names, so using italics in copy could be confusing. Avoid using underline.

building addresses

See the IUP website for a list of Street Addresses for IUP Buildings.

buildings

Use the proper name of the building and not the code from the undergraduate catalog.

• Correct: 103 Stouffer Hall
• Incorrect: 103 STFR

Avoid using first names when referring to campus buildings.

• Correct: Sutton Hall
• Incorrect: John Sutton Hall

cancel/canceled/ cancellation

This is an unusual rule and is often used incorrectly. Although Merriam-Webster allows for the variation in spelling of cancel and canceled to include two ls, do not use them. Use cancel and/or canceled.

Cancell and Cancelled are the preferred British spellings, which we do not use.

However, cancellation does have two ls in all contexts.

canceled vs. postponed

These two words do not mean the same thing. If your event is canceled, it is not being rescheduled. If your event is postponed, it has been pushed back from the original date or time.

• Correct: Our event is postponed until tomorrow.
• Incorrect: Our event is canceled until tomorrow.

• Correct: The event is canceled.
• Incorrect: The event is cancelled.

capitalization of proper vs. common nouns

Proper nouns are capitalized; common nouns are not.

For example:

• Council of Trustees, the trustees
• Stapleton Library, the library
• the University Museum, the museum
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the university.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 5.5-5.6

chair, chairperson, chairman

Use chair, unless the convention of another organization dictates otherwise.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 8.28

colleges, IUP

IUP's academic offerings are divided among seven colleges. Use the college's full name on first reference; then a shortened version thereafter. Do not use abbreviations for a college.

• Eberly College of Business and Information Technology; Eberly College
• Kopchick College of Natural Science and Mathematics; Kopchick College
• College of Education and Communications; Education and Communications
• College of Fine Arts; Fine Arts
• College of Health and Human Services; Health and Human Services
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences
• University College (use on all references)

commas in a series (serial comma, Oxford comma)

IUP's style demands use of a serial comma.

A serial comma (also known as an Oxford comma) is the comma that comes before the and in a series. However, news releases that are disseminated to the print media use AP style; in AP style, the Oxford comma is not used except in cases where using the comma avoids confusion.

• Correct: He bought milk, eggs, and bread.
• Incorrect: He bought milk, eggs and bread.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 6.19

credits and credit hours

Write out numbers smaller than 10 and the word credits in running text. If you need to abbreviate (for instance, on lists of required courses for a specific major) use cr, no period or space between cr and the number of credits, which is in numerical form.

• Correct: The class is worth three credits.
• Incorrect: The class is worth 3 cr.

• Correct: Basic Journalism Skills 3cr
• Incorrect: Basic Journalism Skills credits: 3

dashes and hyphens

The hyphen is on the keyboard between the 0 and = on the top row. It is used to form compound words. It is not interchangeable with the dash. In fact, dashes play an important role in writing.

The en dash is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash. The en dash is used for indicating ranges of numbers, letters, dates, game scores, etc. The keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+0150

The em dash is the longest dash. It is used to indicate a break in thought. It is also used to link clauses. The keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+0151

Microsoft Word automatically inserts an en dash or em dash depending on AutoFormat settings; the CMS editor does not. Both dashes are available on the character menu in the web editor. There should be no space before or after either type of dash.

• Correct: The document is a read-only file.
• Incorrect: The document is a read-only file.

• Correct: He was featured in the May-September issues of the magazine.
• Incorrect: He was featured in the May-September issues of the magazine.

• Correct: All usersexcept users of Auxmailshould have received the email by now.
• Incorrect: All users- except users of Auxmail - should have received the email by now.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 6.75-6.79

dates

When the full date is given, use commas before and after the year. Commas are not necessary when only the month is given.

• Correct: The trustees met September 23, 2002, to approve the resolution.
• Incorrect: The trustees met September 23, 2002 to approve the resolution.

• Correct: The trustees met in September 2002.
• Incorrect: The trustees met in September, 2002.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.30-9.35

dates, ordinals

Do not use ordinal numbers in dates.

• Correct: She was born April 21, 1985.
• Incorrect: She was born April 21st, 1985.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.31

degrees, academic

There are four general types of academic degrees: Associate, Bachelor, Master and Doctorate. When using them as an adjective, use an apostrophe with associate's, bachelor's, and master's; and use doctoral for doctorate.

department names

Capitalize department if the name of the department is included. Department is lowercase if it stands alone. There is no preference as to whether the word department gets listed first or last in the title.

• Correct: She is a professor in the Department of Psychology.
• Incorrect: She is a professor in the department of psychology.

• Correct: She is a professor in the Psychology Department.
• Incorrect: She is a professor in the psychology department.

• Correct: She is new to the department.
• Incorrect: She is new to the Department.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 8.85

dialog box syntax

These terms are most commonly used to describe user actions in dialog boxes:

• Click: Use for commands, command buttons, option buttons, and options in a list, gallery, or palette.
• Select and clear: Use for check boxes.
• Type or select: Use to refer to an item (as in a combo box) that the user can either type or select in the accompanying text box. You can use enter instead if there is no possibility of confusion.

Source: Microsoft Manual of Style, 2012, p. 60

dialog boxes, references to

Use bold type in procedures that refer to dialog box titles, labels, and options.

• Example: On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab. Select the Bookmarks checkbox.

email and other electronic terms

Use a lowercase e and hyphenate the word: e-commerce, e-money, e-zine.

• Exception: Email is not hyphenated. Do not use e-mail. Note: This is a change from previous versions of the Chicago Manual of Style.
• Also, if an e-word is used in a proper noun, such as the name of a business, honor the company's choice in name: eBay, E-Land Apparel.

• Correct: Sign up for our e-zine.
• Incorrect: Sign up for our ezine.

• Correct: Contact the Digital Team via email.
• Incorrect: Contact the Digital Team via e-mail.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 7.89, 8.154

email links in text

Any link to an email address needs to use that email address as the text of the link. This avoids sending users to their email programs when they had expected to follow a link, and it also provides the actual address for reference.

• Correct: Contact the Digital Team at web-team@iup.edu.
• Incorrect: Contact the Digital Team.

emeritus

Use the proper form for the individual or group in question. Capitalize when used before someone's name. Lowercase when used alone or after someone's name.

• emeritus: one man
• emerita: one woman
• emeritae: more than one woman or group of only women
• emeriti: more than one man or mixed group

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 8.28

exclamation point

Exclamation points are typically not used. By definition, their purpose is to indicate strong feelings or high volume, and unless the context is either of those, avoid using them.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 6.71

explorers

Students enrolled in the University College are called explorers (always lowercased).

faculty

Faculty is a singular noun referring to the collective members. It should not be used to refer to a selection of the faculty, but rather the entire group. If referring to a selection of the faculty, use members or a similar word after faculty.

• Correct: The faculty is dedicated to empowering students.
• Correct: Seven faculty members helped with the presentation.
• Incorrect: Seven faculty helped with the presentation.

See also: Professor.

FAQ

FAQ stands for frequently asked questions. It does not require an s at the end.

Source: Microsoft Manual of Style, 2012, p. 220

fewer than vs. less than

Use fewer than when referring to countable things. Use less than for singular mass nouns.

• Correct: There were fewer than 100 people at the meeting.
• Incorrect: There were less than 100 people at the meeting.

• Correct: I made less money this year than I did last year.
• Incorrect: I made fewer money this year than I did last year.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 5.250

fiscal year

Because we're trying to communicate as clearly as possibleand because most readers will probably not be accountantsit is best to use, if possible, a designation that parallels that of the academic year: fiscal year 1997-98 or FY 1997-98.

freshman vs. freshmen

Freshman is an adjective and a noun. Freshmen is never an adjective.

• Correct: The new freshman class arrives next week.
• Incorrect: The new freshmen class arrives next week.

• Correct: Her son is a freshman at IUP.
• Incorrect: Her son is a freshmen at IUP.

• Correct: The new freshmen were shy at first.
• Incorrect: The new freshman were shy at first.

headings

In the IUP CMS, headings are used for function, not for looks. Use heading 2, heading 3, etc. to mark the structure of a document, not for emphasis.

In other words, if the document has two main sections, use heading 2 for the title of each. This is similar to the structure of a formal outline. Heading 2s mark the main divisions of the document, heading 3s mark the subdivisions of the main divisions, etc.

Heading 1 is used only for the title of the page. This is handled automatically by the CMS. Inserting h1 elements into your content will harm the search engine optimization and accessibility of your page.

If headings are used Incorrectly, accessibility and search engine optimization problems will occur. Specifically, screen readers will have difficulty reading a page if the headings are Incorrect. Search engines will also have trouble indexing the page.

HUB

Abbreviation for the Hadley Union Building. All capital letters, no periods. Using HUB on first referencewithout spelling out Hadley Union Buildingis acceptable.

• Correct: The event took place in the HUB.
• Incorrect: The event took place in the H.U.B.

iaccounts

Lowercase i, no hyphen. Capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

ihelp

Lowercase i, no hyphen. Capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

I-Mail

Unlike iaccounts and ihelp, the I and M are capitalized with a hyphen between them.

internet

Unless it is the first word of a sentence, internet should always be lowercase.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 7.80

its vs. their

Both are pronouns. The key to determining which one to use is to look what the pronoun refers to. Its refers to a singular thing, even if that singular thing is comprised of many parts. Theirs refers to the many parts.

• Correct: IUP won its basketball game on Saturday.
• Correct: The Crimson Hawks won their basketball game on Saturday.
• Incorrect: IUP won their basketball game on Saturday.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 5.250

IUP Now

IUP Now is the name of a publication and therefore italicized. Note: There is no the in the name.

• Correct: I saw an article in IUP Now.
• Incorrect: I saw an article in the IUP Now.

Also: The university magazine is titled IUP Magazine, not the IUP Magazine.

IUP, history of its name

Indiana University of Pennsylvania opened in 1875 as Indiana Normal School, enrolling just 225 students in its first class.

In 1920, control of the school was passed on to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in 1927 it became State Teachers College at Indiana, when it was granted the right to grant degrees. It became Indiana State College in 1959, and then six years later it was granted university status and became Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Source: A Brief History of IUP

IUP, name

When written out, the university name should always be Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The word the should not precede Indiana University of Pennsylvania, as it is not part of the university's name.

After the first use of the full university name, use IUP for further references on the same page or news post. It is not necessary to include IUP on first reference. See acronyms and initials.

When referring to IUP as "the university," note that university is not capitalized. This follows Chicago's general rule for capitalization of proper and common nouns.

• Correct: I attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
• Incorrect: I attend the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

• Correct: Welcome to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. You'll find IUP to be a great place to study.
• Incorrect: Welcome to Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). You'll find IUP to be a great place to study.

Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex

Write out Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex on first reference. Use Kovalchick Complex on second reference. It is not the Kovalchick Center. Do not use KCAC.

• Correct: IUP Day takes place at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.
• Incorrect: IUP Day takes place at the Kovalchick Center.

links

Link text should identify the item being linked to. Do not use "click here" or "learn more" as link text; this creates accessibility and search engine optimization issues.

Don't make surrounding punctuationsuch as periods, commas, or quotation markspart of the link, unless link's text is an entire sentence.

living-learning

When referring to the communities in IUP's residence halls, living-learning should be hyphenated. It is a community for both living and learning.

login vs. log in

In the verb form, it is log in. As a noun, log-in or login is acceptable. Sign-on follows the same rule.

• Correct: To make changes, you need to log in to your account.
• Incorrect: To make changes, you need to login to your account.

• Correct: You can change your login after entering it once.
• Incorrect: You can change your log in after entering it once.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

mid-term vs. midterm

Midterm is the correct style for the word.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

more than vs. over

More than is used to describe a countable number of things. Over means the physical state of going above something. Although in recent years some organizations have decided the two are interchangeable, IUP's stance is that they are not the same. Example: The song "Over the River and Through the Wood" is not the same as "More Than the River and Through the Wood."

• Correct: There were more than 5,000 people at the football game.
• Incorrect: There were over 5,000 people at the football game.

MyIUP

All capitals except for the y. There is no space after the y.

names

On first use, give first name, last name, and job title. No designations (Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.) are needed. Use just the last name thereafter, again without any designations.

When including a job title as part of a name, it should be in lowercase letters when following a name, but capitalized when in front of a name.

• Correct: Psychology Department Chairperson Jane Doe spoke at a conference. Doe has been researching the effects of finals week stress on college students' brains.
• Incorrect: Psychology Department Chairperson, Dr. Jane Doe spoke at a conference. Dr. Doe has been researching the effects of finals week stress on college students' brains.
• Incorrect: Jane Doe, Psychology Department Chairperson, spoke at a conference. Doe has been researching the effects of finals week stress on college students' brains.

number and date ranges

Either include to or use an en dash (-):

• Correct: The students were assigned to read pages 10 to 50.
• Incorrect: The students were assigned to read from page 10 through page 50.

• Correct: The students were assigned to read pages 10-50.
• Incorrect: The students were assigned to read from pages 10-50.

Date ranges use an en dash (-), in this format:

• Correct: She was the 2014-15 scholarship winner.
• Incorrect: She was the 2014-2015 scholarship winner.

• Correct: He taught at the university 1998-2004.
• Incorrect: He taught at the university from 1998-04.

Number ranges can be condensed by following rules:

• If the numbers in the range are less than 100, use all digits: 3-10.
• If the first number is 100 or a multiple of 100, use all digits: 100-104, 1,100-1,113.
• If the first number is 101 through 109, etc. you would not include all digits: 101-8, 808-33.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.58

numbers

Spell out one through nine; use numerals for 10 and higher.

Exceptions:

1. Use numerals for percentages and in other mathematical or scientific contexts.
2. Use numerals for dimensions or measurements.
3. Spell out all numbers, including years, when they begin a sentence. It may be preferable to reword the sentence so as not to start with a number.

• Correct: The three new parking lots at IUP will provide space for 500 more cars.
• Incorrect: The 3 new parking lots at IUP will provide space for five hundred more cars.

• Correct: Thirty-two faculty members in 12 departments were promoted to the rank of professor.
• Incorrect: 32 faculty members in twelve departments were promoted to the rank of professor.

• Correct: The property is held on a 99-year lease.
• Incorrect: The property is held on a ninety-nine year lease.

• Correct: About 7 percent of the property is wooded.
• Incorrect: About seven percent of the property is wooded.

• Correct: Indiana County is more than 200 years old.
• Incorrect: Indiana County is more than two hundred years old.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.3

numbers, ordinal

Ordinal numbers, which designate the place occupied by an item in an ordered sequence, should be spelled out. They are not to be used when referring to a specific date.

• Correct: The swim team finished in fifth place.
• Incorrect: The swim team finished in 5th place.

• Correct: The movie premiered on June 20, 1974.
• Incorrect: The movie premiered on June 20th, 1974.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.6

online

One word in all cases.

• Correct: Carl wrote an online blog.
• Incorrect: Carl wrote an on line blog.

• Correct: The class is online.
• Incorrect: The class is on-line.

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

PASSHE

PASSHE is no longer the term preferred by Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education. See State System, below.

percentages

Always give percentages in numerals. In running type, spell out the word percent.

Exception: the % symbol is acceptable in scientific copy.

• Correct: Only 5 percent of the students voted in the election.
• Incorrect: Only 5% of students voted in the election.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.18

phases

Use roman numerals to designate each phase, as in phases of construction or of a detailed plan.

• Correct: The project is in Phase I.
• Incorrect: The project is in phase one.

phone numbers

Our format for 10-digit phone numbers is nnn-nnn-nnnn.

• Correct: The office's phone number is 724-357-3062.
• Incorrect: The office's phone number is (724) 357-3062.
• Incorrect: The office's phone number is 724.357.3062.

professor/faculty

Avoid use of the word full as an adjective for professor. Each year, certain faculty members are promoted from assistant professor to professor, not to full professor.

As with other titles, professor is capitalized when it precedes a person's name.

• Correct: Professor Jane Leonard
• Incorrect: professor Jane Leonard

• Correct: Jane Leonard, professor of English
• Incorrect: Jane Leonard, Professor of English

Be aware when using faculty, that it can refer to either the collective group of professors or to them individually, so subject-verb agreement can be tricky, depending on the context of faculty.

• Singular: The faculty votes every year to adopt new policies.
• Plural: Faculty vote throughout the day by electronic ballot.

programs, majors, and degree names

Names of degrees and majors are considered descriptive and, therefore, common nouns that do not need capitalization. Names of programs are considered proper nouns, with or without the word program included, and should be capitalized.

• Correct: She is a journalism and public relations major at IUP.
• Incorrect: She is a Journalism and Public Relations major at IUP.

• Correct: She is a student in the Journalism and Public Relations program at IUP.
• Incorrect: She is a student in the journalism and public relations program at IUP.

• Correct: She is a student in the BSEd in Mathematics Education program at IUP.
• Incorrect: She is a student in the BSEd in mathematics education program at IUP.

Chicago recommends omitting periods in abbreviations of academic degrees: PhD, BA, BS, MA, MEd, DEd, BSEd, MBA, PsyD, etc.

• Correct: Computer Science, BS
• Incorrect: Computer Science, B.S.

When referring to programs, concentrations, and degrees in lists, the format is the following: Concentration or Track, Program, Degree.

• Correct: Writing Studies, English, BA
• Incorrect: English, Writing Studies, BA

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 8.2

publication names

Chicago style does not italicize articles at the beginning of a publication's name in running text.

There is no article before IUP Now or IUP Magazine

Our student newspaper appears as: the Penn

quotation marks

In the CMS, use the "curly" quotation marks and apostrophes provided in the special characters menu, under the insert toolbar. Note: The keyboard shortcuts for these are Alt+0147 (left) and Alt+0148 (right) .

Quoted material such as words, phrases, and sentences are enclosed in double quotation marks. If you are quoting an excerpt from another source and that excerpt includes a quote, those quotes would become single quotes.

• Correct: "To say that I mean what I say' is the same as I say what I mean.'"
• Incorrect: "To say that "I mean what I say" is the same as "I say what I mean." "

race and ethnicity

Names of ethnic and national groups are capitalized. Adjectives associated with these names are also capitalized, including Black, Brown, and White.

• Correct:His neighbor is a Black man.
• Incorrect:His neighbor is a black man.

 

résumé vs. resume

When referring to the document for pursuing a job, use the accented é. When meaning to continue, no accents are needed: resume. Note: The PC keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+0201 () or Alt+0233 (). For Macs, it is option+e, then press e () or option+e, then press shift+e ().

• Correct: Submit your résumé and writing samples to the Human Resources Office.
• Incorrect: Submit your resume and writing samples to the human resources office.

semester

Use a lowercase letter when referring to a specific semester or session.

• Correct: During the fall 2017 semester, plans were made for the next year's summer sessions.
• Incorrect: During the Fall 2017 semester, plans were made for the next year's summer sessions.

shortcuts

These shortcuts, sometimes referred to as ASCII codes, are helpful to use because they translate from Word to HTML coding to the IUP CMS. Here are shortcuts for some of the more widely-used symbols and punctuation marks:

• Ellipses (): Alt+0133 (PC) or option+; (Mac)
• Double left quotation ("): Alt+0147 (PC) or option+\ (Mac)
• Double right quotation ("): Alt+0148 (PC) or option+shift+\ (Mac)
• En dash (-): Alt+0150 (PC) or option+- (Mac)
• Em dash (): Alt+0151 (PC) or shift+option+- (Mac)

spacing

Use only one space after punctuation at the end of a sentence and after a colon.

State System

On first reference, use Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education. In subsequent references, use the system or the state system. PASSHE is no longer the preferred term.

states

In running text, use full, not abbreviated, state name with city. In list form, Chicago recommends using the two-letter postal code with the city whenever abbreviations are needed.

• Correct: I live in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
• Incorrect: I live in Indiana, PA.

Postal Codes: AL, AK, AS, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, GU, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MH, MA, MI, FM, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, MP, OH, OK, OR, PW, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, VI, WA, WV, WI, WY.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 10.27

times

Use a colon and zeros for on-the-hour times and lowercase the a.m./p.m. Use noon and midnight to avoid confusion.

• Correct: I woke up at 7:00 a.m.
• Incorrect: I woke up at 7 am.

Use the en dash when giving a range of times. Note: The keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+0150

• Correct: Office hours are 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
• Incorrect: Office hours are from 9am-5pm.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 9.37

titles in names, comma usage

Although Chicago allows for either usage, do not place a comma before any title after a last name.

• Correct: David Smith Jr.
• Incorrect:David Smith, Jr.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 6.43

titled vs. entitled

Although both words, according to Merriam-Webster, can be used as adjectives meaning "designated," do not use entitled when referring to the name of a book, musical, play, etc. Save entitled for use as an adjective meaning that someone has earned something.

• Correct: The book I bought was titled Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders.
• Incorrect: The book I bought was entitled Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders.

Another option is to avoid using titled all together in an effort to keep your writing concise:

• I bought Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders.

United States

According to a change from the 16th to 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, it is no longer mandatory to write out United States as a noun, provided the meaning is clear from the context. US (no periods) can now be used as a noun.

Use US (no periods) as an adjective.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 10.32

URLs in print

Although URLs such as iup.edu/admissions work, we strongly prefer that all URLs in print items include the www., i.e., www.iup.edu/admissions. Italicize URLs in print.

URLs

Do not put bare URLs in running text. Always use text-based links that described where the link is going. Using keywords for links is easier for users and search engine optimization.

If using an IUP URL, make sure to capitalize IUP in it.

• Correct: www.IUP.edu
• Incorrect: www.iup.edu

vice president

Do not hyphenate vice president.

web, website

According to Chicago, web is lowercase, website is one word and web page is two.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 7.80

-wide words

When using words with -wide, follow the dictionary on whether the suffix is added with a hyphen or not. In some instances, the two words become one: worldwide. In others they are hyphenated: university-wide.

Chicago also states that the words are closed if they appear as such in the dictionary. If they do not appear in the dictionary, you should hyphenate them.

• Correct: The trend has spread worldwide.
• Incorrect: The trend has spread world wide.

• Correct: The campaign is university-wide.
• Incorrect: The campaign is universitywide.

Source: Chicago Manual of Style, Hyphenation Table

Additional Resources

Fenton, Nicole, and Kate Kiefer Lee. 2014. Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.

Microsoft Corporation. 2012. Microsoft Manual of Style, 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Redish, Janice. 2012. Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content That Works. Waltham, MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

University of Chicago Press. 2010. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.