Teesside University house style

Everyone knows that it’s not just what you say but how you say it that matters. Our tone of voice is the way in which we write and speak, what we say and how we say it. What we say is dictated by our mission, experiences and aspirations, how we say it is informed by our brand identity.

At Teesside University we write in a style that is clear, concise and engaging. We are in favour of an active voice in plain English (plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides) – one that is as suited to the screen as it is in print (usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/writing-for-the-web.html).

Like language and language usage, our written house style is fluid and progressive. We take lead from organisations like The Guardian (theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a) and BBC (bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide).

And yet our approach is not new. We keep in mind George Orwell's six elementary rules of writing from Politics and the English Language (1946). 1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut out a word, cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Be clear

Use the simplest words and don’t assume prior knowledge (for example, the meaning of acronyms). Don’t use jargon or slang. Be mindful that our text may be read by someone:  who is unfamiliar with our subject or higher education  whose first language isn’t English  who doesn’t have much time  who is reading online, possibly on a mobile device.

Avoid using words or phrases that are unnecessary, or complicate the meaning, such as:  in order to  whilst  will, for example instead of – you will study, use you study  aims to, for example instead of – this course aims to give you, use either the course gives you or we give you  foreign abbreviations, for example eg, ie, RSVP.

Don’t be afraid to ask directly. Please send me your form instead of – I should be grateful if you would return the form.

When you have written or rewritten text, it helps to read it out. You will be able to identify any unwieldy text more easily.

1 Be consistent

Consistently presented content gives a more professional impression, and it avoids confusion. Here we detail how core information should be presented.

Contact information  Use general admin or team contact details rather than an individual’s name (for example Contact External Relations on … not Contact Joe Smith on …). This ensures that information doesn’t go out of date if a staff member leaves.  Where contact details appear in a list use colons and abbreviations: T: 01642 889289 E: [email protected]  If contact details flow in your writing rather than appearing in a list, don’t use colons, for example contact 01642 889289, email [email protected].

Courses, modules, awards and qualifications  Some key points: o no capitals for higher education, further education o A level as a noun (for example You need three A levels) and A-level as an adjective (You need A-level psychology) o Year 1 – if writing about the first year of full-time study o course titles are in title case and always use and not &, for example BA (Hons) Television and Film Production o modules are written in title case with and not &, for example Critical and Cultural Theory.

 When referring to an unspecified award, use lower case: o our foundation degrees o an honours degree o master’s degree o research degree o a doctorate.

 When specific awards appear as titles or in a list they should be presented like this (except on the web where they will be listed with the award at the end): o FdA Business Management o BA (Hons) Creative Digital Media o MSc Petroleum Engineering. (See Acronyms and abbreviations for presenting specific awards in flowing text.)

 Degree classifications are written as follows: o first-class degree (or a first) o second-class degree (if the grade is not specific) o 2.1 or 2.2 (if the grade is specific) o third-class degree.

 Academic qualifications for staff as follows: o Dr or Professor (not Dr. or Prof) o staff without these qualifications don’t need a title (Mr, Mrs, Ms is unnecessary).

2 Dates, times and figures  Use the day date month year format for dates, for example, Monday 3 October 2011 not 3rd, 4th etc and don’t include commas.  No apostrophe in 1990s, unless it's possessive (1990s’).  Write times like this 11.00am - 2.00pm. Always use am/pm, never use the 24-hour clock.  Spell numbers from one to ten, then in digits above ten, for example 11. Exceptions – when numbers: o start a sentence, for example He left the room. Twenty minutes later he returned … o are used to describe a course period, for example Year 1, Stage 2 o include a decimal point or fraction, for example 2.5, 3½ o refer to a percentage as %, for example 6.5% o are page references, for example See page 5.  Numbers from 1,000 upwards use commas, for example 11,275.  When referring to a spread of figures, give the shortest format, for example 25-6, 203-4, 456-63, except with dates when two digits should appear after the hyphen, for example 2015-16.

Headings  Put headings in sentence case. Evidence Shows That Using Capital Letters Slows Your Ability To Scan Content. It Breaks The Flow.

Italic text  In printed text use italics for: o names of books, magazines and newspapers o titles of films, TV and radio programmes, plays o titles of works of art (for example, paintings, sculptures, exhibitions).

Job titles All job titles in lower case, apart from Vice-Chancellor.

Latin  Avoid using Latin when there is an equivalent phrase in plain English, for example: o a year, not per annum o through, not via o for example , not eg.  Avoid using etc (or etcetera).

Phone numbers  Use our international phone number on the back cover of major documents, T: +44 (0) 1642 218121 but use the UK format elsewhere.  Don’t use brackets or hyphens around national phone numbers, for example 01642 218121.

Places  Always use the official place name (as decided by the relevant authority): o Stockton-on-Tees o Newcastle upon Tyne o University of Leeds o Teesside University.

3 Quotes  If a quote is in running text use single quote marks after a comma, for example Dr Smith said, ‘……..’.  We often use quotes from current students and graduates. Ensure that quotes are attributed to the speaker – unattributed quotes add little value – and we have written permission to use them.

Schools, departments, centres, facilities, projects  When referring to a School use an upper case S.  School names include an ampersand not and, for example School of Arts & Media (not School of Arts and Media).  Use Phoenix, Clarendon, Centuria (not Phoenix building, Clarendon building), Animex, DigitalCity.

UK spelling  Always use UK not American spelling: o adviser not advisor, but advisory o organise not organize o enrol not enroll o focused not focussed.

Web addresses  The University’s web address is www.tees.ac.uk but we abbreviate it to tees.ac.uk  Use virtual directories rather than long literal web address, for example tees.ac.uk/alumni – ensure any new virtual directories have been agreed with External Relations.  When adding a web address to the web, make sure the link is active.

4 Be correct

Accents  On words which are now accepted as English, only use the accent if it makes a difference to the pronunciation.  Use accents on all foreign words where required.

Acronyms and abbreviations  Spell out acronyms followed by the acronym in brackets in the first instance, for example Higher Education Business Partnership (HEBP). But if the words only appear once, don’t include the bracketed acronym just spell it out in full. The exception to this is where the acronym is better known than what it stands for, for example BBC, NHS, DNA. In this case only use the acronym.  Use abbreviations for measures, such as kg for kilogram.  Use m for million, for example our new £22m campus heart.  Do not use abbreviations when there is a chance the meaning may not be clear, for example RSVP, NB, ie, eg, cf. Write for example rather than eg, that is for ie, please note for NB and compare with for cf.  Don’t punctuate acronyms or abbreviations. BBC, not B.B.C.

Ampersands (&)  Only use ampersands in a School’s title, for example School of Arts & Media.  Don’t use & when you are giving a course or module title, for example, BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Psychology, or in prose writing.

Apostrophes  Apostrophes indicate missing letters: can’t, don’t, won’t, hasn’t, it's, you’re.  They also indicate possession: o student’s view (the view of one student) o students’ views (the views of more than one student) o Students' Union (more than one student belongs to the Union).  However, the possessive its has no apostrophe, for example, Teesside University opens its door to future students.  Don’t use an apostrophe in the following contexts: o dates – for example 1990s o acronyms – for example CDs, BTECs o words like photos, videos.  Exceptions: o plurals that don’t end in s take an apostrophe before the added s, for example, women’s, men’s, children’s o nouns ending in ss or ce take an apostrophe after the ss or ce, for goodness’ sake o compound nouns take the apostrophe on the last word, for example his mother-in- law’s house o names ending in s can be written in two ways, for example Charles’ house or Charles’s house – we use the former.

5 Brackets  Brackets are used to separate a word, or a group of words, from the rest of the sentence (or to add something). The enclosed words shouldn’t be essential to the meaning, they should just provide additional information.  The full stop comes outside the bracket when the bracketed words form a part of the sentence (as above). If the sentence inside the brackets is complete, the full stop should be inside the brackets.  You don’t need a comma in front of an opening bracket.

Bulleted lists  If a bulleted list follows a colon, each bullet point should begin with a lower case letter and the final point should finish with a full stop (no commas after each bullet). The whole thing should read as one sentence.  If a bulleted list doesn’t follow a colon, each bullet point should begin with a capital letter and again the final point should finish with a full stop. Here, each bullet point should read as a sentence.

Capital letters  Only use capital letters for specific nouns (see also Courses, modules, awards and qualifications). For example: o universities in the UK, but Teesside University, or our University o research institutes, but the Digital Futures Institute. The exception is when referring to the University’s Schools – we use a capital letter to differentiate from other schools.  Use capitals for proper nouns – names, titles, places and special days – not for general nouns. If in doubt, use lower case and be consistent.  Use capitals in abbreviations, for example the UK.

Collective nouns  If a collective noun stands for a single entity or is referring to its constituents then it should be followed by a singular verb. For example, the department is full, the committee was held on …, the company is doing well, a range of modules is available.  If a collective noun refers to identifiable individuals it should be followed by a plural verb. For example, the couple have a new car, the pair have a new house.

Colons  Use a colon to introduce a list (not a semi-colon).  Don’t use a colon after includes when it is part of a prose sentence.  Don’t use a colon before a quote.

6 Commas  Use commas to help understanding.  Use commas to introduce or end a piece of direct speech.  Clauses in the middle of a sentence should be preceded and succeeded by commas – you always need two unless the clause is at the end of the sentence.  Do not put a comma before and at the end of a sequence of items unless one of the items includes another and. For example, he bought apples, oranges and pears. But, he ordered a beer, a gin and tonic, and a whisky.  Don’t use commas after bullet points.  A name and job title sometimes requires a comma and sometimes doesn’t. This is best explained by these examples: o Executive director Michael Lavery is… o Executive director for Teesside University, Michael Lavery is… o Michael Lavery, executive director, is…

Conjunctions  A conjunction traditionally joins two clauses, phrases or words together – and, but, or, yet, so. But our language has evolved to accommodate them at various points in a sentence.  Starting sentences with a conjunction is useful for effect and impact, and isn’t a new device. The Book of Genesis provides many examples. ‘And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.’

Dashes  Use a single dash to mark a break in a sentence, when we expect something to follow. For example, she had achieved her ambition – she was now a member of the board.  Dashes can also be used in pairs – but only in the middle of a sentence – in the same way that we use brackets.  Always have a space on either side of the dash.  We use the en dash (–) rather than the em dash (—).  An en dash (–) is longer than a hyphen (-).

Exclamation marks  Don’t use them!

Full stops  A full stop marks the end of a sentence. Use one space after each full stop.  Don’t use full stops in abbreviations.  Don’t use full stops in abbreviated titles, for example Mr, Dr, MA, PhD (unless it’s at the end of a sentence).  Don’t use full stops or spaces between letters and initials, for example BBC, AB Clarke, UK.

Hyphens  Hyphens are used in adjectives formed from two or more words, to avoid confusion, for example: o third world conflict, but a third-world conflict o geriatric ward nurse, but a geriatric-ward nurse o part-time degree, but I study part time o a 30-year-old man, but the man is 30 years old.

7  However they shouldn’t be used to form adjectives formed from -ly words, for example highly motivated.  Hyphens can be used to indicate range, for example 2016-17, pages 16-20. This is our preferred way.  Hyphens also distinguish between similar words: o resign and re-sign o recover and re-cover o reform and re-form o recreation and re-creation.  Hyphens are often used to separate identical letters: o pre-empt o re-examine o co-ordinate o but there are exceptions, such as withhold.  There is no hyphen in: o email o online o problem solving (unless it is being used as an adjective, for example a problem- solving exercise) o multidisciplinary o website.  Hyphens have no space around them (apart from within times, 11.00am - 2.00pm).

Inverted commas  Single inverted commas are used for quotes.  Double inverted commas are used for quotes within quotes.  If a quote forms part of a sentence, the full stop is after the closing inverted comma.  If the quote forms an entire sentence, the full stop should be inside the closing inverted comma.

Sentences  Sentences are generally characterised by having a verb.  Occasionally consider a two- or three-word sentence. No verbs. But use them very sparingly for impact. Again, this isn’t a new device – the opening of Charles Dickens' Bleak House, begins, ‘London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Inn Hall. Implacable November weather.’

Slashes  Slashes are used to indicate alternatives, for example and/or.  They are also used in some abbreviations, such as c/o.  They don’t have a space on either side and aren’t used in dates – instead use a hyphen, for example 2015-16.

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