Editorial Guidelines Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 1

Lawrence Technological University defines its editorial style in order to present the same consistency and strength of the University brand. Lawrence Tech follows the current edition of the Associated Press Stylebook for capitalization, grammar, hyphenation, punctuation, variant spellings of words, number style, etc.

However, as is typical with many organizations, Lawrence Tech style sometimes deviates from the AP Stylebook or addresses questions not covered by the AP Stylebook. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 2

The Lawrence When referring to Lawrence Tech as an entity, use the University, always capitalizing University. Technological University Name CORRECT INCORRECT

The University’s official name is The University is . . . The university is . . . Lawrence Technological University and must appear in its entirety in all publications and ads. In text, it should be used in its entirety upon the University’s first mention. While Lawrence Tech and LT U have been adopted in acceptance of popular usage and augment the University’s brand, they should be used only as a When referring to Lawrence Tech, do not use second reference in text. the first-person. Avoid “we,” “our,” “us,” etc.

Never use Lawrence Tech University or Lawrence Technical University. CORRECT INCORRECT While it’s true that “Lawrence Tech University” appears on some signs in The University is . . . We are . . . Southfield due to space constraints, this is to be avoided except for those LTU’s campus is in Southfield. Our campus is in Southfield. existing examples. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 3

CORRECT INCORRECT A/An A Lawrence Tech degree An Lawrence Tech degree

Previous rules often used “a” before a An LTU degree A LTU degree word beginning with a consonant and “an” before a vowel. The current rule is based on how the word sounds.

Use “a” before a consonant sound; use “an” before a word that begins with a vowel sound.

Use “an” before “LTU” because the “L” in “LTU” sounds like “el” – a vowel sound.

Abbreviations

Avoid abbreviations whenever possible and remember that the external community generally will not understand the internal Lawrence Tech shorthand. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 4

CORRECT INCORRECT

associate degree associate’s degree Academic Degrees bachelor’s degree bachelor degree Avoid abbreviating degrees because they begin to look like alphabet soup. bachelor of science bachelors degree When an abbreviation cannot be avoided, always spell it out on the master’s degree master degree first mention, followed by the master of science masters degree abbreviation in parentheses. Do not use periods in citing the degree doctoral degree or a doctorate a doctorate degree

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering

BS in Biomedical Engineering Master of Science Education Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) doctors of business administration D.B.A. MBA; MSME; BSAr M.B.A., M.S.M.E., B.S.Ar.

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME) Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 5

CORRECT INCORRECT

.Academic and Tamara Jones, dean of the Tamara Jones, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences College of Arts and Sciences Professional Titles

Capitalized before a name, lowercase Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences dean of the College of Arts and after a name. Marcus Miller Sciences Marcus Miller

Generally, do not use the titles “Mr.,” Vice President of University vice president of university “Dr.,” “Ms.,” and “Mrs.,” in text. “Dr.” is used, Advancement Avery Garcia advancement Avery Garcia however, in Commencement and honorific publications. Simi Jackson, dean of the College Simi Jackson, Dean of the of Arts and Sciences College of Arts and Sciences

John Martinez Mr. John Martinez, the Dean Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 6

CORRECT INCORRECT

.Academic/University College of Architecture and Design College of Architecture and D Units Department of Electrical and Computer College of Arts & Sciences Engineering The names of colleges, as well as College of Bus. + Info Tech Office of University Development academic and service departments and COBIT (incorrect because the “O” offices, are capitalized. Abbreviations of Office of Admissions should be lowercase) the colleges may be used upon second reference or for internal audiences. They Office of the Registrar the College is ... may not be used as a sole identifier. It is preferred that the “o” in the abbreviation Computer Help Desk the Department will ... “of” be lowercase, unless all caps are DTE Energy One-Stop Center being used. Do not mix an abbreviation the Office is ... with part of a full name. When using One-Stop Center the full name of all colleges, “and” is the College of Arts+Sciences standard. Informally or when there are the college (incorrect because there is no space preceding and following the plus sign) space constraints that prevent the use of “and,” the plus sign (instead of an the department ampersand) with a space preceding the office and following may be used. the registrar Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 7

CORRECT INCORRECT

College of Architecture + Design Academic/University (when “and” cannot be used) Units (continued) College of Arts and Sciences, CoAS (upon When colleges, departments, and second reference or for internal use) offices are referred to in shortened form, they are lowercased. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 8

CORRECT INCORRECT Acronyms Avoid whenever possible. If they must be used, always give the full name upon first mention, followed by the acronym in parentheses.

Alumni alumnus: one male graduate alumni: more than one male graduate or Use the correct terminology. former student or a mixture of male and female graduates alumna: one female graduate alumnae: more than one female graduate

Alumni Designation Delia Shay, BSME’78, visited campus. Delia Shay, BSME‘78, visited campus. When an alumnus/na is cited, his or her degree and year of graduation is provided after the name and set off by commas. Be mindful that the apostrophe indicating the omitted part of the year faces the correct direction (for example, 1993 becomes ’93 not ‘93). Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 9

CORRECT INCORRECT And In text, use and, not the ampersand (&). In headers, captions, and ads, the use of & is permitted if space limitation prevents using and. For college names, use +, not an ampersand.

Blue Devil Motorsports Blue Devil Motorsports Blue Devil Motor Sports Motorsports is one word.

Board of Trustees Always capitalize the full name.

However, when it is referred to in shortened form, i.e., the board, the trustees, it is lowercased. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 10

CORRECT INCORRECT Buildings/Campus A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture, and Life Sciences Complex, Always capitalize the full name. Home of the Marburger STEM Center (Upon second reference: Taubman Complex)

A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center (Upon second reference: Taubman Center)

Applied Research Center (ARC)

Architecture Building

Center for Innovative Materials Research (CIMR) (Upon second reference: CIMR)

Don Ridler Field House (Upon second reference: the Field House)

East Residence Hall

Edward Donley Residence Hall

Engineering Building Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 11

CORRECT INCORRECT Buildings/Campus Enterprise Center (continued) Lloyd E. Reuss Residence Hall Always capitalize the full name. The Quad

Science Building

South Residence Hall

Wayne H. Buell Building Buell Management Building (Upon second reference: Buell Building) Management Building

University Services Building (USB)

University Technology and Learning Center (UTLC) Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 12

CORRECT INCORRECT Courses/Programs Introduction to Psychology introduction to psychology Capitalize specific course names. Visual Communication Lowercase subjects of study.

Always capitalize the word English or The student is taking mathematics, The student is taking Mathematics, other language classes. chemistry, and English literature courses. Chemistry, and English Literature courses

They will work together on They will work together on the coursework. the course work.

Coursework Coursework is one word. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 13

CORRECT INCORRECT Don Ridler Field House Don Ridler Field House Don Ridler Fieldhouse Use the full name upon first reference. Ridler Field House Ridler Fieldhouse Field house is two words, not one. Field House Fieldhouse

Dates Jan. 2, 2021 January 2nd, 2021 Use Arabic numbers without st, nd, rd, th. January 2, 2021 October 24th, 2021 Capitalize the names of months. Spell out Oct. 24, 2021 Oct. 2021 the name of the month when it is used alone or with a year but do not separate October 2021 October, 2021 the month and year with a comma. Month names can be abbreviated when used with a date. Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June, or July.

Decades the 1920s the 1920’s the mid-1950s the nineteen hundreds Use Arabic figures and denote a plural by adding an s. Do not use an apostrophe. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 14

CORRECT INCORRECT Email Suki checked their email. Suki checked their e-mail Do not hyphenate.

Email Addresses [email protected] [email protected] All email addresses should be typed [email protected] [email protected] in lowercase letters, unless an external address is case-specific. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 15

CORRECT INCORRECT Fundraising fundraising fund raising Fund raising is one word. Do not fundraiser fund raiser hyphenate unless the term is being used as an adjective. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 16

CORRECT INCORRECT Gender-neutral business owner, businessperson businessman, businesswoman language chair, chairperson chairman, chairwoman

Whenever possible, use inclusive terms crew, staff manpower that can apply to any gender. Remove assumptions and stereotypes from lan- humanity, humankind, humans, Mankind guage to make it gender neutral. Gender human beings, people is not binary and it is not synonymous with sex. Gender refers to a person’s so- postal worker postman cial identity. Sex refers to biological char- acteristics. Avoid the idea that there is an either/or approach to gender. Do not use terms such as “both genders” or “opposite genders.”

Language that has become acceptable through common use or where the sub- stitution would be confusing can still be used such as “freshman” rather than “freshperson,” or “brotherhood” and “sis- terhood” rather than “siblinghood.”

Do not substitute gender neutral terms for proper names. “Superman” is the char- acter’s name, not “Superperson.” Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 17

CORRECT INCORRECT Grade Point Average GPA G.P.A. It is common and acceptable to 3.0 GPA; 2.75 GPA, 2.2 GPA 3.00 GPA, 2.20 GPA abbreviate this term without spelling it out prior to the use of the abbreviation. Do not use periods.

Great Lakes Stormwater Lawrence Tech’s Great Lakes Lawrence Tech’s Great Lakes Stormwater Management Institute Storm Water Management Institute Management Institute affects positive environmental change. affects positive environmental change. Stormwater is one word.

Healthcare LTU alumni work in the LTU alumni work in the healthcare industry. health care industry. LTU deviates from the Associated Press Style spelling of “healthcare.” AP uses two words (health care). LTU uses the industry standard reference of one word (healthcare). Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 18

CORRECT INCORRECT Jr., Sr. Nick Kahn Jr. Nick Kahn, Jr. Use the suffix. Use a period after the Nick Kahn Sr. Nick Kahn, Sr. suffix. Do not precede with a comma. Nick Kahn, Jr For additional naming rules, see below Numbers with Names.

Money $10 $10.00 When citing monetary figures in $1.99 nonfinancial texts, do not provide empty cents placeholders. Do include a decimal and the cents if more than zero.

Numbers There were eight books, 10 letters, 12 stamps, and three pencils on the table. Spell out 1–9, use Arabic numerals 10 and up.

Numbers (Fractions) two-thirds 2/3 Generally spell out amounts less than four-fifths 4/5 one. Use hyphens between words. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 19

CORRECT INCORRECT Numbers (Inclusive) 325–27 325-327 Inclusive numbers should not include 1914–18 1914-1918 digits that are unnecessary for 1997–2001 1997-2001 understanding a numerical spread. (incorrect because a hyphen An N-dash should be used between 2000–03 is being used) inclusive numbers with no spaces on either side of the N-dash. 2011–19 2000-2003 2011-2019 Numbers Larger 1,000 1000 than 999 Use commas for numbers over 3 digits.

Numbers (Ordinal) We came in 21st place. We came in 21st place. The letters in ordinal numbers should not appear as superscripts. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 20

CORRECT INCORRECT Numbers (Percentages) The student earned a 95% on the test. The student earned a 95 percent on the test. Use the % sign when paired with a The cost of living rose 0.8%. numeral, with no space. (Associated The cost of living rose .8%. Press Style changed this rule in 2019. Prior to 2019, the instruction was to spell out “percent”). For amounts less than 1%, precede the decimal with a zero.

Numbers that Begin Ten people were at the party. 10 people were at the party. a Sentence There were 10 people at the party. There were ten people at the party. Spell out a number that begins a sentence or try to avoid starting a sentence with a number.

Numbers with Names John Dimitri III John Dimitri, III Do not put a comma after a name and before a Roman numeral indicating that two (or more) members of a family bear the same name. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 21

CORRECT INCORRECT Online, Onsite Online On-Line Do not hyphenate these words. Onsite On-site

Percentages See above Numbers (Percentages).

Photo Captions Lawrence Technological University photo by NAME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER. or Cutlines or Lawrence Tech photos printed in external publications, such as magazines Lawrence Technological University photo. and journals, must have a caption or cutline that acknowledges the University’s ownership of the image.

Physician Assistant The LTU program will develop skilled The LTU program will develop physician assistants. skilled physician’s assistants. Lowercase unless using in a degree or as a name of a program. Do not use the possessive for physician. Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 22

CORRECT INCORRECT Punctuation (Commas) The student gathered his books, The student gathered his books, computer, and phone before running computer and phone before running Serial commas, also known as Oxford off to class. off to class. commas, are used in all publications except for press releases.

Punctuation (Dashes) N-dash The professor noted--to his students’ The professor noted – to his students’ dismay--that the test was not canceled. Use an N- (preferred) or M-dash, with dismay – that the test was not canceled. a space before and after, to denote a The professor noted–to his students’ break in thought. Whichever dash is M-dash dismay–that the test was not canceled. chosen, it should be used consistently. The professor noted — to his students’ dismay — that the test was not canceled. The professor noted—to his students’ dismay—that the test was not canceled.

Semesters Spring 2021 spring 2021 When referring to a specific semester The Spring 2021 semester begins . . . The spring 2021 semester begins... and year, capitalize the semester. ...the spring semester begins... …the Spring semester begins … Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 23

CORRECT INCORRECT Spaces Between Sentences Do not insert two spaces between sentences. Use one only.

Room Numbers A200 A 200 (on campus) T156 T 156 Do not put a space between the letter S100 S 100 (indicating the building) and the number in room numbers. A-200

T-165

S-100 Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 24

CORRECT INCORRECT SAE Collegiate SAE Society of Automotive Engineers Design Series SAE Aero Design® Formula SAE® Formula Hybrid™ Baja SAE® Supermileage SAE®

Telephone Numbers 248.204.4000 (248) 204-4000 Use periods between the numbers and (248) 204.4000 not hyphens or parentheses. 1.248.204.4000

Use P, F, and C after the number to 248.204.4000 P f 248.204.4000 indicate telephone, fax, and cell. 248.204.4000 F fax 248.204.4000 248.204.4000 C F 248.204.4000 Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 25

CORRECT INCORRECT Time 11–11:30 a.m. 11:00-11:30 am Noon–4 p.m. 12- 4 PM Use figures except for “noon” and “midnight.” Use a colon to separate hours 7 a.m.–8 p.m. 7:00 A.M. – 8:00 P.M. from minutes. Use a.m. and p.m. rather than a generic time such as “10 o’clock.” Although the 10 o’clock construction is acceptable (particularly on invitations or honorific publications) it should usually be avoided so as not to cause confusion about which part of the day the event is taking place. The letters should be lowercase and periods should follow the abbreviations of ante meridiem and post meridiem.

Time Zones Eastern Standard Time eastern standard time Capitalize the full name of the zone. Eastern Daylight Time Eastern standard time Lowercase all but the region in short Central Standard Time Mountain Time Zone form. Abbreviations are acceptable on Mountain time zone Eastern Time Zone first reference when linked to a clock reading. Capitalize abbreviations and do Eastern time zone E.D.T. not use periods. Pacific Standard Time EST 8 a.m. EST Lawrence Technological University Guidelines EDITORIAL STYLE 26

CORRECT INCORRECT

Website Addresses www.ltu.edu ltu.edu Drop http:// at the beginning of website www.google.com http://www.google.com/ addresses except in communications pieces intended for international audiences. In the United States, http:// has become unnecessary, as has the back slash at the end of web addresses.

Web/Technical email e-mail Terminology global positioning system, or GPS homepage home page internet Internet online on-line the World Wide Web the Web web-based web manager webpage web page website web site REV 11.20