BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE Produced by: Office of University Communications Edition 1 — October 2017 INTRODUCTION The intent of this Editorial Style Guide is to serve as an effective STYLE GUIDE UPDATES resource for communicators across the Brown campus to establish For ease of use by consistency in editorial style for websites, print publications, social communicators across the media and more. Our foremost goals are clarity and consistency, Brown campus, the Office of and our interest is in preparing materials for a broad, general — University Communications and not necessarily Brown-affiliated — audience, from prospective students to journalists to alumni and more. maintains both a web-based version of the Editorial Style Generally speaking, these style guidelines are written for use Guide and a print-ready in narrative copy — complete sentences and paragraphs as PDF version that can be you’d employ in a news story, annual report or descriptive web copy. There can and should be exceptions made for other uses, downloaded and produced however. Formal invitations may invite the need for more liberal as a hard-copy reference. capitalization, for example. Updates to the web version will be made on an ongoing For narrative copy, our starting point is the Associated Press basis; updates to the print- Stylebook. Unless we establish local Brown style to the contrary, AP style will always be correct. Because academic communities pose ready version will be made style questions not addressed by the Associated Press, we use the two times per year, in January Chicago Manual of Style as a secondary guide. Web versions of both and July. of these guides are available at no cost to the Brown community: This is Edition 1 — October 2017 apstylebook.com/brown_edu of the print-ready PDF version. chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html The web version can be found For issues not covered in these style guidelines, refer to at brown.edu/university- Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. identity/editorial-style-guide. Edition 1 — October 2017 2 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE A abbreviations and Abbreviations and acronyms may be used on first reference only if acronyms widely recognized. • DNA • FBI • NASA Otherwise, spell out the complete name or phrase on first reference and follow with the abbreviation in parentheses if and only if the abbreviation will be referenced subsequently. • The collaboration includes Brown University and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). In general, abbreviations and acronyms with only two capitalized letters use periods; for those with three or more capitalized letters, omit the periods between the letters. • U.S. • CIA When an acronym serves as a proper name and exceeds four letters, capitalize only the first letter. • Unesco • Unicef When an abbreviation follows an indefinite article, choose between “a” or “an” as determined by the way the abbreviation would be read aloud. • an HMO • a UFO (See: “academic degrees”) (See: “state names”) Edition 1 — October 2017 3 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE A academic degrees Undergraduate degrees offered by Brown include: • bachelor of arts (A.B.) • bachelor of science (Sc.B.) • bachelor of arts and bachelor of science (combined A.B./Sc.B.) A.B. and Sc.B. refer to the fact that Brown awards its degrees in Latin. Do not use B.A. or B.S. to abbreviate. All references to academic degrees should be lowercase unless an abbreviation is used. • Johnson earned a master of public health. The word “degree” should not follow an abbreviation. • She has an A.B. in English literature. If the word “degree” is used with “bachelor” and “master,” add an apostrophe and “s.” Brown does not award associate degrees, but if referencing one from another institution, do not use an apostrophe and “s.” • She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in comparative literature. • He received an associate degree from Rhode Island College in 2009. For degrees with only two capitalized letters, place periods before and after the final letter: • A.M. (master of arts) • M.D. (doctor of medicine) • M.D.-Sc.M. (doctor of medicine and master of science in population medicine) • Ph.D. (doctor of philosophy) • Sc.M. (master of science) For degrees of three or more capitalized letters, omit the periods between the letters: • MAT (master of arts in teaching) • MFA (master of fine arts) • MPA (master of public affairs) • MPH (master of public health) • MPP (master of public policy) • EMSTL (executive master in science and technology leadership) Edition 1 — October 2017 4 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE A adviser not “advisor” affect, effect “Affect” is almost always used as a verb, meaning “to influence,” “to act on” or “to produce an effect or change in.” (Uses of “affect” as a noun are considered nearly obsolete, with an exception being as a term in psychology, reflecting an emotional response to stimulus.) • The news stories affected the election. “Effect” is almost always used as a noun, meaning “result” or “outcome.” (When used as a verb, “effect” immediately followed by a noun means “to make happen” or “to bring about.”) • His test score had a positive effect on his final grade. • The best way to effect change is to become an active participant. African American Do not use a hyphen, whether as a noun or adjective. Alpert Medical School (See: “the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University”) alumni designations “Alumnus” refers to one male graduate. “Alumna” refers to one female graduate. “Alumni” refers to two or more former students, if some or all are male. “Alumnae” refers to two or more former students, if all are female. Do not use the informal “alum” or “alums” unless part of a direct quotation. alumni designations/ For communications for external audiences, do not use abbreviations or possessive class affinity numerals for class year, parent designations or any other Brown affiliations or honors. Instead, include this information in copy as relevant and necessary. • Anna Barclay, a 1987 graduate of Brown and parent of two current Brown students, chairs the committee. (Not Anna Barclay ’87…) • Anna Barclay of the Class of 1987 chairs the committee. (See: “class years”) Edition 1 — October 2017 5 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE A alumni designations/ For communications destined exclusively and solely for internal campus or alumni class affinity (cont.) audiences, use of abbreviations for class year, parent designations or any other Brown affiliations or honors is acceptable. Use a reverse apostrophe (hit the apostrophe key twice) before the year when referring to class years. • Lila Blackstone ’16 (Her only degree is a bachelor’s.) • Robert Santos ’88, ’90 A.M., ’94 Ph.D. (He has three degrees from Brown.) In fundraising and Family Weekend contexts, refer to the parent of a Brown student or graduate in this manner: • Ana Tran P’12 If the parent also is a Brown graduate, the parent’s class year precedes the child’s year: • Ana Tran ’98, P’12 To indicate a parent of more than one Brown student or graduate, include the class years of all children in chronological order, separated by one space: • Roger Levine P’19 ’21 For use only in relevant contexts where a person’s role as a grandparent relates to the content (example: a profile about a family in a fundraising brochure to parents), refer to grandparents of Brown students in this manner: • Anthony Ferrara GP’18 In this example, a grandparent is an alumnus and a Brown parent: • Frank Nelson ’60, P’89, GP’18 ’20 ampersands Do not use an ampersand unless it is an official part of a formal name. Otherwise, spell “and”: • Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island • Sock & Buskin presents a number of major productions each year. art installations For the correct names of art installations on campus, refer to the Public Art on campus Committee website: brown.edu/about/public-art Edition 1 — October 2017 6 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE A Asian American Do not use a hyphen whether as a noun or adjective. athletics terminology Lowercase team names: • women’s basketball • men’s baseball the Bears Division I ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Ivy League NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), NCAA championship, NCAA tournament pregame, preseason, postgame, postseason B the Board of Fellows Capitalize, even when not preceded by Corporation of Brown University. the Board of Trustees Capitalize, even when not preceded by Corporation of Brown University. Brown Alumni Magazine on second reference: the BAM BrownConnect a mentoring and internship program BrownTogether The comprehensive fundraising campaign launched in 2015. Italicize in all instances. BrownX a digital learning initiative launched in 2017 Edition 1 — October 2017 7 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE B Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program Brunonia the Brown alumni and giving website Brunonian An adjective, meaning “Brown-like” or exemplifying Brown qualities; a noun, referring to a Brown student or graduate. Avoid usage in communications for external audiences. Building on Acceptable to use Building on Distinction in all references. Brown’s strategic plan Distinction: A New approved by the Corporation of Brown University in 2013 and launched in 2014. Plan for Brown Italicize in all instances. bullets Treat all items within a bulleted list consistently in terms of capitalization, punctuation and sentence structure. Treat all bulleted lists consistently within a document. Do not use periods after each item in a list if the items are not complete sentences. The pantry contains: • apples • bananas • oranges When bullet points contain complete sentences, use a period after each bullet in the list and capitalize the beginning of each sentence. Edition 1 — October 2017 8 BROWN UNIVERSITY EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE C campus Lowercase in all uses. • the Pembroke campus • Brown’s College Hill campus campus-wide campus buildings Some of the more commonly referenced buildings and spaces are included and spaces here, along with others that are frequently misused.