This guide is intended to help writers and editors communicate clearly and consistently about Boston University—for audiences both within the BU community and beyond.
The style guide addresses some of the editorial questions that arise most frequently about our 17 schools and colleges and Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, departments, research centers, faculty, and alumni. You can also find detailed information on capitalization, punctuation, hyphenation, abbreviation, and spelling. We’ll update the guide regularly.
We also recommend consulting our standard references: Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
Language is crucial for building common and shared understanding. It is also constantly evolving. Please browse our Inclusive Language section and BU Diversity & Inclusion’s Living Language Guide for information on foundational concepts, ability and neurodiversity, social justice, race and racism, gender and sexuality, and more. These will help inform your language choices—in writing and social exchange.