BU Bulletin Content & Style Guide

Note: Find information about how to submit changes.

Purpose of the Bulletin

The Bulletin IS	The Bulletin Is NOT
A University-wide academic reference	A promotional brochure
A handbook of programs and offerings	A duplicate of school, college, or department website content
An academic archive	A place for nonacademic information

2024/2025 Bulletin Production Schedule

Milestone	Deadline
Bulletin staging site available Schools and colleges are encouraged to begin the review of non-Hub courses and course descriptions as soon as possible.	10/2/2023
eCAP proposals for new programs and changes to existing programs that will be in effect in fall 2024 are due.	2/23/2024
Deadline for schools and colleges to submit changes to: -Departments -Non-eCAP Bulletin changes -School-specific policies -Overviews that do not involve language about the BU Hub -Student orgs. and other student resources -External links (e.g., centers and institutes pages, etc.)	3/15/2024
Final content corrections are due to MarCom and course lists are due to the Registrar’s office.	4/26/2024
2024/2025 Bulletin launches	6/3/2024

General Editorial Guidelines

• Study section guidelines. Before making edits, be sure to read your section’s guidelines thoroughly.
• Use Bulletin style. Put content in the appropriate section and use the Bulletin Style Guide to punctuate lists, academic degrees, and more.
• Be concise. Provide just the facts in simple, concrete terms.
• Use bullets. Break up large blocks of text and all lists, including lists of faculty, classes, etc., with bullets.
• Think “online.” Provide exact names of other sections/information you’d like to point to, along with their URLs. Submit to Creative Services; we will create Link Boxes (inline sidebars) that will house related links.
• Be consistent. Use the same style and tone across all sections of your Bulletin.
• Be thorough. The Bulletin is an unchangeable snapshot of a particular calendar year. No edits accepted after April 22.

Style Standards

The Bulletin follows BU style standards, including:

• “Bulletin”, “the Bulletin” (as in the name of this website/document) is always capitalized.
• Do not use “Office of” in a department name, except when the office name is the title of the office holder, such as Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Registrar.
  • Correct: Admissions office
  • Incorrect: Office of Admissions
• Informal references to degrees are lowercased (“master’s degree”).
• Headlines should be formatted consistently to assist the reader, in descending order where appropriate.
• For courses:
  • Course numbers need space: CAS PH 717 (not PH717).
  • Use numerals for credits: 8 (not eight).
  • In running text, use “credits”. In course listings or tables, use “cr” and use with all.
  • “Graphic Design elective”—elective is lowercase.
• In grades (“students must earn a B–”), please use an en dash.