<\/p>\n
A's, B's, C's<\/strong> Use apostrophe for single letters. Omit apostrophe for multiple letters: ABCs<\/em>. This holds true for common abbreviations: There are four TVs in our house, but only three DVDs.<\/em><\/p>\nabbreviations<\/strong>\u00a0 Follow Chicago. See individual entries under dates, months<\/em>.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nacademic titles <\/strong>No academic or honorary titles are used before or after names: Dr., Mr., Ms., MD.\u00a0<\/em>The only exception may be in certain alumni materials. For modified titles the modifier goes first (i.e. Research Associate Professor not Associate Researcher Professor).<\/p>\nacademic year <\/strong>Write 2015\u20132016 for the academic year. Avoid writing 2014\/15 or 2014\u201315.<\/p>\nacronyms<\/strong> Acceptable on second reference. No periods. No parentheses after first reference. If you feel the need to use parentheses to explain the acronym, then you shouldn't use the acronym, but the full name or a version of the full name. NASA,\u00a0WHO
\n<\/em><\/p>\nad interim<\/strong> roman type, lowercased, without a comma, and following a title<\/p>\naddiction<\/strong> Never use the term \u201caddict\u201d; say \u201cperson with addiction.\u201d<\/p>\naddresses<\/strong> Follow Chicago style. See individual entries for streets<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nadministrative titles<\/strong> Generally, titles are uppercase before and lowercase after the name. Long titles should be placed after the name.<\/p>\nages<\/strong> Always use numerals: 7-year-old boy; the girl is 8. It is a 4-year-old program. The woman is in her 30s.
\n<\/em><\/p>\nAlumni Office<\/strong>\u00a0 Not Alumni Association<\/p>\nalumni years<\/strong> Indicate the school or college and year of graduation after an alum\u2019s name with the acronym and year abbreviation run together without a space: COM\u201907, CAS\u201999. Use parentheses: Meaghan Agnew (SPH\u201905). In the context of a specific school, you may also write \u201cSPH Class of 2007.\u201d Note the capitalization of \u201cClass.\u201d<\/p>\nalumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae<\/strong> Use alumnus<\/em> (alumni<\/em> in the plural) when referring to a man who has attended a school. Use alumna<\/em> (alumnae<\/em> in the plural) in similar references to a woman. Use alumni<\/em> when referring to both men and women.<\/p>\nampersand<\/strong> never use a comma after an ampersand: Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights<\/p>\narea codes <\/strong>\u00a0Use hyphens rather than parentheses: 617-638-2684<\/em>.<\/p>\nappositives<\/strong>\u00a0 Use commas to separate appositives: Sunday, June 9, at 8 p.m<\/em>.<\/p>\nattributions<\/strong>\u00a0 Generally, said<\/em> is sufficient. In feature treatments and in magazine stories, present tense, says<\/em>, may be used. According to<\/em> is generally reserved for references to documents, not individuals.<\/p>\nGenerally, name of the speaker goes first: Jones said <\/em>or Jones says<\/em> is preferred over said Jones <\/em>or says Jones<\/em>. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\nB<\/h6><\/p>\n
bachelor's, bachelor's degree,\u00a0 BA<\/strong> All are acceptable, but avoid the redundant B.A. degree<\/em><\/p>\nbetween, among<\/strong> Between<\/em> introduces two items; among<\/em> introduces more than two.<\/p>\nBlackboard<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\nbook references <\/strong>Include the publisher and the date of publication in parentheses (Penguin Books 1999), when an article is about that particular book.\u00a0 If a passing reference is made, no publishing information is needed.<\/p>\nbook titles<\/strong>\u00a0 Refer to BU style. Capitalize principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions with four or more letters. Capitalize an article - the, a, an<\/em> - or a word of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title.<\/p>\nBoston Medical Center<\/strong><\/p>\nBoston University School of Public Health<\/strong>\u00a0Do not use \"the\" in front of the full school name. Only use the full school name in outward-facing communications; for internal pieces, such as news articles on the website, use School of Public Health<\/em> on first reference and SPH<\/em> thereafter.<\/p>\nbrackets, parentheses<\/strong> Use brackets [], not parenthesis (), for editorial clarification in quotes. \"I said I would do it [kill the man with the funny hat]. \"<\/em><\/p>\nbullets<\/strong>\u00a0 Make bullets with option and 8 keys. Use bullets to introduce several items after a colon. If bulleted items consist of sentence fragments, lowercase the first letter of the item and end it with a semicolon. If items consist of complete sentence and paragraphs, begin with capital letter and end with period. Do not mix the two. Examples:<\/p>\nInside the whale, Captain Ahab found:<\/em><\/p>\n\n- two brown dogs;<\/em><\/li>\n
- three green cats; and<\/em><\/li>\n
- a blue monkey.<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThey agreed to implement the following measures:<\/em><\/p>\n\n- Eliminate all people over six feet tall. This would allow for smaller doorways and save on construction costs.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Repeal the anti-Martian act. Officials now say the act unfairly discriminates against extraterrestrials.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Require citizens to carry blenders with them at all times. \"Access to instant daiquiris isn't merely a luxury; it's a right,\" said councilman Beasley.<\/em> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
C<\/h6><\/p>\n
The Campaign for Boston University<\/strong><\/p>\ncampus<\/strong> Uppercase: Medical Campus, Charles River Campus<\/em><\/p>\ncampus phone numbers<\/strong> All BU phone numbers should include area code and prefix: 617-638-7894<\/em><\/p>\ncapitalization <\/strong>\u00a0Follow Chicago and BU style. Use lowercase when possible. See titles, book titles, directions<\/em> and individual entries.<\/p>\ncents<\/strong> Spell it out for amounts of money less than $1. The programs cost 70 cents apiece.<\/em><\/p>\ncentury<\/strong> Lowercase: It is from the 14th century; a 20th-century painting. <\/em>Do not use superscript.<\/p>\nCenters <\/strong>The three School-wide centers at SPH are:<\/p>\n\n- Center for Global Health & Development<\/li>\n
- Health & Disability Research Institute<\/li>\n
- Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\nchair<\/strong> Avoid using chairman<\/em> or chairwoman<\/em> unless it is the official designation.<\/p>\ncity<\/strong> Lowercase when referring to municipal government: city of Boston
\n<\/em><\/p>\ncity and state<\/strong> Omit state name after major cities (follow Chicago style). Omit state name for Massachusetts cities and towns. They are assumed to be in Massachusetts. He is from Methuen, and she is from Butte, Montana.<\/em><\/p>\nCollege of Arts & Sciences<\/strong> CAS on second reference<\/p>\nCollege of Communication<\/strong> COM on second reference<\/p>\nCollege of Engineering<\/strong> ENG on second reference<\/p>\nCollege of Fine Arts<\/strong> CFA on second reference<\/p>\nCollege of General Studies<\/strong> CGS on second reference<\/p>\nCollege of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College<\/strong> SAR on second reference<\/p>\nColumbia University Mailman School of Public Health<\/strong><\/p>\nComma<\/strong> In a series of three or more items, employ the serial or Oxford comma: Bob, Ted, and Alice went to the beach.<\/em><\/p>\nJoin compound sentences, those with two subjects and two verbs, with a comma: Joe went to the store, and he bought 17 cans of dog food. His wife went to the store and bought two more.<\/em><\/p>\nUse commas to distinguish left and right in captions: Tom, left, received the award.<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nCommencement<\/strong> Refers to the BU-wide graduation ceremony only. Should be capitalized.<\/p>\nCommonwealth<\/strong> Capitalize when referring to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.<\/p>\ncolleges\/universities <\/strong>Always spell out the name of a university when first referenced: the State University of New York at Buffalo, California State University. After that, you can abbreviate the school when appropriate: SUNY at Buffalo, CSU.<\/p>\nCongress<\/strong> Capitalize when referring to US Congress<\/p>\nConvocation<\/strong> Refers to the SPH graduation ceremony. Capitalize.<\/p>\ncourse titles <\/strong>Roman with title caps but no quotation marks.<\/p>\ncoursework<\/strong><\/p>\ncourt cases<\/strong>\u00a0 in italic and title cap: Whole Woman\u2019s Health v. Hellerstedt<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\nD<\/h6><\/p>\n
dash<\/strong> In text, use an em dash using the option, shift, and hyphen keys simultaneously. Do not use a space on either side of the dash.<\/p>\ndata<\/strong> Normally a plural noun, it takes plural verbs and pronouns. The data show that women are smarter than men.<\/em><\/p>\ndates<\/strong> Follow BU style. For inclusive dates, in text: The festival runs from July 11 to 13<\/em>. In lists you may use: Aristotle and the Single Woman<\/em>, July 11-13.<\/em> Avoid constructions such as from September 11- 13.<\/em><\/p>\nOmit st, nd, rd<\/em> and th<\/em> after numerals: October 12,<\/em> not October 12th<\/em><\/p>\ndecades <\/strong>\u00a0Use numerals, with no apostrophe before the s<\/em>: the 1990s. <\/em>Do not abbreviate the decade (e.g. the '90s).<\/em><\/p>\ndepartment<\/strong>\u00a0 Lowercase, except when used with full name: community health sciences department<\/em>; Department of Community Health Sciences<\/em><\/p>\nDepartment names <\/strong>The six departments at SPH are:<\/p>\n\n- Biostatistics<\/li>\n
- Community Health Sciences<\/li>\n
- Environmental Health<\/li>\n
- Epidemiology<\/li>\n
- Global Health<\/li>\n
- Health Law, Policy & Management (use ampersand, not \u201cand\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
doctorate<\/strong>, doctoral degree, PhD<\/strong> All are acceptable.\u00a0 Do not combine, as in PhD degree.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\nE<\/h6><\/p>\n
ellipses<\/strong> Used to show that words have been left out of text or quotes. Generally not necessary when quoting sources from your own interviews. Do not use ellipses at the beginning or end of direct quotes, even if they are only fragments.<\/p>\nWhen ellipses fall in the middle of a sentence, treat them as a three-letter word, with one space on either side: He was \u2026 unable to respond to the letter.<\/em> When the ellipses come at the end of a sentence, close the spaces and add a period: He was unable to respond\u2026.
\n<\/em><\/p>\nemail <\/strong>no hyphen<\/p>\netc.<\/strong> This means \"and all the stuff the writer finds too trivial to mention.\" It adds nothing to good writing, so think long and hard before you use it. If used in a quote, spell it out: etcetera.<\/em><\/p>\nexclamation point<\/strong> Use very<\/em> sparingly. Use a comma after mild interjections. Use a period after mildly exclamatory sentences.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\nF<\/h6><\/p>\n
farther, further <\/strong>\u00a0Farther<\/em> refers to physical distance. Further<\/em> refers to an extension of time or degree.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nfewer, less<\/strong> In general, use fewer<\/em> for individual items, less<\/em> for bulk or quantity. The trend is toward more machines and fewer people. She is less than 60 years old. Fewer than 10 applicants called. I had less than $50 in my pocket. I had fewer than 50 $1 bills in my pocket.<\/em>