Academic Health Center Web Style Guide

Serial Comma

2012-01-03T16:43:27Z

The AHC Public Relations team follows the AP Style Guide with respect to serial commas. We don't use serial commas, which are also sometimes called Oxford or Harvard commas.

Example:

The School of Public Health, Medical School and College of Veterinary Medicine all have extraordinary communicators.

However, like the AP we will - at times - use a serial comma to resolve ambiguity.

Example:

The meal consisted of soup, salad, and macaroni and cheese.

or:

I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.

Headlines

2011-04-01T19:22:07Z

Only capitalize the first word of a headline on a web page. This is AP Style. Capitalize formal nouns within.

Example:

Paquette brought down by the Minnesota Daily, claims entrapment.

Titles of Works

2011-04-01T19:11:34Z

Use quotation marks: articles, book chapters, short stories, poems, speeches, conference titles, official exhibits.

Example:

Paquette recently authored "My Affinity for Tee-shirt Time," a complete look at the "shirt before the shirt."

Use italics: books, magazines, pamphlets, conference proceedings, movies, CDs, works of art.

Example:

Paquette's recent "My Affinity for Tee-shirt Time," appears in this month's Newsweek, on newsstands Dec. 5th.

Dates

2011-04-01T19:09:20Z

Use figures for all dates.

Example:

Frank's party was on Dec. 5, 2007.

*Note - at times ordinals (e.g. 15th) are appropriate when you've expressly noted which year you are discussing.

Example:

Later this year, on Nov. 5th, Paquette will hold his seminar on reconstructive surgery.

Spell out numbers unless referring to a specific time; always use figures with specific a.m. and p.m. times.

Examples:

Our meeting lasted until after five.

The program begins at 8:30 a.m.

Money

2011-04-01T19:08:00Z

Use the word cents with amounts less than a dollar. Use the $ and the figure for amounts more than a dollar. Do not use zeros if the amount with even dollar amounts, unless part of a series.

Examples:

Mini Medical School costs $60.

Student tickets are $2.50.

The price ranges from $25.50 to $50.00.

The researchers earned a $5 million grant.

Semicolons

2011-04-01T19:06:01Z

Use semicolons when you have two related sentences you want to connect without the use of a conjunction.

Example:

Megan sent the invitations; Emily compiled the final guest list.

The

2011-04-01T19:04:13Z

Don't capitalize "the" in the middle of sentences as part of an entity name.

Example:

Paquette has been removed from his post at the University of Minnesota.

Accused of sleeping at his desk, Paquette is no longer head of the Department of Family Medicine.

Places

2011-04-01T19:01:37Z

Capitalize words that are political divisions, geographic regions; do not capitalize words that only indicate direction.

Examples:

Greater Minnesota

south Minneapolis

Hennepin County

the Jersey Shore

University

2011-04-01T19:00:30Z

University is always capitalized when referring to the University of Minnesota, even if the full name is not used.

Example:

Megan is an outstanding student at the University.

Titles

2011-04-01T18:56:17Z

Generally speaking, when an official title comes right before the name, it is capitalized; when it follows the name, it is not capitalized. Our experts will often try to change this, - but don't let them.

Examples:

Assistant Professor Justin Paquette is the host.

Justin Paquette is assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

If the person holds an endowed chair, or is a Regents Professor, the title is capitalized, no matter where it falls in the sentence.

Example:

David Sutherland holds the John S. Najarian Surgical Chair in Clinical Transplantation.

Do not capitalize titles that are in place of proper names.

Example:

The president spoke at Coffman Union.

Degrees

2011-04-01T18:55:08Z

We should still list degrees for expert guide headings, etc. Capitalize abbreviations of degrees and use periods; do not capitalize spelled-out degree names.

Examples:

M.P.H.

M.D.

master's degree

doctorate

College/Department/Division/Association Names

2011-04-01T18:52:52Z

Capitalize if using the official and full name.

Examples:

School of Nursing

Paquette is chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine

Do not capitalize if shortened or non-official name.

Examples:

nursing school

Paquette is a professor in family medicine.

Numbers

2011-04-01T18:48:30Z

Spell out numbers up to nine. Use figures for 10 and up.

Examples:

five years

fourth quarter

500 patients

50th anniversary

Treat numbers consistently in the same sentence if they are referring to the same category of items. Spell out numbers when it is the first word of a sentence.

Examples:

Of 25 yearly happy hours, 22 were held on campus and 3 were held off campus.

Sixty people came to the party.

Percentages: spell out the word "percent" and use the figure, unless it is at the beginning of the sentence.

Examples:

Eighty percent of the team likes beer.

The researchers found 7 percent of study participants experienced side effects.

Over versus More Than

2011-04-01T18:47:36Z

"Over" means "physically above." "More than" is a way to describe value when using numerals. Use "more than" when we're talking about any given value.

Examples:

Paquette performed more than 5,000 robotic surgeries last year.

More than 50 patients attended Paquette's obstetrics seminar.

Hanson is over his allotted time off, and is now on suspension.

Said versus Says

2011-04-01T18:46:07Z

"Said" should be used, as our expert "said" their quote in the past. It's about past versus present tense. We're essentially reporting on something that has already happened.

Examples:

"Robotic surgery will take us to the next level," said Dr. Justin Paquette.

"Urology isn't a field for the faint of heart, "said Paquette.