Editorial Style Guide (2024)

Indicates the omission of letters, possessive case or marks as a plural.

• In forming the plural of figures, do not use an apostrophe:
  • the early 1900s
  • the late ’60s
• Punctuate the year of college graduation with an apostrophe (curved and facing left, never straight or facing right):
  • Class of ’86
  • William ’56 and Carol Wanamaker Lenker ’57
• Master’s and bachelor’s should always be written with an ’s.
  • Never write masters’ degrees. For PhD, use doctorate (noun) or doctoral degree (adjective).
• Use ’s to form the possessive of singular nouns; use only an apostrophe for plural nouns ending in s:
  • women’s rights
  • the United States’ wealth
  • Dickens’s life

Introduces a list in a sentence or a quote, separates major parts of a sentence.

• Follow a statement that introduces a direct quotation of one or more sentences with a colon:
  • This is what the message said: "Call your mother when you get in."
• Use a colon after "as follows." If the colon precedes two or more complete sentences, capitalize following the colon; if not, don't:
  • Please note as follows: Meetings are held on Tuesday mornings. Bring your ideas and an open mind with you.
  • We were instructed as follows: bring your ideas and an open mind with you.
• Do not use a colon to introduce a list in running copy:
  • The winners of the competition are John Brown, Mary White and Amy Tan. She went to pick up a few things, including coffee, cream, milk and muffins.
• Do not use a colon after a preposition to set off the copy that follows, whether horizontally or vertically laid out:
  • E-mail any questions to Pamela Frazier, director of budget and financial analysis, frazier@hartford.edu.
  • Send replies to

International Center
University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117

Separates words independent phrases or clauses in a sentence.

• The serial comma is used in a series of elements. Use a comma in a series and before the final "and" or "or."
  • As a first-year student, he took courses in writing, English, biology, and math.
  • Hmm, shall I have the grilled swordfish, barbecued spareribs, or Irish stew?
  • After work, he picked up his shirts at the cleaners, went to the ATM, and met his wife.
• Place a comma after digits signifying thousands (3,400 students), except when referring to temperature or year (4600 degrees, in the year 2001).
• Transition terms, such as "however," "namely," "i.e." (that is), and "e.g." (for example), should be immediately preceded by a comma or semicolon and followed by a comma:
  • Our evening class is three hours long; however, we do take a 15-minute break.
  • We have a lengthy assignment, namely, chapters one, two and three.
• Use a comma before coordinate adjectives; apply the following test:
  • Place the word “and” between the adjectives. Second, reverse them. If, in both instances, the resulting phrase still sounds appropriate, you likely have coordinate adjectives and should use a comma between them.
    • Students attended a lengthy, informative planning session.
    • The lecture will present multiple cost-effective strategies.
    • A confident, knowledgeable panelist gave a quick rebuttal.
• Do not use a comma in names ending in "Jr." or a numeral (III):
  • John Smith Jr.
  • John F. Zeller III
• When writing a date or a location with city and state, place a comma after any element preceded by one:
  • On July 4, 1976, the nation celebrated its 200th birthday.
  • Located in West Hartford, Conn., the University of Hartford comprises seven schools and colleges.
• Do not place a comma between the month and year when the day is not mentioned:
  • July 2007
• Use of a comma in the following situations will depend on your additional knowledge of the situation and/or how the sentence is worded.
  • My sister, Helen, is on vacation. (If you have just one sister since this is a unique identifier)
  • My sister Helen is on vacation. (if you have more than one sister)
  • I went to see Woody Allen's movie Midnight in Paris with my friend Bill. (we know Woody Allen has been in dozens of movies and we are assuming that Bill is not your only friend)
  • I went to see my favorite Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, with my oldest friend, Bill. (commas in play in both cases as you have only one "favorite" Woody Allen movie, and before "Bill" because he and only he is your oldest friend)

Separate parts of a sentence.

Em Dash

The em dash is perhaps the most versatile of punctuation marks. It can be used in sentences to create a strong break, to show emphasis, or to denote a change in thought. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons. Many confuse the em dash for the slightly narrower en dash or the even narrower hyphen.

• She likes all kinds of music—classical, jazz, country, and rock.
• Matt joined the company a month before it went public—and long before it became the billion dollar giant it is today.

The en dash is used to represent a span or range of numbers, dates, or time. There should be no space between the en dash and the adjacent material. Depending on the context, the en dash is read as “to” or “through.”

• The president's term was 1960–64.
• Hawktober Weekend will be held Oct. 14–16.

The en dash can be created by holding down the ALT key and typing 0150 on the numeric keypad (right side of the keyboard). Macintosh users, press the option and minus keys simultaneously.

An ellipsis represents three consecutive, evenly spaced periods used as a punctuation mark to denote missing or omitted text—or an incomplete thought.

In a sentence, add a space before and after a three-dot ellipsis:

Joins or separates words.

• In general, the move is away from hyphenated words, whether used as nouns or adjectives:
  • fundraising
  • groundbreaking
  • bestseller
• Generally, do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word starting with a consonant but there are many exceptions. The following rules are constant:
  • Except for cooperate and coordinate, use a hyphen if the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel.
  • Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized.
  • Use a hyphen to join doubled prefixes: sub-subparagraph.
  • Use a hyphen with the prefix ex, the relative prefix self, and when using all as a prefix
    • ex-mayor, self-serve, all-powerful
• Other notes:
  • With words beginning with the prefix co-, retain the hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives, and verbs that indicate occupation or status, such as co-worker and co-founder.
  • Use a hyphen to join doubled prefixes, as in sub-subparagraph.A hyphen is needed with compound words that must be distinguished from hom*onyms, such as in the case of recover and re-cover.
  • Use a hyphen when the last letter of the prefix and the first letter of the following word are the same, such as with pre-engineering, pre-election, or pre-establish.
  • While nonprofit is one word, use a hyphen with terms such as non-credit, non-student, and non-discrimination.
  • Use a hyphen in any case if not using one would create confusion with another word (such as re-cover vs. recover)
• If not referenced in the above rules, follow Webster's New World College Dictionary, hyphenating if not listed there.
• Hyphenate “part time” and “full time” only when used as adjectives:
  • He is a part-time instructor in the English department.
  • She works full time in the computer laboratory.
• Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective when used as a modifier before a noun:
  • tree-ripened peach
  • well-qualified instructor
  • a one-way road
• However, when compound modifiers come after a noun, they are not hyphenated:
  • The peach was tree ripened.
  • The instructor is well qualified.
  • The road is one way.
• Do not use a hyphen to connect an adverb ending in “ly” to the adjective it modifies
  • highly qualified student
  • elegantly furnished home

• When the attributive adjective is a common and frequently used open-compound noun, no hyphen is required unless not having one leads to ambiguity.
  • income tax refund
  • high school student
  • health care system (see Health Care in "Spelling and Usage" category)
• When omitting the second part of a hyphenated term, retain the hyphen and follow with a space:
  • 10- to 12-year-olds
  • Hartford- or Greenwich-bound lane

SPECIFIC TERMS

• Hyphenate “grade-point average,” which is preferred on first reference rather than "GPA."
• Do not hyphenate the term “vice president.”
• Do not hyphenate African American, Asian American, etc. in all uses
• Hyphenate service-learning in all uses.

For rules about capitalizing hyphenated words in a title or headline, see our capitalization section.

A dot used at the end of a sentence to indicate that it is the end.

• In general, do not use periods with abbreviations for academic degrees:
  • He has a BA in economics, an MA in finance, and an MBA.
• Do not use periods with acronyms or initialisms:
  • UNICEF works on behalf of children's rights, survival, development and protection.
  • The Hawks did very well in last year's NCAA finals.
  • RSVP
    • The word "please" is already represented by the “P” in this French initialism-répondez s'il vous plaît (please respond). Do not say “Please RSVP.”
• Use only one space after a period or other end punctuation before starting the next sentence or clause:
  • Hawk Hall is our brand-new dormitory. It is divided into five themed floors.
  • You have a choice of two days: Tuesday or Thursday.

Surrounding a quotation, direct speech, or a literal title or name.

• • Use single quotation marks for quotations printed within other quotations:
    • “When I was a student,” she reminisced, “someone said to me, ‘Be sure to enjoy this time of your life.’”
  • Use single quotation marks in headlines:
    • Team Finds ‘Hawk’ Heaven
  • Periods and commas should be set inside quotation marks; colons and semicolons should be set outside. Exclamation points and question marks that are not part of a quotation also go outside.
    • The instructor said, “Good morning, everyone,” but the fire alarm went off before he could say another word.
    • The coach said to “print Sports Center hours at the bottom of the brochure”; I don't know what they are, though.
    • Didn’t you hear her say, “Reading assignments are due every Friday”?
  • Indicate an omission within a quotation by using an ellipsis (three periods evenly spaced between words):
    • “I...tried to do what was best.”
  • If the omission occurs at the end of a complete sentence, add a period at the end of the ellipsis, followed by a space:
    • “At the University we are committed to a liberal arts education.... We develop our degree programs with this in mind.”
  • Titles of songs, articles, book chapters, poems, photographs, lectures, individual titles from a series, unpublished works, etc., should be set in quotation marks:
    • “Drops of Jupiter,” sung by Train
    • Stieglitz’s “The Steerage,” 1907 (photogravure on vellum)
    • “Video Provocateur” from the Distinguished Teaching Humanist Series
  • Italicize titles of books, films, magazines, newspapers, journals, television and radio programs, major musical compositions, plays, gallery exhibitions, and works of art:

• Blackboard Jungle

• New England Journal of Medicine

• American Idol

• Madama Butterfly

Refer to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for more information.

Separates major parts of a compound sentence. A semicolon is not interchangeable with a colon. Check carefully which you have typed on the keyboard: the colon requires the shift key; the semicolon does not.

• Use a semicolon to separate two independent clauses that are not joined by a conjunction:
  • Boston is two hours northeast of Hartford; New York City is two hours south.
• Place a semicolon before an adverb used transitionally between independent clauses:
  • Some students arrived late; however, they were still able to register on time.
• Separate items in a series with a semicolon when they contain internal punctuation:
  • January consists of 31 days; February, 28; March, 31; and April, 30.