• Telephone numbers are written with periods instead of dashes, with the occasional exception, listed below
487.2483; 800.GO-TO-EMU; 48-SEEUS• Web site is two words and the W is always capped
- no ‘http://’ necessary with URLs containing ‘www’• GPA is acceptable for grade point average on first reference
- URLs are never underlined (as links); and delete all final forward slashes (i.e. www.emich.edu versus www.emich.edu/)
- always check for working Web address
• GPAs are only adequate to the decimal point: 3.0 not 3.00
• Alumnus or alumna, never alum
• Do not use ‘impact’ as a verb, ‘affect’ is most preferable
• e-mail — if necessitates capitalization only cap the e
• Adviser never advisor
• Times of day: noon, midnight, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 9-10 a.m. No zeroes. When switching meridians use ‘to’. If in same meridian use a dash, no spaces
• Capitalize:
- names of awards: Wrestler of the Year Award• Lowercase:
- titles of official departments
- titles of administrators if preceding the administrator's name
- unofficial program titles• Eliminate all unnecessary capitalization
- compass directions
- seasons
i.e. Continental breakfast and free parking! versus Continental Breakfast and FREE Parking!• Only cap first word of headlines unless headline contains a proper name
i.e. Students travel to Spain for three months as part of new language program• Always double check spelling of student, staff and faculty names
• Always double check that the day, date and time of an event are correct
• southeast Michigan, rather than southeastern Michigan
• Almost anything with a mailer/leaving the University to be seen by public eye needs an official University trademarked signature. (Signature can be obtained via this Web site.)
- the University seal may only be used by certain offices and departments, limited to the President, Board of Regents, or special exceptions from Marketing and Communications• Do not use a comma before ‘and’ (‘or’) in a simple series
i.e. I will bring apples, oranges, tangerines and peaches• Spell out state names in text
- if used with a city name and zip code (Ypsilanti, MI 48197) use two-letter postal abbreviation• Ampersands (&) are not to be used unless in tabular material where the written word ‘and’ cannot fit or in a proper name such as Barnes & Noble
- if used with city name only (Ypsilanti, Mich.) use dateline abbreviation
• Ellipsis (…) are to be used as follows:
- Use four dots when at the end of a statement ‘Welcome to Eastern ….’
- Use three dots when in the middle of two sentences or breaking up a complete thought, ‘Welcome to Eastern … your home away from home’
• Numbers: spell out under 10, except in titled chapters, sections, tabular material or other entities that use 1,2,3, etc. as reference points
• Academic degrees:
Informal reference: bachelor’s degree (lower case, apostrophe ‘s’); baccalaureate (means ‘bachelor’s degree’); specialist’s degree (apostrophe ‘s’).
Titular reference: master of science, bachelor of arts, doctor of education. Never use the apostrophe 's' version when referring to the actual degree title.
• That/which: that for essential clauses, which for non-essential
• Theatre/Theater: theatre for any CTA/Quark-associated production, theater for all other references, unless a proper name or title demands it
• University/university: cap ‘U’ when in direct reference to EMU, all others, unless part of a name or title, lower case ‘u’
• “First Annual” is incorrect; use "inaugural" or simply "first" – an event cannot be annual until it has been held for at least two successive years
• Over/more than: ‘over’ for non-numerical references, ‘more than’ when speaking of numbered items
• Fewer/less: ‘fewer’ for individual items, ‘less’ for general or bulk items
- fewer than 10 applicants• Credit hours: EMU does not have semester hours
- less than a gallon of milk