Editorial Style Guide
Adhering to a singular style helps to give all Loyola communications a unified voice that harmonizes across departments, schools, and colleges.
We all have individual writing preferences, but stylistic consistency lets the reader concentrate on the content without being distracted by variations in spelling and punctuation from one page to the next.
For recruitment, advertising, and marketing material style questions not specifically addressed in this guide, please follow the Associated Press Stylebook.
A
academic degrees
If it is necessary to include someone’s credentials, the preferred form is to avoid an abbreviation. Be sure to lowercase degrees in a body of text.
Example: Mary Smith received a bachelor of science degree in physics from Loyola University New Orleans.
Use the following for degree abbreviations (periods are not required):
BA for bachelor of arts degree
BS for bachelor of science degrees
JD for juris doctor degree
LLM for master of laws degree
MA for master of arts degree
MS for master of science degree
MCJ for master of criminal justice
MPS for master of pastoral studies
MMT for master of music therapy
MRE for master of religious education
MBA for master of business administration degree
PhD for doctorate degree
DNP for doctor of nursing practice
This list is not exhaustive. Please follow the same naming convention for other degree abbreviations.
apostrophe versus no apostrophe:
master’s degree in sociology OR
master of sociology degree
bachelor’s degree in secondary education OR bachelor of secondary education degree
academic departments
Capitalize both the word “department” and the subject name in the title. If, as is common practice, the title is flopped, drop the “of” and retain capitalization: the Department of History, the History Department. Lowercase “department” in plural uses, but capitalize the proper name element: “the departments of Sociology and Psychology.”
academic majors and programs
Lowercase all majors except those incorporating proper nouns: chemistry major, music major, English major. Similarly, descriptions of programs should be lowercase. For example: the nursing program, the urban and electronic music production program, business program.
academic and professional titles
On first reference to an individual with an academic title, use the academic title after the name. Do not refer to him/her as Dr. in subsequent references. Use his/her last name only.
Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, dean, chairman, etc., when they precede a name. Lowercase when title follows a name.
David M. Barnett, Ph.D., is giving the commencement speech this year. Barnett will discuss world peace.
Associate Dean Maria Calzada will give a presentation. Maria Calzada is associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences.
academic terms
Capitalize when written as a formal title including the year. Do not capitalize in general descriptions.
She shared the policies for Fall 2022.
Janet is taking 18 credits during the fall semester.
addresses
Spell out and capitalize street, avenue, alley, lane, etc., when using the complete name of the thoroughfare.
Many beautiful homes are on St. Charles Avenue.
Abbreviate compass points in an address, but spell them out when there is no address number.
McGrath’s Bar is located at 2525 S. Carrollton Avenue.
Wendy Jones lives on South Carrollton Avenue.
Lowercase and spell out the word “street” when used with more than one street name.
Meet me at the corner of Freret and Calhoun streets at noon.
Do not put a comma between the state and zip code.
Follow post office requirements for specific mailings, e.g., business reply envelopes (BRE).
Adjutor Hominum Award
Capitalize the initial letter in all words as it is the formal name of the award.
advisor
preferred use over adviser
alumna
one female graduate
She is an alumna of Loyola University New Orleans.
alumnae
more than one female graduate
The sisters are alumnae of Loyola University New Orleans.
alumnus
one male graduate – never use “alum”
He is an alumnus of Loyola University New Orleans.
alumni
more than one graduate - all males or males and females collectively.
As alumni of Loyola University New Orleans, the couple hope their child considers Loyola for college.
alumni distinctions
The format for identifying undergraduate Loyola University New Orleans alumni in all printed/online materials and name tags is: Name + Apostrophe + Year of Graduation John Smith ‘65 Graduate degrees are listed before the year of graduation. James Smith, J.D. ’75 Jane Brown ’80, M.B.A. ’82 In addition, ALL alumni are classified according to the college in which their major is NOW housed: College of Arts and Sciences College of Business College of Law College of Music and Media College of Nursing and Health
a.m., p.m.
Always lowercase, with periods and a space after the number. Do not capitalize. 7 a.m. or 7 p.m.
annual
Do not describe an event as “annual” until it has been held at least two successive years. Do not use “first annual.”
B
Bar/bar
For specific state associations capitalize both state and Bar. Otherwise lowercase. The Louisiana State Bar association She is a member of the bar. The bar association meets every Tuesday.
book titles
See composition titles.
board members
lowercase
Board of Trustees
Uppercase when referring to a specific board. The Board of Trustees will be meeting downstairs this afternoon. The board will be meeting downstairs this afternoon.
Broadway Activities Center
Initial capital letters as it is the proper name of the building.
Broadway campus
Uppercase Broadway only because it is the name of the street.
bylaws
Not by-laws
C
campus
Lowercase
The Loyola campus
campuswide
One word, not hyphenated
capitalization
In publications, be careful not to use capitalization in excess. When used for emphasis, too many capitalizations can have the same effect as having none.
In more formal, non-publication documents (e.g., honorary degree citations) and in The Mission, Values, and Goals of Loyola University New Orleans, exceptions are allowed.
capitalization of hyphenated compound words
Capitalize only the first letter, unless the second element of the compound is a proper noun.
Mary Jackson lives on Thirty-second Street.
I must return Life in Post-Victorian England to the library today.
Jack is taking classes through the Off-campus Learning Program.
chair/co-chair
Use chair instead of chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, unless specifically requested otherwise by the individual holding the position. For co-chair, hyphenate the word. In instances where the word should be capitalized—at the beginning of a sentence or preceding the proper name of the co-chair—only the first “c” is capitalized.
church
Capitalize initial letter only when following proper name. Lowercase in other instances.
Holy Name of Jesus Church is on St. Charles Avenue.
The church was built in 1805.
college acronyms
On first reference, spell out the name. On subsequent references, use the acronym. When using acronyms, do not use periods unless the school officially uses them.
LSU
SMU
college names
The official or formal names of colleges should be capitalized.
Shortened or informal versions should be lowercase except for clarity. The formal name should be used in most instances on first reference.
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Business
College of Law
College of Music and Media
College of Nursing and Health
commas between clauses
Use a comma plus a conjunction between two independent clauses.
Professor Brown testified before Congress on the dangers of smoking, and it is agreed he presented a strong case.
The following sentence is NOT composed of two independent clauses and SHOULD NOT include a comma. Sentences such as this commonly, and incorrectly, include a comma before and. This mistake should be avoided.
The following sentence is correct:
Professor Brown testified before Congress on the dangers of smoking and was invited to lecture at Oxford on the same subject.
commas in a series
Use a comma between all items in a series, including before "and" for clarity. Exception: news releases follow AP style which excludes the comma before “and.”
red, white, and blue
red with black stripes, white with orange circles, and blue with green spots
red, white, purple, green, and gold
commencement
Lowercase within text. Capitalize when referring to specific events (e.g. Commencement 2023).
committee
When the entire official name of the committee is used, the first letter of each word should be capitalized. Otherwise, it should all be in lowercase letters.
Carol Jackson is a member of the Library Visiting Committee.
Carol Jackson is a member of the library committee.
Common Curriculum
Uppercase
composition titles
Apply these guidelines to the titles of books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, podcasts, and works of art: capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, an, the); prepositions of three or fewer letters (for, of, on, up, etc.); and conjunctions of three or fewer letters (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet, etc.) unless any of those start or end the title. Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible, the Quran, and other holy books, and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material.
course names
Uppercase the names of courses because they are, in effect, titles. Lowercase the names of subjects unless they are proper nouns or adjectives.
Jesse has enrolled in Introduction to Philosophy. U.S. History to 1865 was my favorite course this semester.
Sandy has been studying music, philosophy, accounting, and history at Loyola University.
Kate has chosen all English and French courses as her electives.
coursework
One word
COVID-19
Used to describe SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Written in all caps with a hyphen. May be shortened to COVID in subsequent uses.
D
dashes
en dash—An en dash is approximately the width of a capital N and surrounded by a space on both sides. It is used between words indicating a duration and in compound adjectives when one of the elements is made of two words or two hyphenated words.
January 26 – March 3
7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
8 – 10 years of age
white-collar – blue-collar contrast
em dash—An em dash is approximately the width of a capital M and has no space on either side. It is used in substitution of a colon or parenthesis, or in indicating an abrupt change in thought, or in a space where a period is too strong or a comma is too weak. An em dash is also used before an author’s or composer’s name at the end of a quotation. (In Word, click Insert, then Symbol, then Special Characters.)
“Who steals my purse steals trash.” —Shakespeare
We will fly to Paris in June—if I get a raise.
days of the week with date
Spell out. Use a comma after the day of the week and the date with or without the year following.
We will meet on Tuesday, March 11, to discuss next week’s fundraising event.
We will meet on March 11 to discuss…
We will meet on Tuesday to discuss…
We met on March 11, 2019, to discuss…
days of the month
Do not use “rd,” “th,” “st,” “nd” following the numerals.
April 12, October 23, not April 12th, October 23rd
dean’s list
Lowercase in all uses:
He/She is on the dean’s list.
decades (numeric)
Do not use apostrophes when all four digits are used. 1930s
the ‘30s
degrees
See "academic degrees" for information about degree names and abbreviations.
dorm
This is incorrect usage. Use “residence hall.”
E
Lowercase e, without a hyphen
F
Faculty
Use with a singular verb.
The faculty is meeting today.
The faculty members are meeting today.
freshman/freshmen
When used as an adjective,“ freshman” means of or for first-year students and the singular is used. However, Loyola prefers to use “first-year students” whenever possible to avoid gendered language.
freshman English course
freshman courses
courses for freshmen
fundraiser, fundraising
One word in all instances.
H
Holy Name of Jesus Church
This is the formal name of the church at the corner of St. Charles and West Road and should be used on first reference and formal documents.
honorable, the
Abbreviate Hon. when this description is used before an individual’s name. Precede it with the word “the” because, unlike with Mr. and Mrs., the abbreviation “Hon.” represents an adjective, not a noun.
The Hon. Adrian G. Duplantier
Honorary Degrees
All references to honorary degrees should specify that the degree was honorary. Do not use Dr. before the name of an individual whose only doctorate is honorary.
Ella Brennan, H’17
horseshoe
When referring to the parking area in front of Marquette Hall, lowercase.
I
In-state students
Hyphenated
internet
Do not capitalize
intranet
Do not capitalize
J
junior, senior
Abbreviate as Jr. and Sr. only with full names. Do not precede by a comma.
Harry Connick Jr.
L
law library
Lowercase
library
Lowercase
Loyola University New Orleans
The name of the university is Loyola University New Orleans—no commas are used. This must be used on first reference. In subsequent references, it may be shortened to Loyola or Loyola University. Never refer to the school as Loyola New Orleans, except for use on Loyola branded apparel.
LOYNO
An abbreviation for Loyola University New Orleans. Only used in subsequent references or in combination with an official Loyola University New Orleans logo. Formatted with all letters capitalized. Never use LUNO as a substitute.
M
majors
(See Academic Majors)
main campus
Lowercase
main library
Lowercase
The Maroon
Capitalize the initial letters in each word and italicize. “The” is capitalized because it is part of the name of the newspaper.
We have many fine young journalists working on The Maroon.
Mass
Always capitalize
masterclass
One word
MBA/M.B.A.
Do not use periods when referring to the general program. Only use periods when listing a degree.
The MBA Program at Loyola is outstanding.
John Smith, M.B.A. ’75 is a business alumnus.
midnight
Do not precede with 12. Midnight is 12 a.m.
money
When including a numeric monetary amount in a body of text, include decimal numbers only if the decimal amount is not .00. Also, if the amount is above $999, use a comma for clarification.
Jack’s stereo cost $4,863.
Jack’s monthly mortgage payments will be $1,364.75.
Monroe Library
Abbreviated name of the J. Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library. Always capitalize.
month and year
When used without referring to a specific date of the month, no comma is needed.
Bob Harvey began working for the company in June 1993.
Bob Harvey began working for the company on June 15, 1993.
N
newspaper titles
Capitalize, including “the,” when it is included in the name on the masthead.
Barbara reads The Times-Picayune from cover to cover every morning.
Jack works for the Los Angeles Times.
non-credit
Hyphenate
nonprofit
Do not hyphenate.
noon
Do not precede with 12. Noon is 12 p.m.
numerals
In text—Spell out numbers from one through nine.
Use numerals for those 10 or larger.
plural—fours, fives, 100s
O
offices
Lowercase when used informally; uppercase when used formally or when needed for clarity.
NOTE: Official office name is listed as Office of Xxx; informal name is xxx office.
You must register in the Office of Student Records. (formal)
You must register in the student records office. (informal)
You must register in Student Records. (clarity)
The Office of Marketing and Communications is located on the second floor. (formal)
The marketing and communications office is located on the second floor. (informal)
Bring the proof back to Marketing and Communications. (clarity)
online
One word
out-of-state students
Hyphenated when used as a compound modifier to describe students.
We sent a postcard to out-of-state students.
Students who live out of state need different information.
P
percent
Use the % sign when paired with a number, with no space; in casual uses, use words rather than figures and numbers; if it’s necessary to start a sentence with a percentage, spell out both.
Loyola maintained a 69% discount rate.
Eighty-nine percent of students agreed.
phone numbers
Phone numbers should be formatted with dashes, not a parenthesis or periods.
correct: 555-837-1547
incorrect: (555) 837-1547, 555.837.1547
president
Lowercase unless it immediately precedes the name of the individual who holds the position.
Lee Smith is the president.
University President Lee Smith called an emergency meeting for this afternoon.
podcasts
See composition titles
pope
Lowercase unless it immediately precedes the name of the individual who holds the position.
The pope will be visiting the United States next month.
The first Polish pope was Pope John Paul II.
professor
Never abbreviate. Capitalize when used as a formal title before a full name. Do not continue in second reference unless part of a quotation.
Professor James teaches English literature.
The professor canceled class today.
Q
question mark
With bracket, dash, parenthesis, quotation marks—The question mark is placed inside a closing bracket, dash, parenthesis, or pair of quotation marks when it punctuates only the material enclosed by that mark and not the sentence as a whole. It is placed outside that mark when it punctuates the entire sentence.
What did Andrew Jackson mean when he called the project “a fiasco from the start”?
“She thought about it for a moment,” Alice continued, “and she said, ‘Can you guarantee this will work?’”
quotations
General—Make certain that true quotation marks are used (“, ”, ‘, ’) and not inch (") and foot (') marks.
Running—If a full paragraph of quoted material is followed by a paragraph continuing the quotation, do not put closed quotation marks at the end of the first paragraph. Do, however, put open quotation marks at the start of the second paragraph. Continue in this fashion for any succeeding paragraphs, using closed quotation marks only at the end of the quoted material.
With other punctuation—The period and the comma always go within the quotation marks. The dash, the semicolon, the colon, the question mark and the exclamation point go within the quotation marks when they apply to the quoted matter only. They go outside when they apply to the whole sentence.
R
religious titles
On first reference to an individual with a religious title, include the religious title and order identification. Do not refer to him/her as Fr., Father, Rev., Sr., or Sister in subsequent references.; use his/her last name only.
The Rev. John P. Smith, S.J., will…Smith said…
Sr. Mary Jane Jones, O.P., spoke…Jones researches…
residence hall
This is the correct usage. Do not use “dorm.”
room numbers
Use numerals and capitalize room when used with numerals.
Mrs. Beardsley’s class is held in Room 211.
Roussel Hall
Refer to the hall as Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall on first reference. Roussel Hall is fine for subsequent references and in calendars where space is limited.
R.S.V.P.
Répondez s’il vous plaît (reply, if you please).
OK to abbreviate.
S
seasons
Lowercase if they simply declare the time of the year; capitalize only if they are personified—as in some poetry.
Janet will begin classes in the fall semester.
The sweet breath of Spring filled the air.
The winter formal will be held at the Fairmont.
The book will be published this spring.
south
Capitalize when speaking of a specific region.
Lowercase when speaking of direction.
I love to spend my vacations in the South.
My hometown is just south of Chicago.
space between initials
Do not use a space between initials. Do add a comma before and after initials of religious and professional societies and the like when included in text.
The Rev. John P. Smith, S.J., will speak at the luncheon today.
The special guest at tonight’s dinner will be Renee Jefferson.
sports complex
Use the official name “University Sports Complex” on first reference and “sports complex” in subsequent references.
state of Louisiana
Do not capitalize the initial letter in state.
T
telephone extension
Abbreviate the word “extension” with “ext.” not “x.”
theater
The building or area of a building where performances are held
Marquette Theater
Lower Depths Theater
theatre
The art or function of theatre
She studied theatre while at Loyola.
time
For news releases, invitations, calendars, and other listings with times, use numerals with colon to separate hours from minutes. Lowercase and use periods with a.m./p.m. (For times on the hour, use neither colon nor zeroes.) Include the time zone when necessary, especially for virtual events.
7 p.m. or 7 p.m. Central
6:30 a.m.
Within body copy of stories in newsletters, magazines, and brochures, spell out the time. Refer to etiquette books for very formal invitations.
LOYNO Magazine—The performance is scheduled for eight o’clock.
news releases—The performance is at 8 p.m.
(Lowercase p.m. and a.m. with periods and no zeros.)
U
university
In publications, unless it is used with the word “Loyola,” it is always lowercase—even when referring to Loyola University specifically. Possible exceptions are formal proposals and official documents such as the goals statement and honorary degree citations.
Loyola University always strives for excellence. The university promotes this goal in every college and department.
“University” is also lowercase in multiple listings.
Fred is an alumnus of both Loyola and Tulane universities.
Uptown
Capitalize the initial letter because it is a specific region of New Orleans.
V
vice president
Do not hyphenate.
W
web links
Do not use a period when the web link ends a paragraph.
For more information, visit loyno.edu
Do not include an initial “www” in a Loyola web link (for example, academicaffairs.loyno.edu, giving.loyno.edu, law.loyno.edu,) in the address.
Incorrect: To give now, visit www.giving.loyno.edu
Correct: To give now, visit giving.loyno.edu
web page
Two words, both lowercase
website
One word, lowercase
well-known
Hyphenate when used as an adjective. No hyphen when used as an adverb.
The well-known dancer performed.
(compound adjective—hyphenate)
The dancer was well known.
(adverb—no hyphen)
Wolf Pack
Must always appear as two separate words. (“Wolfpack” as one word is trademarked by North Carolina State University.)
Y
years
Abbreviated, two-digit, numeric years are preceded by an apostrophe (’), not a single open quote (‘).
Class of ’78
The Summer of ’42
A span of years written in numeric years and including the century contains no apostrophe.
1975 – 82
1757 – 64