Editorial Style Guide

academic titles Capitalize only if they directly precede an individual's name (President David J. Ramsay, DM, DPhil; but David J. Ramsay, DM, DPhil, president of the University). Capitalize University when referring to this campus specifically; lowercase when referring to universities in general.

addresses In running copy, abbreviate directional ends of streets (i.e., north, south) and abbreviate Ave., Blvd., and St.

When used with a numbered address (522 W. Lombard St.). Spell out and capitalize when used without a numbered address or with a block number (Davidge Hall is on Lombard Street; the new Administration Building is in the 600 block of West Lexington Street). Lowercase and spell out when used with more than one street name (Davidge Hall is on the corner of Greene and Lombard streets). Do not abbreviate alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.

advisor Exception to Associated Press style.

African-American (see nationalities)

AIDS Acceptable in all references for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sometimes called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

al-Qaida Lower 'a' unless it starts a sentence. Sun style.

alumni Alumna (alumnae in the plural form) refers to a woman who attended or graduated from a specific school. Use alumnus (alumni in the plural form) for similar references to men. Alumni also refers to groups of men and women.

On first reference—in publications or articles specific to a School—alumni should be referred to by their full, formal name followed by their degree and class year  (Andrew Smith, DDS ’65).

ampersand Its use is acceptable when part of a formal name or title (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad) or as a design element. Not to be used as a synonym for “and” in running text, however.

assure, ensure, insure Assure means to give confidence. Ensure means to make certain or guarantee. Insure means to contract to pay or be paid money in the case of a loss.

Baltimore Not "Baltimore City" unless specifically distinguishing between Baltimore City and Baltimore County, or in an official agency name (Baltimore City Public School System, Baltimore City Council).

Baltimore locations

• 1^st Mariner Arena—'the' isn’t part of title
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport—BWI on second reference

• Fells Point (no apostrophe)
• Hippodrome Theatre, (part of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center)
• Hopkins, Johns (see separate listing)
• M&T Bank Stadium (no spaces around ampersand, change from last time)
• Oriole Park at Camden Yards

before Use instead of "prior to"

BioPark, UMB The UMB BioPark opened with Building One in 2005; Building Two opened in August 2007.  

Board of Regents A 17-member Board of Regents, including one full-time student, governs the University System of Maryland. Appointed by the governor, the regents oversee the system's academic, administrative, and financial operations; formulate policy; and appoint the USM chancellor and the presidents of the system's 13 institutions. With the exception of the student member, each regent is appointed for a term of five years, and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

brackets Use instead of parentheses inside a quote. “I’ll be back at 3 [a.m.] to get my things.”

bulleted or enumerated lists In general, it is best to format each list so its structure is parallel. If some items are sentences, all of the items should be sentences. If some items begin with verbs, all items should begin with verbs. Only use period at end of bulleted line if it is a complete sentence.

campus center Lowercase

campus locations

• Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center
• Dental School full name is Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, University of Maryland Dental School. May be referred to as the Dental School, but never the School of Dentistry. 
• Health Sciences and Human Services Library, HS/HSL on second reference
• Nathan Patz Law Center, houses the School of Law
• Health Sciences Facility I and II, HSF I or HSF II on second reference.
• R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center After the "R" there is no period. Shock Trauma on second reference. 
• Student Center at Pine Street
• The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry (National Museum of Dentistry acceptable on second reference)
• University of Maryland Medical Center refers to the hospital on Greene Street (UMMC on second reference) 
• University of Maryland Medical System refers to the entire health system (UMMS on second reference) 

campuswide Use "campuswide" to refer to the physical campus. (The University Police Force provides campuswide security.) Otherwise, University is preferred. (Police provide security for the University.)

capital campaign Lowercase

capitalization schools Capitalize the formal name of the school (School of Law); but lowercase the less formal inversion (law school). In running text where only one school is referred to, it is acceptable to capitalize School on second reference and throughout. Lowercase the plural: law and dental schools.

caregiver One word

CD-ROM All caps

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Abbreviated CDC. Takes singular verb. CDC is proud to add a new member to its staff. See www.cdc.gov for names of individual centers.

CIPS Center for Innovative Pharmacy Solutions

cities Add U.S. state or foreign country with first reference to cities unless AP Stylebook says they can stand alone in datelines. Then they can stand alone in body copy, too.

City of Baltimore Only uppercase in formal uses, like funds awarded to UMB BioPark by the city

Class of 1976 Upper c, contrary to Webster's, The Sun

co- Retain the hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives and verbs that indicate occupation or status: co-star, co-pilot, co-author, he co-wrote the paper. But coed, cooperate, coordinate.

colon In running copy, always preceded by a complete sentence. If followed by a complete sentence, the first letter after the colon should be capitalized; otherwise the first letter should be lowercase.

commas Use the serial comma for things in a series. He ate his peas, corn, and squash. No comma before Jr. and Esq.

Company Abbreviated Co. when used at the end of company names (Army Times Publishing Co.).

core faculty All tenured and tenure-track faculty and department chairs

Corporation Abbreviated Corp. when used at the end of corporation names (Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)

coursework One word

courtesy titles Do not use courtesy titles (e.g., Mr., Miss, Dr.) before a name in running text. OK in quotes ("Dr. Smith is a talented researcher.”) See honorifics.

credits Use numerals. He needs 6 credits to graduate.

CVS Caremark No slash, replaces CVS/pharmacy

dash No space between a long dash and the words surrounding it. An ellipsis is treated like a word, with a space before and after it. He thought he would pass the course … if he didn’t fail the final exam.

dates For ordinals, spell out "first" through "ninth"; use numerals starting with "10th." Do not use "th" or "st" with dates (Commencement will be Tuesday, May 18. Not May 18th). When abbreviating years, use an apostrophe to indicate dropped numbers ('99). Use only an "s" to show plural (Health care policy has changed considerably in the '90s). Also see months.

day care, day care center

dean’s office Lowercase, singular. See departments.

degrees Use abbreviation (without periods) of advanced degree following the full name on first reference (David J. Ramsay, DM, DPhil). Lowercase when referring to the degree in general (She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry) making sure to use the possessive apostrophe. Capitalize when using the formal name of an academic degree (Bachelor of Science). See honorifics.

departments, divisions, offices Capitalize only when using the full, official name. Lowercase when department, division, office comes after the name (an exception to AP): Department of Biomedical Sciences but biomedical sciences department; Division of Transplant Surgery, but transplant surgery division; Office of External Affairs; but external affairs office.

disk With the exception of compact disc, laserdisc, videodisc. For the back, a slipped disk.

dollar amounts  Do not use ciphers ($60, not $60.00). For $1 million and above, round to the nearest 100,000 ($1,569,433 rounds to $1.6 million) unless the exact number is necessary for a tabulation. And avoid $1 to $3 million construction. That means one dollar to 3 million dollars. Use $1 million to $3 million.

Eastern Shore

e.g.; i.e. e.g. Means "for example"; i.e. means "that is." Both are followed by commas.

e-mail and Internet addresses In running copy, put in lowercase italics. E-mail and Web addresses stand alone in all cases; do not use "e-mail" or "Web address" to mark them in copy. Do not use "http://" if followed by "www" (www.umaryland.edu, but http://cnn.com).

entitled Means the right to have or do something. Do not use to refer to the title of a book, article, presentation, etc.

etc. Avoid when possible. Use etc. to cue the reader to extrapolate many possibilities from a brief list. (The Staff Senate is collecting toiletries—soap, toothpaste, etc.—for the homeless.) Do not use if only providing a few illustrative examples, especially with a list that starts with "including" or "for example."

FDA AP says no U.S. needed. First reference Food and Drug Administration

fellow Lowercase, unless part of formal name. Dorcas Gilmore has been named a 2007 Skadden Fellow. As a fellow, she will receive a stipend to help defray expenses.

firsthand One word.

fiscal year Four digits preferred (Fiscal Year 2007). Two digits acceptable in second reference (FY07).

fundraiser, fundraising

genome Proper title: University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute for Genome Sciences

governmental bodies Follow Maryland Manual. Also see United States.

grades Use capital letters. He got an A. Capitalize Incomplete. Do not use italics.

grass-roots Hyphenated as a modifier: grass-roots movement

health care Two words as noun and adjective; no hyphen.

HIV Acceptable first reference for human immunodeficiency virus. Avoid redundant HIV virus.

holidays Capitalize (New Year's Day, Easter, Hanukkah).

home page Two words. Also see Web page.

honorifics In place of doctor, use acronyms for advanced degrees after the name, placing medical degree first, PhD second, other degrees third. E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA.

Hopkins, Johns – For Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Health System; if sentence construction requires a “the,” make it lowercase

hotline One word

hyphens Use hyphens for unit modifiers. Hyphenate "self" and "well" constructions (e.g., self-assessment, a group of well-wishers). Do not hyphenate "ly" modifiers (e.g., a newly formed company).

i.e. See e.g.

IHV Second reference for Institute of Human Virology. No 'the' before IHV.  With its unique organizational structure, IHV ...

in order to Delete "in order." (e.g., We use computers to work more efficiently.)

Inc. Preceded by a comma when part of the proper name of a company. Exception to AP.

initials When an individual uses initial instead of a first name, use periods with no spaces (H.L. Mencken). In body copy, reserve middle initials for University president and deans except in special cases.

interdisciplinary One word.

Internet Capitalize.

in vitro, in utero

IRB Institutional Review Board

Lamy See Peter.

Light Rail Capitalize when referring to the Baltimore-area Light Rail system. Also see Maryland Transit Administration.

MARC Train Maryland Rail Commuter train service to and from Union Station in Washington, D.C., and West Virginia, Baltimore, and Perryville, Md.

Maryland agencies See governmental bodies.

Maryland Brand pharmacist No hyphen, lower P

Maryland Transit Administration Oversees Light Rail, Metro Subway, MARC train, and the bus system. MTA on second reference.

Metro Subway Baltimore's subway line. Runs Monday through Saturday from Owings Mills to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

mid No hyphen unless capitalized word follows: mid-America, mid-Atlantic, midterm. But use hyphen when mid precedes a figure: mid-1930s.

months When using with a specific day or range of days, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. The other months are spelled out. Comma follows the year in a complete date. January 1972 was a cold month. Feb. 14, 1987, was the target date.

multicultural One word.

multidisciplinary One word.

National Institutes of Health An agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH on second reference. Takes singular verb. The National Institutes of Health is hosting a Cancer Health Disparities Summit on June 30. See www.nih.gov for the names of individual institutes.

nationalities and races Capitalize the proper names of nationalities. Always hyphenate compound nationalities (African-American, German-American) whether used as an adjective or a noun.

office Capitalize only when part of an official name (Office of External Affairs, but external affairs office). See departments.

online Always one word when referring to the Internet and computer networks.

percentages Write out "percent" in text and use numerals (spending is up 4 percent); use "%" symbol in charts and graphics. For amounts smaller than 1 percent, use a zero before the decimal point (0.5 percent).

Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging

postbaccalaureate, postgraduate One word.

rowhouse One word to agree with Sun style.

s possessive Just the apostrophe.  CBS' coverage.

schools See capitalization

semesters Do not capitalize semesters or academic periods in the collegiate calendar (winter semester, orientation, registration).

Shady Grove, the Universities at Heather Congdon, PharmD, CACP, CDE, has been named the first assistant dean of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy program at the Universities at Shady Grove.

Shock Trauma See campus locations.

startup One word; AP exception to Webster's

states Spell out the names of states when used without a city in running text. When used with a city name, abbreviate according to AP Stylebook.

Abbreviate states when used with a city. Example: He lives in Elmira, N.Y.

Eight states are not abbreviated: Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii.

Write out the names of all states when they stand alone. Example: She lives in Vermont, but goes to school in New York.

Do not use the post office's two-letter abbreviations for states unless there is a complete address with ZIP code.

Accepted abbreviations are: Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kan., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Neb., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.M., N.Y., N.C., N.D., Okla., Ore., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.D., Tenn., Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., and Wyo.

Sun, The (Baltimore) First reference for local newspaper is The (Baltimore) Sun.

telephone numbers. For internal publications, use the campus or hospital extension only (6-0000 for University, and 8-0000 for UMMS). For publications with an off-campus audience, use the 10-digit phone number. In running copy, separate numbers with a hyphen (410-555-0000). Numbers may be separated with periods (410.555.0000) as a design element on materials such as business cards and invitations.

temperature Always use numerals, but spell out "degrees" in text. (During the blizzard, the temperature got down to 4 degrees.) Use the degree symbol in charts and graphs.

that vs. which You can never correctly use ‘’that’ with commas or ‘which’ without commas.

Wrong: The debriefing form, that was printed on letterhead, was provided after the session was concluded. Also Wrong: The debriefing form which was printed on letterhead was provided after the session was concluded. Right: The debriefing form that was printed on letterhead was provided after the session was concluded. Also Right: The debriefing form, which was printed on letterhead, was provided after the session was concluded.

The No need for uppercase 'The' preceding university names. Ohio State University, not The Ohio State University, Catholic University of America, not The Catholic University … See Johns Hopkins.

time Do not use ciphers (1 p.m., not 1:00 p.m.). Use "a.m." or "p.m."—lowercase, with periods. (Note: 1 to 3 p.m. or 1-3 p.m., not 1 p.m.-3 p.m.). Do not use 12 p.m. or a.m.; use noon and midnight.

titles of works Italicize the titles of books, periodicals (including 'The' if appropriate), newsletters, plays, films, art exhibitions, long poems, paintings, sculptures, comic strips, radio and television series, and long musical compositions. Use quotation marks with the titles of theses, dissertations, short stories, short poems, articles, essays, chapters of books, song titles and other short musical works, and episodes of television series. Ex: the “Death of Chuckles the Clown” episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

underserved One word.

United States In text, spell out when used as a noun. Abbreviate when used as an adjective, even with formal names (U.S. Defense Department).

University Capitalized when referring to this campus.

University of Maryland, Baltimore On first reference, use University of Maryland, Baltimore. Do not use a comma after Baltimore in running text unless it is needed for meaning. (The University of Maryland, Baltimore is located downtown.) Thereafter, use University (capitalized) or UMB. In first reference in news releases, Web stories and the like, be sure to include the University of Maryland. The University of Maryland School of Social Work, rather than just the School of Social Work. Attribution after the fact may work in some constructions; the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. But in most cases, put the university before the school. Never use the construction the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of xxxxx or UMB School of ________.

UMAB Is no longer used. See entry above.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County Spell out in first reference to UMBC.

University Hospital Use University of Maryland Medical Center.

University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation, Inc. (UMBF on second reference) The University's central office for raising, administering, and investing funds.

University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC on second reference) The hospital on Greene Street.

University of Maryland Medicine (UMM on second reference) Refers to collaborative efforts between the School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center.

University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS on second reference) The private, not-for-profit hospital system and all its components.

University System of Maryland The 13-member system of institutions formed in 1988 by consolidating the former five-campus network of the University of Maryland (Baltimore, College Park, Eastern Shore, University College, Baltimore County) with the State College and University system (University of Baltimore plus Bowie, Coppin, Frostburg, Towson, Salisbury). In addition to these 11 degree-granting institutions are two research units: University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Abbreviated as USM.

U.S.News & World Report No space between first two words when used in school rankings

VA See campus locations.

Web page, Web site Web page refers to one specific page of a Web site.  Web site refers to an entity's entire grouping of Web pages.  Home page refers to the main page.  Web site is two words.  Web is capitalized; site is not.  Addresses go in italics (per Maryland mag).  Also see e-mail and Internet addresses.

west side Lowercase generic references to area around UMB BioPark. Uppercase formal uses like city program West Side Renaissance.

whereas, while, and although Wrong: While the data in Reeder and Pryor's (1992) first study were collected from undergraduates, their 1995 study used data collected from the community at large. Right: Although the data in Reeder and Pryor's (1992) first study were collected from undergraduates, their 1995 study used data collected from the community at large. Also right: Whereas the data in Reeder and Pryor's (1992) first study were collected from undergraduates, their 1995 study used data collected from the community at large.

work force Two words.

World Wide Web Capitalized

worldwide One word.

ZIP code ZIP is all caps; it stands for Zoning Improvement Plan.