style guide guardian

8/2/2019 Style Guide GUARDIAN

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Communications Office style guide

Contents

A brief guide to plain EnglishTips for writing in plain English

Sensitivity in print House style for University publications, websites and other documents Appendices

Commonly misused words

Words and phrases to avoidProof-reading marks

More useful information about style can be found at

The Times Style Guide www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,2941,00.html

The Guardian Style Guide www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/0,5817,184913,00.html

Produced by the Communications Office, University of York


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A brief guide to plain English

Using plain English is important because it makes your text more readable.

This guide, and the suggestions here are designed to make text and images in

University publications easy to understand, enjoyable to read and accessibleto all. The guide is not intended to make publications simplistic, or to crush

individual writing styles.

Tips for writing in plain English

Vary sentences

Try not to use the same sentence construction throughout your prose. For

example, if youre writing about a particular person, dont begin everysentence with their name or the personal pronoun.

Fred Bloggs was professor of glass studies at Harrogate University for six years before

moving to Australia to examine the effects of tropical weather on modern glass

manufacturing. This in turn led him to write about glass performance in typhoons in

the South Pacific. The book was a surprise best-seller.

Sounds more interesting than.

Professor Fred Bloggs was appointed to a chair in glass studies at Harrogate

University in 1977. He moved to Australia in 1983 to study glass manufacturing.

He spent a great deal of time in the South Pacific islands and wrote a book about

typhoons and glass

Text is often more readable if you vary the length of sentences. This gives a

more interesting rhythm to the words.

Use active verbs

Any text can come across as turgid if it is written using passive language.

You can engage the readers attention by using active verbs. Its usually

better to say The Committee decided to, than a decision was made by the

committee to

The implementation of the procedure will take place next week - The procedure

will be implemented next week

We had a discussion about the matter - We discussed the matter


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Write appropriately for different audiences

Any writer should be clear who they are writing for before they begin to

write. Is your audience young, well-educated, familiar with the subject? Areyou writing important information which they are expecting and need to

have for their job? Or are you writing for strangers, trying to engage their

interest in something?

Why verbs are not nouns and vice-versa

It is increasingly common to find nominalisations formed from verbs. These

are words that name a process, technique or emotion, rather than a physical

object. They tend to make writing rather heavy-handed because they are usedinstead of verbs. They are not active words, however, merely the names of

things.

Here are some examples:

nominalisation verb

completion complete

provision provide

investigation investigate

Similarly, it is common to find nouns turned into verbs or adjectives, as in the

following examples which also give alternatives:

Access files - you could find them or gain access to them

Impact an event - it could affect an event or have an impact on it

Author books - write books

Source information - search for information or find it

Progress reports - work on reports or make progress on them

Loan money - lend it or provide a loan

Target a group - aim or direct things at

Ladder a window put a ladder up at the window

Using nouns in this way makes for clumsy sentences.


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Sensitivity in print

Age

Avoid referring to someone as elderly, aged, old. Use older people. Geriatric is

applied to medical treatment for the elderly, eg, geriatric hospital.

Disability

Avoid depersonalising people by turning them into collective nouns eg

Instead of the disabled use disabled people

Avoid stigmatising words eg crippled, spasticInstead of wheelchair-bound say people who use a wheelchair

Acceptable vocabulary to describe disabilities

Partially sighted, blind,

Hard-of-hearing, hearing-impaired,

Speech-impaired not dumb

Learning disabilities/difficulties not mentally handicapped

Down's syndromenot mongol

Equality

actor use for male and female avoid actress

chair not chairman or chairwoman

firefighter - firemen,policeofficer - policeman, tax inspector- taxman, staffing-

manning

gay is acceptable as a synonym for homosexual or lesbian

woman, women instead oflady, ladies

man, men instead of gentleman, gentlemen

If you feel the sentence is becoming contrived, rewrite the sentence to avoid

both sexism and overdone political correctness.

Race

Avoid words which use the word black in a pejorative way eg hidden or

parallel economy rather than black economy

Aborigines, Aboriginal usecap u/c when referring to native Australians. Native

Americans also take the capital.


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aborigines, aboriginal usel/c when referring to indigenous populations

African-Caribbean not Afro-Caribbean

Many people in Britain of African and Caribbean origin prefer to be called

black British.

Use geographic or ethnic origin rather than colour of skin eg Bangladeshi,

Jamaican, West Indian, Nigerian etc

Inuit not Eskimo, except in occasional historical contexts.

Gypsy/gypsy not gipsy. Use the cap when referring to a specific group of this

semi-nomadic people, but l/c in the general sense, as in the gypsy look is infor spring.

Travellers as a generic term.

Religion

christened, christening use only when referring to a Christian baptism: don't

talk about a boat being christened or a football team christening a new

stadium.

church l/c for the established church eg the church is no longer relevant

today; Catholic church, Anglican church, etc, but Church of England.

haj pilgrimage to Mecca (l/c and roman)

Islam

The holy book of Islam is the Qur'an (not Koran) (cap and roman, like the

Bible)

Muslim, notMoslem orMohamedan.

Allah Arabic for the God.

Arab always takes u/c. It is both a noun and an adjective, and the preferred

adjective when referring to Arab things in general, eg Arab history, Arab

traditions.

Muhammad is the prophet's name (though some preferMohamed).

Mohammed (or variants) is considered archaic.


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Archbishop the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at first mention,

thereafter Dr Williams or the archbishop

Visual accessibility

There are a number of guidelines for making print accessible to those who are

visually impaired or who have reading difficulties. Sometimes it is not

practical to follow to the letter but bear these points in mind:

Font: use a sans serif eg Arial, Helvetiga, Frutiger if your publication is

targeted at visually impaired people.

Size: Minimum of 12 point if your publication is targeted at visually impairedpeople.

Case: Use lower case rather than caps text which is all in caps is harder to

read.

Colour: Red on green and vice-versa can be hard for people with colour-

blindness to read (no good to photocopy anyway).

Contrast: Ensure there is enough contrast when using text against tinted

boxes.

Format: Make sure you offer your publication in alternative formats ten per

cent of readers will have some form of visual impairment or reading

difficulty.

Use of images

It is important to be as sensitive in the choice of images as in the choice of

words. Avoid reinforcing stereotypes. When representing people at the

University try to use a wide range of facial types.

Remember your audience and try to avoid using photographs of situations

which some people may find offensive. For example, some cultures may find

pictures of students drinking alcohol or wearing very skimpy summer

clothing off-putting.


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House style for University publications, websites etc

a, an

a historic or a heroic rather than an historic or an heroic

abbreviations

January not Jan.

UKnotUnited Kingdom

USA notUnited States or US

European Union when used first then EU

No full stops

Eg USA, UK, MA, PhD, etc, eg, 20 per cent

abbreviated negatives

Do not use dont, cant wont, etc in text unless in direct quotes or chatty

columns eg Grapevine entries

accents

Use these where possible except in words that have become part of English

eg hotel, elite, etc but keep when it make a difference to the sound eg caf

acronyms and initials

Spell out in full the first time they are used. The exception is where theabbreviation is better known than what it stands for eg BBC, IRA,AIDS

addresses

No commas in addresses eg

The University of York

Heslington

York

YO10 5DD

But use commas when the address is on one line eg

TheUniversity of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD

Ages

Use u/c in Dark Ages,Middle Ages etc

A levels

Not A-Levels or A-levels

all right

not alright


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American spellings

Use the English eg Secretary of Defense change to Secretary of Defence,

except Labor Day which has no English equivalent and Pearl Harbor

amid, among

not amidst, amongst

ampersand (&)

Use the word and unless referring to a company name eg Smith & Nephew

Ancient Greek

takes u/cnot ancient Greek

any more two words

anyway one word

apostrophes (')

These are not used for plurals of numbers, letters or acronyms.

Eg Students in the 1970s notStudents in the 1970s

Write two years time nottwo years time

Awol

not AWOL

brackets

Punctuation stays outside the brackets (parentheses) if the sentence is

complete without the information inside. (A complete sentence that stands

alone in brackets starts with a capital letter and ends with a stop.)

Britain/UK

Britain and UK mean the same. Great Britain refers only to England, Wales

and Scotland. Take care not to write Britain when you might mean only

England and Wales, for example when referring to the education system

bullet pointsBullet points do not need to be punctuated. Do not use either a full stop or

semi-colon at the end of single words or short phrases in a bullet-pointed list.

If the sentence is long use a full stop at the end of each one.

Courses include: Not

Maths

French

History

Courses include:

History;

Chemistry;

Biology


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capital letters

Proper nouns, official titles (books, films, and so on) and course titles should

be written in caps eg BA(Honours) Archaeology

But students study all aspects of archaeologyand write Philosophy student rather thanphilosophy student

When referring to the University of York as the University use an initial

capital. When referring to a university use lower case.

Do not capitalise small words in, at, of, the, and, on when they appear in lecture

titles etc

Collective nouns

Nouns such as committee, family, government, take a singular verb or

pronoun when thought of as a single unit, but a plural verb or pronoun when

thought of as a collection of individuals:

the committee gave its unanimous approval to the plans

the committee enjoyed biscuits with their tea

the family can trace its history back to the middle ages

the family were sitting down, scratching their heads

compass pointsRegional phrases should be in caps as in the North, the South, the West, the

South Eastetc. NB southeast England (because its an adjective)

CAT scan

not Cat scan

computer terms

Style as follows:database, email, homepage, Internet, intranet, online, PC, URL,

website, world wide web, www, web page

co-operatenot cooperate

co-ordinatenot coordinate

Day 1

cap and figure, as in it's been happening since Day 1

dates

21 March 2005 with no comma, leave out the day of the week and year, unless

needed for clarity

March 2005 notMarch 05


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For ranges use 1750 to 1780 no dash in between

c1750 not c.1750 or c 1750

Centuries should be written as 19th century (noun) or 19th-century literature

(adjective).

AD comes before the date

EgAD350; BC comes after - 350BC. No space between numbers and letters.

departments

Department of History and a department of History not department of History

History Department only in quoted speech or when very short of space.

eg

No full stop

email

No hyphen

eras

In capital letters

eg Gothic, Romantic,Modernist except in wider use eg he had a romantic nature

etc

No full stop

exclamation mark (!)

Do not use except in quoted speech.

Far East

encompasses: China, Hong Kong, Japan, North and South Korea, Macau,

Mongolia, Taiwan

field work

no hypen, ie not field-work or fieldwork

flu (no apostrophe)

focused not focussed

Foot-and-mouth disease hyphenated

foreign words

Use italics if not accepted as fully part of English.

eg ad hoc, en masse, fait accompli, nom de plume, schadenfreude, vis--vis.

NB Et al has no italics and no full stop.


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forward slash (/)

Only used in web addresses not instead of or (male/female) or to (July/August).

fractions

An hour and a halfhas no hyphens. Similarly, two and a half years, two thirds,

but use one in numbers eg twenty-three

Government

use u/c Government when referring to a specific one eg the Government

resigned last night

use l/cgovernment in all adjectival contexts, eg, a government minister,

government expenditure

feadings and titles

Report titles, headlines and sub-headings: Use an initial capital for the first

word only eg How to have fun at university not How To Have Fun At University

Hyphen (-)

Try to use hyphen as little as possible

eg broad based. But do use it when it would be ambiguous eg seaweed-eating

sheep

ie

no full stop

Internet

Upper case I

-ise or -ize

Use the British -ise rather than the American -ize in words such as organise,

specialise andfinalise.

NB some rare exceptions:capsize, synthesizer

inquire

Inquire and inquiry rather than enquire and enquiryitalics

Use for publication titles in body text and foreign words

job titles and commas

eg Vice-Chancellor John Smith said [no commas]

or John Smith, Vice-Chancellor, said... [with commas]

jail, jailer not gaol gaoler

Key Stage 1, 2, 3 caps and figures for the Governments educational targets


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kick-off (noun), but tokick off(verb)

kick-start (hyphenate, whether noun or verb)

the Kings Manor

l/c the. Not The Kings Manor or Kings Manor without the

kilogram not kilogramme

Latin

When in common usage, use roman rather than italics eg quid pro quo, QED,

habeas corpus

learnt (past tense and past participle of learn);

learned (adjective, as in scholarly)

medieval not mediaeval

media

media is a plural.

eg the news media are not the news media is

millions

Write out millions from one to ten, then 11 million. Abbreviate to m only for

headlines. In text, write 2.5 million rather than spelling out two and a half

million; but three million neurons (not 3 million neurons)music

song titles, album titles, operas (including arias) in italics

symphonies Symphony No 3 (roman, u/c) ; concertos First Violin Concerto

(roman u/c).

naive, naivety

newspapersand journals

use italics for titles and use The in the title whenever appropriateEg The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily

Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Observer NB Financial Times, Daily Mirror,

Daily Mail, Daily Express, Yorkshire Post.

numbers

Use a comma after 999 eg 1,000

Zero to ten are written as words and 11 onwards in figures

NB exceptions: when a sentence begins with a number; the numbers have

technical significance or need to stand out for quick comprehension (such astables, statistics, money, times, ratios, academic grades, etc); in a range of two


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or more related numbers when at least one is higher than ten use figures

eg Children aged between eight to twelve came to the campus.

Centuries above the tenth should be written as 19th century (noun) or 20th-

century literature (adjective with hyphen).

Where a number from one to nine is part of a phrase or title that you did not

create, use the convention eg Phase 2

Open Day

u/c when referring to Universitys Open Days otherwise l/c

per cent

Write out in full as two words except in headlines when % can be used

place namesuse the English convention eg Bombay not Mumbai,Madras not Chennai,

Calcutta not Kolkata, and Delhi not New Delhi, (if in doubt, put the alternative

name in brackets)

plural

Thesports team is a plural so the cricket team play at home next week

The media is a plural so the broadcast media pick up our stories

music groups, bands or orchestras are singular so the orchestraperforms,

the band was very loud

postgraduate

One word, not hyphenated.

qualifications

No full stops or commas to separate each qualification. Just a comma between

the surname and the first qualification egAndy Smith, MSc PhD

questions marks

When at the end of a sentence don't use other punctuation afterwards

eg Why do sheep eat seaweed?.

quotation marks

Make sure the full point comes inside the closing speech marks eg Were

very excited about this new area of research.

Use double quotation marks except around quotes within quotes when you

should use single. Use a comma before the speech eg So I said to him, I don't

think so and he said

semi-colon (;)Use to mark a pause longer than a comma but shorter than a full stop.


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Use semi-colons to distinguish phrases listed after a colon if commas will not

do the job clearly. Do not use at the end of bullet-pointed sentences.

terms

should be styledSpring Term, Summer Term, Year 1, Term 4

titles

Use Professor

Use Dr not Doctor

Do not useMr, Mrs orMs in publications unless it is requested (if we use Mr

or Mrs for staff members, logically we would have to talk about a female

student as Ms Smith).

Vice-Chancellor hyphenated

Pro-Vice-Chancellor three words hyphenated

Lord-Lieutenanthyphenated

that or who

Use who when referring to a person. Use that when referring to a class or type.

eg He is the only lecturer who lives in the city.

She is the type of student thatenjoys partying.

times

Use am andpm, not the 24 hour clock. Use full stops not colons as separators.eg 9.30am not 09:30 no space between the number and the abbreviation to

avoid confusion with the word am

NB 12 noon, 12 midnight

undergraduate

no hyphen

University

When referring to York as the University use an initial capital. When referring

to a university use all lower case.

web addresses

Leave out the http:// unless the address contains no www, then write in full.

If a web address comes at the end of a sentence it should be in bold and

followed by roman full stop.

When citing specific departmental addresses end with a forward slash

eg www.york.ac.uk/admin/


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with

We meet people and speak to people. We dont meet with people and speak

with people (although Americans do).

X-ray

u/c X.

z or s

Use s instead of z in words ending in ize. Computerise not computerize,

organise not organize.

Appendix I

Commonly misused words

affect means to influence - effect means to accomplish.

comprise- the parts compose (make up) the whole. The whole comprises

(includes) the parts. The whole is composed ofthe parts. Never use is comprised

of, although consists ofis correct.

disinterested means impartial - uninterested means not interested.

free - avoid the modern clichfor free when the meaning is simplyfree

fortuitous means accidental, not fortunate

hopefully - avoid in the sense of it is hoped that

imply means hint - infer means reach an opinion. Generally, a writer implies

and a reader infers.

in order to - replace in order to with to unless it would cause ambiguity

institution - if you mean university, say university. If you mean something else,

say whatever that something else is.

interesting - usually a euphemism for 'not at all interesting but I wish it were'.

Omit or find a stronger adjective.

of- avoid expressions such as all of the people attending, half of the children replied;

say simply all the people, half the children etc


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practicable means feasible -practical means useful.

presently means soon, not at present.

transpire means exhale, not happen.

Appendix II

Overused and undesirable words and phrases(and suggestions for alternatives)

accelerate speed upactionplan plan

additional extra

advise tell/ say

anticipate expect

application use

apprise inform

approximately about

assist help

attendees those attendingbreakthrough significant advance/development/progress

combine mix

commence start

complete fill in

complywith keep to

consequently so

counter against

cutback cut

demonstrate showdonation gift

due to because of

endeavour try

ensure make sure

environment conditions/surroundings

establish set up

exponential fast

finalise finish/end

following afterformulate plan/devise


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forward send

furnish give

hike rise

however but

illustrate show/explainin accordance with under/keeping to

in excess of more than

in respect of for

in the event of if

interface border

key chief/crucial/fundamental/important/leading/major

locate find

objective aim

on receipt when we/you geton request if you ask

overly over

parameter limit/boundary

participate take part

particulars details

per annum a year

permit let

personnel people/employees

persons people

place put

prestigious important/respected/eminent

previous before

priorto before

proactive active

purchase buy

regarding about

should you wish if you wish

shut down shut/close

state-of-the-art modern/latest/innovative

substantive real/big

sufficient enough

supportive helpful

terminate end

transparency openness

undertake do (undertaken done)

utilise use

venue place

whilst whilezone area


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Appendix III

Proof reading marks

Insert text

Delete

Leave as printed

Change to italics

Change to roman upright

Change to capitals

Change to lower case

Change to bold

Close space

Insert space

Transpose

Move

New paragraph

Insert quotation marks

Insert full point

Spell out

Spelling error

Run on text

We are always the ready

There is too too much text

This is not an error

Students must read The Times

The Bible is not italicised

In the middle ages

A beautiful Medieval image

Lecture series

The Library is closed

The Library isopen

Return application your to me

application Return your to me

The project ended. Meanwhile

another has just begun

He said, This is another fine mess,

It has to end somewhere

She is just 2 years old

Our standards are exellent

It was a success

although no one thought it

would be


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Notes

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