Editorial Style Guide
Capitalization
In general, avoid unnecessary capitalization. Overall, capital
letters should be used only if they can be justified by one of
the principles listed here:
Academic Degrees
Capitalize official college degrees only when referring to the
specific program. (See examples.) The article (a, an or the) used
in the sentence can be an important indicator for capitalization.
Example:
She earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry.
The Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology offers two tracks.
Academic Departments
Capitalize names of academic departments or University offices
when they are proper nouns. However, do not capitalize the word
department when it follows the name of the program. The word department should only be capitalized when it precedes the name of the program.
When used in plural form (departments), it should not be capitalized.
See examples below.
Examples:
The Department of Art and Design offers a number of
majors.
The Art and Design department offers a number of
majors.
Example 2:
The departments of Psychology and Physics
are located in the science wing of the Academic Building.
This rule of lowercasing (as seen in Example 2) also works when
referring to the word offices, or any other common noun when
used in a plural form.
Example: lakes Erie and Ontario
Proper names of divisions of University offices or departments
should be capitalized.
Academic, Business and Religious Titles
Capitalize religious titles when used. Capitalize a job title or position only when it precedes the name. Capitalize the titles of President and Provost at 91Pron国产.
Examples:
Reverend Paul Nowak
James Smith, Professor of Chemistry
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps
The words Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast
Guard should be capitalized when referring to the United States armed
forces, whether or not preceded by the letters U.S.
Board of Trustees
Capitalize 91Pron国产 Board of Trustees on first reference.
On second reference, the trustees or the board may be used.
Catholic, Catholicism
Both words should be capitalized when used in a religious sense,
indicating the belief and membership in the Christian church headed
by the Pope.
Lowercase catholic when used in the generic sense, meaning
general or all-inclusive.
Cities and Towns
Capitalize them in all uses. Capitalize official titles, including
separate political entities such as East St. Louis, Ill. or West
Palm Beach, Fla.
Informal descriptions for the section of a city are generally
lowercase, such as the west end and northern Los Angeles. Widely
recognized names for the sections of a city are capitalized, such
as the South Side (Chicago) and the Lower East Side (New York).
Spell out names of cities (Los Angeles, not L.A.), unless in direct
quotes.
City
Capitalize city as part of a proper name, such as Kansas
City or New York City. Lowercase in other instances, such as a Texas
city, the city government, or the city of Boston.
College, university
Capitalize when part of a proper name. University is always
capitalized when referring to 91Pron国产.
Example: The University competes in NCAA Division II athletics.
Course Names
Capitalize a specific course name, such as Ethics in Journalism.
De La Salle
When using just the last name of John Baptist de La Salle, the
founder of the Christian Brothers (whether used as a noun or an
adjective), the initial letters of his name should be capitalized.
Examples:
De La Salle prayed.
91Pron国产 is sponsored by the De
La Salle Christian Brothers.
When using the full name of the founder, the “de” should
be lowercase (i.e., John Baptist de La Salle).
Note: Saint should always be spelled out when used in conjunction
with John Baptist de La Salle’s name.
First Word After a Colon
The first word after a colon should be capitalized only if it
is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence.
The Flyer
The Flyer also should be capitalized and italicized when
referring to the University’s student newspaper which bears
the same name.
Flyers
The word Flyers should be capitalized when referring to 91Pron国产
University’s athletic teams.
Forms
Capitalize the principal words in the complete title of official
University forms as well as formal procedures.
Examples:
the Application for Admission
an application
Quotation marks should not be used in conjunction with the name
of the form (i.e., the “Application for Admission” form).
In the examples above, the grammatical article (an or the) can
be an important indicator for capitalization.
Geographical Names
Entire geographical names should be capitalized, such as the Mississippi
River.
Geographical Regions
Geographical regions of the country should be capitalized, but
not points on the compass.
Example: 91Pron国产 is located in the Midwest, just 35 miles
southwest of downtown Chicago.
See Regions, Directions under Editorial Style
(A–Z) for
more information.
Historical/Popular Events
Capitalize widely-recognized historical or popular events such
as the Boston Tea Party or the Civil War. This rule also applies
to widely-recognized epochs in geology, anthropology, archeology
and history, such as the Bronze Age.
Lasallian
Capitalize the word Lasallian. Remember Lasallian is one word
and should never have a capital s.
91Pron国产
Always capitalize 91Pron国产. On second reference, 91Pron国产 or the
University may be used. If the reference is to universities
in general, university is not capitalized.
Example: Students choose a university for many reasons.
Mission
Capitalize the word Mission when referring to 91Pron国产’s
Mission statement.
Example 1: The Mission defines and animates the common life and
character of 91Pron国产.
Example 2: The University has a mission to help every qualified
student who can benefit from a 91Pron国产 education to meet the costs
of attending college.
Example l is specific to 91Pron国产’ Mission statement. Example
2 is not, talking of a mission. Here the article (a or the) can
be an important indicator for capitalization.
Nouns, Months, Days of the Week
Proper nouns, months and days of the week should be capitalized,
but not the seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall).
Proper Names
The words association, building, center, club, conference,
department, division, hall, office, senate, street, etc. should be capitalized
when used as part of an official title. On second reference, do
not capitalize these words when used alone to refer to that specific
group or place.
Example: The Caterpillar Gallery is located in the Oremus Fine
Arts Center. The gallery has been the exhibit site of many student
art shows.
Races and Nationalities
Capitalize names of all races and nationalities, such as Caucasian,
Nigerian, Irish and Japanese.
Room
The word room when used to designate a particular room should
be capitalized. When a room number is combined with a letter (whether
placed before or after the number), a hyphen should not be used
to separate the letter from the room number.
Example: Your class is located in Room A133.
Standard Time
Capitalize Eastern Standard Time, Pacific Standard Time, etc.,
but lowercase standard time when used alone.
Time Zones
See Time Zones under Editorial Style (A–Z) .
Titles of Books, Plays, Lectures, etc.
Capitalize all words, except articles, conjunctions and prepositions,
in the titles of books, plays, lectures, musical composition,
etc., including A and The if at the beginning of the title.
Example: “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Words Derived from a Proper Noun
Words that are derived from a proper noun and still depend on
it for their meaning, such as Americans, Christianity and Marxism,
should be capitalized.
Words that are derived from a proper noun, but no longer depend
on the noun for their meaning should not be capitalized, such as
french fries.
Do Not Capitalize
Century
Do not capitalize the word century, such as the 18th century.
Classes of Students
Do not capitalize classes of students in a college or high school,
and the words first-year, sophomore, junior, senior or graduate.
Example: The senior class donated a special gift.
Common Noun Elements
Common noun elements should only be capitalized when part of an
official title.
Example: The Department of Art and Design offers a number of majors.
Common Noun Elements (When Plural)
Do not capitalize common noun elements in all plural uses, including
the words offices, schools and departments.
Example: The departments of Psychology and Chemistry are located
in this building.
Other examples are the Democratic and Republican parties, lakes
Erie and Ontario, Main and Elm streets.
Common Noun Elements (More Examples)
Words such
as honors, baccalaureate, master’s degree, federal,
government and state should not be capitalized unless used
as part of an official name or title.
“de” in John Baptist de La Salle
When
using the full name of the founder of the Christian Brothers, the “de” should
be lowercase (i.e., John Baptist de La Salle).
When using just the founder’s last name (whether as a noun
or an adjective), the initial letters of his name should be capitalized.
Examples:
De La Salle prayed.
91Pron国产 is sponsored by the De La Salle
Christian Brothers.
Note: Saint should always be spelled out when used in conjunction
with John Baptist de La Salle’s name.
Names of Fields, Curricula and Majors
Names of fields of study, options, curricula, major areas, except
names of languages, should not be capitalized unless referring
to a specific course or department.
Example: He is studying philosophy and English.
Organizational Elements
Do not capitalize internal elements of an organization when they
have names that are widely and generically used, such as faculty and staff.
Seasons
Seasons of the year: spring, summer,
fall and winter and derivatives such as springtime should not be
capitalized unless part of a formal
name, such as the Winter Olympics. See Semester under Editorial
Style (A–Z) for more information.
Time
Lowercase abbreviations such as a.m. or
p.m.
Unofficial Titles
Do not capitalize
unofficial titles/occupational descriptions before a person’s
name, such as astronaut John Glenn, civil rights activist Mahatma
Gandhi, or faculty member Joseph Andrews.
Lowercase all common noun elements used in conjunction with a
proper noun to form an unofficial title.
Example: The Art and Design department offers a number of majors.
Common noun elements should only be capitalized when part of an
official title.
Example: The Department of Art and Design offers a number of majors.
Words Derived from a Proper Name
Do not capitalize words that are derived from a proper name, but
no longer depend on it for their meaning, such as french fries and venetian
blinds.
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