Editorial Standards A-Z

University editorial standards primarily follow the Associated Press Stylebook (AP) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. This abbreviated guide is meant to give basic guidance for some commonly used words and phrases, as well as outline some basic rules for University writers. Certain sections are also based on established University practices. For other general editorial rules, please use the style guide that relates to the publications you are writing and editing.

Editorial Standards A-C

Academic Degrees

The preferred form is to avoid abbreviation. However, if it is necessary or appropriate to list the degrees an individual has earned, abbreviations are acceptable.

• Example (preferred): - Sarah Connor earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Science in Computer Science.
• Example (acceptable): Sarah Connor earned a B.A. in History and an M.S. in Computer Science.

Use apostrophes when writing bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Do not use the possessive when naming the full degree (a Bachelor of Arts degree is a bachelor’s degree).

Doctorate is a noun; doctoral is the adjective: you may have a doctorate or a doctoral degree. 
An academic degree is set off by commas.

Example:
John Smith, Ph.D., is teaching at Northeastern.

Commonly used degrees and their abbreviations are:

Addresses

When writing out the address for one of the University’s locations, avoid using abbreviations for the street address. When writing an address in an internal communication, for the web, or in a publication where space is extremely limited, it is acceptable to abbreviate North (N.), Avenue (Ave.), East (E.), Boulevard (Blvd.), Drive (Dr.). Otherwise, please use the following formats:

NOTE: For locations other than the Main Campus, it is acceptable to not use the first address line with the University’s name when the official University logo is being used.

Main Campus Location:

Northeastern Illinois University
5500 North St. Louis Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625-4699

Main Campus Address for Directions/Parking Use Only (this is not an official mailing address):

Northeastern Illinois University
3701 West Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625-4699

Additional Locations:

Northeastern Illinois University
Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies
700 East Oakwood Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60653-2312

Northeastern Illinois University
El Centro
3390 North Avondale Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60618-5435

Northeastern Illinois University
University Center of Lake County
1200 University Center Drive
Grayslake, Illinois 60030-2614

Unit Example:

Northeastern Illinois University
Department of Social Work
5500 North St. Louis Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625-4699

Alum, Alumna, Alumnae, Alumni, Alumnus

When referring to alumni of the University, please keep in mind the different forms of the word. A female graduate or former student is an alumna. The plural of the feminine form is alumnae. A male graduate or former student is an alumnus. The plural of the masculine form or of the masculine and feminine form together is alumni. The use of alum and alums is increasing and is an acceptable form for all genders.

Include the graduation year and program information when referring to Northeastern alumni. Please use best judgment whether to write out degree and graduation year or to abbreviate within parentheses. Make sure that the apostrophe before the graduation year faces the proper direction.

Examples:

• John Smith (B.A. ’13 Anthropology) is an alumnus of the College of Arts and Sciences.
• John Smith is an alumnus of Northeastern’s College of Business and Technology.
• Jane Smith is a distinguished alumna of Northeastern.
• Jane Smith and Sheila Taylor are recent Northeastern alumnae.
• Jane Smith and Joe Taylor are Northeastern alumni.
• John Smith and Joe Taylor are recent Northeastern alumni.
• All of the alumni who came to the event were happy about their experiences at Northeastern.

Board of Trustees

Capitalize when used in full; on second reference “board” and "BOT" are acceptable. Official name: Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois University.

Buildings

Each building’s official name is given first followed by the University-approved abbreviations. Some buildings have an alternate name, and that is shown in parentheses. Please note that some buildings do not have an alternate name, and that in most cases the official name – not the alternate name – should be used in University publications.

Campus

Only the Main Campus may be referred to as a campus, according to the Higher Learning Commission. Capitalize Main Campus when referring to the location on St. Louis Avenue. Other Northeastern properties should be referred to as locations.

Classes

Lowercase freshman, sophomore, junior and senior, as well as undergraduate and graduate.

Colleges

There are four colleges at Northeastern Illinois University. The Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education is named after alumnus, donor and former trustee Daniel L. Goodwin. The college’s full name, Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education, should be used as its official title in all internal and external communications.

These are the official names of the four colleges on first reference (and second reference):

• College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)
• College of Business and Technology (CBT)
• College of Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR)
• Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education (Goodwin College or GCOE)

Commencement

Use upper case for the formal ceremony, but use lower case for generic usage.

Examples:

• Undergraduate Commencement will be held on the Athletic Field.
• Northeastern holds two commencements each year.

Composition Title

Use the guidelines below for book titles, computer game titles, movie titles, opera titles, poem titles, album titles, song titles, radio and television program titles, scholarly articles, lecture and speech titles, and works of art.

• Put quotation marks around all such works except:
  • the Bible, Quran and Torah and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material (including almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks and similar publications).
  • Apps, websites, software and games (e.g., Facebook, Word, Angry Birds).
  • Sculptures (e.g., Venus de Milo, Perseus With the Head of Medusa).
  • Musical works identified by a sequence number (e.g., Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.)
• Television and radio stations use call letters but no quotation marks.
• Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.

Courses or Programs

Uppercase when referring to a specific course or program; lowercase when describing a general course or program. For a specific course, capitalize the subject or course name when used with a numeral.

Examples:

• He is enrolled in Sociolinguistics 101 and Organic Chemistry 309.
• He is enrolled in a linguistics course, and a chemistry class.

Editorial Standards D-L

Dates

Use the sequence of month-day-year. When used in a sentence, set off the year with commas. However, if the day is not given, no commas are needed. When referring to decades or centuries by year (e.g., the '70s, the 1900s), no apostrophe appears between the year and the s. In some cases, such as news stories and calendar notices, best practice is to abbreviate months with more than five letters (AP style: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.); please see Months section for more detail.

Examples:

• On Monday, Oct. 23, 2013, he will speak in Alumni Hall.
• He will speak in Alumni Hall in October 2013.
• The 1300s were a time of unrest.

NOTE: On invitations, flyers and similar announcements, always give the day of the week before the date. For University communications, time should come before the date in complete sentences.

Example:

• The lecture will begin at 2 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, in the Auditorium on the Main Campus.

The year is not necessary in many such publications, particularly if the year is included in the name of the event. See also: Months and Time Terminology. 

Days of the Week

Do not abbreviate days of the week in running text. Where space is limited, as in tables, abbreviate as follows: Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat (to facilitate tabular format).

NOTE: Due to severe space limitations, the Northeastern Schedule of Classes uses the following abbreviations: M (Monday), T (Tuesday), W (Wednesday), R (Thursday), F (Friday), S (Saturday) and U (Sunday).

Department Names

Use uppercase (except when referring to the name as a subject): Department of Biology, Department of Special Education, etc. Examples in use:

• The Department of Economics is hosting an open house. 
• The Department of Counselor Education offers four master's degree programs.
• The student took several courses in biology.
• The graduates will enter the field of social work.

Doctor

AP Style recommends using Dr. on first reference as a formal title only for an individual who holds a medical degree because the public largely associates Dr. with physicians. However, as many University professionals hold advanced degrees, the University standard allows the use of Dr. in first reference as a formal title for an individual who holds a non-medical doctorate. If the title is used for a non-medical degree, the individual’s degree (i.e. Ph.D., Ed.D., etc.) or degree information must be listed within the communication (article, announcement, blurb, etc.) to ensure audiences are aware that the doctorate is not medical. 

Examples: 

• Dr. Jo Lopez earned a Ph.D. in Rhetorical Studies and Media Studies from Illinois University.
• Dr. Jo Lopez, Ph.D. is the Interim President of Northeastern Illinois University. 
• Dr. Jo Lopez is the Interim President of Northeastern Illinois University. Lopez earned a Ph.D. in Rhetorical Studies and Media Studies from the Ohio University School of Interpersonal Communication.

In both cases, do not continue the use of Dr. after the first reference unless it is part of a direct quote. 

Dollars and Cents

Always lowercase. Use figures and the $ sign in all except casual references or amounts without a figure.

Examples:

• $500,000, $5 million, $5 billion, $1,234,567, $300 billion
• $125.50, $125

For amounts more than $1 million, use up to two decimal places. Do not link numerals and the word by a hyphen.

Examples:

• $1.23 million, $9.87 billion

Elipses

In general, treat an ellipsis as a three-letter word, constructed with three periods and two spaces, as shown here: ( ... )

Use an ellipsis to indicate the deletion of one or more words in condensing quotes, texts and documents. Be especially careful to avoid deletions that would distort the meaning. An ellipsis also may be used to indicate a thought that the speaker or writer does not complete. Substitute a dash for this purpose, however, if the context uses ellipses to indicate that words actually spoken or written have been deleted. Try to use ellipses only when absolutely necessary.

Email

The University standard is to refer to electronic mail as one word: email. Never allow an email address to break over two lines with a hyphen.

Emeritus, Emeriti, Emerita, Emeritae

The title of “Emeritus” or “Emerita” is not synonymous with "retired." It is an honor bestowed on certain retired faculty and should be included in the title. "Emerita" refers to a female. "Emeritus" refers to a male or gender-neutral individual. "Emeritae" is the feminine plural. "Emeriti" is the plural of the masculine form or of the masculine and feminine form together. The word should follow "Professor." University style allows for the title to be capitalized on all references, as appropriate.

Examples:

• Professor Emerita Jane Smith is present.
• John Smith, Professor Emeritus of Economics, is present.
• Jane Smith and John Smith are Professors Emeriti.

Fax

An abbreviation of “facsimile,” fax should not be spelled in uppercase.

Example: 

• “Please fax the documents to our office.”
• Fax: (773) 442-1234

Gender

Gender is not synonymous with sex. Gender refers to a person's social identity while sex refers to biological characteristics.

Governor

Capitalize and abbreviate as Gov. or Govs. when used as a formal title before one or more names.

Graduate

The verb graduate is correctly used in the active voice: She graduated from Northeastern.

It is correct, but unnecessary, to use the passive voice: He was graduated from Northeastern.

Do not drop from: She graduated from Northeastern. Incorrect: She graduated Northeastern.

Legislative Titles

On first reference, use Rep., Reps., Sen. and Sens. as formal titles before one or more names. On second reference, do not use legislative titles before a name unless it is part of a direct quotation. Spell out and lowercase representative and senator in other uses. Capitalize when used before a name, lowercase in other uses. Add U.S. or state before title if necessary.

Editorial Standards M-S

Meetings

See Events.

Months

In running text, do not abbreviate the names of months; spell out months when used alone or with a year. When used with a specific date or if you must abbreviate in a situation where space is limited, shorten as follows: Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Examples:

• October 2013 was a cold month.
• Monday, Dec. 23, 2013, is the delivery date.
• July 23 was a warm day

Northeastern Illinois University

The first letter of each word in the name of the University should be capitalized. In promotional or marketing publications, it is common to use Northeastern, or to capitalize “university” to refer to Northeastern Illinois University after an initial mention of the full University name. Use NEIU to head a narrow column of data on a chart or for a publication headline, if necessary. Otherwise, to minimize confusion with Northern Illinois University (NIU), NEIU is not to be used in external or formal communications, including, but not limited to, neiu.edu, press releases and University mailings. NEIU may be used in internal, informal communications, as appropriate.

Correct:

Northeastern Illinois University (first reference)
Northeastern (second reference)
University (second reference)
NEIU (occasionally and for internal use)

Incorrect:

N.E.I.U.
NorthEastern
North Eastern
Northeastern Illinois
Northeastern University

Numbers

Spell out numbers when they begin a sentence. Also spell out numbers one through nine; use numerals for 10 and above. Spell out first through ninth; use numerals for 10th and above. Percentages, decimals and technical measurements should be written in numerals.

Example: “Twelve people in six teams worked for 20 minutes to solve the puzzle.”

Office Names

Office is used to refer to an administrative unit within the University, such as the Office of Public Relations. (Academic units should be referred to as departments, such as the Department of Economics.) Always use uppercase. 

Example (preferred): Office of Public Relations

Example (acceptable, on second reference): Public Relations Office

In most cases, the word “office” is not necessary after first reference. Some offices that have commonly used acronyms, such as Student Leadership Development (SLD), may use acronyms or initialisms on second reference.

Office of …

Use “Office of” for all campus areas unless otherwise noted.

Online

One word (no hyphen) used for the internet connection term.

Percent

Spell out the word “percent” or use "%" and repeat if a range is described. Do not spell out the numbers, use numerals, unless starting a sentence with the percentage.

Example:

• The class is composed of 60 percent females and 40 percent males.
• Data shows that the class increased by 10% from fall to spring.
• Fifty-nine percent of people polled agreed with the results of the study.

Preferred Names

Northeastern recognizes that as a community many of its members use names other than their legal first names to identify themselves. The University acknowledges that a “preferred first name” can and should be used wherever possible in the course of University business and education. All students, faculty, staff, or alumni may choose to identify themselves within the University’s information systems with a preferred first name in addition to the person’s legal first name. Individuals are free to determine the preferred first name they want to be known by in the University’s information systems. Please consult University Policy G2.1 Preferred First Name for more information.

Punctuation

Ampersand (&)
Commonly known as the “and sign,” the ampersand should not be used as an abbreviation. Write “and” when needed. Exceptions can be made for website headers when space is limited, social media and trademarked names.

At symbol (@)
The “at symbol” should, in general, not be used to mean “at” or “each.” It is preferred for the word to be spelled out unless it is part of an official name of an event or title or used in conjunction with an email address. 

Colons and Capitalization
In most cases, the first word after a colon in a sentence should be lowercase. Exceptions: the first word after a colon is a proper noun, a new complete sentence, or an extracted quote.

Commas in a Series
Use commas to separate elements in a series, but do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series. (Example: The flag is red, white and blue.) Put a comma before the concluding conjunction in a series, however, if an integral element of the series requires a conjunction. (Example: I ate an apple, chips, and peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.) Use a comma before the concluding conjunction in a complex series of phrases. Exceptions can be made to include a comma before the conjunction in a simple series (also known as the Oxford comma) if the communication is academic in nature and the comma is expected.

Commas With Dates
It is not necessary to use a comma in running text if you are writing only the month or season and year. However, if you are writing a date in month-day-year form then use a comma before and after the year.

Examples:

• In March 2008 we will celebrate University Day.
• We will celebrate University Day in Spring 2008.
• University Day on March 27, 2008, will take place in Alumni Hall.

Examples:

• In March 2008 we will celebrate University Day.
• University Day on March 27, 2008, will take place in Alumni Hall.

Em Dash
Em dashes are not hyphens. Put a space on either side of an em dash. Here are some examples of em dash usage:

ABRUPT CHANGE: Use dashes to denote an abrupt change in thought in a sentence or an emphatic pause: Through her long reign, the queen and her family have adapted — usually skillfully — to the changing taste of the time. But avoid overuse of dashes to set off phrases when commas would suffice.

SERIES WITHIN A PHRASE: When a phrase that otherwise would be set off by commas contains a series of words that must be separated by commas, use dashes to set off the full phrase: He listed the qualities — intelligence, humor, conservatism, independence —that he liked in an executive.

ATTRIBUTION: Use a dash before an author's or composer's name at the end of a quotation: "Who steals my purse steals trash." — Shakespeare.

Exclamation Points
Use an exclamation point only to express a high degree of surprise, incredulity or other strong emotion. Exclamation points are most appropriate in casual communications and social media and are rarely used on University web pages. Avoid overuse.

Possessives
Plural nouns not ending in s: Add ’s: the alumni’s contribution.

Plural nouns ending in s: Add only an apostrophe: the students’ grades.

Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning: Add only an apostrophe: mathematics' rules.

Quotation Marks With Other Punctuation
The period and the comma always go within the quotation marks. The dash, semicolon, question mark and 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.

Examples:

• We hosted a conference called “Dialogue Under Occupation.”
• We hosted “Dialogue Under Occupation,” an investigative conference.
• We hosted “Dialogue Under Occupation”; it was an investigative conference.
• Did he say, “Read the first chapter”?

Space Between Sentences
After a sentence, add only one space and not two. This is the case no matter what punctuation ends a sentence.

Race and Ethnicity

Race and ethnicity are not the same. The U.S. Census Bureau defines race as a person's self-identification with one or more social groups, which can include white, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and/or Other Pacific Islander.

Register/Registration

Use "register" and "registration" only in reference to student class registration. For events that require attendees to indicate their interest, please use "sign up" or "sign-up."

• Register for summer classes.
• Fall registration is now open.
• Please sign up for the event.
• Please fill out the sign-up form.
• Advance sign-up is recommended.

Room Numbers

The standard format for writing out University room numbers is to use the University-approved abbreviation followed by a space followed by the room number. Please use the word “room” prior to the actual room number.

Correct:

Room LWH 4036
Room C 330
Room FA 214

Incorrect:

Room LWH-4036
Room LWH4036
LWH-4036

The meeting is in room LWH 4036.

Seasons

Lowercase spring, summer, fall and winter unless used in a formal name: Spring 2015 or Northeastern Spring Carnival.

Sign Up/Sign-up

Sign up is a verb phrase. Sign-up is a noun or adjective. The word should never be used as one word. 

Examples:

• Please sign up to attend the concert.
• To sign up, fill out the sign-up form. Event details will be provided upon sign-up.

Student Housing

Northeastern Illinois University’s official student housing is called The Nest. 

Editorial Standards T-Z

Telephone Numbers

Begin with the area code in parentheses: (773) 442-1234.

For all University communications, please use the full 10-digit phone number: (773) 442-1234. 

If a phone number requires an extension, please write out  “extension” or its abbreviation, “ext.”

Examples: 

• extension 1234
• ext. 1234

Do not use an “x” to replace the word “extension” as in x1234.

Please use the University Directory to locate the correct contact information for active employees and units.

Time Terminology

Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a.m. and p.m. with periods after each letter. Do not use the abbreviations a.m. and p.m. with the words morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night or o’clock.

Write the time of day as follows: 3 p.m., 9:15 a.m., 4:05 p.m.

Do not include :00 for on-the-hour times. However, when listing more than one time, give the minutes for all of them if you must give them for any: 1:15, 2:00, 3:20 not 1:15, 2, 3:20.

When listing times and events, do not use a colon after the time.

If the event has a time span (i.e. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.) spaces should be added before and after the hyphen.

Example: 

• Conference schedule (3:00 - 5:00 p.m.) 
  3:00 p.m. Conference begins
  4:00 p.m. Poster presentations
  5:00 p.m. Closing remarks

Time Zones

Abbreviations for U.S. time zones (EST, CDT, etc.) are acceptable on first reference. Spell out time zones not within contiguous U.S. Capitalize the full name of the time in force within a particular zone when it must be spelled out: Greenwich Mean Time, Atlantic Standard Time.

Titles, Academic and Professional

Formal academic titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name and are used as part of the name. Titles may also be capitalized when following a name, as appropriate. Once a title has been mentioned, it does not need to be repeated each time a person’s name is mentioned. However, if a person has an expressed preference of being referred to by their title as part of their name, that preference should be respected. 

Examples:

• Professor Jones; the professor; John Jones, Professor of Biology
• Associate Professor Jones; the associate professor; John Jones, Associate Professor of Biology
• Assistant Professor Jones; Jones, who is an assistant professor of Biology; John Jones, Assistant Professor of Biology
• Instructor Jones; the instructor; John Jones, Instructor of Biology
• Chair Jones; the chair; Joan Jones, Chair, Department of English
• Dean Jones; the dean; Joe Jones, Dean, College of Education

See also: DOCTOR

Professional titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name and are used as part of the name. Titles should be lowercased when following a name or used in place of a name. Once a title has been mentioned, it does not need to be repeated each time a person’s name is mentioned. If a person holds multiple advanced degrees, list them in order of his or her preference. If that is unknown, list in order from most to least advanced. Ex.: John Smith, Ph.D., M.B.A., professor of Economics, has been awarded.

Examples:

• President Jones; the president
• Vice President Jones; the vice president

See also: DOCTOR

Tuition

Use tuition only in reference to the cost of attendance at Northeastern. Do not use tuition to refer to the cost of any non-credit instruction, including workshops, classes, etc.

Urls/Web Addresses

For promotional, marketing or informal publications, it is acceptable to print the web address or URL (Universal Resource Locator) without the protocol or transfer method (generally, http). In these publications, the goal is not documentation but instead conveying an address that people will remember. For example, in a brochure, you can list the University website as www.neiu.edu and do not have to use http://www.neiu.edu. Do not assume that a web address works without the “www.” Always include this as part of web addresses in printed material. Also, do not underline web addresses in your publications.

In printed materials, it is preferable not to split up a web address between lines. If you must break a web address at the end of a line, do not add a hyphen to show the line break. web addresses that have to be broken should be broken after the natural punctuation within the address, whether the punctuation is a tilde, slash, double slash or underscore.

Example of an acceptable break:

• Please visit our website at www.neiu.edu/academics
  /college-of-arts-and-sciences

Web and Website

The word “web” is short for World Wide Web, which is an information system on the internet. Proper uses: web, web page, website, webinar etc..