Writing and style guide
The University has a 'house style' – a consistent way of writing – that is part of our brand. Having a set house style helps convey an impression of quality and thoroughness, no matter who is writing or editing. The guide below aims to provide a fast, user-friendly way to find the information you need when you are writing for Sussex-branded materials. If you have any questions about this style guide, please contact the Corporate Editor (E s.adamson@sussex.ac.uk).
Abbreviations
Ampersands (&)
Apostrophes
Bullet points
Capitals
Colons
Commas
Contact details and telephone numbers
Cross referencing
Dates and times
Full stops
Hyphenation
Italics
Numbers
Percentages
Quotation marks and inverted commas
Semi colons
Short alternatives to wordy expressions
Spelling, standardised for Sussex
Web addresses
Which or that?
Writing style
Writing for webpages: best practice
Abbreviations
The first reference to a name, even if it is commonly abbreviated, should always appear in full, followed by the abbreviation in brackets, eg Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). Subsequent references to the name can then be abbreviated.
The University of Sussex can be shortened to Sussex, but never UoS or Sussex Uni/Sussex University.
Full stops should only be used at the end of sentences, and never used in abbreviations, eg Dr, Mr, UK.
Academic degrees are abbreviated without full stops or spaces, eg MA, MSc.
No punctuation should be used in acronyms, which should be upper case.
Do not use abbreviations, like 'plc', 'Ltd' at the end of company names.
NB: SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research should always be written in full, never shortened to just SPRU.
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Ampersands (&)
Do not use ampersands instead of 'and' in body text or headings. They can be used where they are part of a proper name, eg The City of Brighton & Hove. They are also used in department and school logos to save space.
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Apostrophes
A single apostrophe is used before the 's' for singular words or names in order to indicate possession, eg the tutor's role.
An apostrophe should be inserted where 'it is' is abbreviated, eg It's very hot today.
Do not use when 'its' is used to indicate possession, eg That dog has had its day.
Do not use in yours, ours, theirs, his or hers.
For plural words (including plural names that take a singular verb), place the apostrophe after the 's' in order to indicate possession eg schools' roles, in 10 days' time.
Do not use an apostrophe to indicate a plural, ie degrees not degree's, 1980s not 1980's
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Bullet points
Precede the bulleted list with a colon, and start bullet points in lower case. Do not use commas or semicolons on any of the points, and finish the final point with a full stop.
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Capitals
Use sentence case for all headings. The second word and subsequent words in headings are always lower case, unless a word is a proper noun, eg The School of Life Sciences offers programmes in biology, ecology and conservation. Avoid using initial caps for common nouns, eg universe, chocolate.
Use lower case for seasons, academic terms and years. Capitalise programme titles, eg International Relations. Capitalise department names and units, eg Department of Art History, School of Life Sciences, but use lower case for subject areas, eg ecology and conservation, development studies.
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Colons
A good rule of thumb is to use a colon 'to deliver the goods that have been invoiced in the preceding words' (HW Fowler, Dictionary of Modern English Usage).
Use lower-case initials in words that succeed the colon unless the word is a proper noun, eg A car ignition system comprises: ignition coil, high voltage leads, distributor and spark plugs.
Do not use a dash after a colon. Do not use colons after headings.
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Commas
Use two commas when inserting a clause in the middle of a sentence, eg If you require further information, or need an appointment, please email us.
Do not put a comma before 'and' at the end of a sequence of items unless one of the items includes another 'and', eg A dentist, doctor and pharmacy can be found in the Health Centre.
If you insert a clause in the middle of a sentence and the clause ends in a bracket, the bracket should be followed by a comma, eg If you need further information (or want to book a time), please contact us at the address provided.
Use a comma before a whole quoted sentence, but not before a quotation that begins in mid-sentence.
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Contact details and telephone numbers
If your intended audience is within the UK, write as 01273 872560. Do not use (01273) 872560.
If your intended audience is outside the UK, place the initial '0' in brackets after the UK country code. If in doubt, use the international code.
Email addresses should always be in lower case. Web addresses should be in bold, but do not use http.
When referring to contact email and numbers as part of a set of details, do so as follows.
E s.a.appleton@sussex.ac.uk
T +44 (0)1273 872560
F +44 (0)1273 678545
www.sussex.ac.uk
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Cross referencing
Wherever possible, cross-references should appear in brackets at the end of the sentence. In print, refer to specific page numbers (except between different documents). For example 'See the core course lists for details of English courses; refer to the History subject entry on page 113 for more information.'
On the web, 'above' or 'below' can be useful to orient the reader, but don't overuse.
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Dates and times
Dates should be written as day date month year, eg Monday 3 August 2009. Do not use ordinal numbers in dates, ie use 3 August not 3rd August.
Do not abbreviate days of the week or names of months.
Do not spell out references to centuries, eg 16th century.
Always use the 12-hour clock when showing times. Hours and minutes should be separated by a full stop, eg 5.01pm. Use 12 noon or 12 midnight to clarify which one you mean. Leave no spaces when referring to a time range, eg 5pm-7pm.
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Full stops
Full stops should only be used at the end of sentences, and never used in abbreviations, eg Dr, Mr
Do not put a full stop at the end of headings.
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Hyphenation
Use a hyphen to form a compound adjective before a noun, eg a well-received presentation. A compound is hyphenated when it comes before the noun, but not after it, eg the presentation was well received.
Other examples of hyphenation:
Pages 3-15 (note that there are no spaces either side of this hyphen)
5,000-word essay
CD-ROM
Vice-Chancellor
mid-June
co-operate
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Italics
Should be used sparingly for emphasis. Also use italics for titles of periodicals, books, plays, newspapers, films, works of art, and genus and species names in Latin. For example, The Guardian, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Venus de Milo. Please note that virus names like herpes zoster should not be italicised.
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Numbers
One to nine in words; any number between 10 and 1,000,000 in figures, eg one; three; 16,999; 4,000; 11 million.
Use Arabic numerals (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0) unless Roman numerals (I,V,X,L) are specifically required eg World War II, King George VI.
Course names: use I and II, not 1 and 2; or (i) (ii) not (a) (b).
Use figures for fractions other than one-half, one-third or one-quarter: 3.5 rather than three-and-a-half or 3 1/2. Note that hyphens are used when spelling out fractions, eg The professor covered about two-thirds of the chapter during the class.
The plural of numbers is formed by adding an s (but not an apostrophe), eg 20s, 1960s.
For numbers of four digits or larger, use a comma (including euros, notwithstanding the European convention to use full-stops). Very large numbers can be expressed with figure and word, eg 2 million, 16 billion, but do not abbreviate million to 'm' or billion to 'bn'.
Spell out numbers that begin a sentence, regardless of any inconsistency this may create eg One hundred and ten men and 103 women will graduate this year.
Use Arabic numbers for degree terms, weeks, years, and so on: week 1, term 2, year 3, module 4, level 5.
Spell out ordinal numbers in text: first, second, third (not 1st, 2nd, 3rd), except for references to centuries (11th century). When using ordinal numbers to refer to centuries do not use superscript , ie 1st not 1st.
Use decimals when referring to amounts that follow a currency symbol: US$5, not US$five.
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Percentages
In body text, use 'per cent' instead of the percentage symbol (%). % can be used within tables, charts and diagrams.
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Quotation marks and inverted commas
Avoid quoting long passages; instead, paraphrase the key points.
Single ('), not double ("), quotation marks should be used across all print and web material. Only use double quotation marks for quotations within quotations. Do not italicise quotations.
If a quotation ends with a full stop or question mark, put the punctuation before the closing inverted comma.
When a quotation is broken off and resumed after words such as 'he said', if it would naturally have punctuation at the point where it is broken off, then a comma is placed within the quotation marks.
If the words to be quoted are continuous (without punctuation at the point where they are broken), the comma should be outside the inverted commas.
Do not close quotations if they last more than one paragraph, but do reopen them at the start of each paragraph. The quotation should be closed in the final paragraph.
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Semi-colons
Semi-colons may be used in text as an alternative to commas and full stops but not as an alternative to a colon. They indicate a pause that is longer than a comma and shorter than a full stop, eg In some cases, this can lead to a conflict; the director may also be a director of the parent or subsidiary company.
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Short alternatives to wordy expressions
'if' rather than 'provided that'
'but' rather than 'however'
'let' rather than 'permit'
'use' rather than 'utilise'
'about' rather than 'approximately'
'make' rather than 'manufacture'
'set up' rather than 'establish'
'show' rather than 'demonstrate'
'help' rather than 'facilitate'
'documents' rather than 'documentation'
'help' rather than 'give some assistance'
'conclude' rather than 'come to the conclusion'
'if' rather than 'in the event that'
'by' rather than 'by means of'
'since' or 'as' rather than 'due to the fact that'
Spelling, standardised for Sussex
Advisor not adviser
Dependent/independent not dependant/independant ('dependant' should only be used as a noun, meaning someone who depends on someone or something else for support)
En-suite not ensuite, en suite
Focusing/focused not focussing/focussed
Liaison not liason
Organised not organized
Programmes not programs
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Web addresses
Web addresses should be in bold not italics. Try and keep the address all on one line for ease of reading. Leave out the http:// part, eg www.sussex.ac.uk
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Which or that?
The general rule is: 'that' is used in defining clauses and 'which' for non-defining clauses. Defining clauses have no punctuation, while non-defining clauses must be between commas. This punctuation distinction is crucial. 'Which' is usually an acceptable substitute for 'that', and can be used without loss of clarity, but caution needs to be exercised in substituting 'which' with 'that'.
Examples:
The house that Jack built is now falling down.
The house, which Jack built, is falling down.
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Writing style
Whoever you are writing for, use 'plain English', and keep things simple, direct and engaging. You should talk to your audience using 'our' and 'you' to draw the reader in eg, Our degrees offer you the opportunity to...
Use short words and sentences. Each sentence should make one point, and each paragraph should contain one idea.
Consider who you are writing for, and make sure your writing is pitched at the right level for them. A brochure targeting senior academics will be written differently from a leaflet for freshers.
Avoid long-winded phrases that little to the meaning such as 'it is interesting that'. See also Short alternatives to wordy expressions.
Use photographs, diagrams and charts, when information can be better presented visually.
Use text boxes to summarise your key messages, present case studies or checklists, or for any information that doesn't fit well within the main body of the text.
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Writing for webpages: best practice
- People are increasingly likely to read, and initially come to, our materials online, but online readers may have little information about the context in which you have prepared your webpage. They may have linked to your page half-way through and may read only part of it. Try to make your purpose obvious and cross-refer to relevant materials as necessary.
- Keep it concise and punchy, particularly with top-level information. Use a maximum of four short paragraphs for introductory pages.
- Use headings to break up text, since the reader sees less text on a screen than on a page. Keep your paragraphs short.
- Use descriptive titles that mean something when they appear on a long list of search results. For example, use 'Admission procedure: changes to the ...' rather than just 'Admission procedure', as there may be 20 other items on the site with that title.
- Remember your audience: for example, for the new schools pages your pages are for an external audience, eg potential students and their parents, research partners, businesses, potential staff, auditing organisations and so on.
- Use cross-references to help readers find the right piece, since they may start reading a less relevant piece and use links to find their way to the relevant one.
- But avoid overdoing the cross-linking: keep the navigation clear.
- Links within a piece only work one-way; the person reading (or editing) the destination piece may not know that is has been linked to. Let the editor of the piece know that you are linking to their piece. Also, consider putting a reciprocal link to your piece in the destination piece as well (if the subject matter allows, ask the person responsible for the destination piece to include such links).
- Keep it accessible: avoid uploading Word documents or pdfs unless it's unavoidable; always try to convert them into html pages.
- Always adhere to the University house style.
- Get your pages proofread before they go online: a professional proofreader is ideal, but just another pair of eyes can be hugely useful.
- Think twice before uploading information: is it useful? Is it the best way of conveying the information?
- Keep it up to date: implement a schedule for regularly checking every page, but also write in such a way that avoids information going out of date too quickly.
- Avoid repeating information. It is confusing and makes it difficult to keep your text up-to-date. For example, do not copy and paste from elsewhere on the website (eg the prospectus pages). One set of information will be updated and the other one may not, and then they'll conflict. If you are updating a piece, think about all areas in which the same information may have been mentioned.
- Consider leaving detailed programme descriptions and offer levels to the prospectuses - it's just more information that can go out of date and there's no need to risk it when the prospectus sites always have the most up-to-date information available (as they are database driven). Just link to them instead.
- In addition to the above points, before you start to write, we strongly recommend that you consult the web team's web guidelines. The guidelines cover in detail the use of web templates, accessibility issues, and how to deal with links, tables, documents, images, formatting text, forms, people lists and profiles, and will have a big impact on how your write your text, and structure your page.
Before you go live with your pages
- Give them one final proofread, and ask someone unfamiliar with the text to give it a read through also.
- Ask the web team to check that your html and sites conform to default standards.
- Double check your links, people lists, key contacts, programmes and courses and any accreditation statements linked to degree programmes.