Print Style Guide
Office of College Marketing Publications
July 2016
Table of Contents
SIMMONS PRINT STYLE GUIDE
1
SIMMONS-SPECIFIC RULES
2
Academic Degrees
2
Academic Majors, Minors, and Courses
2
Class2
Class Years
3
College Name
4
Conferences4
Events4
Frequently Used Acronyms
4
Graduates5
Graduate Schools and Programs
5
Offices, Departments, and Building Names
5
President and Trustees
6
References to Gender
6
References to Race and Ethnicity
7
Simmons History
7
U.S.News & World Report Ranking
7
GENERAL GRAMMAR RULES
8
Alphabetization of Names
8
Capitalization
8
Dates and Times
8
Dollar Amounts
9
Geography
9
Invitations9
Numbers
10
Ordinal Numbers
10
Phone Numbers
11
Ratios, Team Scores, and Percentages
11
Web Terminology
11
Years/Decades11
GENERAL PUNCTUATION RULES
12
Apostrophes
12
Bullets
12
Commas12
Dashes13
Ellipses
13
Hyphenation
13
Semi-colons14
Spaces
14
Quotation Marks
15
Publications
15
TV and Radio
15
COMMONLY CONFUSED/MISUSED WORDS
Affect/Effect
16
16
Athletic/Athletics16
Farther/Further16
Its/It’s16
That/Which16
Titled/Entitled17
Your/You’re17
Miscellaneous17
Simmons Print Style Guide
The Simmons Print Style Guide discusses style rules particular to Simmons, general
grammar and punctuation rules, and commonly confused/misused words. This guide
applies to Simmons College print communications and publications.
For rules that apply to the Simmons website, please refer to the Web Style Guide: Content
Tips and Conventions at simmons.edu/marketing.
The information provided in this guide is derived from the following handbooks, which are
recommended for a range of written communications:
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Random House Webster’s Pocket Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation
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The Elements of Style (William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White)
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The Little, Brown Essential Handbook for Writers (Jane E. Aaron)
The Simmons Print Style Guide will be periodically updated by College Marketing
Publications. If you have a question, suggestion for an addition, change, or correction,
please email [email protected].
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Simmons-Specif ic Rules
Academic Degrees
Capitalize when the full name of the degree is used:
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Bachelor of Arts
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Bachelor of Science
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Master of Arts
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Master of Science
Do not capitalize general references; include an apostrophe “s”:
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bachelor’s degree
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master’s degree
Abbreviate degree names in text only, when the use of the full academic degree name would
be cumbersome; do not include periods:
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BA; BS; EdD; MAT; MBA; PhD
Academic Majors, Minors, and Courses
Do not capitalize academic majors, minors, or concentrations:
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biology
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women’s studies
Capitalize languages and titles containing geographic locations:
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English
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Spanish
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Africana studies
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East Asian studies
Capitalize course titles and include quotation marks:
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“Modern Europe II: 1890-Present.”
Use backslash, not “and” when referencing “Gender/Cultural Studies.”
Class
Capitalize the word “Class” only when it refers to a specific class:
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Class of 1965
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Our Class enjoyed its 30th Reunion
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Class Years
Include an apostrophe before an undergraduate alum’s class year:
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Jane Simmons ’36
Include an apostrophe before a graduate school alum’s class year and follow the class year
with the school designation. There is no space between the year and school designation:
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Julie Simmons ’77SW
The abbreviated school designations for alumnae/i class years are:
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GS = College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Studies
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HS = School of Nursing and Health Sciences
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LS = School of Library and Information Science
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SM = School of Management
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SW = School of Social Work
Add “D” to the school abbreviations above to indicate a doctorate from Simmons:
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SWD = School of Social Work doctorate
For alums with multiple degrees from Simmons, put the degrees in chronological order and
separate with a comma:
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Janice Simmons ’87, ’03LS
For students who have completed a certification:
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use “C” without a space between the year and the letter (’03C).
For recipients of an executive education program:
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use “E” (’02E) without a space between the year and the letter.
For honorary degree recipients who graduated from Simmons, separate the dates with a
comma and use “HD” without a space between the year and the letter:
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Lisa Mullins ’80, ’05HD
For a parent of a current student, use “P” before the date with a space between the letter
and the date:
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Stephen Jonas P ’05
Please note: When typing an apostrophe at the beginning of a numeral, the computer defers
to a “backwards” apostrophe (‘). To correct this, type two apostrophes in a row and delete
the first one.
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College Name
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The formal reference is Simmons College.
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The informal reference is Simmons or the College.
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Capitalize the word “College” only when it refers specifically to Simmons:
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“The College completed its very successful $100 million ‘Campaign for Simmons.’”
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The possessive of Simmons is Simmons’, not Simmons, Simmon’s, or Simmons’s.
Conferences
Capitalize conferences:
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Simmons Leadership Conference
Use quotation marks for conferences that have a theme:
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The Simmons Leadership Conference “What Matters Most,” featured several
dynamic speakers.
Events
Capitalize specific Simmons events:
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Commencement
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Convocation
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Reunion
Frequently Used Acronyms
There are no periods used in the following acronyms:
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CAS:
College of Arts and Sciences
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CEC:
Career Education Center
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CGO:
Center for Gender in Organizations
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MCB:
Main College Building (not “Main Campus Building”)
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S/RC:
Scott/Ross Center for Community Service
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PTRC: Pottruck Technology Resource Center
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SILC:
Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change
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SLIS:
School of Library and Information Science
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SNHS: School of Nursing and Health Sciences
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SOM:
School of Management
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SSW:
School of Social Work
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Graduates
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Alumna is one female graduate of the College.
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Alumnus is one male graduate of the College.
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Alumnae is used when referring to undergraduates only.
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Alumni are CAS Grad, SLIS, SNHS, SOM, and SSW graduates.
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Alumnae/i are undergraduate and graduate populations - a mixed group of
bachelor’s, master’s and/or doctoral recipients, or total graduate population.
Alumni Day is an event for graduate alumni only.
Graduate Schools and Programs
Spell out the full name of the school or program the first time it is used, followed by its
acronym in parentheses; secondary references can use the acronym only:
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College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Studies (CAS Grad)
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School of Library and Information Science (SLIS)
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When referring to SLIS in a sentence, do not precede “SLIS” with “the.”
When referring to the SLIS West campus, refer to it as SLIS at Mount Holyoke
with Mount spelled out and never abbreviated.
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School of Management (SOM)
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School of Nursing and Health Sciences (SNHS)
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School of Social Work (SSW)
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Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
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Master of Social Work (MSW)
An “@” symbol is only used in a program name when referencing approved online
programs; e.g., “Nursing@Simmons.”
Offices, Departments, and Building Names
Capitalize the first letter of each word when referring to the official name of a Simmons
office, department, or building:
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Office of Residence Life
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Department of History
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School of Social Work
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Do not capitalize informal references:
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residence life office
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history department
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social work school
Do not capitalize campus names:
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academic campus
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residence campus
Do not include an “s” at the end of Office of Admission.
Please see the Simmons directory at simmons.edu/directory for official office and
department names.
President and Trustees
The formal reference for President Drinan is:
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President Helen G. Drinan, ’75LS, ’78SM
The informal reference for President Drinan is:
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President Helen Drinan or President Drinan
Capitalize trustee only when it is used as a title before a name:
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Linda Paresky recently retired from her position as trustee.
Capitalize Board of Trustees when it is used as the subject of the sentence:
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The Board of Trustees will be on campus next month.
References to Gender
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Simmons strives to maintain a gender-neutral tone in its communications and
recommends using inclusive pronouns throughout, such as they/their/theirs,
unless referring to a specific individual by name.
Replace “daughter” with “student” to avoid assumptions about gender expression
and familial relationships.
“Your student will meet with an advisor,” rather than “your daughter will meet
with her advisor.”
The Simmons mascot, Stormy the Shark, is non-gendered. Instead of using
gendered pronouns, simply refer to Stormy by name.
“Stormy loves Orientation! See photos of students with our beloved mascot.”
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References to Race and Ethnicity
Race is generally defined as a group of persons related by common descent or heredity.
Ethnicity is generally defined as a social group that shares a common and distinctive culture,
religion, language, etc. It is important to be sensitive to the labels used when referring to
an individual or group and to use references that reflect the preferences of each group’s
members.
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Capitalize the first letter of a race or ethnic group; e.g., Black, Asian, Latina, Polish,
etc.
ALANA is the acronym that stands for our population of “African-American, Latina,
Asian, and Native American” students.
Simmons History
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Refer to the College Archives website at www2.simmons.edu/library for
information on the official history of Simmons College, including a list of College
presidents, milestones for building projects and fundraising campaigns, timelines,
and more.
U.S.News & World Report Ranking
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U.S.News is one word; “and” is represented by an ampersand symbol; the
complete title is italicized:
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U.S.News & World Report
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The first reference to this publication should be U.S.News & World Report.
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U.S. News is for secondary reference and is italicized with a space between S. and
News.
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General Grammar Rules
This section represents a small sampling of grammar rules. Random House Webster’s Pocket
Grammar Usage and Punctuation and The Little, Brown Essential Handbook for Writers are
excellent grammar desk references.
Alphabetization of Names
List by last name:
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Dix-Simmons, Sally
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Simmons, Sally A.
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Simmons, Sally Dix
Capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns:
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Simmons College
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Boston Red Sox
Capitalize proper adjectives:
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Shakespearean tragedy
Capitalize official titles only when they precede personal names:
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President Helen Drinan
Do not capitalize titles that follow or replace a personal name:
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Helen Drinan, Simmons College’s president, was interviewed on TV.
Capitalizing titles after names is discretionary (for visual appearance):
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Judy Beal, Dean, Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences
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Teresa Fung, Nutrition Professor, Simmons College
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Helen Reinherz, Emerita Professor, Simmons School of Social Work
Dates and Times
Do not abbreviate months of the year when they appear by themselves or with a year:
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December 2015
March, April, May, June and July are never abbreviated in text, but the remaining months are
when they are followed by a date (Jan. 27), and are correctly abbreviated:
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Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
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Spell out the month when used in invitations:
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August 15
Spell out the word when only a month is referenced:
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He was hired in August.
The time of day, when it is on the hour, is expressed with two zeros after the colon:
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8:00
Write “a.m.” and “p.m.” in lowercase, with a period between the letters and a space between
the numerals and the letters:
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The event takes place from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
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12 noon is redundant; choose either noon (preferred) or 12:00 p.m.
Dollar Amounts
List whole dollar amounts without cents:
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$1 or $25 NOT $1.00 or $25.00
Geography
Spell out a state name when it is written without a city/town:
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They went to Colorado to ski.
The postal abbreviation of Massachusetts is:
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MA
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For all postal and state abbreviations, visit infoplease.com/ipa/A0110468.
Include periods when abbreviating the United States:
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U.S.
Invitations
There are special rules for invitations:
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When listing a period of time, use a hyphen, not an emdash between the times;
there are no spaces before or after the hyphen.
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Do not end sentences with periods.
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Do not add the year to the event date.
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Spell out the state within the address of the event location.
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Do not add the zip code to the event location.
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Example:
Please join us for an exclusive cocktail reception and hors d’oeuvres
Thursday, March 28, 7:00-8:00 p.m. at the home of Sally Simmons
300 The Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts
R.S.V.P. to Bella Beatley at 555-555-5555
R.S.V.P. is an abbreviation of the French phrase, répondez s’il vous plait (“Respond, if you
please”). Therefore, “Please R.S.V.P.…” is redundant. Instead, write: “R.S.V.P. by calling…” or,
“Please respond by calling…”
Numbers
Spell out numbers one through nine; numbers 10 and higher are written numerically, except
when a number is the first word of a sentence:
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There were three applicants for the office assistant position.
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Representatives from 25 departments attended the diversity training.
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One hundred students were awarded scholarships.
Numbers are hyphenated when used as adjectives:
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Their six-year-old house is in great condition.
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She has an 18-year-old son.
When there are two ways to express a number in words, use the simpler form:
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Fifteen hundred, NOT one thousand five hundred
Ordinal Numbers
For ordinal numbers (numbers used to express order), spell out “first” through “ninth.” Use
figures, starting with 10th:
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Fourth annual BBQ
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100th Commencement
Reunions are expressed numerically:
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45th Reunion
The ordinal numbers rule does not apply to dates, even when used in an invitation or other
event publication:
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March 3, NOT March 3rd
The words “first annual” should never be used to describe an event; an annual event is one
that has been held at least two consecutive years.
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Phone Numbers
Use hyphens in place of parentheses or periods for phone numbers, including area codes.
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617-111-1111, NOT 617.111.1111 or (617) 111-1111
Ratios, Team Scores, and Percentages
Always expressed as numerals:
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Simmons has a 12:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
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The Sharks beat UMass 5-2.
Always use numerals when writing percentages; spell out the word “percent” instead of
using the % symbol; except when referring to statistics.
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He was 99 percent sure there would be parking available.
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Responses to this year’s survey were 53%, as opposed to last year’s 48% return.
Web Terminology
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The word “email” is one word and lowercase.
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The words “e-newsletter” and “e-commerce” are hyphenated and lowercase.
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The words “internet,” “intranet,” and “web” are no longer capitalized.
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The word “online” is one word and lowercase.
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“Live stream” is two words.
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“Web page” is two words and lowercase.
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“Website” is one word and lowercase.
Years/Decades
When abbreviating years to two digits, add an apostrophe before the numerals.
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Blizzard of ’78
When writing about a particular decade, add an “s” after the numerals:
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the ’60s, the 1980s
The word “century” is lowercase, unless part of a title:
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The manuscript is from the early 19th century.
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If used to describe an object, use a hyphen:
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“The professor’s specialty was 18th-century French history.”
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General Punctuation Rules
Apostrophes
Apostrophes are used mainly to express possession or a contraction:
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the cat’s toy
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women’s studies
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Don’t take the Ted Williams Tunnel to work.
Do not use an apostrophe to pluralize a group of numerals:
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the 1920s
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a fleet of 757s
Do not use an apostrophe to pluralize an acronym or abbreviation:
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The SOM is hosting a workshop featuring four CEOs.
Use an apostrophe to pluralize single letters:
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She received two B’s in her courses last year.
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I stopped alphabetizing the list at the W’s.
Bullets
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Do not use punctuation (periods, commas, semi-colons) at the end of bulleted
lines, unless a line is a complete sentence, in which case a punctuation mark is
added.
Do not add “and” or “or” before the last bullet in the series.
Commas
Use a comma before the words “and” and “or” when used in a series of three or more
items:
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Employee benefits include health insurance, dental insurance, MBTA pass
discounts, and tuition reimbursement.
Use a comma to separate two independent clauses when using coordinating conjunctions
(and, but, or, etc.):
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The sun is shining today, but rain is in the forcast.
Use commas to set off the day, month, and year when used in a sentence:
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She announced her intention to retire at the May 2, 2004, faculty meeting.
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Do not use a comma between a month and year, or season and year, if no specific date is
given:
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He was hired in September 2001.
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The conference is scheduled for fall 2006.
When a sentence includes a city and state, add a comma after the state:
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They went to Boulder, Colorado, to ski.
Dashes
When using dashes to set out a section of a sentence, do not use two hyphens. Instead, use
an em dash symbol with a space before and after:
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The workshop included a variety of tips — from job hunting to networking — for
recent graduates.
Ways to insert an em dash:
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From the “Word” menu at the top of the screen: Insert > Symbol > pull down
screen: “normal text.”
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On Windows, hold the ALT key and enter 0151 and release the ALT key.
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On Mac OS, press the OPTION key + SHIFT key + - (dash) key.
Ellipses
If one or more words are omitted within a quoted sentence, use ellipses (three spaced
periods, with spaces before or after) to indicate the omission:
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“True happiness . . . is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity
to a worthy purpose.” — Helen Keller
If one or more words are omitted at the end of a quoted sentence, use three spaced periods
followed by the sentence’s required punctuation:
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“Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that comes tomorrow . . . .”
— Helen Keller
Please note: A sentence ending in a period and ellipses has a total of four periods.
Hyphenation
Hyphenate words that are used as compound adjectives before a noun:
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A part-time job BUT: She works part time.
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Up-to-date information BUT: The information is up to date.
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Use hyphens to form compound words:
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Twenty-five pages
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Mother-in-law
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Six-foot fence
Do not hyphenate adverbs ending in ly:
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nationally known
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widely read
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heavily edited
Do not hyphenate words beginning with the prefixes “pre,” “post,” “semi,” “anti,” “sub,”
etc., unless the word is followed by a duplicated vowel or consonant:
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preregister
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antiwar
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re-enroll
Semi-colons
Use a semi-colon to indicate a separation of thought and information between two phrases
linked by a common theme:
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They made several attempts to reach her by phone; not a single call was returned.
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Enrollments exceeded our goals; however, there still is a shortage of teachers.
Use a semi-colon to ensure clarity when a series of commas is used:
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Short-term semester programs have included communications in San Jose, Costa
Rica; French language and culture in Paris, France; music in Salzburg, Austria; and
physics in Pisa, Italy.
Please note that a semi-colon (not a comma) is added before the “and” or “or” in the above
example.
A semi-colon goes outside quoted text within a sentence:
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He attended professional conferences on “Ethics and Issues”; “Health, Hygiene,
and the Role of Nurses”; “Health Care Management”; and “Death and Dying.”
Spaces
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Each sentence should be followed by one space, never two. Modern fonts are
spaced correctly.
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Quotation Marks
The period and the comma always go inside quotation marks:
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“I don’t know what to do,” he said.
The colon and semi-colon go outside of quoted material:
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Students entering their freshman year are now referred to as “first-year students”;
subsequent years remain the same.
There were two main themes of the workshop on “Managing the Manager”:
communication and information sharing.
The question mark goes inside the quotation marks when it is part of the direct quote:
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“What should we do about this?” she asked.
The question mark goes outside the quotation marks when the question refers to the entire
sentence, not just the quote:
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What is meant by the message “The following addresses had permanent fatal
errors”?
Publications
Italicize the names of books, newspapers, magazines, journals, and similar publications; the
titles of articles are placed in quotation marks:
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Dean John Simmons was quoted in the Dec. 12 Wall Street Journal article “Why
Simmons is the Best.”
The Journal of Higher Education
TV and Radio
TV shows and radio programs are in italics, while episode titles are in quotes:
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I loved the Everybody Loves Raymond episode, “That Crazy Cat.”
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COMMONLY CONFUSED/
MISUSED WORDS
Affect/Effect
“Affect” means to change or influence; “effect” means the result of a change:
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The traffic accident will likely affect many commuters.
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Today’s traffic had no effect on her commute.
Athletic/Athletics
“Athletic” is an adjective describing one’s physical agility:
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She is very athletic, running more than five miles each day.
“Athletics” is a noun describing the training and practice of sports activities:
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The Simmons athletics department features several award-winning coaches.
Farther/Further
“Farther” pertains to distance:
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The small dog chased the ball farther than the big dog.
“Further” pertains to quantity or time:
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She pursued the discussion further.
Its/It’s
“Its” is the possessive form:
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Hold the bag by its handles.
“It’s” is the contraction of “it is”:
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I can’t tell if it’s raining outside or not.
That/Which
“That” is a defining pronoun:
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The book that is on hold is in the library.
“Which” is nondefining:
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The book, which is in the library, is on hold.
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Titled/Entitled
“Titled” should always be used when referencing the title of a book, conference, etc.:
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The professor is conducting a workshop titled, “How to Write Effectively.”
“Entitled” means that a person has a right or claim to something:
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Every citizen is entitled to free speech under the First Amendment.
Your/You’re
“Your” is the possessive form:
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Good luck on your presentation.
“You’re” is the contraction of “you are”:
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He said that you’re doing a great job.
Miscellaneous
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“Firsthand” is one word without a hyphen.
When discussing amounts, use “more than” for the first instance. “Over” may be
used for second reference of an amount:
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There were more than 100 students at orientation and over 150 parents.
When using “not only” in a sentence, you also must use “but also” to complete the
thought; please note that a comma separates the two phrases:
“The new faculty member is not only an experienced researcher, but also an
acclaimed novelist.”
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Match a pronoun with its antecedent; e.g., Jane wanted her own copy of the article.
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Always use “toward” instead of “towards”:
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“Walk toward the science building to see the library construction.”
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