Intranet

Editorial Standards

Revised for 2024

These standards apply to digital content maintained for Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, its websites, and social channels. You can also find more guidance from the UW School of Public Health Style Guide and UW Style Guide.

See also: Word List and Terms

Table of Contents

Style and Punctuation

Style and Punctuation

Abbreviations and acronyms

  • Spell out the first citation of the name on a page and follow with the abbreviation or acronym in parenthesis.
  • Avoid overuse of acronyms; only include if necessary to clarify multiple references in copy or if the organization/program is more commonly known by an acronyms

Academic degrees – general

    • If degree information is essential to the story, try to embed more descriptive, humanizing language in the text: UW food systems educator Jane Husky addressed the group instead of Jane Husky, PhD, addressed the group. 
    • Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree or in master’s degree, etc. This less formal usage is preferred over Bachelor of Arts in X, Master of Science in X, etc.
    • Don’t include periods when abbreviating: BA, BS, MA, MS, PhD, MBA.
    • Use abbreviations only when it is necessary to identify many individuals by degree on first reference and the preferred descriptive method is too cumbersome.
    • Use abbreviations only after a full name and set the abbreviation off by commas: Jane Husky, PhD, spoke at the conference.
    • Do not combine a courtesy title with an academic degree.
      • Incorrect: Dr. Jane Husky, PhD.
      • Correct: Jane Husky, PhD. or Dr. Jane Husky.

    Note about degree abbreviations: For digital communications, we do not include periods in academic degree abbreviations. Our format differs from UW guidelines, but is consistent with digital standards in use by UW School of Public Health.  Both formats are acceptable according to the Associated Press Stylebook.

Academic degrees – specific to our program

  • Undergraduate

      • Credential earned when completing the Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health major:
        • Correct: Bachelor of Arts – Food Systems
    • Correct: Bachelor of Arts with a major in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health
      • Credential earned when completing the Nutrition minor:
    • Correct: Completed a minor in nutrition…
    • Correct: Concentration in nutrition minor
    • specialization

    Graduate 

    • Correct: Master of Public Health (MPH) in Public Health Nutrition
    • Correct: Master of Science-Nutritional Sciences
    • Correct: Master of Science (MS) in Nutritional Sciences
    • Correct: Doctor of Philosophy-Nutritional Sciences
    • Correct: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nutritional Sciences

    When referencing a specific degree program, use the full (formal name) of the program on a first reference, and use a less formal, abbreviated version for second or additional references as follows:

    • Correct first reference: Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health major
    • Correct second reference in a sentence: food systems, nutrition, and health major
    • Correct first reference: Nutrition minor
    • Correct second reference in a sentence: nutrition minor

Academic program, department, unit, names

See more under capitalization

Academic titles

  • Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as chancellor, chair, dean or provost when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere.
    • e.g., Jane Husky, provost at the University of Washington, studied biology. Before the lecture, Provost Jane Husky will address the group.
  • Lowercase modifiers such as department.
    • e.g., … department Chairwoman Jane Husky.

Ampersands

  • Use only if part of a formal name, otherwise spell out the word and

Capitalization

In general, avoid unnecessary capitalization.

  • Headlines: Capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns (also referred to as sentence case).
  • Titles:
    • Lowercase formal titles when used alone or when set off from a name by commas (e.g., Jennifer Otten, associate professor in epidemiology and core faculty in the food systems, nutrition, and health program, will open the meeting… ).
    • Capitalize formal titles when they precede a name (e.g., Professor Husky or Dean Husky, Registered Dietitian Judy Simon…).
  • Boards, committees: Lowercase terms such as board of directors (Joe Husky is on the board of directors at ABC Corp.) unless it’s part of a proper name unless it’s part of a proper name (University of Washington Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Program Curriculum Committee).
  • Major and minors: Lowercase all majors and minors except those containing proper nouns.
  • Program, department, or unit names:
    • Capitalize formal uses of the name on first reference: (e.g., the University of Washington Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Program, the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology, etc.);
    • Lowercase informal uses of the name (e.g., the food systems, nutrition, and health major offers…, the food systems, nutrition, and health program, the Italian department, etc.).
  • Places, buildings and monuments: Capitalize places, buildings, and monuments such as Health Sciences Building, Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, Suzzallo Library, Mary Gates Hall, the Ave, the Quad, University Bridge, etc.
  • Academic quarters: Lowercase academic season and quarters: autumn quarter, winter quarter 2018.
  • Washington State: Lowercase state when referencing the state of Washington or Washington state.

See additional guidance on capitalization in our word List and terms.

 

Dates

  • Use cardinal, not ordinal, numbers: April 1, not April 1st; July 4, not July 4th.
  • Use a comma before and after the year if placing a full date (month + day + year) within a sentence.
    • e.g., The board met on September 25, 2023, to review the report.

Note that while AP style uses abbreviations for months (Sept.), it is also acceptable to spell out the entire month in text when space permits.

  • Do not use a comma if only listing the month and year: The board will meet in December 2025.

Hyperlinks

  • Only include links that are useful to the reader within the current context and do not break the flow of the page.
  • Always use descriptive text to label your links, preferably using the same title of the destination page.
  • Avoid using “click here” or similar generic phrases for links.

Tip:

Always structure your sentences with the intention of linking to the relevant subject, noun, name or topic of reference.  The reader should have a clear understanding of where the link will lead.

Lists

  • If you are conveying more than three points in a sentence, break it up by formatting it as a list.
  • Use a period (full stop) after every bullet point that is a complete sentence.
  • Use a period after every bullet point that completes the introductory stem.
  • Use no punctuation after bullets that are not sentences and do not complete the stem.
  • Use all sentences or all fragments, not a mixture.

Examples

I like living in Seattle because of its:

  • Access to culture, natural beauty, and work opportunities.
  • Moderate climate–not too hot or too cold.
  • Easy-going social attitudes.

Here are the things I like about living in Seattle:

  • Access to culture, natural beauty, and work opportunities
  • Moderate climate–not too hot or too cold
  • Easy-going social attitudes

Numbers

  • Spell out numbers one, two three.
  • For numbers greater than three, use numerals (e.g., 4, 6, 22, etc.)

Readability and tone

  • Use active voice; avoid passive voice.
  • Write in a conversational style. (i.e. write like you speak)
  • Keep page copy short and concise
  • Avoid slang or jargon
  • Avoid acronyms unless they have meaning to the intended audience

Website

Headings and subheadings

Headings should convey as much descriptive detail as possible about the content (text) that follows to help readers locate information quickly.

  • Use title case for web page titles and the first main heading (Headings 1, 2).
  • Use title case for policy, procedure and form articles.
  • Use sentence case (AP news style) for news posts, calendar listings and support articles.
  • For news listings (media coverage), use the same format used by the external organization.
  • Sentence case – Capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns.
  • Title case – Capitalize the first letter of each word, except for certain small words, such as articles and short prepositions.

Technical instructions or procedures

  • End each sentence with a period unless it could cause confusion about what to enter in a text field.
  • Refer to user interface elements by their label.
  • Use bold type in procedures for dialog box titles, labels and options.
    • E.g., On the Tools menu, click Options, then click View.
  • Spell or capitalize user interface labels or buttons as they appear on the screen.
  • Avoid “please.” It can be interpreted to mean that a required action is optional.
  • Use active voice to make instructions clear and direct.

E.g., The system displays the Print screen.