Writers and editors who develop written material for a variety of outlets—magazines, brochures, Websites, ads, posters, and more – should be aware of writing style, tone, and voice, and best practices in how to write for the outlet and audience you’re targeting. Accuracy and consistency in how we present information about the university, such as the proper and correct names buildings (Nebraskan Union, Warner Hall), spellings, addresses, dates, and references to majors, colleges and programs helps build audience recognition, understanding and clarity.
In particular, please note references to UNK. In written communication, the full name, University of Nebraska at Kearney, should be spelled out when the university is first mentioned or cited. Subsequent references should cite “the university” or UNK. Notice university is not capitalized. Even though it is referring to UNK, it is not a proper name and is not capitalized. (AP Style).
The AP Style guide is based on the standard for news media, the Associated Press Stylebook, (the so-called "Journalists’ Bible"), which is used by most mainstream U.S. and some international media, primarily newspapers and magazines, because of its emphasis on readability and consistency in spellings, grammar and punctuation. Because many of our works, copy or stories written about the university are eventually sent or placed with news media outlets as news releases, the AP style is a useful style for all to employ. Not APA or Chicago Manual of Style; not other academic styles.
In web writing, keep in mind search-engine optimization. It’s best to spell out University of Nebraska at Kearney high up on the page, especially in close relation to your primary search term: “At University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Department of Biology…” Thereafter, use UNK.
Do NOT put UNK in parenthesis after University of Nebraska at Kearney. NEVER do this: “University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK).” Similarly, initials or acronyms do not go in parenthesis after the full reference: NOT: College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Simply place the full reference in your copy/sentence, then pick up the acronym or initials afterward. Your reader will get it.
Common rules in writing:
Ampersands (a typographical symbol - &) are not appropriate replacements for the word and. Not College of Business & Technology – instead, College of Business and Technology.
There are two different types of dashes, a long dash (or ‘em’ dash —) and a short (‘en’ dash - ) as well as a hyphen (-). A long dash, sometimes referred by typographers as an ‘em’ dash — is punctuation intended to create an emphatic pause, an abrupt change of thought or an attribution. An en dash is not equal to a hyphen. When using a dash, a space should exist on both sides of the dash. Because dashes and other punctuation marks do not transfer uniformly in e-mail and electronic media, both dashes may need to be avoided. See the punctuation chapter in the AP Stylebook for more guidelines. A double hyphen (--) may be used in electronic media as a substitute for a long dash, and one hyphen will substitute for an en dash.
Avoid. Exclamation points should be used only in quoting a speaker who is exclaiming something: “Fire!” To convey enthusiasm or energy in your writing, use words, not punctuation. NEVER use multiple exclamation points.
time, day – in that order. The concert is 3 p.m. Aug. 15. Refer to AP style book as to month abbreviations and use them (with a date): Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Months by themselves are fully spelled out (without a date). Do NOT place “st,” “th,” etc. after the date. It’s Aug. 15, NOT Aug. 15th or August 15th. Sept. 1, NOT Sept. 1st.
Use a.m. and p.m., not AM or PM.
Your punctuation always goes inside the quote marks. “When you quote someone, put the comma inside the quote mark,” Bartling said. Single quote marks, ‘such as this,’ should never be used. Single quotes are for quotes inside of quotes: “Kelly said ‘it’s always best to follow AP rules’,” Gottula said.
Upper-case when in full “Department of History,” but lower-case when casual: “history department.”
Doctors (Dr.) are for medical doctors (per AP Style). Do not refer to PhDs as Drs. Use the assistant, associate or (full) professor titles. Use named professorships if one exists. Remember in AP Style, the full title before a name is capitalized: University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Douglas Kristensen; Douglas Kristensen, chancellor, University of Nebraska at Kearney. College of Business and Technology Assistant Professor X; X, assistant professor of x
Check AP Style – numbered streets should be spelled out over 10: Ninth Avenue, 10th Avenue. Spell out when not with a number: 2504 Ninth Ave. (This is the official address for UNK)
One man is an alumnus.
One woman is an alumna.
Several men, or a group of men and women, are alumni.
Several women are alumnae.
Avoid the casual reference to "alum."
No need to up-case Campus unless it’s part of a formal name, of which there are none here at UNK. Historically, we have referred to “west campus,” although there is no formal designation. We are one campus. University Village is a separate campus.
UNK’s learning management system; replaced Blackboard in 2018
AP Style does not agree with the Oxford Comma: No need to put a comma before “and” in a series. “She bought milk, eggs and butter.”
We do not use Mrs., Mr., Ms. or any such title, including Dr. (unless it’s a medical doctor). Use last names on second and subsequent reference
Use Cushing Coliseum instead of just Cushing.
You may have a doctorate, or a doctoral degree, but not a doctorate degree.
Please note that there is not a lowercase e (eMail) or hyphen (e-mail) in the word "email".
Emeritus professors are those who retain their rank or title after retirement. Emerita is for women; emeritus is for men; emeriti is plural. Not all retired faculty retain their rank or earn the emerita title. Place this title after the formal title.
Avoid using gender-specific words, such as fireman, policeman, etc. Go for firefighter, police officer, actor (not actor/actress), server (not waiter or waitress). Use the gender pronoun preferred by your source or subject. Them or they is acceptable as a singular gender-neutral pronoun.
Also known as Health and Sports.
Never needed in news or web writing. Use bold, indenting or bullets to set off words, passages or lists.
avoid as a use/substitute for UNK, unless referring to the city, or the cities of University of Nebraska campuses.
Note apostrophe and lower case. Bachelor’s degree.
Officially known as Ron and Carol Cope Stadium.
This electronic access portal gives students an overview on their university bill and financial aid, grades and records, class schedule and other information. Students have a username and password and are able to view reports, see their bill, print them out and access their schedules. MyBLUE has virtually replaced all paper reports and most mailings; students do not receive a printed bill, nor do their parents. Students can give access to their MyBLUE records to a parent by sharing their password or granting parent authorization. Faculty also use MyBLUE to see course rosters, register grades and degree grades.
On first reference, individuals should be identified with first and last names, usually proper name (as opposed to a nickname or "known by" name), and academic title, if appropriate. On second reference, use last name without the title. If two people in the story have the same last name, use both first and last names for both people on all subsequent references.
On second reference, use the last name of a person over age 16. This means all students should be referred to using their last name, never first only. Can use first name only on second reference to children 15 or under.
Depending on the purpose of the report and audience, a nickname may be preferred. Or, the combination of a formal name and nickname (in quotation marks) may be used. Choose whatever is clearest to the reader without being cumbersome. Do not put a nickname in parentheses.
Use as the abbreviation for the four-institution University of Nebraska system. "NU system" is often used to differentiate between the system and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This is because NU is also a widely accepted abbreviation for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and its various components, including its athletic program. It is NOT U of N or U.N. or UN.
In general, follow Associated Press style on using numbers. Exceptions can be made especially for more formal documents. GENERAL RULE: Spell out one through nine; use numbers for 10 and above.
Numbers with suffixes (-nd, -th, etc.): Spell out "first" through "ninth" in street names and amendments to the Constitution. Otherwise, use numbers in all cases (1st, 3rd, 20th, etc.) for political stories and court specifications (3rd District Court, etc.).
The college has nine honor students. The college has 480 students.
There are many exceptions. When to use figures: Use figures for addresses, ages, aircraft, clothes sizes, dates, dimensions, highways, before the words million, billion, etc., money, percentages (except when they start a sentence), recipes, speeds, temperatures (except zero), time, weight and years (except when they start a sentence).
The class starts at 12:30 p.m. Tuition dropped 5 percent last year. He expects to pay $1,000 more in fees this year. She should graduate in spring 2023.
“Online Worldwide” is no longer used, it’s University of Nebraska Online. When referring to UNK distance-learning, eCampus is preferred.
use the full, 10-digit phone number in all instances (exception: directory). 308-865-xxxx. Use the hyphens (not periods).
Capitalize when using as part of a title with a name. Regent Paul Kenney. The regents will come to visit Monday.
Said” is preferred over “says” in most news writing. It’s preferred over “indicated” or “stated.”
It is not necessary to apply superscript to ordinal numbers, as in 11th, (not 11th), especially in addresses. Some word processing programs apply superscript automatically; this should be turned off. The regular, lower type is preferred in ordinal numbers in most uses, particularly news.
Use “theater” (AP style) when speaking generally of a theater for movies, plays, etc. Only use “theatre” if it’s the proper spelling of a venue. Proper names vary: The department in the College of Fine and Performing Arts is the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Miriam Drake Theatre, Studio Theatre, Theatre Design Lab.
It’s noon, not 12 noon. When publicizing an event to a statewide audience, consider specifying Mountain and/or Central times, particularly if an event is being held in western Nebraska’s Mountain time zone. Time zone identifiers are CST/CDT and MST/MDT (depending on whether the date is during standard or daylight time).
Use “today” in news releases when talking about the day in which the release is being issued. (This should be clear on the release. Use an appropriate dateline style.)
Do NOT use “tomorrow,” “yesterday” or “last night.” Use specific dates instead for clarity. On the web, day-specific references should not be used. Use the date. No day of the week is necessary.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (hyphen), University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources is the university’s land-grant institution and a common reference being “east campus,” yet IANR includes the extension and research centers throughout Nebraska. Abbreviations are UNL, UNO, UNMC and UNK. UNOmaha is never used, nor are hyphens.
Refer in all instances to UNK’s distance learning unit. Note that “Online Worldwide” is no longer used, it’s University of Nebraska Online.
Place web addresses within the regular body copy. It is not necessary to place carats <> around a Web address. Avoid language that indicates things like “click here.” (ADA). Simply activate the hotlink, using your web styles to set the link off (underline/change of color). In your non-web writing, delete the “http” from the address when the address starts with www. You may omit the www if it’s obvious it is a website (typically the .edu/.com/.org suffix alerts the reader). If the address doesn’t start with “www,” (and not all do) use the http. If a Web address falls at the end of a sentence, use a period.
