The primary university style is based on Associated Press style, with several university-specific modifications and exceptions, as well as additional terms. If it’s not listed here, please consult the AP Stylebook. If you still can’t find it, call or e-mail Britt Engle, ASU Insight editor, at (480) 965-9689 or brittany.engle@asu.edu.
A total of: Avoid the use of this unnecessary phrase.
- Wrong: “Expenditures in the department reached a total of $1 million last year.”
- Right: “Expenditures in the department reached $1 million last year.”
Academic degrees: Use “bachelor’s degree,” “master’s degree” or “doctoral degree,” not “B.A.” or “M.S.” or “Ph.D.”
- Wrong: “She earned a B.A. in broadcast journalism.”
- Right: “She earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.”
Approximately: Use the word “about” instead. “About” is shorter and means the same thing.
Arizona State University: In a first reference, use the full name of the university: Arizona State University. (NOTE: An exception can be made in internal publications, published under an Arizona State University masthead, when there is no question what the content refers to.) In subsequent references, authorized forms are "ASU" and "the university." Do not shorten to Arizona State.
Example: Arizona State University consistently attracts top quality students from Arizona and across the nation. Students enrolling at the university have access to faculty who are elite in their fields of study.
Attribution: Attribution should be placed at the end of the first sentence in quoted material. Any exceptions for unusual circumstances will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
Barrett, the Honors College: The correct first reference should be "Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University." Subsequent references should be to "Honors" or "the college."
Both: In many instances, this word is superfluous.
- Wrong: “This trait is common to both cats and dogs.”
- Right: “This trait is common to cats and dogs.”
Campuses: In a first reference, use the full name of the campus, as in "Arizona State University at the Tempe campus" or "the West campus of Arizona State University." The "c" in "campus" is always lowercase. The campus names are:
- Downtown Phoenix campus
- Polytechnic campus
- Tempe campus
- West campus
For internal communications, or second or later references in a publication, the generic word "campus" may be used, or campus names may be shortened to Tempe, West, Poly or Downtown Phoenix. Do not use acronyms, such as "DPC" or bridged forms, like "ASU West."
CEO: Only use this abbreviation after the first reference for “chief executive officer.”
Center, college, department, university: Lowercase subsequent uses of these words after the initial reference in a story when they’re used in the middle of a sentence. For example: “Arizona State University” on first reference, but “the university” on second reference.” Complete list of approved college and vice presidental department abbreviations.
Colleges and schools: On first reference, the full name of the university and college/school is preferred. College and school names should be linked directly to the name of the university, not a campus name or location. For example, the College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation; the ASU Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, Arizona State University’s Herberger College of the Arts.
Second and subsequent references to an organization can use any of the following: a) the organization’s full name; b) its short name (e.g. “Public Programs”); or c) the common noun that describes the unit (e.g., “the college,” “the department,” or “the center”). Note that you should avoid using acronyms to reference any college or school within the university.
Decision-makers, decision-making: Hyphenate in all uses.
Double spacing between sentences: Don’t do it.
Emeritus: This applies to both genders. "Emerita" is not used. "Jane Doe is a professor emeritus of journalism."
Entitled vs. titled: People are entitled to their opinions, but books are titled.
Events: Use time, date and place, in that order. "The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 1, in room 208 of the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus."
Graduate College (GC): Not Division of Graduate Studies (DGS)
Honorific titles before names: Do not use.
- Wrong: "Dr. John Doe is a chemistry professor at ASU."
- Right: "John Doe is a chemistry professor at ASU."
Host: NOT a verb. Say "conduct," "hold" or "play host to" instead.
- Wrong: "The department will host a fundraiser Sept. 1."
- Right: "The department will conduct a fundraiser Sept. 1."
Impact: NOT a verb. Use "affect" or "influence" instead.
In order to: Wordy and unnecessary.
- Wrong: "In order to do that, we need more money."
- Right: "To do that, we need more money."
Majors: In most cases, what a student is majoring in will be lowercased, such as anthropology, art history, and women and gender studies. Notable exceptions include students who major in English or American Indian studies.
- Wrong: "Jane Doe is a History major at ASU."
- Right: "Jane Doe is a history major at ASU."
New American University: This term may be preceded by either the article "a" or "the," or the pronoun "this." The preferred way to describe ASU is as "a New American University," since we expect others will choose to follow our example. When used at the beginning of a sentence or in isolation, all words in the term (including "a," "the" or "this") should be capitalized ("A New American University is an institution that believes it is possible to be simultaneously excellent and broadly accessible.") When used inside a sentence or phrase, the term should have an initial lowercase "a," "the," or "this," but the remainder of the term should always begin with capital letters ("a New American University").
Nonprofit : No hyphen.
Percent: Don't use the symbol. Spell this out.
- Wrong: Statistics show 83% of all statistics are incorrect.
- Right: Statistics show 33 percent of all statistics are incorrect.
Professor: Lowercase, unless part of a formal title. Some examples:
- “It was professor John Doe at the West campus who first taught the class,”
- “It was John Doe, a Regents’ Professor at ASU, who first taught the class.”
Reverse attribution: Don’t do it, unless there is additional information about the speaker that follows. Correct examples include:
- "I always leave at 5 p.m.," Smith says.
- "I always leave at 5 p.m.," says Smith, who has been with ASU for 25 years.
“Says,” not “said” : The intent is to put quotes in active terms. This is an exception to Associated Press style. If the quote or reference is to a date-specific instance, then said can be used, but only for that specific reference.
Schools: See "Colleges and schools."
Serial commas: AP style is not to use a comma before the last item in a list.
- Wrong way: "Red, white, and blue."
- Right way: "Red, white and blue."
Tag line: The university frequently uses a tag line that summarizes the key concepts in our mission. The preferred presentation of the tag line is:
Excellence. Access. Impact.
Times: Extra zeroes are not necessary for events that start on the hour.
- Wrong: 9:00 a.m.
- Right: 9 a.m.
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University: On first reference, use the full name of the college (note the dash in the middle). Second and later references can refer to "the college" or "the College of Medicine."
Web site: Uppercase "W," and two words. (This is in the AP Stylebook.)