The SMPH Editorial Style Guide serves as a reference for school communicators, providing guidance on elements of style that are specific to the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. The goal is to help ensure consistency and uphold our brand.
The list of rules included here is not intended to be a comprehensive list. These UW–Madison preferred references are the primary guides for rules of usage and spelling:
- UW Editorial Style Guide
- UW Health Writing Style Guide
- Chicago Manual of Style (non-news comms; NetID login)
- Associated Press Stylebook (news comms; subscription)
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Questions or Suggestions?
Contact us at communications@med.wisc.edu
SMPH Editorial Style Guide
References to specific sections within the Chicago Manual of Style are expressed in this guide as, e.g., CMS 9.35.
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| Category | Term | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| dates and times | a.m., p.m. | lowercase with periods (also see times) |
| acronyms, names and terms | abbreviations, acronyms, initialisms | limit less familiar abbreviations (requires NetID login) to terms that occur frequently enough to warrant abbreviation; if text is linked, include acronyms with the link (e.g., Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP)); do not use the before acronyms (WPP, not the WPP; NACHP, not the NACHP) |
| people and titles | academic titles, appointments | see academic titles. Appointments are tied to departments, not divisions (e.g., professor of medicine, not professor of infectious disease). In online directories, don’t list the department or school if it is already implied by the website (e.g., med.wisc.edu doesn’t need “UW School of Medicine and Public Health”; surgery.wisc.edu doesn’t need “Department of Surgery”). For multiple titles, place each title directly before its affiliated unit (e.g., “Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience; Researcher, Waisman Center”). If all levels must be listed, use this order: department, division, school. |
| commonly confused | affect vs. effect | affect is usually a verb meaning to influence, while effect is a noun meaning the result of a change ("this affected his quality of life" vs. "the effect of the drug is still being investigated") |
| commonly confused | alternately vs. alternatively | alternately refers to things happening in succession or taking turns, while alternatively is used to introduce another option or possibility ("We could go to the park; alternatively, we could stay home and watch a movie.") |
| acronyms, names and terms | alumni | see alumnus, alumna, alumni, alumnae |
| punctuation | ampersand | the ampersand (&) is not a substitute for "and;" use it only when an entity includes it as part of its official name, or in web navigation where length is important |
| commonly confused | assure vs. ensure vs. insure | assure means to reassure, ensure means to make certain, and insure means to provide insurance |
| dates and times | biannual, biennial, semiannual | biannual means twice a year and is a synonym for semiannual; biennial means every two years |
| dates and times | bimonthly, biweekly, semimonthly, semiweekly | bimonthly means every other month; biweekly means every other week; semimonthly means twice a month; semiweekly means twice a week |
| formatting and typography | bold, italics | avoid excessive use of bold and italicized text; boldface the colon if you've boldfaced the words before it |
| content guidance | bulleted information | regardless of the style chosen for a document — complete sentences or not, end punctuation or not, an initial cap on the first word of each bulleted item or not, and the like — remain consistent throughout that particular document or web page. If a second sentence is added to an item — which drives end punctuation on the first sentence — then all items in the bulleted list should have end punctuation. Be consistent with verb tense for each list item. |
| acronyms, names and terms | campus names (Universities of Wisconsin); System campuses | see campus names |
| hyphenate or don't | campuswide | campuswide is one word; also citywide, countywide, nationwide, statewide, systemwide, worldwide, but university-wide |
| commonly confused | capital vs. capitol | a capital is a city that is the seat of government or known for its eminence in a particular field (fashion capital); a capitol is a building where a legislature meets; lowercase capitol when referring generically to Wisconsin’s state capitol building, but the building in Washington, DC, is the Capitol |
| capitalization | capitalization | see capitalization; In general, avoid excessive capitalization, particularly with titles. Directory staff listings are an exception to the "avoid capitalizing titles" rule. In a simple listing (name, title, contact information) that appears in a website staff directory, a magazine masthead, an annual report or similar, titles ARE capitalized. Do not capitalize the names of specialties ("he studied otolaryngology"), residency rotations, or procedures ("he provides services including airway dilation"). |
| people and titles | chair (title) | not chairman; chair of dermatology, chair of the board |
| acronyms, names and terms | cities | see cities to determine whether to include a state or country name after the city name |
| punctuation | commas, serial comma, oxford comma | for web communications and news, avoid the serial, or Oxford, comma, even after three or more items in a series (you may use a comma after the second item if not doing so would cause confusion), for complex lists with commas within items, use semi colons to separate items |
| commonly confused | compliment vs. complement | compliment means to praise, while complement means to complete or enhance |
| capitalization | course names | names of courses are capitalized, but not the word “course” or “series” after the name |
| people and titles | credentials | do not use periods (MD, PhD, etc.; not M.D., Ph.D.); only MD, MBBS, and DO should be Dr. on first reference Use the person's last name (without the "Dr.") after the first reference; in news posts, do not list credentials after name, e.g., John Smith, PhD.; instead, credentials can be incorporated into story: "Smith holds a PhD in plant biology ...." |
| punctuation | dashes | see em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens |
| commonly confused | data | plural when referring to a collection of individual units: "the data come from different sources;" singular when referred to as a unit: "the data is sound" |
| dates and times | dates | use a comma after a date that includes the year: Students must submit an application by March 3, 2019, to be eligible for the program; do not use a comma with a month and year if there is no date included: fall 2019, March 2020; do not abbreviate months or use ordinal numbers (such as first, third, etc.). Correct: Meeting dates are March 5, 12 and 19; see also CMS 6.38 |
| dates and times | decades | examples are the nineties, the 1980s and 1990s, the 1980s and ’90s; for the first decade of a century use, e.g., years 2000–2009, not 2000s or ’00s; for the second decade of a century use, e.g., second decade or 2010s; see also CMS 9.33 |
| capitalization | degrees | In staff/faculty bios, do not capitalize degrees; instead, say "master of public health, master's degree, bachelor of arts, bachelor's degree, doctorate in cellular biology, etc." See degrees |
| acronyms, names and terms | degrees, academic degrees, credentials | see degrees; In running text, use bachelor’s degree, bachelor of arts degree, bachelor of science in physics, master’s degree, master of science, doctorate; all lowercase |
| capitalization | departments, divisions | capitalize when used as part of a complete, formal, and official name:; lowercase when used as an informal name, generically, or casually as a descriptors; see departments. References to divisions should always include the department name. |
| commonly confused | different from, different than | Always use "different from" |
| formatting and typography | directional language (web and digital) | avoid directional language, such as “see the box on the right”, “read below to learn more”, “the following instructions”, “as mentioned above” — directional language is not relevant to those using screen readers and can change on mobile devices (the “box on the right” might be above or below when viewed on a phone) |
| content guidance | disabilities (coverage of) | see disabilities (coverage of) |
| capitalization | diseases | check capitalization for each; eponymous diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and Lyme disease) are capitalized while others like diabetes and cardiovascular disease are not |
| content guidance | doctor, dr. | only MD, MBBS, and DO should be Dr. on first reference; use the person's last name (without the "Dr.") after the first reference |
| hyphenate or don't | dual degree program | one word, no hyphen (not dual-degree program) |
| commonly confused | e.g., vs. i.e., | E.g., means "for example." Use periods between letters and a comma after the "g" —do not add etc. to the end of a list of examples beginning with "e.g.,". Use i.e. for "in other words" or "that is." Use periods between letters and a comma after the "e" (i.e. is not for listing examples - use e.g., for that) |
| one word or two | eldercare | one word |
| punctuation | ellipses | Put a space between the word and the ellipsis points: word#…#word; word#…; or complete sentence.#…#complete sentence. See also CMS 13.50–13.58. |
| punctuation | em dashes, pauses | An em dash sets off an amplifying or explanatory element, separates a subject or series of subjects, or indicates a sudden break in thought or sentence structure: "We will fly to Paris — if I get a raise." Put a space before and after the em dash, which is an exception to Chicago style. Do not use a pair of hyphens to create an em dash. See also en dashes, hyphens, and CMS 6.85–6.92. |
| hyphenate or don't | do not hyphenate email, but hyphenate e-book, e-business, e-commerce, e-newsletter | |
| acronyms, names and terms | emeriti | see emeritus, emerita, emeriti, emeritae, emerit |
| punctuation | en dashes | see en dashes |
| one word or two | endpoint | one word |
| formatting and typography | etc. | if a list begins with "for example" or "including," then etc. or "and more" is implied and does not need to be added to the end |
| commonly confused | every day (adverb); everyday (adjective) | open when used as adverb ("we go every day"); closed when used as adjective ("useful for everyday life") |
| punctuation | exclamation points | avoid excessive use |
| formatting and typography | file names | use all caps and no periods for, e.g., PDF, JPEG, DOCX, if linking files on the web, include the file type in the link: "example (PDF)" to comply with accessibility requirements |
| hyphenate or don't | file share | options when writing about sharing files: file share (noun); file-share (adjective); share files (verb) |
| hyphenate or don't | first-come, first-served | use hyphens and separate with a comma |
| hyphenate or don't | follow up, follow-up | open when used as a verb ("we will follow up on this"); hyphenated when used as noun or adjective ("the follow-up procedure was thorough," "the follow-up will begin soon") |
| hyphenate or don't | full time | open when used as adverb ("She works full time"); hyphenated when used as an adjective ("That is a full-time job") |
| commonly confused | further vs. farther | people use both further and farther to mean “more distant.” However, American English speakers favor farther for physical distances and further for figurative distances |
| one word or two | grantmaking | one word |
| formatting and typography | headings, titles | for headings of news articles on med.wisc.edu, capitalize only the first word, proper nouns or abbreviations (sentence case) and make all other words lowercase; for page content and Quarterly posts, use title case (capitalize my title); avoid defining acronyms or listing credentials in headings |
| hyphenate or don't | health care | two words, even when used as a compound modifier, not healthcare or health-care unless it is part of a company or institutional name (e.g., Hillside Healthcare International Foundation or GE Healthcare) |
| acronyms, names and terms | health professions student | not health professional student |
| one word or two | homepage | one word |
| formatting and typography | hyperlinks / linked text | linked text must be meaningful on its own ("Learn more about Dr. Liu's research") because screen readers can tab through links on the page; it's also easier for sighted users to scan. Do not simply use “Read more”, “Learn more”, “Click here” for text links |
| hyphenate or don't | hyphens | see hyphens, em dashes, en dashes; hyphens should be added only if doing so will prevent a misreading or otherwise significantly aid comprehension |
| capitalization | internet | lowercase |
| content guidance | jargon, industry speak | avoid jargon, use plain language |
| one word or two | kickoff, kick off | kickoff (noun or adjective), kick off (verb) |
| formatting and typography | Latin terms | Do not italicize in utero, in vitro, in vivo, summa cum laude, alma mater. Latin terms are generally not italicized, unless they are unfamiliar or not commonly used in English. Terms are considered common if they are listed in Merriam Webster dictionary. AP does not use italics for scientific or biological names, such as bacteria or viruses. Capitalize the first, or generic, Latin name for the class of plant or animal and lowercase the species that follows (e.g., Helicobacter pylori, or H. pylori on second reference). |
| commonly confused | less vs. fewer | generally, fewer is used when a number of things can be counted ("fewer problems") and less is used when an amount is measured ("less trouble" or "less time"); use less with percentages (they are a measure of a whole) |
| formatting and typography | lists | for ordered lists, use numerals with periods rather than numerals with parentheses; be consistent about capitalizing the first word of a new line or not; use a colon to introduce a list or series: The menu lists three kinds of dessert: pie, cake, and pudding; use a colon or period after other statements introducing lists |
| one word or two | livestream, livestreaming | one word |
| one word or two | login | login, logon, logoff (noun or adjective); log in, log on, log off (verbs) |
| one word or two | masterclass | one word |
| content guidance | matriculate, matriculating | avoid these words and use plain language: admitted, enrolled, registered, entering class |
| capitalization | MD Statewide Campus | Statewide Campus and Statewide Academic Campus should always be capitalized when referencing the MD Statewide Campus |
| capitalization | medical procedures | do not capitalize medical procedures (e.g., vasectomy, heart transplant) unless they are eponymous (e.g., Mohs surgery, Whipple procedure) |
| people and titles | middle initials | in general, do not use a middle initial unless the person is adamant about including it or it appears in the official name of an endowment, foundation, award, scholarship, or the like. When used, put a period after the initial: Mike W. Smith |
| hyphenate or don't | non-supplanting | hyphenate always |
| hyphenate or don't | noninvasive | one word, no hyphen (not non-invasive) |
| hyphenate or don't | nonprofit | one word, no hyphen (not non-profit) |
| acronyms, names and terms | OB-GYN | all caps and hyphen |
| hyphenate or don't | off campus | off campus (adverb), off-campus (adjective) |
| hyphenate or don't | on campus | on campus (adverb), on-campus (adjective) |
| hyphenate or don't | one-time vs. onetime | one-time refers to something that happened only once; onetime means former |
| one word or two | online | one word |
| dates and times | ordinals, superscripts, subscripts | do not use superscripts and subscripts in dates: March 16, not March 16th; but may use when not a date: the 16th annual symposium |
| hyphenate or don't | part time | open for adverb ("she works part time"); closed for adjective ("she has a part-time job") |
| punctuation | percentages | except at the beginning of a sentence, percentages are usually expressed in numerals; in nontechnical contexts, the word percent is generally used; in scientific and statistical copy, the symbol % is more common (note that less rather than fewer may be used with percentages). For a percentage range, 12% to 15%, 12%–15% and between 12% and 15% are all acceptable |
| formatting and typography | phone numbers | include the area code when the audience is off campus; separate the area code from the number with a hyphen in all usages: 608-123-4567 |
| content guidance | photo captions | use parentheses, not phrases to identify people in photos: Jason Brown ’86 (left) and Martin Nelson ’87, not Jason Brown ’86 on the left, and Martin Nelson ’87; see also captions |
| hyphenate or don't | postdoc, postdoctoral, predoctoral, postgraduate | one word, no hyphen (not post doc or post-doc) |
| hyphenate or don't | pre-med, premedical | pre-med (hyphenate), premedical (do not hyphenate) |
| commonly confused | preventive medicine | not preventative |
| hyphenate or don't | primary care | two words, always, do not hyphenate |
| capitalization | principal investigator, PI, co-PI | capitalize "principal investigator" if those words describe someone's role ("He is Principal Investigator for an NIDCD R33." ) Otherwise, if used generically, it's lowercase ("The principal investigator will analyze the data.") Avoid the acronym PI — spell out the term. Say "The co-principal investigator will analyze the data" and "The co-investigator will analyze the data." If it's part of a person's role, say "He is Co-investigator for an NIDCD R33" or "He is Co-principal Investigator for an NIDCD R33." |
| commonly confused | principal vs. principle | principal refers to the head of a school or a sum of money, while principle means a fundamental truth or belief |
| capitalization | program | do not capitalize the "p" when describing an academic program (MD program, not MD Program). MSTP is an exception because Program is part of the official name. For non-academic, branded identities (such as WMAA Stethoscope Program), the "p" may be capitalized |
| content guidance | pull quotes | if adding a styled quote (pull quote, block quote) to a news post, place it near and preferably before the inline version of the quote. Styled quote does not replace inline quote and should not be placed next to other quotes |
| acronyms, names and terms | R&D | use when referring to research and development work, departments, or efforts; no space before or after the ampersand |
| punctuation | ranges (date ranges, dollar ranges) | use an en dash with no spaces on either side to indicate spans of time or ranges: Jan–Feb, $1–$10 (keep sign before each number), March 2–10, 2024 (list month and year only once if shared by both dates).; when connecting years with "from," also use the word "to," not an en dash: from 1980 to 1986. For a percentage range, 12% to 15%, 12%–15% and between 12% and 15% are all acceptable |
| hyphenate or don't | reapply | one word, no hyphen (not re-apply) |
| capitalization | regions | don't capitalize southern, northern, central, western, eastern, north-central (hyphenate), south-central (hyphenate) when used on their own or before Wisconsin (don't say "North-Central Wisconsin," but rather "north-central Wisconsin") |
| capitalization | residency, fellowship | do not capitalize the names of specialties or residency rotations. Do not capitalize “residency program” or “fellowship program.” Do not capitalize "fellow" when used alone ("He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons") |
| content guidance | said, says | use "said," not "says" when quoting sources in news stories and other write-ups of school happenings |
| acronyms, names and terms | School of Medicine and Public Health; SMPH (no the) | first mention (per web page or per document): University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; following mentions: UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Do not use Madison with the school’s name (we are a Statewide Campus). SMPH can be used for internal communications only; don't use SMPH in external communications. Don't use UWSMPH or UW-SMPH. Do not say "the SMPH" or use "the" before any acronyms. |
| capitalization | seasons | lower case seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) when using in a sentence: The summer semester seems long but there is a break before fall semester. |
| hyphenate or don't | tenure-track, CT-track and CHS-track | hyphenate when used as an adjective, not when used as a noun (tenure-track positions, they are on a tenure track) |
| dates and times | times | see times; use figures (8 p.m., 4 a.m.) except for noon (12 p.m.) and midnight (12 a.m.); do not include a colon or minutes if the time is exactly on the hour (11 a.m., but 3:30 p.m.) |
| acronyms, names and terms | Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH) | TRIUMPH is an urban training track within the MD program. Since this is a branded term, consider when "urban medicine" or "urban MD program" may be more meaningful to the target audience. |
| capitalization | tribe | lower case, but in general say "tribal community," as in "Wisconsin's 11 federally recognized American Indian nations and tribal communities." Following this same rule, do not capitalize "tribal" when used in other general contexts, such as "We maintain tribal partnerships across the state" or "The role of a tribal elder…" or "tribal history." Capitalize "tribe" when using the word as part of a name: "He is a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin" |
| acronyms, names and terms | U.S., United States | Use periods in the abbreviation |
| commonly confused | under way (adverb); underway (adjective) | open when used as an adverb (the operation was under way); closed when used as an adjective (usually limited to nautical setting, as in "an underway flotilla") |
| formatting and typography | underlining | on the web, underlining is only used to indicate a link; do not use underlining for emphasis |
| acronyms, names and terms | Universities of Wisconsin, UW System Board of Regents | See Universities of Wisconsin (formerly UW System) and the UW System Board of Regents. While the Universities of Wisconsin is the preferred name for the collective of the 13 four-year campuses, the entity’s legal name remains the University of Wisconsin System. |
| acronyms, names and terms | University of Wisconsin–Madison, the | use an en dash rather than a hyphen between University of Wisconsin and Madison. Spell out on first reference in external publications or publications that will be read widely off campus. UW–Madison (with an en dash, not a hyphen) is acceptable in external publications and in all internal communications. Do not use "the" with UW–Madison. Also acceptable on second reference are the UW and the university (when the context is clearly UW–Madison). See the UW Editorial Style Guide for more. |
| capitalization | university, school, center, institute, program | capitalize only as part of a formal title on first reference; always lowercase on second reference |
| formatting and typography | URL | stands for Uniform Resource Locator (e.g., http://www.wisc.edu/pubs/ug/index.html, which is typically shortened wisc.edu/pubs/ug) see also website (URL) addresses |
| acronyms, names and terms | UW–Madison (no "the") | do not use "the" before UW–Madison |
| one word or two | web terms | website, the web, web page, web feed, webcam, webcast, webmaster, online, homepage, intranet (all lowercase) |
| hyphenate or don't | well-being | hyphenate always |
| commonly confused | which vs. that | use "that" with restrictive clauses, which can't be omitted without changing the meaning of a sentence (e.g., “the poem that I wrote won first place”). Use "which" with nonrestrictive clauses, which add information about a noun but aren't necessary to the sentence (e.g., “my dog, which is a poodle, loves to play fetch.) |
| acronyms, names and terms | Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM); WARMeRR | say "WARM" rather than "the WARM program" (WARM is an academy); full name uses "for," not "of"; WARMeRR stands for "Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine excellence in Rural Residencies." Since these are branded terms, consider when "rural medicine" or "rural MD program" may be more meaningful to the target audience |
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