Editorial Style Guide

Publishers Notes: Coming to a university system near you.

In general, the Amherst College Office of Communications follows the Associated Press Stylebook for its publications. The style guide below covers points that are of particular concern at Amherst, as well as exceptions we make to AP style.

abbreviations / acronyms / initialisms Many offices, departments, centers, student organizations, etc. come to be known by shortened names (e.g., the Center for Humanistic Inquiry becomes “the CHI”; the Department of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought becomes “LJST”; Valentine Dining Hall becomes “Val”). These abbreviations can be useful, but be aware that readers might not automatically understand what they mean, especially if the readers or the organizations are new to the Amherst community. Always use the full name on first reference, and introduce an abbreviation only if that abbreviation is going to appear later in the document.

academic degrees  Lowercase degrees: “bachelor’s degree,” “bachelor of arts” and “doctorate,” for example.

academic titles  Whenever practical, use a faculty member’s full official title on first reference. Endowed professorships are always capitalized; other titles are capitalized only when they appear immediately before a person’s name (e.g., “Rhonda Cobham-Sander, the Emily C. Jordan Folger Professor of Black Studies and English”; “Associate Professor of Biology Josef Trapani”; “Josef Trapani, associate professor of biology”). Do not abbreviate “Professor” as “Prof.” And, though most Amherst professors have doctorates, we generally use the title “Dr.” only for medical doctors.

accent marks / diacritical characters  Whenever possible, ascertain and use the correct accent marks and punctuation within words and phrases, especially personal names and place names (e.g., Professor Rick López; Professor Klára Móricz; São Paulo, Brazil; University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; “résumé”; “quinceañera”). Be aware that some websites and databases (including Amherst’s own) may omit these marks or display them inconsistently. Try to ask the person directly (if it’s a person’s name), or consult a dictionary, encyclopedia or translation site.

alumna / alumnae / alumnus / alumni /  alum   “Alumna” is the feminine singular term for someone who has attended a school; “alumnae” is its plural, meaning multiple women who have attended a school. “Alumnus” is the masculine singular term. “Alumni” is plural, used for multiple men or for a mixed-gender group (so it does not make sense to refer to an individual as “an alumni”). The shortened, gender-neutral forms “alum” and “alums” can be used in less formal contexts. There is no such thing as “former alumni”; use simply “alumni” or “former students.”

Amherst (magazine) The title of the College’s quarterly magazine is simply Amherst (italicized, as all magazine titles are). The title does not include words such as Magazine, Quarterly, Alumni, Bulletin or Notes.

and / &  In general, spell out the word “and” rather than using “&” (e.g., “Department of Theater and Dance”; “Archives and Special Collections”; “peanut butter and jelly”). Exceptions are when the official title of an organization, product, business, book, film, etc. includes “&” (e.g., Procter & Gamble; Roger & Me), or when the ampersand is useful for clarity (e.g., “She is a double major in law, jurisprudence & social thought and theater & dance”).

Art and the History of Art  What used to be called the Department of Fine Arts, and then the Department of Art and Art History, is now known as the Department of Art and the History of Art. 

artist-in-residence / playwright-in-residence / writer-in-residence So hyphenated.

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