Typographic formats

These should be in italics, unless they have become common English usage, such as:

  pro bono; petit bourgeois; a priori; elite; regime; et al.; etc.; ibid.

NOTE that accents are retained in such words only where they are necessary for pronunciation:

  café; cliché; protégé

Foreign newspaper titles are italicised, including the definite article:

  Le Monde, Die Welt

Whether or not to spell out numbers or express in numerals depends partly on the length of the piece. In longer prose, spell out numbers one to nine; use numerals for 10 upwards, unless the number starts the sentence, in which case it should be spelled out. Do not mix the two styles within a paragraph when they refer to the same category:

• Twenty students were present at the lecture

• There were 20 students present

• At least 8 of the 20 students were not concentrating

• Eight of the twenty students were not concentrating

• In general, 8 or 10 students were present at all three lectures

In the last example listed, numerals are used for one category, and the number is spelled out for the other category: this is acceptable.

Shorten number extents, including in dates:

  24–5, 106–7; 245–54; 1980–91; 2006–7

(NOTE the en rule)

NOTE that numbers in the group 10 to 19 are not shortened:

  16–19; 112–14; 310–11

NOTE that in titles and headings, dates are generally not shortened:

  The Life of Charles Dickens, 1837–1896

Spans in bc years are not shortened (NOTE the small caps rule):

  190–155 bc

(190–55 bc is a century longer)

When specifying a range use either  ‘from xxx to xxx’, or ‘xxx–xxx’

• The period from 1910 to 1940

• The period between 1910 and 1940

• BUT: The period 1910–40

DO NOT USE: The period from 1910–40

NOTE that the financial year uses a solidus, not an en rule:

• The financial year 2007/8

• The academic year 2007–8
  

Use figures for measurements attached to units:

  5kg; 10oz

Use figures for ages:

  The 5-year-old boy

PERCENTAGES: use ‘per cent’ in longer prose, % in tables and figures and in shorter pieces or where space is tight. Whichever is used, be consistent and adopt the same system throughout the text.

Always use numerals, not words, for percentages and fractions:

  50%; 50 per cent; 2.5%; 2.5 per cent

MONEY
In longer prose, ‘£50 million’, ‘£1 billion’ should be spelled out. In shorter pieces and captions, or where there is more than one column on the page, these can be expressed as ‘£50m’ and ‘£1bn’.

TIME:

  9am, 10.30am, 6–7pm

(NOTE the en rule). Or use the 24-hour clock:

  19.00. 13.50.

SPACING
Insert a single space in the following instances:

  p. 5, pp. 16–25, 250 bc, ad 950

Do not insert a space in the following:

9am, 3.30pm, 3lb, 7kg, 25cm. $4m, 25%

(BUT 25 per cent)

Give in full at the first use, unless the abbreviation or acronym is so familiar that this is clearly unnecessary (e.g., BBC, DNA, USA)

Most acronyms should be written without full stops:

  BBC, TUC, BLitt, USA, PhD

Where the abbreviation is partially or wholly lower case, no full stop is needed if the final letter of the abbreviation is also the final letter of the full word:

  Mr  Dr  Ltd 

Where the abbreviation is all lower case, the full stop is increasingly omitted:

  mph  plc  am  pm  oz  lb

NOTE these exceptions:

  e.g.  i.e.  p.  pp.  ch. (BUT chs)  no. (BUT nos)

Use a full stop in these cases:

  ibid.  et al.

(NOT et. al. Also note that et al. is NOT italicised)

Do not use in initials, which should be spaced:

  Dr A J Smith; S M Barney; Crankers, O J; Thomas M Jones

Do not use a full stop at the end of picture captions or at the end of headings.

When an abbreviation can be pronounced (NATO, UNESCO), the definite article is not necessary. Where it can’t be pronounced (the BBC, the USA), include the definite article. 

Use sparingly in prose. The University is capitalised when referring specifically to Oxford, but not when used generally:

  The University has existed for 900 years; this is longer than most universities.

University faculties, departments, colleges, etc. are capitalised only when they form part of a title:

  The buildings of St Catherine’s College were designed by Jacobsen, giving the college a modern feel.

  Most students have lectures in departments and tutorials in colleges; my lectures are in the Chemistry Department.

  Many colleges were open to the public on Saturday; Wadham and Corpus Christi Colleges were open on Sunday too.

Note the capitalisation of University terms:

  Michaelmas term, Hilary term, Trinity term

Do not capitalise seasons: summer, winter, spring, autumn

Present as day/month/year, with no punctuation:

  25 July 2007

If the name of the day is also included, insert comma, thus:

  Thursday, 12 July 2009

In narrative, ‘on the 10th’ is acceptable

Do not use an apostrophe when referring to a period:

  In the 1960s, hair was longer

In longer prose,

‘the fourteenth century’, ‘the twentieth century’

should be spelled out. In shorter pieces (especially where there is more than one column on the page) and picture captions, it can be expressed:

  ‘the 14th century’, ‘the 20th century’, etc.

Do not use:  '14^th century’, ‘20^th century’, etc.

(i.e. no superscript).

bc and ad should be in small capitals. bc follows the date; ad precedes it:

  250 bc; ad 950

Circa should be written as:

   c.2008  

i.e. italic c. with full stop, and no space before the date 

Subheadings are useful for breaking up text, but limit the number of levels to a maximum of three.

When submitting text make sure that the different levels are clearly distinguished, either by typing them in different ways or by coding them as A, B or C in the margin so the designer can distinguish between them.

Use initials capitals sparingly in headings; as a general rule, use initial capital for the first word and proper nouns only. 

Use upper case for ranks and titles when it is attached to a name or when referring to a particular person:

  the Vice-Chancellor, President Sarkozy, the Prime Minister

In prose, use the title and full name (forename and surname) of a person at the first mention. Thereafter, the surname only can be used, or the title and surname. Whichever system is adopted should be used throughout:

   Dr John Smith was present at the ceremony, as was Professor Susan Jones. Dr Smith had to leave early.

   Dr John Smith and Professor Susan Jones presented their research paper to a large audience. The results will be published in book form, which, says Smith, will be available in the spring.

For a person with a knighthood or who is a Dame and also a professor, the method of address is:

  Professor Sir John Smith; Professor Dame Susan Jones

The shorter version would be:

  Sir John OR Professor Smith; Dame Susan OR Professor Jones

NOTE:

  Lord Patten; Lady Jones

NOT Lord Chris; Lady Susan

For the purposes of print, the leading http:// should be omitted from URLs (although there is an exception to this rule – see below).

Do not include a trailing slash in URLs

  www.ox.ac.uk

NOT www.ox.ac.uk/

  www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford

NOT www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/

The same applies to subdirectories several layers down:

  www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/awardwinners

NOT www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/awardwinners/

and to an URL that points directly to a page (i.e. ends in .shtml):

  www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/history.shtml

NOT www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/history.shtml/

NOTE: Occasionally an URL will not start with www. – in these instances, the leading http:// should be included (without the www.):

   http://alumni.balliol.ox.ac.uk

NOT www.alumni.balliol.ox.ac.uk

NOT http://www.alumni.balliol.ox.ac.uk  

Regardless of how an email address is supplied, use lowercase throughout:

john.smith@admin.ox.ac.uk 

Use initial capitals when referring to a specific college:

  Magdalen College, Corpus Christi College, New College.

The word ‘College’ can be omitted in many cases:

  She attended a lecture at Magdalen / Corpus Christi / Wadham / Queen’s

NOTE these exceptions, where ‘College’  must be included:

 She is a fellow of New College / Jesus College

ALSO NOTE:

  The Queen’s College; Christ Church (NOT Christ Church College)

When used on its own, ‘college’ is lower case (see above):

  She is an undergraduate at Balliol College. Her room in the college is on the ground floor.