Editorial Style Guide

This style guide is meant to promote consistency and clarity for how we write for our internal and external audiences. Creating a unified editorial voice strongly aligns with our visual brand guidelines to ensure our reputation, how we present ourselves, and how we’re perceived are consistent.

In general, we follow the VIU editorial style guide. For questions regarding spelling, grammar, and punctuation not covered in this document we adhere to guidelines set out in The Canadian Oxford Dictionary and The Canadian Press Stylebook.

This guide is not intended to be used for specialized writing such as academic essays, other scholarly texts, or thesis presentations. It is also not intended for social media writing as those platforms have more informal writing styles.

Any style guide, this one included, is a work in progress. As language and usage change, this guide will evolve.

Table of contents

Audience and voice

VIU’s audiences range from students and employees to government officials, community members, and funders.

Use plain language. Plain language, sometimes referred to as plain English, is clear and concise. It avoids complex language, jargon, and obscure terms. It makes your content easier to read, understand, and improves accessibility. If you need to use complex scientific terms, define them or provides examples in your text.

Use the active voice (subject-verb-object). Passive voice (object-verb-subject) and excessive wordiness can confuse readers.

Use:

  • The students attended a graduation ceremony.

Avoid:

  • The graduation ceremony was attended by the students.

Abbreviations and acronyms

Abbreviations

Avoid periods for provincial abbreviations.

Use:

  • BC

Avoid:

  • B.C.

For clarity, spell out common abbreviations.  

Use:

  • barbecue

Avoid:

  • BBQ

Use periods for lowercase abbreviations.

  • a.k.a.

Use periods when abbreviating places.

  • Rd., Blvd., Ave., Bldg.

Use periods when abbreviating titles.

  • Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr.

Latin abbreviations

Avoid using e.g. and i.e. These abbreviations can be misunderstood. Instead use such as, like, or for example.

Acronyms

To avoid confusion, always spell out the acronym the first time you use it and put the acronym in parentheses. For example:

  • Vancouver Island University (VIU) is now offering an Early Child Education and Care (ECEC) program.

Acronyms can be barriers to clear communication. Avoid overusing them. Instead use a simple word or phrase that helps readers remember what you are talking about. For example, for the Early Child Education and Care program you could use “the program” in later references. Or if you are discussing the Survey Management Committee (SMC) you can use “committee” for following references instead of SMC.

Acronyms that are common words may be used. For example:

  • Radar
  • Scuba
  • RCMP
  • GPS

Capitalization

A focus on ensuring text is accessible to all readers is leading organizations to shift away from more formal styles to one using less punctuation and capitalization. This is because:

  • Overcapitalization creates reader fatigue.
  • Lowercase copy is easier to read.
  • Too much capitalization minimizes the impact of its use.

Lowercase does not diminish the importance or credibility of an individual’s position or a department’s reputation.

General rules of capitalization

Capitalize all proper nouns, names of government and university departments, trade names, names of associations, clubs, religions, languages, nations, races, addresses, and places.

Avoid capitalizing the first letter in a bullet point when the point is a sentence fragment. Capitalize the first letter in a bullet point when it is the first letter in a sentence.

Avoid using all capital letters to emphasize a word. Assistive technology can interpret capital letters as an acronym and will read it out letter-by-letter, which decreases accessibility.

Courses, departments, programs, diplomas, and certificates

Capitalize the formal names of university departments, programs, or committees that distinguish it from others. Avoid capitalizing the words program, committee, or department.

  • Hospitality Management program
  • Instructional Management committee
  • Criminology department

We capitalize the name of an academic discipline when it includes a course number. For example:

  • Criminology 101

Course codes are upper case. For example:

  • GEOG 101
  • PSYC 210
  • NURS 100

Avoid capitalizing the name of an academic discipline when referring to the subject generally, except when it is also a culture, religion, or language.

  • The students are taking criminology.
  • You should take a criminology course.
  • The student is taking an English course.

Degrees

Use lowercase and apostrophes when describing degrees in their long form. However, capitalize a subject that is a culture, religion, or language.

  • The student earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and is working towards a master’s degree.
  • The student holds a bachelor’s degree in English.

Capitalize the formal names of degrees and the major and minor area of study that directly follows it.

  • The student is receiving a Bachelor of Arts, major in History.
  • The student is completing a Bachelor of Science, major in Earth Sciences

Geographic regions

Capitalize geographic areas when referring to widely recognized geographic or political regions. For example:

  • The West Coast of Canada has beautiful scenery.

Avoid capitalizing when you are referring to more generalized locations. For example:

  • The west coast of Vancouver Island.

Headline capitalization

Capitalize the first letter in the first word of the headline. All other words should be lowercase unless they are proper nouns.

Seasons

Seasons are always lowercase.

  • The fall and spring work-op job postings are now available online.

Semesters

Capitalize seasons when referring to academic semesters. For example:

  • Fall Semester
  • Spring Semester
  • Summer Session

Species names

Lowercase the names of birds, animals, fish, and trees unless they are a proper noun. For example:

  • Douglas fir
  • Vancouver Island marmot
  • northern flicker
  • sea otter

Titles

Capitalize an academic or formal title when it precedes or follows a person’s name.

  • President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Deborah Saucier
  • Dr. Deborah Saucier, President and Vice-Chancellor

Capitalize the word professor and the discipline the individual teaches when the title appears as below:

  • VIU Chemistry Professor Jane Doe
  • John Doe, a VIU English Professor

Indigenous titles, such as Elder should always be capitalized.

Lowercase occupational titles preceding a name.

  • Several people contributed to the report, including attorney Jane Doe and librarian John Doe.

Dates and times

Dates

Do not use ordinal suffixes: st, nd, rd, th.

Use:

  • March 13, 2019

Avoid:

  • March 13th, 2019

When indicating the month and year only, avoid commas.

Use:

  • February 1993

Avoid:

  • February, 1993

If there is a specific day indicated, use a comma. For example:

  • February 19, 2019

Write decades without an apostrophe.

Use:

  • 1960s

Avoid:

  • 1960’s

Times

Use lowercase and avoid periods for the abbreviated Latin modifiers ante meridiem and post meridiem, commonly known as am and pm.

Use:

  • 4 pm

Avoid:

  • 4 p.m.

Avoid extra zeroes in times you can shorten to one numeral.

Use:

  • 3 pm

Avoid:

  • 3:00 pm

For clarity, you can use noon and midnight but avoid 12 noon or 12 midnight.
Use the word “to” when writing out times. An en dash may be used if there are space constraints such as on social media, in tables, and charts.

  • The Welcome Centre is open from 8:30 am to 4 pm.
  • The event runs from 1:30 to 2:30 pm.

Time Zones

Capitalize Atlantic, Newfoundland, and Pacific time zones when spelled out. Lowercase other times zones such as eastern, mountain, and central.

Use Pacific time if you are including the time zone for a clock time instead of Pacific standard time (PST) and Pacific daylight time (PDT). Pacific standard time is observed from early November to mid-March and Pacific daylight time is observed from mid-March to early November. These two terms can sometimes be mixed up and used incorrectly.

Academic year

Use a hyphen for the academic year not a backslash.

Use:

  • 2021-22

Avoid

  • 2021/22

Inclusive language

At VIU, we strive to foster an inclusive, supportive environment for all people. As communicators, we have a responsibility to foster inclusion into every text and publication we oversee.

A few guiding principles:

  • Use person-centered language.
  • Be respectful of a person or group’s preference regarding vocabulary and be guided in your writing by that preference.
  • Remember there is a difference between respectful and appropriate language for those belonging to a group (in-group) and those who don’t belong (out-group). For example, a person may have reclaimed a once-derogatory term and may now use this term. The same term, however, may offend when used by someone from outside that specific community.
  • Anticipate a diverse audience and make conscious efforts to reflect that diversity in written work and images. Take into consideration the different cultural, ethnic, religious, or racial backgrounds your audience may have, as well as the different ages, gender and sexual orientations, and disabilities – visible or not – of all people.
  • Avoid using descriptors that refer to a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age, unless those descriptors are relevant to the story. For example, noting that an individual uses a wheelchair is appropriate in a news story on accessibility concerns on campus.

Writers also need to be aware that preferred terms change over time and as language evolves. If you are unsure about how to proceed with a certain text, please seek advice and contact VIU’s Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Office: HumanRights@viu.ca

Abilities/Disabilities

The person – not the disability – should always come first. Use language that conveys a positive message rather than focusing on a person’s limitations or disabilities.
Use the following:

  • a person with a disability; persons with a disability (not people)
  • students/employees/faculty members with a disability
  • a person with cystic fibrosis

The word “disabled” is an adjective, not a noun. Do not use “the disabled.” If it is appropriate, explain a person’s disability instead of focusing on the descriptor “disabled.” For example: “Mary has a neurological condition and uses a wheelchair.”

Avoid labelling or defining people by their disabilities. Do not call a person “a schizophrenic” or a group of persons “the blind.” Write “a person with schizophrenia” or “persons with loss of vision.” Keep in mind, too, that some individuals or groups may dislike the use of certain terms, such as impaired or blind. Use the term preferred by the individual/individuals.

Avoid terms such as handicapped, crazy, crippled, physically challenged, and as noted above, the disabled.

Please also note that chronic conditions and disabilities, including mental illness, are both visible and non-visible. Be sensitive to this and don’t assume that because you don’t know someone is living with a disability that they are not.

Indigenous Peoples

VIU is currently working on an Indigenous language guide.

There are three distinct groups of Indigenous Peoples in Canada: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. At Vancouver Island University, we learn and work on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw, Quw’utsun, Tla’amin, Snaw-naw-as and Qualicum First Nation.

Gender

Choose inclusive, gender-neutral terms rather than gendered terms.

  • humankind, not mankind
  • staffing the office, not manning the office
  • ancestors, not forefathers
  • working hours, not man hours
  • artificial, synthetic or constructed, not manmade
  • emcee, host, not master of ceremonies
  • go-between, intermediary, not middleman

Don’t assume what a person’s pronouns are. Ask what the individual’s pronouns are and use them.

Most occupations/roles need not be gender-defined.

  • chair, not chairman
  • police officer, not policeman/policewoman
  • spokesperson, not spokesman
  • tradesperson, not tradesman

Avoid indicating marital or family status or physical appearance unless relevant and necessary for context. Avoid terms such as husband and wife; instead, use partner or spouse.

Italics

Italicize titles of plays, newspapers, books, journals, reports, albums, magazines, movies, TV shows, radio shows, presentation title names, scientific names, and the names of visual artwork and art exhibitions. Avoid italicizing titles of articles, chapters, or poems. Titles of articles, television or podcast episodes, poems and short stories should be in double quotation marks, not italicized.

Names

For formal communications use the person’s full name on first reference. On following references use their last name only. For more informal communications such as blog articles or social media posts, you are welcome to use a more informal style. Use the person’s full name on first reference. On following references you can choose to reference them by their first name. Include the person’s academic title or university affiliation on first reference or as soon as possible in the text.

Communications and External Affairs is currently working with the Office of Indigenous Education and Engagement to create an Indigenous language guide. In the meantime, use of or placement of Indigenous names before or after are at the individual’s preference.

Numbers

Spell out whole numbers below 10. Use numerals for 10 and above. Always use numerals for currency, grade-point averages and percentages.

When a number is four digits or longer, use a comma.

  • 5,000
  • 10,000
  • 500,000

Use the phrase “more than” not “over” to describe numbers.

  • There were more than 4,000 graduates this year.

Spell out any number that begins a sentence.

  • Thirteen students signed up for the program.

If possible, change the sentence to avoid a number at the beginning.

  • This year, 13 students signed up for the program.

Avoid having two numbers beside each other.

Use:

  • All 25 competitors in the race were 15 years old.

Avoid:

  • There were 25 15-year-olds in the race.

Currency

Always use numerals for currency. Do not use extra zeros.

Use:
$1,000; $1

Avoid:
$1,000.00; $1.00
Use an extra zero if the amount is below $1. For example:

  • $0.50, $0.95

Decimals

Use a zero before a decimal point when the value is less than one.

Measurements

Use the metric system for all measurements. Use the Canadian spelling and lowercase abbreviations. For example:

  • kilometre (km)
  • kilogram (kg)
  • metre (m)
  • millilitre (ml)

The abbreviation for litres should be capitalized to avoid confusion with the number 1.
Use:

  • A 2 L bottle of soda

Put a space between the number and the abbreviation, unless space is an issue, such as in a social media post or inside tables and charts.

Use:

  • 5 km, 20 ml, 9 L

Avoid:

  • 5km, 20ml, 9L

If the number is spelled out, also spell out the metric term.

  • The research site is five kilometres from the Nanaimo campus.

Ordinals

Write out the ordinal if it is a number below 10.

  • third, fifth, sixth

If it is more than one word use the numeral. Do not use superscript, text that makes it smaller than and raised above the number.

Use:

  • The 49th annual festival.

Avoid:

  • The 49th annual festival.

Spell out ordinals when referring to the year of study.

  • Brianne is in her third year of study.

Per cent

Use the word “per cent” and avoid the % sign.

  • More than 70 per cent of students responded.

Use the % sign where space is limited such as graphs, tables, charts, and social media.

Phone numbers

Use a period to separate each block of digits in phone numbers. Best practice is to hyperlink phone numbers appearing on websites which allows people to call the number by clicking on it.

Use:

  • 250.740.6215

Avoid:

  • 250-740-6215

Extensions are to be written as 250.753.3245 Ext. 2055

Punctuation

Ampersands

Use ampersands when included in titles of creative works such as novels, poems, songs, and albums. And use an ampersand when it is part of a formal name for a business or other entities. For example:

  • Johnson and Johnson
  • A&W

Do not use the ampersand instead of the word “and” in names of departments or facilities unless it is part of the official name. Please note, the use of ampersands in official names of departments or facilities at VIU is rare. One exception is:

·      Milner Gardens & Woodland

Avoid using an ampersand instead of the word “and” unless using it in more informal writing where space is limited such as ads, social media, graphs, tables, and charts.

Colons

Use a colon, rather than a comma, to introduce a direct quotation longer than a short sentence. The colon is also used to introduce lists, texts, and tables.

Headings are visually distinctive and don't need a colon at the end to indicate that content follows. Colons inside a heading are acceptable by the same rules that govern colons in any context.

Semicolons

Avoid semicolons if possible. Instead try to use two sentences.

Commas and serial commas

For external-facing communications, including websites, communications to students, families, and organizations, and social media posts, it is preferred to avoid using a serial comma, also called the Oxford comma.

 Use:

  • She ate apples, pears and bananas.

Avoid:

  • She ate apples, pears, and bananas.

Use a serial comma in external communications if its omission might lead to ambiguity or misunderstanding.

  • Tenders were submitted by Jane Development Inc., East End Construction, Blue Moon Construction, and Ryan and Scheper.

For employee communications and internal reports, always use a serial (Oxford) comma.

Em dash

The en dash (–) can sometimes be confused for the em dash (—). Instead of an em dash (—), write shorter sentences.

En dash

To separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence use the en dash (–) with a space on either side. Keep dashes to a minimum. If you can write a shorter sentence.

  • For Mac users, press option plus the minus key for an en dash.
  • For PC users, press control plus the minus key.

Use the word “to” instead of an en dash in a range of numbers, dates and times. For example:

Use:

  • Applications are open from October 1 to March 31.

Avoid:

  • Applications are open from October 1 ­– March 31.

Ellipses

Avoid ellipsis. Instead, use other methods such as paraphrasing or partial quotes.

Hyphens

Use hyphens in compound adjectives that are followed by the noun they modify.

  • third-year student
  • multimillion-dollar project

Use hyphens to join an initial capital with a word.

  • T-shirt, X-ray

Do not use hyphens for words with prefixes unless better clarity is achieved by doing so.

  • prerequisite, coordinator, subcommittee; but re-enrol, part-time, post-secondary.

Initials

There is no space between initials

  • H.l. Mencken
  • C.S. Lewis

Possessives

Singular and plural nouns ending in “s” take an apostrophe alone to indicate a possessive
Use:

  • Hopkins’

Avoid:

  • Hopkins’s

Use:

  • Chris’

Avoid:

  • Chris’s

Quotation marks

Use double quotation marks for direct quotes and reserve single quotation marks for quotations within quotes. The punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks.

Spacing

Use one space, not two spaces, between the end punctuation of one sentence and the beginning of the next sentence.

Spelling and word choice

The following list is a reference for words specific to VIU. It follows the Canadian Oxford Dictionary with a few exceptions. If in doubt, follow the rules and guidelines set out in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

Use the Canadian spelling for “our” words such as colour, behaviour, harbour, and neighbour. And the Canadian spelling for “re” words such as centre, fibre, kilometre, and metre.

Some VIU spelling preferences include

  • Advisor
  • a lot (not alot) 
  • analyze, analyzing
  • artifact, artifacts
  • biannually, biweekly
  • cancel, cancelled, cancellation
  • catalogue
  • centre (place or a building) not center, unless it is part of a formal name
  • cheque (monetary)
  • check (examine for accuracy, mark or evaluate)
  • counsel, counselled, counselling
  • counsellor
  • co-operative education, co-op
  • defence (not defense), but defensive
  • e-business
  • enrol, enrolled, but enrolment
  • email
  • enewsletter
  • First World War, Second World War
  • grey (the colour)
  • practice (noun or adjective), practise (verb)
  • per cent, percentage
  • post-secondary
  • program
  • honour, honourable, but honorary and honorific
  • humour, humorous
  • internet (lowercase)
  • jewelry, jeweller
  • judgment
  • master’s degree, but Master of Arts
  • offence (not offense), but offensive
  • question-and-answer, Q-and-A, Q-and-A’s, Q&A
  • recognize 
  • travel, travelling, traveller
  • theatre (not theater, unless it if part of a formal name)
  • website
  • well-being
  • Word Wide Web (capitalize the proper names), but the web
  • worldwide, provincewide, countrywide, but Canada-wide

Word choice

Use words that are simple and commonly used. Readers may get frustrated if you use complex words or too many words.
Use common or less words where you can, for example:

  • and also,                                              and
  • all of the required information,         the required information
  • commence,                                         begin or start
  • due to the fact that,                            because
  • during the course of,                          during
  • to be able to,                                       to
  • is able to,                                            can
  • in all cases,                                        always
  • initiative,                                             program, project, plan
  • in excess of,                                       over
  • in order that,                                       for, so
  • in the event that,                                if
  • in the absence of,                               without
  • it should be noted,                              remember
  • keeping in mind,                                considering
  • utilize, utilization,                               use
  • various options,                                   options

University terms

Academic degrees

Do not use periods for academic degrees. For example:

  • Bachelor of Science, BSc
  • Master of Business Administration, MBA
  • Bachelor of Education, BEd

Alumni

Use the word “alumni” to refer to a group of people who have graduated.

The term “alumnus” refers to an individual male graduate and “alumna” refers to an individual female graduate. However, VIU’s preference is to use the term “alum” when referring to an individual graduate as it supports efforts to reduce gender-based language.

Doctoral titles

Use the title Dr. in front of the name of anyone with a doctoral degree from a post-secondary institution. Only use the title Dr. on first reference.

Emeritus

The academic “Emeritus” designation is intended to recognize retired faculty members, university librarians and scholars for significant contributions, exceptional service and outstanding achievement in teaching or support of teaching during their association with Vancouver Island University. This recognition gives VIU the opportunity to keep highly productive members of the academic community engaged and contributing to the university and to academia.

Always capitalize the title, whether it appears before or after a person’s name.

  • Dr. John Doe, Professor Emeritus
  • Professor Emeritus, Dr. John Doe

Use of the word “campus” and “centre”

The word campus and centre should always be lower case when referring to VIU locations.

  • Nanaimo campus
  • Cowichan campus

  • tiwšɛmawtxw campus

Writing for accessibility

Writing and the structure of your content should always consider accessibility. Creating simple sentences with less punctuation will create a better experience for readers using assistive technology.

Write short sentences

Short sentences make your content easier to read and remember. Keep sentences around 15 to 20 words per sentence on average. Avoid sentences greater than 25 words.

Use:

  • The recruiter convinced him to apply to VIU.

Avoid:

  •  He was convinced by the recruiter to apply to VIU.

Adjectives and adverbs

Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. Avoid adjectives and adverbs like really and very.

Scan your writing for words ending in “ly” and remove them if they do not improve a reader’s understanding.

Sentences

 Avoid complex sentence structures.

Use:

  • The third-year biology student wrote a paper.

Avoid:

  • The student, who was in the third year of their biology degree, wrote a paper.

Contractions

Contractions (it’s, we’re, and you’re) are easier to read because they imitate how we talk.

  • You’ll meet your professor. It’s good to get an education.

Avoid negative contractions (don’t, can’t, shouldn’t). Contractions may cause accessibility issues because they can be hard to read. People may misread them as the opposite of what they say. Spell them out:

  • do not
  • cannot
  • should not

 Avoid less common and complex contractions such as:

  • should’ve, would’ve, could’ve

Positive statements

Whenever possible, use a positive statement and tell people what they may or must do, instead of a negative statement. Research shows that negative statements can be difficult for some readers to understand or retain.

Use:

  • Please write with a pen.

Avoid:

  • We kindly ask you not to write with crayon.

You can use simple negative statements if necessary. For example:

  • Please avoid writing with crayon

Do not use idioms. English language learners have a lot of difficulty understanding them. An idiom is an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as “up in the air” for “undecided”) or in its grammatically atypical use of words, such as “give way.”

Inclusivity in writing for the web

Web addresses

When using web addresses in text for printed communication materials do not include “http://”, https:// or “www”.

Use:

  • viu.ca

Avoid:

For electronic documents, emails and webpages do not include the full URL instead hyperlink an appropriate term or phrase. Ensure links describe the link destination.

Use:

  • To learn more, visit VIU.

Avoid:

Check for accessibility errors in online text by clicking on the Sa11y icon when logged into Drupal, at the bottom left side of the page you are editing.

Email formatting

Use title case formatting for email addresses. Title case formatting is easier to read. It also helps a screen reader identify the separate words allowing it to pronounce the email address correctly.

Use:

FinancialAidInfo@viu.ca

Avoid:

financialaidinfo@viu.ca

Structure and formatting

Keep special formatting to a minimum. When writing for accessibility, heading structure and content is important because some screen readers can scan headings for information.

Make sure your headings are informative and relate to the content in the body text that follows.
Make sure your headings follow the proper structure heading 1 (generated from the page title), heading 2, heading 3. Headings should never skip levels as you move down the page.

Okay to use: heading 2, heading 3, heading 4, heading 2, heading 3
Avoid: heading 2, heading 3, heading 5

Headings are visually distinctive and don't need a colon at the end to indicate that content follows. Colons inside a heading are acceptable by the same rules that govern colons in any context.

Images

When your online document or social media post uses images, make sure you include alternative text. Include any information the image conveys. This is particularly important with images that include diagrams.

Lists

Use bulleted lists when you have a series of three or more. This is particularly important with series of phrases. Always use the correct formatting for lists whether your copy is online, in a Word document or in InDesign.
Use:
The team focused on:

  • principles of inclusion
  • access to information
  • impacts of formal training
  • psychology of choices

Avoid:

  • The team focused on principles of inclusion, access to information, the impacts of formal training, and the psychology of choices.

Avoid using bold or italics to emphasize copy. When you want to emphasize a portion of your message, use word choice and punctuation rather than formatting.