Writing STyle and tips
ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS
An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of a series of words and read as a single word (AIDS, NASA, NASDAQ, OSHA).
An initialism is an abbreviation formed from the first letters of a series of words and read as a series of letters (AOL, CIA, DVD, FBI, NBA, NCAA).
Hofstra’s editorial style reflects the style of both The Associated Press Stylebook and The Chicago Manual of Style:
• A few universally recognized acronyms are required in some circumstances. Some others are acceptable depending on the context. But in general, avoid alphabet soup. Do not use acronyms that the reader would not quickly recognize. Abbreviations and acronyms should be avoided in headlines.
• Avoid awkward constructions: Do not follow an organization’s full name with an acronym in parentheses or set off by dashes. If an acronym would not be clear on second reference without this arrangement, do not use it. Names not commonly before the public should not be reduced to acronyms solely to save a few words.
• Generally, omit periods in acronyms unless the result would spell an unrelated word.
• The use of less familiar acronyms should be limited to those terms that occur frequently enough to warrant abbreviation – roughly five times or more within a printed piece – and the terms must be spelled out on their first occurrence.
• “A” or “an” preceding an acronym/initialism: When an acronym/initialism follows an indefinite article, the choice of a or an is determined by the way the acronym/initialism would be read aloud: a NATO initiative, an HMO, a UFO, an NCAA coach.
ADDRESSES
Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address. Spell out and capitalize when part of a formal street name without a number. Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or quadrants of a city in a numbered address: 222 E. 42nd St., 600 K St. NW. Do not abbreviate if the number is omitted.
ADULT 65+
When age determines ticket price or admission fee, use adult 65+ (or another age) instead of senior or senior citizen. In general, use senior citizen or elderly sparingly when referring to an individual.
ALL CAPS
Use of all capitals is discouraged in standard writing.
ALPHABETIZING
Alphabetize word by word. In the word-by-word system, alphabetizing continues only up to the end of the first word (counting hyphenated compounds as one word), using subsequent words only when additional entries begin with the same word. Alphabetizing continues up to the first parenthesis or comma; it starts again after the punctuation. Note: Except for the parenthesis and comma, all other punctuation marks (hyphens, slashes, quotation marks, periods, etc.) are ignored.
Initials: Alphabetize initials used in place of a given name before any spelled-out name beginning with the same letter.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations: Acronyms, initialisms, and most abbreviations are alphabetized as they appear, not according to their spelled-out versions.
Numerals: Isolated entries beginning with numerals are alphabetized as though spelled out. If many entries contain numerals, they may be listed together in numerical order at the beginning of the list.
The: When alphabetizing organizations whose names begin with The, the article is omitted.
Personal names used as corporate names: When used as names of businesses, foundations, scholarships, or other organizations, full personal names are not inverted, and the corporate name is alphabetized according to the first name or initials.
AMPERSAND (&)
Use the ampersand when it is part of a company's formal name or composition title: House & Garden, Procter & Gamble, Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.
The ampersand should not otherwise be used in place of and, except for some accepted abbreviations: B&B, R&B.
Note: Most Hofstra building names, departments, and centers follow this rule. Exception: Science & Innovation Center
ATTRIBUTION
All quotes and facts obtained from other sources should be attributed. Use said or another verb in the past tense when attributing quotes. The speaker usually comes before said to keep the writing in the active voice. “Hofstra is my home away from home,” the student said. The inverted order is acceptable when the speaker is identified with a long title. “Hofstra’s Center for Career Design and Development is an excellent source of talent,” said John Smith, president of a local technology firm. Note: If a present-tense verb is preferred by the author, be consistent and use the present tense for all attributions.
BULLETED LISTS
Bulleted items should begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation only if they are complete sentences. If they are fragments, still capitalize the first word, but drop the ending punctuation. Avoid combining bullets with complete sentences and fragments; rewrite if necessary for consistency.
Use parallel construction for each item in a list:
• Start with the same part of speech for each item.
• Use the same voice (active or passive) for each item.
• Use the same verb tense for each item.
• Use the same sentence type (statement, question, exclamation) for each item.
• Use just a phrase for each item, if desired.
Introduce the list with a short phrase or sentence: Our partners: or These are our partners: or Our partners are:
Note: Do not use any variation of “and more” as a final bullet.
CAPTIONS
Do not use a period unless it is a complete sentence. To identify people in a photo, use From left: (or, for example, Front row, from left:) and follow with names.
CONCISE WRITING
Concise writing means eliminating unnecessary words, industry jargon, passive verbs, and adverbs and adjectives that are either redundant or decorative. It is important to make every word count.
Listed below are some tips for general conciseness:
• Replace vague words with more powerful and specific words.
• Be sure that every word in a sentence is meaningful.
• Eliminate words that are redundant or explain the obvious.
• Eliminate unnecessary adverbs and adjectives; instead, choose strong verbs and nouns.
The following are common redundancies. Deleting the word(s) in parentheses eliminates needless repetition.
• (absolutely) essential/necessary
• (advance) reservations/warning
• (added) bonus
• (basic) fundamentals/necessities
• (brief) moment/summary
• (careful) scrutiny
• (constantly) maintained
• could (possibly)
• (current) trend
• during (the course of)
• (end) result
• evolve (over time)
• (fellow) classmates
• (final) outcome
• (general) public
• introduced (a new)
• join (together)
• (knowledgeable) experts
• may/might (possibly)
• (natural) instinct
• (past) experience/history/records
• (personal) friend/opinion
• plan (ahead/in advance)
• (please) RSVP
• (still) persists/remains
• (sum) total
• (two equal) halves
• (unexpected) emergency
• while (at the same time)
CONTACT INFORMATION
It is unnecessary to include the words Phone, Email, or Website with these elements.
Use Fax to distinguish a fax number from an office telephone number.
Use Cell to distinguish a cellphone number from an office telephone number.
FORMALITY
Check to see that your language reflects the appropriate level of formality for your audience, purpose, and topic. Stuffy or pompous language is unnecessarily formal and often gives writing an insincere tone, making a writer’s ideas seem insignificant or even unbelievable.
Instead of: Try using:
ascertain find out
commence begin
finalize finish, complete
impact* affect
methodology method
optimal best
parameters boundaries
utilize use
*It is best to avoid the use of impact to mean affect. Many journalists disapprove of the use of impact as a verb.
HEADLINES
Headlines are key to any story. A vivid, accurate, and fair headline can entice people to dig in for more. A bland, vague, or otherwise faulty headline can push readers away. Often, a headline and photo are all that many readers see of a story. Their entire knowledge of the piece may be based on those elements.
Headlines must stand on their own in conveying the story fairly, and they must include key context. They should tempt readers to want to read more, without misleading or overpromising.
Other points:
— Match the headline’s tone to the story’s: Most serious, hard news stories demand serious headlines; lighter stories call for clever, witty, and creative approaches.
— Think carefully about keywords, search engine optimization, and social media optimization. What terms are readers likely to be searching for, or what will be easily recognizable and compelling in a print headline? Include keywords that are central to the story’s content, and consider what keywords relevant to the story are trending in search engines and social media.
— Update headlines intended for online use as often as needed to reflect the latest news.
— Avoid abbreviations and alphabet soup. Use only very universally recognized abbreviations. US, UK, UN, and EU (no periods) are acceptable. Other acceptable shorthand includes FBI, CIA, IRS, SEC.
— Avoid abbreviating state names when possible. If the shorter version is essential for space reasons, do not use periods (including DC).
— Use numerals; do not spell out numbers except in casual uses or formal names: hundreds instead of 100s; Big Ten; one of the first. Spell out ordinals under 10: first, ninth, etc. But: 10th, 23rd, 104th.
— Use single quote marks, never double quote marks.
— Make every word and every character count.
Other headline tips:
— Federal Reserve. Fed is acceptable in headlines.
— Government. Do not abbreviate.
— Millions, billions. These figures can be abbreviated in headlines. For example, $45 million would be $45M, and $5 billion would be $5B.
— Periods: Avoid using them when abbreviations are necessary: AP (a trademark), GI, ID, EU, etc.
— Quarters. Use Q4, not 4Q.
INITIALS
There is no space between initials for a first and middle name.
NEWSPAPER NAMES
Capitalize the in a newspaper’s name if that is the way the publication prefers to be known. Lowercase the before newspaper names if a story mentions several papers, some of which use the as part of the name and some of which do not.
RATIOS
Use figures and hyphens: the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio, 1 in 4 voters. As illustrated, the word to should be omitted when the numbers precede the word ratio.
Always use the word ratio or a phrase such as a 2-1 majority to avoid confusion with actual figures.
TRANSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES
Transitional words and phrases signal relationships between sentences and paragraphs and help guide the reader from one idea to another. If sentence after sentence begins with a subject, paragraphs may become monotonous or hard to read. Transitions allow the writer to add variety to sentence openings.
To signal sequence: again, also, and then, besides, finally, first … second … third, furthermore, last, moreover, next, still, too
To signal time: after a few days, after a while, at that time, before, earlier, in the past, meanwhile, since, so far, soon, then, thereafter, until, when
To signal comparison: again, also, in the same way, likewise, once more, similarly
To signal contrast: although, but, despite, even though, however, in contrast, instead, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the contrary, regardless, though, yet
To signal examples: after all, for example, for instance, indeed, in fact, of course, specifically, such as, the following example, to illustrate
To signal cause and effect: accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this purpose, hence, so, then, therefore, thus
To signal place: above, adjacent to, below, beyond, closer to, elsewhere, far, here, near, nearby, there, to the left, to the right
To signal concession: although it is true that, it may appear that, naturally, of course
To signal summary, repetition, or conclusion: as a result, as mentioned earlier, in conclusion, in other words, in short, on the whole, therefore, to summarize
X
Use the social platform X on first reference. Reference to its former name of Twitter may or may not be necessary, depending on the story. Limit use of the verbs tweet and tweeted other than in direct quotations. Instead: posted on X, said in a post on X, etc.