Official Institute Brand

From Institute Communications

Our Voice

Editorial Style Guide

Grammar

Abbreviations, Acronyms, Initialisms

Abbreviation = any shortened word form.

Acronym = a word formed from the first letter or letters of a series of words: laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation); hazmat (hazardous materials); MOOCs (massive open online courses – not massively).

Initialism = made from the first letter of a series of words BUT not pronounced as a word: FBI, PR.

Abbreviate Georgia Institute of Technology only as Georgia Tech, the Institute, or Tech. GT, GIT, the University, and Ga. Tech should never be used in running copy. There are, however, exceptions where GT is part of the official name: GT Dining; GT Minute (the official name of one of Admission's electronic newsletters) are a couple of examples.

Minimize the use of initialisms to increase readability. When used, however, spell out the entire name on first reference followed by the letters in parentheses. The shortened form, generally without periods (R.A.T.S. Week is one exception), can be used thereafter. Exception: Grade-point average need not be used on first reference. According to AP, GPA is recognized widely enough that it is acceptable even on first reference.

  • The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) solves tough technical problems for industry in Georgia, across the nation, and around the globe.

With schools and colleges, the entire name of the school/college should always be used on first reference. Thereafter, use of the School or the College (uppercase) is acceptable, as is the most commonly accepted shortened form of the name, or use of the initialism.

  • The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) has achieved national and international prominence through its tradition of unparalleled excellence and leadership. ISyE’s distinction is due to the School’s world-class faculty.
  • The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering has achieved national and international prominence through its tradition of unparalleled excellence and leadership. This distinction is due to the Stewart School’s world-class faculty.

Use periods in most two-letter abbreviations. Exceptions: AM, FM (systems of radio transmission).

  • a.m./p.m.
  • U.S.
  • D.C.
  • A.D./B.C.
  • B.S./M.S.

Use periods with initials in a name, but do not include a space between.

  • T.S. Eliot
  • G.P. "Bud" Peterson

Abbreviate formal titles when used before a full name.

  • Dr. James Jennings
  • Gov. Vic Bryant
  • Lt. Gov. Henry Radin

Note that Dr. is reserved for references only to medical doctors. Professor is a suitable alternative; however, it should be used only for full professors, not for associate or assistant professors.

Avoid using state abbreviations in headlines. And in running copy, the names of the 50 U.S. states should be spelled out whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, village, or military base. The standard two-letter postal codes should be used in mailing addresses.

Capitalization

Capitalize the term Black when used adjectivally in a racial, ethnic, or cultural sense: Black people, Black culture, Black literature. For the time being, AP continues to recommend the lowercasing of white in equivalent contexts.

For headlines, Institute preference is a modified approach to title-style/headline-style captialization (instead of AP's sentence-style), so keep the following in mind:

  • Capitalize the first and last words, and all other words with four or more characters.
  • Lowercase prepositions with less than four characters, except when they are used adverbially or adjectivally (up in Look Up, on in The On Button, to in Come To, etc.) or when they compose part of a Latin expression (De Facto, In Vitro, etc.).
  • Lowercase the articles the, a, and an.
  • Lowercase the conjunctions and, but, for, or, and nor.
  • Lowercase to not only as a preposition but also as part of an infinitive (to Run, to Hide, etc.), and lowercase as in any grammatical function.
  • Lowercase the part of a proper name that would be lowercased in text, such as de or von.
  • For hyphenated words, capitalize any subsequent elements unless they are articles or coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor). But if the first element is merely a prefix or combining form that could not stand independently as a word (anti, pre, co, etc.), do not capitalize the subsequent element, e.g., Co-op Applications Quadruple; the exception to this would be where the subsequent element is a proper noun or proper adjective.

Capitalize professional titles used directly before an individual's name.

  • President Ángel Cabrera
  • Dean Jerry Mander
  • Professor Dave Davis
  • Astrophysics Research Center Director John Smith

Lowercase and spell out professional titles when they are not used with an individual's name.

  • The president welcomed the students to the year-end celebration.

Lowercase professional titles that follow an individual’s name.

  • Ángel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech
  • Mara Jackson, director of Development
  • Jerry Mander, dean, College of Engineering
  • John Smith, director of the Astrophysics Research Center
  • Rafael L. Bras, Georgia Tech’s provost, holds the K. Harrison Brown Family Chair

Exception: Names of endowed chairs and professorships are always uppercased.

Lowercase and spell out professional titles in constructions that set them off with commas.

  • The provost, Rafael Bras, will accept the award on behalf of the president.

Capitalize references to unit names following a title only if the reference is, in fact, the formal name of a unit.

  • Shawn Smith, senior director of strategy, is expected to speak.
  • Gail Roark, vice president of Auxiliary Services, is expected to speak.

Capitalize a degree only when it is part of the official degree title.

  • She earned a Master of Science in Chemistry.
  • She earned a master’s degree in chemistry.

Capitalize an academic subject only when it is the name of a language, part of a unit name, or a specific course title.

  • He majored in chemical engineering with a minor in Russian.
  • Georgia Tech offers courses in architecture, Chinese, engineering, French, Japanese, business, and science.
  • He is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and also teaches classes in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  • She teaches Business 3300 at 10 a.m.

Lowercase innovation ecosystem.

Capitalize Library when referring specifically to the Institute’s facility — even when Georgia Tech does not precede it.

Capitalize Progress and Service when referring to Georgia Tech’s motto.

Capitalize Institute when referring specifically to Georgia Tech. Do not capitalize institution.

  • For more than a century, the Institute has pursued the highest research goals.
  • Georgia Tech is an institution of higher learning.

Always capitalize Commencement, Convocation, and Homecoming when used in reference to Georgia Tech. For the formal name of a specific ceremony, capitalize all elements. Lowercase commencement and convocation when referring to ceremonies other than Georgia Tech’s.

  • Due to the discontinuation of Tech's Commencement during the summer semesters, this year graduating students will have the opportunity to participate in the Fall 2020 Commencement Ceremony.
  • The Spring 2020 Bachelor’s Commencement Ceremony will be split into two events.
  • Many commencement ceremonies across the U.S. are now ticketed events.
  • At yesterday's Convocation ceremony, the Georgia Tech Glee Club welcomed 2,778 students.

Always capitalize Employee Resource Groups.

Always​ capitalize President’s Residence when it is used in reference to Georgia Tech. Never use Residence without President’s.

Always capitalize Campanile — even if Kessler doesn’t precede it.

Always capitalize Quality Enhancement Plan.

We no longer capitalize Strategic Plan.

Words such as school or college should be capitalized only when used as part of an official title, or when they take the place of the full title. Do not treat department and office the same way; lowercase such terms on follow-ups after the capitalized full name on first reference.

  • The College of Architecture was established in 1908. The College grants the Master of Architecture degree.
  • Georgia Tech was among her top college choices.
  • The Georgia Tech Police Department is rapidly expanding, with 20 new officers joining the department since the start of the new year.

Capitalize adjectives formed from proper nouns — unless common usage has obscured the connection.

  • Keynesian economics (John Keynes)
  • Boolean algebra (George Boole)
  • pasteurize (Louis Pasteur)
  • diesel engine (Rudolf Diesel)

For room numbers, always capitalize Room and use figures.

  • Room 3.

Capitalize organized groups of students if the organizational designation is permanent. But do not capitalize student group designations that are transient.

  • Class of 1925.
  • third-year class.

Do not capitalize terms such as first-year student or graduate student when they refer to a stage of study or the classification of a student.

  • She is a first-year student, born and raised in Atlanta.

Do not capitalize graduate or undergraduate when they precede Student Government Association (SGA).

Do not capitalize the words government, federal, city, or state unless the word is part of the formal name of the governmental entity.

  • Georgia Tech is located in the beautiful city of Atlanta.
  • The City of Atlanta has reduced its budget by 5%.
  • Georgia Tech is the highest-ranked university in the entire state of Georgia.
  • The State of Georgia is responsible for issuing driver’s licenses to its citizens.

Always capitalize Board of Regents, Regents Professor/Professorship (note omission of the apostrophe; the usage is descriptive rather than possessive), Georgia General Assembly, Congress, the House of Representatives, the House, and the Senate.

Capitalize the formal names of federal or state agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense. But lowercase the department when it stands alone.

Capitalize South, Southeast, North, Northwest, etc., when referring to a region of the country, but lowercase when indicating a direction.

  • Georgia Tech is the South’s largest industrial and engineering research institution.
  • The airport is south of Atlanta.

Lowercase seasons unless the season is part of a formal name (e.g., Georgia Smart Communities Fall Workshop) or is referring to a particular semester with the year (e.g., Fall 2019).

  • Co-op students may begin in the summer or fall semester.

Lowercase earth unless referring to the proper name of the planet.

  • The astronauts returned to Earth.
  • He is down-to-earth.

Composition Titles

Italicize the titles of: books, computer games, movies, operas, plays, poems, albums, songs, radio and TV programs, journals, periodicals, newspapers, research papers, lectures, speeches, presentations, blogs, YouTube videos, exhibitions, and works of art. In headlines, these titles should be enclosed in single quotes. Likewise, in instances where italics are used in running text, single quotes should be used as a differentiator instead of italics.

Plurals of Proper Names

Most ending in ch, es, s, sh, ss, x, or z add es: Finches, Joneses, Williamses, Bushes, Hesses, Knoxes, Schultzes. But if a name ending in ch is pronounced with a hard k sound, its plural will require only s — not es: Kochs.

Most ending in y add s even if preceded by a consonant: Grays, Kennedys, two Kansas Citys.

Pronouns

Never use he to mean he or she; similarly, never use the his or her construction (e.g., Every student must make his or her own choice.) Instead, recast the sentence. In cases where a rewrite would result in a clumsy construction, the epicene they is acceptable. They can also be used when referring to those who do not identify as either male or female. (See "Issues of Inclusion" section.)

  • Instead of: A student applying for financial aid should file his application for admission by January 1.
    Try: Students applying for financial aid should file their admission applications by January 1.
  • Instead of: The student must have an overall GPA of at least 2.7 to satisfy the requirements of his school.
    Try: A student must have an overall GPA of at least 2.7 to satisfy the school’s requirements.

In formal writing, third person (he, she, it, or they) is most commonly used. Avoid using first person (I, we) and second person (you). (Fundraising, recruitment, and website materials sometimes use first and second person to create a more personal tone. In any case, avoid shifting from one grammatical person to another within the same piece of writing unless there is a clear rationale for doing so.)

Lists

Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each bullet point — whether it is a full sentence or not. Lists containing bullets with just a few words do not warrant periods.