This guide鈥檚 primary references for spelling and grammar are the , as well as the .

Abbreviations and acronyms聽

In general,聽spell聽out the name of a university, faculty,聽or聽organization on first reference, and include the聽abbreviated version or acronym in parentheses if聽it聽will be referred to again in the document.聽聽聽

• The Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies (IGSF)聽
• School of Continuing Studies (SCS)聽

Try to聽use聽acronyms聽and abbreviations sparingly; too many聽can聽be disruptive and聽may聽negatively impact the user experience. If possible, use an alternative聽form聽(e.g., 鈥榯he聽institute鈥�)聽for the organization聽in subsequent references.聽聽

颁补辫颈迟补濒颈锄补迟颈辞苍听

Today鈥檚 writing style standards have shifted towards less capitalization.聽Usability studies have shown that聽this 鈥渕odified-down style鈥�, as the Canadian Press calls it,聽is easier to read when caps are limited.聽聽

Titles聽and headings聽

McGill鈥檚 digital communications use sentence case聽for titles and headings rather than title case.聽With sentence case,聽you only capitalize the first letter of the first word in a聽title or聽heading聽-聽like you would in a sentence. Proper nouns also have a capital.聽Title case, on the other hand,聽capitalizes聽every major word.聽

• This is an example of sentence case聽
• This Is an Example of Title Case聽

Capitalize formal names. Use lower case in subsequent partial or informal forms:聽聽

• the Faculty of Science, the faculty, faculty members聽
• the Government of Canada, the Canadian government, the government聽

Common university terms聽

• Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 semesters, not fall and winter聽
• 鈥榯he University鈥� is capitalized only when referring to McGill. Try to use an alternative form, such as McGill.聽
• The word 鈥榗ampus鈥� should only be capitalized when referring to our two campuses:聽
• Downtown Campus聽and聽Macdonald Campus聽

厂辫别濒濒颈苍驳听听

In keeping with the Canadian Press style, this guide聽favours聽British-English聽over American聽spelling in most cases.聽

-our, not聽-or:聽

• labour but laborious聽
• 产别丑补惫颈辞耻谤听
• honour, honourable, honoured but honorary聽

-re, not -er:聽

• 肠别苍迟谤别听
• 迟丑别补迟谤别听
• 尘别迟谤别听

However,聽this guide follows聽the American pattern of using -ize/-yze, rather than聽-ise/-yse:聽

• 肠谤颈迟颈肠颈锄别听
• 辞谤驳补苍颈锄别听
• 肠补辫颈迟补濒颈锄别听

Common university terms聽

• advisor, not adviser聽
• catalogue, not catalog聽
• counsellor, not counselor聽
• enrolment, not enrollment聽
• program, not programme聽

References