THEMITNEWSOFFICESTYLEGUIDEAmended08/08/17.Withafewexceptions,theMITNewsOfficefollowsAssociatedPressStyleguidelines.Ifsomethingisnotcoveredhere,orforfurtherdetails,consultthe2016“APStylebookandBriefingonMediaLaw.”Tocheckspellingsortermsnotincludedthere,consultthe“Webster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,”FifthEdition.academicdegrees: InabreakfromAP,donotuseperiods.BA,BS,MBA,MEng,PhD,ScD.

Incommonparlance,thedegreetype(bachelor’s,master’s)should comefirst,sothatit’s“BS”or“MS.”SheearnedanMSfromPrinceton UniversitypriortocompletingherdoctorateatMIT.

Notethat“BS”and“MS”areflippedto“SB”and“SM”whenlistingMITgraduateyears.TimothyBeaverSM’93waspresidentofhisclass.

Seealsoalumniandapostrophes.accentmarks: Limitaccentmarksforbetteronlineusability.Accentsonpeople’s namesareusuallyokay,butwhenwritingmetadata,besureto includekeywordswithouttheaccentmarksaswell.

acronyms: Avoidusinganacronyminthelede,exceptforthosethatneverneed bespelledout(seebelow).

Thefollowingacronymsneverneedbespelledout,thoughiffirstmentionusesthespelled-outversionthat’sokay:MIT,ROTC,FBI,NASA,IEEE,LEED,CERN,NCAA,PVC,LED,IBM,GOP,andUSA.Unlessanacronymiswidelyknown(seeabove)ormustbeusedmorethanafewtimesinthestory,trytoavoiditaltogetherbyusinggeneraltermsonsecondreference.Ifanacronymmustbeused,spellitoutonfirstreference,followedbytheacronyminparentheses.Threeexceptions:“PI”maybeusedfor“principalinvestigator”;“IT”maybeusedfor“informationtechnology”;and“NGO”maybeusedfor“non-governmentalorganization”afteraninitialuseofthefulltermwithoutdefiningitinparentheses.TheLaboratoryforComputerScience(LCS)willimplementanewcourse.PrincipalinvestigatorSangeetaBhatiaisamulti-tasker.AsaPI,she’sresponsibleforgrantproposals,teaching,mentoring,andoverseeingpostdocs.

Don’tuseperiodswithacronyms.Oneexception:U.S.shouldalwayshaveperiods.SheservedontheU.S.CourtofAppeals.Ingeneral,don’tdefineanacronyminparenthesesifyouaren’tgoingtousetheacronymelsewhereinthestory;useofthefullnameshouldbeenough.

addresses,street Abbreviate“Street”and“Avenue”ifthey’repartofanumbered

address;otherwise,spellthemout.Streetnumbersarealwaysnumerical.Hishouseisat9SmithSt.HelivedonSmithStreet.

Uselowercasewhentwoormorenamesareinvolved.TheintersectionofMainandAlbanystreets.

addresses,MIT Capitalize“room”forasingularlocation,anddon’tabbreviate.

Room54-100,BuildingE23

Lowercasewhenlistingmorethanonelocation:Commencementcanbeviewedremotelyinrooms1-123,4-145,56-114andE25-11.Whenlistingbothacommon/propernameandbuildingorroomnumber,commonnameshouldgenerallygofirst.AttendeesshouldmeetinthelobbyoftheGreenBuilding(Building54).TheeventwillbeheldintheBushRoom(Room10-105).Commonlocationsandacceptableabbreviationsonsecondmention:StrattonStudentCenter—“Stratton”or“thestudentcenter”RayandMariaStataCenter—“StataCenter”KresgeAuditorium—“Kresge”

admissions Onlycapitalizeinconjunctionwith“MIT”or“Office,”oraspartofaperson’sofficialtitle.TheAdmissionsOffice.HeworkedforMITAdmissions.Shescouredtheundergraduateadmissionswebsite.Sheistheassistantdirectorofadmissions.DeanofAdmissionsJaneDoe.Seealsoearly/regularaction.

advisor Usethe“o”spelling;donotuse“adviser.”African-American Alwayshyphenate.

Followpreferencesofthepeopleusingtheterm;blackisalsoacceptable,butthetermsarenotnecessarilyinterchangeable.(Forexample,peoplefromCaribbeannationsgenerallyrefertothemselvesasCaribbean-American.)

SeenationalitiesandracesinAPStylebookforadditionalguidance.

alumni Alumnishouldgenerallybelistedwiththeiryearsofgraduationonly

whentheiralumnistatusisrelevanttothestory.Forexample,analumnawhoisnowanMITprofessorwouldnotneedtohavehergraduationyear(s)listedinapieceabouthernewresearch.

MITdegreesaregenerallylistedasfollows:

Undergraduate:WalterFrey’56Graduate:MartinTangSM’72Undergradandgrad:RebeccaGreenspun’82,SM’93,PhD’99Usethemajoronlyifnecessaryorrelevantinthestory,anddonotcapitalizethemajorunlessthefulldepartmentismentioned.JoeJones’79,SM’81inarchitecturehasbeennamedthenewassociatedeanoftheSchoolofArchitecture.SueLin’09isagraduateoftheDepartmentofChemistry.

Ifanalumearnedmorethanoneofthesamedegreeinthesameyear(i.e.twoSBsortwoSMs),listtheaccomplishmentonlyonce.Ifthesamedegreeisearnedindifferentyears,bothdegreesarelisted.Iftwodifferentdegreesareearnedinthesameyear,bothdegreesarelisted.Examples:

TimothyBeaver’00,SM’01(earned2ofthesamedegreesin’01)TimothyBeaver’00,SM’01,SM’02(2graddegreesindifferentyears)TimothyBeaverSM’93,MBA’93(2differentdegreesin‘93)Notethat“SB”and“SM”areflippedto“BS”and“MS”incommonparlance(asopposedtolistinggradyearsafteraname).OrtizearnedanMSinchemistryatBrownbeforejoiningtheMITfacultyin2015.TimothyBeaverSM’93isourmascot.Afemalegraduateisanalumnaandfemalegradstogetherarealumnae.Amalegraduateisanalumnus,andmalegraduatesarealumni.Collectivelyofbothgenders:alumni.

Itisacceptabletoincludeboth“alumna/alumnus”asanidentifierandthegraduationyear(s)whenintroducinganalum.MITreceivedanunprecedentedgiftfromalumnusSamuelTakLee’62,SM’64.Usetwodigitsforalumniwhograduatedwithintheprevious100years,toavoidconfusionwithcurrentyears.So,ifthestoryiswrittenin2015,graduatesfrom1916andlaterwouldgettwodigits.For

earlier/olderalumni,useeitherNameYRTKorName,ClassofYRTK.Afourth-generationMITgraduate,JaneDoe’01followedherfather,JohnDoeIII’63,grandfather,JohnDoeII’30,andgreat-grandfather,JohnDoe,Classof1899,inbecominganengineer.

Seealsodepartments,majors;academicdegrees;andapostrophes.

AmericanIndian Both“AmericanIndian”and“NativeAmerican”areacceptableforthoseintheU.S.,butfollowtheperson’spreference.Wheneverpossible,itispreferabletobepreciseaboutatribe.HeisaNavajoleader.

SeealsoIndiansinAPStylebook.

ampersands Avoidusing;spellout“and.”Oneexception:“Q&A”isokay.

apostrophes Besuretousea“backwards”apostrophebeforeadecadeoragraduationyear.JaneJackson’83wasborninthe’60s.

bigdata Lowercaseunlessit’sinvolvedinatitle.bio-inspired Usetorefertotechnologiesordesignscreatedasinspiredbyliving

organisms.brackets Wheninsertinganexplanatoryclauseintoadirectquote,usesquare

brackets.Example:“DeanSmithsaid,‘Thisnew[writing]programwillboostliteracy.’”

captions Physicalpositionsofpeopleinphotosareinparenthesesunless

startingthecaption.Ifthereareonlytwopeopleinthephoto,onlyonedirectionalisneeded.JoeSmith(left)andJaneDoe.Seenhere(l-r):Sanchez,Kim,Jackson,Davi.Lefttoright:Sanchez,Kim,Jackson,Davi

Ingeneral,donotaddaperiodtotheendofacaptionifitisnota

completesentence.Anexceptionmaybemadeifaclauseisfollowedbyasecondstandalonesentence,butitispreferableinthiscasetorewritethecaptionsothatallsentencesarecomplete(withaverb).

Seephotocreditsforstylingoncredits.centuries Usenumeralsaboveninth,anddon’tusesuperscript.Thesecond

centuryAD;the18thcentury.

Hyphenatewhenpartofacompoundadjectivethatprecedesanoun.19th-centuryliterature.

chair Thepreferredtermisthegender-neutral“chair”over“chairman”or

“chairwoman.”Donotuse“chairperson.”

Foracademicchairs,seeprofessorships.

chemicalformulas Spelloutthenamesofmoleculeswheneverpossible.Secondandadditionalreferencesmayuseanabbreviatedform,solongastheshortformisdefinedinparenthesesfirst.Theprocesscallsforaninfusionofmanganesedioxide(MnO2).ResearchersacquireMnO2throughacomplicatedprocedure.

Seealsosubscript/superscript.

commasinlists Forsimplelists,usecommasbetweenallitems.Thisisabreakfrom

APstyle,whichdoesnotusethefinalcomma.Shelikesapples,bananas,oranges,andpears.

Thisdoesnotapplyincertaincaseswhereadepartmentorprogram’snamedoesnotincludeacommabeforethelastitem.SheisaprofessorintheDepartmentofEarth,AtmosphericandPlanetarySciences.(Seealsodepartments.)

Usesemicolonsbetweenitemsthathavecommaswithinthem:Joe,whoisacarpenter;Jane,whoisaplumber;andBill,thechiefbottle-washer.SeecommainAPStylebookforfurtherguidance.

Commencement Capitalize,evenwhenusedwithout“MIT,”aslongasyouarereferringtoMIT’sCommencementceremoniesinJune.ShewasreadyforCommencement.

compoundmodifiers Seehyphens.countries Ratherthanstatingthetotalnumberofcountriesintheworld,it’s

preferabletoround,unlessyouusespecificlanguage.AsofMarch2015,theU.S.StateDept.lists195“independentstates,”soyoumaysaythatifyouareexplicit.TodescribethereachofMITprogramsorpeople,“over/morethan190”ispreferredjustincaseanyonetakesissuewithwhatiscreditedasacountry,etc.CoursesonedXreachcitizensofmorethan190countriesaroundtheworld.

corporatesuffixes AlwaysabbreviateCo.,Corp.,andInc.attheendofabusinessname

butspelloutotherwise.GeneralElectricCo.,GulfOilCorp.,CorporationforPublicBroadcasting,MarthaGrahamDanceCompany.

Corporation(MIT) MIT’sboardoftrusteesisalwaysspelledoutandcapitalized.Shewas alongtimememberoftheMITCorporation.courses(classes) Usethenumericaldesignation,followedbythetitleinparenthesesin

initialcaps:Hedidwellin6.003(SignalsandSystems).courses(departments) UsetheArabicnumeral,nottheRoman,torefertotraditionalMIT

departments/coursesofstudy,andalwayscapitalize“Course.”Ifstandingalone,itispreferabletoexplainthedepartmentinconjunctionwiththenumber.Whendoingso,don’tcapitalizethedepartmentunlessthefulldepartmentnameiswrittenout.Shewantedtomajorinbiologicalengineering—Course20.HefosteredanewcommunityinCourse20(biologicalengineering).ShechoseCourse20,andmadeasplashattheDepartmentofBiologicalEngineering.

Seedepartmentsforalistofcoursenumbers. courtesytitles Use“Professor”onlyonfirstreferenceimmediatelybeforethe

person’sname.Itisoptimaltomentiontheperson’sdepartmentorotherentityinthesameintroductorystatement.Dobesuretolisttheperson’sprimaryaffiliation(s)asclosetointroductionaspossible.ProfessorAlexShalekoftheDepartmentofChemistryhaswona2015SearleScholarsAward.

Donotuse“Dr.”exceptinadirectquote.Ifitisimportanttoidentifythepersonasamedicaldoctor,spellthatoutwithwhateverterminologyismostappropriate.Donotidentifytheholderofadoctoratedegreeas“doctor”unlesstheyarealsoamedicaldoctor.PhysicianJoseRodriguezmetwithJanetLin,aBoston-basedpathologist.

Don’tuse“Mr.”or“Ms.”exceptwithinadirectquoteorwhenneededtodistinguishtwopeoplewiththesamelastname.Lowercase“professorofthepractice.”

Capitalizeformaltitlesonlyiftheycomeimmediatelybeforeaperson’sname,butnotiftheyincludemodifiers,suchas“of[discipline].”Thisexcludesendowedtitles,whichshouldalwaysbecapitalized,andspecificdeanships.HegreetedAssociateProfessorBradSkowwithasmile.SheaskedInstituteProfessorMildredDresselhausafunnyquestion.HewonderedwhetherprofessorofthepracticeAbigailAdamswouldagreetobeonthecommittee.ThenewwebsitehonorsEmeritusProfessorNoamChomsky.TheresearchwasconductedbyprofessorofmechanicalengineeringGregLiuandJill

Furlow,aprofessoremeritaofchemicalengineering.“Itwaswonderful,”addedJohnF.KennedyProfessorofPoliticalScienceJacksonBrown.“WelcometoMIT!”exclaimedDeanofAdmissionsJaneDoe.Lowercase“professors”whenusingbeforemultiplenames.HewaspleasedtolearnthatprofessorsGleasonandJackswouldbeteachingtheclass.Seealsoprofessorshipsanddepartments.

dashes Whenusinganemdash,includeaspaceoneithersideofthedash.Shetoldtheprofessor—anexpertonsolarenergy.

InabreakfromAP,donotusedashesinunorderedlists.Usebulletpointsinstead.

AlsoinabreakfromAP,useanendash(notanemdash)withno

spacebeforethespeakertoattributeacalloutquotation.“GoEngineers!”–TimtheBeaver

SeedashinAPStylebookforfurtherguidance.

dates Abbreviatethemonthwhentheexactdateisgiven,butnotwhenthe

monthstandsaloneorwithayearbutnodate.March,April,May,June,andJulyareneverabbreviated.Hewillbehereat2p.m.Monday,Sept.12.January1942wasacoldmonth.ItwasthebiggestFebruarysnowstormonrecord.

Useacommaaftertheyearinafulldatethatincludestheyear.Feb.14,1989,wasthetargetdate.

Useahyphenforarangeofdatesortimes.TheconferencewillbeheldJune7-10.Onlyincludetheyearifitisnotthecurrentyear.Seealsotimeofday.

datelines Onlyusedatelinesinpressreleases.Thecorrectformforadatelineis:CAMBRIDGE,Mass.—Afterthelocationisadash,withaspaceoneithersideofit.

Seealsodashes.

degrees(academic) Seealumni.

degrees(temperature) Seetemperature.

departments Capitalizewhenusingthefullname,butnotwhenusingtheshortversionomittingtheword“department.”Whenreferringtomultipledepartmentsatonce,“departments”shouldbelowercase.ProfessorJoeSmithoftheDepartmentofAeronauticsandAstronautics;ProfessorJoeSmithofaeronauticsandastronautics;ProfessorJoeSmithofthedepartmentsofNuclearScienceandEngineeringandAeronauticsandAstronautics.

Listofofficialdepartmenttitles(pluscoursenumbersand/or

acceptableacronymsonsecondreference): Listofofficialdepartmenttitles(pluscoursenumbersand/or

acceptableacronymsonsecondreference): SchoolofArchitectureandPlanning(SA+P) DepartmentofArchitecture(Course4) MediaArtsandStudies(MAS) DepartmentofUrbanStudiesandPlanning(Course11,DUSP) SchoolofEngineering(SoE)

DepartmentofAeronauticsandAstronautics(Course16,AeroAstro)DepartmentofBiologicalEngineering(Course20)DepartmentofChemicalEngineering(Course10,ChemE)DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering(Course1,CEE)DepartmentofElectricalEngineeringandComputerScience(Course6,EECS)EngineeringSystemsDivision(ESD)DepartmentofMaterialsScienceandEngineering(Course3,DMSE)DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering(Course2,MechE)DepartmentofNuclearScienceandEngineering(Course22,NSE)[Defunct]DepartmentofNavalArchitectureandMarineEngineering/DepartmentofOceanEngineering(Course13–mergedwith1)

SchoolofHumanities,Arts,andSocialSciences(SHASS) Anthropology(Course21A) ComparativeMediaStudies/Writing(CourseCMS/Course21W) DepartmentofEconomics(Course14)

GlobalStudiesandLanguages(Course21F) HistoryatMIT(Course21H) DepartmentofLinguisticsandPhilosophy(Course24) LiteratureatMIT(Course21L)

MusicandTheaterArtsSection(Course21M)DepartmentofPoliticalScience(Course17)PrograminScience,Technology,andSociety(STS)

MITSloanSchoolofManagement(MITSloan)MITSloanSchoolofManagement(Course15)

SchoolofScience DepartmentofBiology(Course7) DepartmentofBrainandCognitiveSciences(Course9,BCS)

DepartmentofChemistry(Course5)DepartmentofEarth,AtmosphericandPlanetarySciences(Course12,EAPS)

DepartmentofMathematics(Course18) DepartmentofPhysics(Course8) [Defunct]DepartmentofMeteorology(Course19–mergedwith12) Other

Harvard-MITDivisionofHealthSciencesandTechnology(HST)MIT-WHOIJointPrograminOceanographyandAppliedOceanScienceandEngineering

Alsoseecourtesytitles,professorships,andalumni.

early/regularaction Employlowercaseunlessusedasapropernoun.MIT’searly-actionapplicationsaredueJan.1.MITEarlyActionisn’tbinding.

edX Alwaysuse“edX”unlessit’sthestartofasentence,inwhichcaseit wouldbe“EdX.”Noitalics.ellipses Treatasaseparateword,withnospacesinbetweentheperiodsbuta spaceoneitherside.He...triedtodowhatwasbest. SeeellipsisAPStylebookforfurtherguidance.

email Nohyphen.Forother“e-”terms,useahyphen.Heusedanemail addresstosignupfore-book,e-business,ande-commercenotifications.

emeritus Seeprofessorships.fellow,fellows Lowercaseinallinstancesexceptforthoseinatitlesituation. ShewasaFulbrightfellow.FulbrightFellowJohnSotherbyis21.fractions Spelloutifit’sarelativelysimplefraction;otherwise,useaslash.The

cupwasfour-fifthsfull.Itwas1/125asmuchasithadbeen.gray Usethe“a”spelling,not“grey.”

head Nevercapitalizewhentalkingabouttheheadorassociate/assistantheadofadepartment.SchoolofScienceheadMichaelSipser

headings Thefirstletterofasubhedshouldbecapitalized,butotherwise,it

shouldbelowercase(unlesstheheadingisatitleorsimilar).Headingsshouldnotbelistedintitlecase.

hyphens TheAPStylebooksays(underhyphens),“thefewerhyphensthe

better;usethemonlywhennotusingthemcausesconfusion.”

Hyphenatetwowordsthatarecombinedimmediatelybeforeanountomodifythatnoun,butnotafterthenoun.APsays:“Usehyphenstolinkallthewordsinthecompoundexcepttheadverbveryandalladverbsthatendin–ly.”Itwasfront-pagenews;itappearedonthefrontpage.

Thefollowingshouldremainhyphen-freewhenusedascompound modifiers:

realestatepublichealthhealthcarebloodpressureelementaryschoolhighschoolmiddleschoolcreditcardcomputervisionstemcellperformingartsdatascience[AnydiseasenamesuchasDownsyndrome]Seealsometricsystem.

hyperlinks Settargetto“_blank”unlessitleadstoanotherMITNewsstory.

initials Avoidusingmiddleinitialsanywherebutonfirstmentioninthebody copy.Donotuseinheadlines,deks,captions,relatedlinks,etc.

InterFraternityCouncil Capitalizethe“F.”internet Donotcapitalize.Institute Alwayscapitalized,whenreferringtoMIT.ItwasanInstituteevent.

italics Ingeneral,donotuseitalics.Fiveexceptions:Journalsandmagazinesshouldbeitalicized,asshouldscientificnames(includinggenus,subgenus,species,subspecies,andvariety),courtcases,andMITx.Ifyouneedtobeginanarticlewithsomeseparateintroductorytext,thatcanbeitalicized,ascanbumpertextnoting,forexample,thatthepiecewaspreviouslypostedelsewhere,etc.ShepublishedafascinatingarticleonthegiantanteaterMyrmecophagatridactilainNatureCommunicationslastmonth.Punctuationattheendofanitalicizeditemshouldretaintheitalics.

Seealsotitles.

Jr.,III,IV,etc. Don’tuseacommaafterthename.JeromeConnorJr.AdamPowellIV.kelvin Seetemperature.

laboratory Spelloutandcapitalizeonfirstreferencewhenit’spartofaformallab

name(seeexceptionsbelow).Subsequentmentionswiththeformalnamecanbeshortenedto“Lab”;informalsubsequentmentionsshouldbelowercase.DanielaRusisheadoftheMITComputerScienceandArtificialIntelligenceLaboratory.Shehasworkedatthelaboratorysince2008andisoneofthelab’smostprolificresearchers.

Thefollowinglabshaveaformalnameof“Lab”andshouldnotuse

“Laboratory”onfirstmention:

MITMediaLabSamuelTakLeeMITRealEstateEntrepreneurshipLabEntrepreneurshipLab(partofMITSloan)GlobalEntrepreneurshipLab(partofMITSloan)

Latino/a Gowiththeperson’spreference,butwhennoneisgiven,usethis,not “LatinAmerican,”forapersonfrom—orwhoseancestorsarefrom

—aSpanish-speakinglandorculture,especiallyLatinAmerica.like,suchas Use“like”tocomparenounsandpronouns.Use“suchas”whengiving

examples.Heeatslikeapro.Sheenjoysfoodssuchascheeseandpie.-like Nohyphenwhenusing“like”asasuffix,unlesstheletter“l”wouldbe

tripledorthemainelementisapropernoun.Onecommonexception:flu-like.Thebuildingwasmall-like,MIT-like,andigloolike.

links Seehyperlinks.

majors Donotcapitalize.Sheisajuniorinchemistry.

manned/unmanned Avoidusingtheseterms;gender-neutrallanguageispreferred.The

unpilotedaerialvehiclereacheditstargetaltitude.LincolnLaboratory researchersaretestingnewremotelypilotedaircraft.TESSisanew roboticspacecraftfromMITandNASA.

“mensetmanus” Donotcapitalize,andbesuretoputintoquotations.Hyphenateif usedasamodifier.MIT’smottois“mensetmanus.”Thecourse exemplifiedtheInstitute’s“mens-et-manus”spirit. IfusingtheMITmotto,spellouttheEnglishtranslationwhere possible.Whensodoing,setboththeLatinandtheEnglishin quotationmarks.MIT’smottois“mensetmanus,”or“mindandhand.”metricsystem Generally,onlyusemetrictermsinsituationswheretheyare

universallyacceptedformsofmeasurement,wherethemetricmeasurementisasignificantroundnumber,orwherethemeasurementsinaresearchworkarepresentedinmetric.Trytobeconsistentwithmetricusagewithinanyonearticle.Sheused16mmfilm.Hevowedtowalk100kilometerseveryweek.

Thefollowingprefixescanbeused,withnohyphen,todenote fractionalelementsorlargemultiples:pico,nano,micro,milli,centi, deci,deka,hector,kilo,mega,giga,tera. Seealsonanoandhyphens.

middleinitials Amiddleinitialmaybeusedonfirstmentionwithinthearticle,but

unlessthereisaspecificrequest,allotherfull-namementionsshouldbefirst-name,last-nameonly.Avoidusingmiddleinitialsinheadlines,deks,relatedlinks,etc.

MIT.nano Usethisstylizedformwhenpossible.Inmetadata,wheretheperiod

mightbemisinterpreted,includealternateformssuchas“MITNano.”

MITx Alwaysitalicize,with“MIT”capitalizedand“x”lowercase.

Seealsoitalics.

moon Nevercapitalized.Themoonisournaturalsatellite.Therearemore than60moonsintheSaturniansystem. Lowercaseadjectivesderivedfromthemoon.Itreachedlunarorbit. Seealsoplanetary/celestialobjects.

names Alwaysrefertoapersonwithhis/herlastname,exceptonfirstmentionorintheeventthefirstnameiswithinaquote.

Forindividualswithnicknames,usequotationmarksratherthan

parenthesestodenotethenickname.InstituteProfessorSallie“Penny”Chisholmhaswrittenseveralchildren’sbooks.

Seealsocourtesytitlesandprofessorships.nano Nohyphenswhenusingwordswiththisprefix.Theyspecializein

nanotechnologies,nanochips,nanodevices,andothernanoscaleitems. SeealsometricsystemandMIT.nano.NativeAmerican SeeAmericanIndian.NGO Seenon-governmentalorganization,acronyms.

NobelPrize Capitalize,butdonotcapitalizethecategory.Also,capitalize“Nobel Laureate.”Hewonthe1998NobelPrizeinchemistry.Sheisthe firstfemaleNobelLaureatefromMIT.non-governmental Spellout“non-governmentalorganization”onfirstmention.organization Subsequentmentionscanusetheacronym. Seealsoacronyms.

numerals SeenumeralsinAPStylebookfordetailedguidance;ingeneral,spell outanythingunder10.Exceptionsinclude:ages,tabularmatteror data,andanythingexpressingaquantityusingaunitofmeasure. Hewas2yearsold.Thewidgetcost5cents.Itcontaineda3-kilowatt generator.Theclustercontained6billionstars.Theyhadthreesons. Itwasa3.5magnitudeearthquake.online Alwaysoneword;nospaceorhyphen.OpenCourseWare Onewordwithcapitals.ordinals Spelloutfirstthroughninth;otherwise,usenumeralsandletters:The

10thanniversary.21st-centurywritingskills.organizationnames Keeporganizations’genericnamesinlowercasewhenshortenedfor secondreferences.TheROTCTaskForceconvened;membersofthe taskforceagreed.over,morethan “Over”isacceptablefordescribingdiscreteobjects;“morethan”

canalsobeused.Over3,000peopleattendedthelecture.partyaffiliations Includeapolitician’snameandhomestateonlyifnecessaryfor

clarity.Abbreviatethestateandsetoffincommas,notparentheses.SenatorElizabethWarren,D-Mass.,said...

percent Alwaysusenumerals,evenifthenumeralislessthan10.Spellout

“percent,”not%.Growthaveraged8percentannuallysince1999. Whenscalingdown,usefractions,not“xpercentsmaller”or“x

percentless.”Itwashalfasbigasthepreviousyear’stotal.Themembraneisone-tenthaslargeastraditionalmodels.

phonenumbers Forallnumbers,usedashes,notparentheses.617-555-1234photocredits Image:Jose-LuisOlivares/MIT

Photo:DenisPaiste/MaterialsProcessingCenter(ForMITemployees;use“image”foranythingotherthansimplephotographs)Image:ChristineDaniloff/MITandtheresearchersPhoto:Jose-LuisOlivares/MITandNASA(Formashupsinwhichourartistssignificantlyalter/repurpose

originalworks)Photocourtesyoftheresearchers.(Forwhenpermissionisgivenbutnamesareeithernotprovidedornotrequired)Photo:BryceVickmark(Forindividualartists,photographers,andfreelancers)Photo:Feliciano99/FlickrCC-BY-SAPhoto:Feliciano99/WikimediaCommonsCC-BY-SA(ForCC-licensedworksthatincludethe"sharealike"option)Photo:Feliciano99/Flickr(ForCC-licensedworksunderCC-BY,CC-BY-NC,orCC-BY-ND)

planets/celestialobjects Thereareeightplanetsandatleastfivedwarfplanetsinoursolar

system.DonotrefertoPlutoasaplanetunlessexplainingitshistoricalcategorization.

Capitalizethenameofourplanetbutnotthesynonymfordirt/theground.TheextraordinarycitizensofplanetEarth.TheEarthisround.Sheisdown-to-earth.Themachinetilledtheearth.

Capitalizetheplanetsandanyadjectivesderivedfromthem.Martian, Jovian,Saturnian Lowercase“moon”and“sun”andanyadjectivesderivedfromthem. lunar,solar “Planetarydisk”isspelledwitha“k,”nota“c.”policeranks Usetheabbreviations“Sgt.”and“Lt.”beforeaperson’snamebut

alwaysspellout“Officer.”postdoc,postdoctoral Oneword,nospace.

Alwaysuse“postdoc”insteadof“postdoctoralfellow,”unlessitispartofaformalnameorusedinadirectquote.SheisaPappalardoPostdoctoralFellow.HewasapostdocinGleason’slab.

prefixes Ingeneral,nixthehyphen.

“Co-“receivesahyphenifitismakinganounthatisrelatedtoaprofession.Co-author,co-pilot.(Seeco-inAPStylebookformore.)

Forfurtherdetails,seeAPStylebookunderprefixesandspecific

casessuchasanti-,pre-,post-,pro-.professorships Givethefullnameofanendowedprofessorship,precededby“the,”on

firstreferencewhenafacultymemberholdsanamedchair.Exception:“the”isn’talwaysneededifitprecedestheperson’sname.AliS.Argon,theQuentinBergProfessorofMechanicalEngineeringmetwithClassof1922CareerDevelopmentProfessorAzraAksamija.

Theterms“professorofthepractice,”and“adjunctprofessor”should

alwaysbelowercase.TheawardwenttoprofessorofthepracticeSheilaKennedy.

Both“emeritusprofessor”and“professoremeritus”areacceptable;

use“emerita”forfemaleprofessors.Capitalizewhenusedimmediatelybeforetheperson’sname.EAPSreceived$5millionfromEmeritusProfessorPeterH.StoneandProfessorPaolaMalanotteStone.Jacksonisaprofessoremeritaofliterature.

Seealsocourtesytitlesanddepartments.principalinvestigator Shouldnotbecapitalized.Theabbreviation“PI”maybeusedwithout

explanationonsecond/subsequentmentions.Principalinvestigator

SangeetaBhatiaisamulti-tasker.AsaPI,she’sresponsibleforgrantproposals,teaching,mentoring,andhiringandoverseeingpostdocs.

Seealsoacronyms.pronunciations Shouldbegiveninquotations.Ifemphasisisincluded,usecapital

letters.Hewasaco-founderofmadri+d(pronounced“madri-mas-DEH”).

quotes Alwaysusedoublequotationmarks,unlesstheitemtobequotedis

nestedinsideanotherquote.Thisgoesforheds,deks,subheds,etc.,aswellasforbodycopy.“Thedemowasagreatsuccess,”shesaid.“Itwasa‘mens-et-manus’moment.”

Seealso“mensetmanus”.

rare-earthmetal Theseriesislistedas“rareearth”onperiodictables,butdo

hyphenateasamodifier.Theprocesscombinedrare-earthmetals.

Seealsohyphens.R&D Donotusethisabbreviation.Writeoutthefull“researchand

development”instead. Seealsoampersands.

said,says Inmoststories,usetheconstruction“says.”“Said”shouldonlybeused

ineventstories,inwhichthereisaspecifictimeelementinthepiece.Whenusedinalongquotation,put“says”afterthespeaker’sname,unlessyouaregivingasecondaryattribution.“Thisdiscoverywillchangetheworld,”Thomsonsays.“It’sawesome.”“Thisdiscoverywillchangetheworld,”saysThomson,theToshibaProfessorofTelevision.“It’sawesome.”

scaling Whenscalingdown,usefractions,not“xpercentsmaller”or“x

percentless.”Itwashalfasbigasthepreviousyear’stotal.Theyachievedone-twentieththerate.

Seealsopercent.

School Onlycapitalizeifitisanofficialtitle;ifit’sMITyoudon’tneedtouse

“MIT”inordertocapitalize.HeteachesintheSchoolofScience;heisoneofthelongest-servingprofessorsintheschool.ShecametoMITafterservingasaprofessorattheStanfordUniversitySchoolofEngineering.Whilethere,shewasdeanoftheschoolofengineering.

scientificnames InabreakfromAP,italicizescientificnames(genus,subgenus,species,subspecies,andvariety).ShepublishedanarticleonMyrmecophagatridactila.Myrmecophagaisalonelygenus,withonlyonerepresentingspecies.HefoundanestofMaiasaurafossils.

Onfirstreference,usefullgenusname.Onsubsequentreferences,use theabbreviatedform.HumansareHomosapiens.WeareH.sapiens.

Onlythegenusiscapitalized.

sectionsofSHASS Donotcapitalize.SheisaprofessorintheliteraturesectionoftheSchoolofHumanities,Arts,andSocialSciences.

serialcommas Seecommasinlists.

ship,spacecraftnames Ingeneral,initialcapsandnoitalics.MIT’sMOXIEinstrumentwillfly

ontheMars2020rover.

Usethepronoun“it,”not“she.”MIT’srobotcheetahisnewlyreconfigured.Watchitrun!UseArabic,notRoman,numerals.Voyager2flewbyNeptunein1989.Lowercase“spaceshuttle”alone,butcapitalizepropernames.Shewitnessedtwospaceshuttlelaunches;bothwereSpaceShuttleAtlantis.

Seealsospacecraftdesignations,spaceshuttle,andboats,shipsinAPStylebook.

Sloan/MITSloan Ingeneral,Sloanpreferstobereferredtowith“MIT.”HeisaprofessorattheMITSloanSchoolofManagement.She’sbeenalectureratMITSloanforsixyears.

species Seescientificnames.spinoff,startup Nohyphen.sportsteams Capitalizeonlywhenreferringtotheofficialteamname.The Engineerswontwogames.Women’sLacrossetooktwofrom

Wellesley.AmherstdefeatsMITSoftball.OberlindefeatsMITinthe firstsoftballgameoftheseason.

statenames Alwaysspelloutnamesofthe50U.S.statesinbodycopy.Exceptions:

datelinesorshort-formlistingsofpartyaffiliation.SenatorElizabethWarren,D-Mass.,livesinCambridge,Massachusetts.SheisfromOklahoma.

Abbreviatestatesinlists,headlines,agate,tabularmaterial,andmediacreditlines.Abbreviations(postalcode):Ala.(AL) Ind.(IN) Mo.(MO) N.D.(ND) Va.(VA)Ariz.(AZ) Kan.(KS) Mont.(MT) Okla.(OK) Wash.(WA)Calif.(CA) Ky.(KY) Neb.(NE) Ore.(OR) W.Va.(WV)Colo.(CO) La.(LA) Nev.(NV) Pa.(PA) Wis.(WI)Conn.(CT) Md.(MD) N.H.(NH) R.I.(RI) Wyo.(WY)Del.(DE) Mass.(MA) N.J.(NJ) S.C.(SC)Fla.(FL) Mich.(MI) N.M.(NM) S.D.(SD)Ga.(GA) Minn.(MN) N.Y.(NY) Tenn.(TN)Ill.(IL) Miss.(MS) N.C.(NC) Vt.(VT)

Thefollowingstatesareneverabbreviated,eitherintextordatelines:Alaska,Hawaii,Idaho,Iowa,Maine,Ohio,Texas,Utah.Thefollowingstatesshouldbeabbreviatedwithoutperiodsifusedinaheadline:NY,NJ,NH,NM,NC,SC,ND,SD,andRI.SeealsopartyaffiliationsinthisguideandstatenamesinAPStylebook.

students Graduatingclassforcurrentundergraduatestudentsshouldbe

spelledoutratherthanabbreviatedbyyear.Formajors/minors,donotusecoursenumbers;instead,spelloutthedepartment(butonlycapitalizewhenusingtheformaldepartmentname).MariaRuizisajuniorinmechanicalengineering.JackLin,asophomoreintheDepartmentofPhysics,wonthecontestwithpoliticalsciencemajorEdgarPatel.

Currentgraduatestudentsshouldbespecifiedas“gradstudent,”“PhD

student,”“masters’candidate,”“doctoralcandidate,”orsimilar.Donotuseanexpectedcompletionyear.DavidSengehisaPhDstudentattheMediaLab.

Seealsocourses(departments),departments,andalumni.subheds Seeheadings.

subscript/superscript Useformathematicalandscientifictermswhereappropriate.Avoid

usingterms(suchas“CO2”or“E=mc2”)thatdonotproperlydenotesubscriptorsuperscript.

Seealsochemicalformulasandcenturies.

sun Nevercapitalized.Thesunisourhomestar. Lowercaseadjectivesderivedfromthesun.Hestudiesthesolarwind.TechnologyReview MITTechnologyReviewshouldbefullyspelledoutinitalicsonall

mentions.Non-English-languageeditionsareappendedinRomanlettersafteracomma.AlongtimesubscribertoMITTechnologyReview,hewaspleasedtolearnofthenewMITTechnologyReview,Spanishedition.

temperature Usefiguresforalltemperaturesexcept“zero.”

Eitherspellout“degrees”or,whenabbreviating,simplylisttheunitofmeasurementafteraspace—don’tusea“°”.Onfirstreference,itshouldbe“degreesFahrenheit”or“degreesCelsius,”followedby“F”or“C,”respectively,onsubsequentmentions.Itwas84degreesFahrenheitoncampustoday.Yesterdayitwas64F.FortheKelvinscale,thereareno“degrees,”only“kelvins.”Abbreviate

onlywiththecapitalletterK.Theboilingpointofwateris273.16 kelvins.Thesamplereached40Kbeforefreezing.

Notethatforconsecutivetemperaturementions,youdon’thavetoincludetheunitinthesecondmention.Temperatures

reachedalowof-40Candahighofzero.

Useahyphentoindicatenegativenumbers(thisdiffersfromAPStyle).Forranges,use“to”ratherthanahyphentoavoidawkwardminus-signconstructions.Temperaturesvariedfrom-5to-25degreesFahrenheit.

Largetemperaturesinthethousandsshouldhavecommas;otherwise, useabbreviations.Thesurfaceofthesunmeasures5,800K.Itcan reach200milliondegreesinsidesomestars. SeealsotemperaturesinAPStylebook.

timeelement Usedaysoftheweek(Monday,Tuesday,etc.)fordayswithinseven

daysbeforeorafterthedateoftheissueofastoryornewsrelease,alongwithappropriatetense.ThereportwasissuedTuesday.She’llbedoneThursday.

Avoidredundanciessuchas“last”or“next;”iftheexactdaymightnotbeunderstood,usethedate.He’llbedoneonSept.7.

Onnewsreleases,usebothdayoftheweekanddateatthetop.

Theword“today”canbeusedbutnot“tomorrow”or“yesterday;”givethedayoftheweekorthemonthanddate.

times Useperiodsandaspacewhenonlythehourisgiven.Useacolon whenminutesaregiven.5a.m.,3:30p.m. Separatehourswith“to”whenusing“from/to”constructionorwhen timesspanfrommorningintoafternoonhoursorviceversa. Otherwise,useahyphen.TheconferencewilloccurFridayfrom5a.m. to2p.mFriday.Themeetinglastedfrom5p.m.to6p.m.Itwilltake placebetween5-7p.m.onMondayand5:30-7p.m.theotherdays.

titles Individualcreativeworksincludingacademicpapers,books,games, songs,TVshows,movies,plays,music,andartworksshouldbelisted inquotationmarks.Journalsandmagazinesareinitalics.ClarkGable starredin“MutinyontheBounty.”ZuberpublishedinIcaruslastmonth.

Capitalize“a”and“the”onlyifit’sthefirstwordofthetitle:Shesang“TheStar-SpangledBanner.”HisworkappearedinTheNewYorkTimes.Theyread“LordoftheFlies.”Seealsoitalics.Forpeople’stitles,seecourtesytitlesanddepartments.

traveling One“l,”nottwo.universitynames Spelloutthefullnameofauniversityonfirstmention.Exceptions:

“Caltech”shouldbeusedinsteadoftheCaliforniaInstituteofTechnology;“GeorgiaTech”and“VirginiaTech”shouldbeusedinplaceoftheirfull“InstituteofTechnology”names;and“CambridgeUniversity”and“OxfordUniversity”shouldbeusedinplaceof“UniversityofCambridge”and“UniversityofOxford.”HeattendedHarvardUniversityasanundergradpriortohispostdocappointmentatMIT.HistimeatHarvardwaseventful.SheearnedaPhDinplanetarysciencefromCaltech.

Use“at”betweentheuniversityandthecampus.Universityof

CaliforniaatBerkeley

Whendescribingforeignuniversities,usetheEnglishversionofthenamewheneverpossible.UniversityofParis,notUniversitéParis.

voicemail Oneword.

web/web- Lowercasetheshortformof“WorldWideWeb”whenstandingalone orinconjunctionwithotherwords.(Notethatthewebisnotthe sameastheinternet,butisasubset;otherapplications,suchasemail, existontheinternet.)Hesurfedthewebtofindawebpageanda webfeed.Thewebmasterrealizedthatherwebsite,webcam,and webcastwereallmysteriouslydown.Wi-Fi Capitalizedandhyphenated.

webaddresses(URLs) Nobrackets,anddonotusethehttp://infront.Alwaysdoublecheck

tomakesurewhatyoutypedinlinkstotherightsite;smallchangesincludingabackslashattheendorsubstituting“https”for“http”canbreakthelink.Useaperiodafterthewebsite’snameifitistheendofasentence.

X-ray Alwayscapitalized.