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Hamilton College Editorial Style Guide


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magazine, journal titles
Italicize. See "composition titles."

majors
See "concentrations."

Matriculation
Capitalize when referring to the ceremony that takes place in the Kirkland Cottage at the start of each academic year. Otherwise lowercase.

midnight
Not 12 a.m.

minors
See "concentrations" for rules on capitalization. Hamilton offers minors in most concentration areas plus astronomy, digital arts, education studies, Japanese, Latin American studies, and Medieval and Renaissance studies.

money
Use numerals. Do not hyphenate when using as a compound modifier: Bob Smith '50 pledged $5,000 to the Annual Fund. He made a $5 million gift to the campaign.

months
See "dates, months and times."

more than, over, older than
"Over" refers to spacial relationships: The plane flew over the village. Use "more than" to indicate numeric amounts: He contributed more than $4,000 to the Annual Fund this year. When referring to age, use "older than": All alumni older than 50 are eligible.

movie titles
Italicize. See "composition titles."

multicultural
One word, no hyphen.

myriad
Avoid overuse; use only when referring to items truly uncountable or immeasurable. Do not follow by "of": The myriad stars on a clear summer night; the myriad riches of a liberal arts education.

name, nickname preferences
When possible, defer to the individual in deciding how a name should be published: Art Massolo '64 or Arthur Massolo '64; Professor of Music G. Roberts Kolb or Professor of Music Rob Kolb. In general, use full names for documents of record, invitations, honors, etc., and less formal names for everyday communications, including the Hamilton Alumni Review, where a more conversational style is preferred. Do not use a middle initial unless it is a stated preference or useful as an identifier in a common name.

When referring to an alumna, always include her maiden name (the name she used as a student) followed by her married name, if appropriate: Susan Jones Brown '82. See "alumni names, class years."

Native American
No hyphen. However, African-American, Japanese-American, etc.

Net
Acceptable reference to Internet. Capitalize.

newspaper titles
Italicize. See "composition titles."

New York Times, The
"The" is part of the title and should therefore be capitalized.

nicknames
Include quotation marks around nicknames and insert between first and last name: William "Chip" Jones. Avoid obvious nicknames: William "Bill" Jones.

nonprofit, not-for-profit
Note use of hyphens. In general the prefix "non" is not separated by a hyphen.

noon
Not 12 p.m.

numerals
Spell out the numbers one through nine, and use numerals for 10 and above. The same rule applies to first through ninth. See the AP Stylebook's "numerals" entry for several exceptions — such as ages, GPAs, percents, years and numbers beginning a sentence.

off-campus study/off-campus study program
Use hyphen. Also study-abroad program. However: He will study abroad.

offices
See "departments and offices."

OK
Capitalize. No periods.

online
One word, no hyphen, when referring to use of the Internet. However, use two words when meaning "into service": The new facilities came on line this month.

oral communication
Hamilton offers courses in oral communication (not communications with an "s"). Also Oral Communication Center. See "communication, concentration in."

organizations and clubs
See "clubs and organizations."

over, more than, older than
See "more than, over, older than."

parent names
To designate an individual as a parent of a Hamilton student or graduate, use the name followed by a "P" and the year of graduation (no space between "P" and class year): Robert Brown P'82. For a couple: Robert and Susan Brown P'82.

For a parent of more than one individual, use comma and no space between years: Robert and Susan Brown P'82,'89.

For a parent who is also a Hamilton alumnus/a, see "alumni names, class years."

For a grandparent or grandparents, use GP: Marvin and Virginia Marks GP'92.

part-time, full-time
See "full-time, part-time."

percent
One word. Do not use % except in charts and graphs. Always use figures, even if the numbers are less than 10: Fewer than 3 percent of seniors did not make a gift to the Annual Fund.

period
Always place a period inside quotation marks. Do not use two spaces after a period (or any punctuation).

periods of time, ages of history
See "ages of history, periods of time."

Ph.D.
Avoid abbreviation and use doctorate: He earned his doctorate at UCLA. Do not use "doctorate degree." See "academic degrees."

phonathon
One word, no hyphens.

phone numbers
Use hyphens (not parentheses, periods or slashes) between the area code and number: 315-859-4000. Do not include "1" before any 10-digit number.

plurals
Compound words For those terms that include two or more separate words or a hyphenated word, add "s" to the most significant word: attorneys general, daughters-in-law, lieutenant colonels.

Multiple letters Add "s" with no apostrophe: The VIPs gathered at the event.

Numerals Add "s" with no apostrophe: She was in her 40s when she received tenure.

Common nouns that end in "s" or "ss" Add an apostrophe and "s" unless the word that follows also begins with an "s": the class's graduation, the class' senior dinner.

Single letters Add an apostrophe and "s" to avoid confusion: He earned A's and B's on his report card.

plural/possessive proper nouns
Plural names ending in es, s or z Add "es": Charleses, Joneses, Gonzalezes. Do not use an apostrophe to form a plural.

Possessive names ending in es, s or z Add only an apostrophe: Dickens' novel; Shields' research; Ellis' gift.

Joint possessive Add apostrophe only with the last name in a series: Sue, Joe and Robin's graduation took place in May.

Individual possessive Add apostrophe with both names: Sue's and Joe's diplomas were hung in the office.

p.m. and a.m.
Use periods. Lowercase. See "dates, months and times."

postdoctorate
One word, no hyphen.

prefixes
Generally do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word starting with a consonant: predecease, premarital, reconvene. With the exception of cooperate and coordinate, use a hyphen if the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel: re-elect, pre-eminent, re-establish.

Procter & Gamble
Company headed by A.G. Lafley '69. Not Proctor, which is the spelling of the school in Utica. Use ampersand.

professor
Use professor on second reference for a tenured faculty member or one in a tenure-track position. On first reference, use the official title (instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor) found in the College Catalogue. Also be sure to note if the person is visiting or holds an endowed chair. See "faculty," "titles" and "faculty chairs."

professorships
See "faculty chairs" and "titles."

program, department chairs
See "chairs, department and program."

Program in Washington
Official name is Hamilton Program in Washington, not Term in Washington.

 programs and departments
See "departments and programs."

Proseminar
Capitalize.

punctuation
See "commas," "dash," "quotation marks," "semicolon."

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