Editorial Style Guide

In general, follow Associated Press (AP) style unless otherwise noted in this document. A searchable AP Stylebook is available through the IU Indianapolis University Library. For additional reference on IU-specific style, consult IU's Editorial Style Guide. Note that executive communications and reports do not adhere to AP Style and may differ from these guidelines.

Always spell out Indiana University School of Medicine on first reference; subsequently shorten to IU School of Medicine. Never use IUSM.

To align with IU style, the may precede Indiana University School of Medicine or IU School of Medicine. This is not a rigid rule in all instances; it is a lift on the former prohibition when referring to the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Ex. The Indiana University School of Medicine celebrated a successful Match Day. The IU School of Medicine Class of 2024 matched 338 students with residency programs in 39 states.

IU School of Medicine regional campuses

IU School of Medicine regional campuses use em dashes (with no spaces). Note that the Northwest-Gary campus includes an em dash and a hyphen.

Indiana University School of Medicine—Bloomington
Indiana University School of Medicine—Evansville
Indiana University School of Medicine—Fort Wayne
Indiana University School of Medicine—Muncie
Indiana University School of Medicine—Northwest-Gary
Indiana University School of Medicine—South Bend
Indiana University School of Medicine—Terre Haute
Indiana University School of Medicine—West Lafayette

Indiana University regional campuses

The following are the full names and abbreviated names of the university and its eight campuses (plus the regional centers at Columbus and Fort Wayne). Note that at is not a part of any campus name (e.g., it’s Indiana University Kokomo not Indiana University at Kokomo), and no dashes or hyphens are used.

Indiana University, IU
Indiana University Bloomington, IU Bloomington (not an official campus name but may be necessary for clarity)
Indiana University Indianapolis, IU Indianapolis (do not use IU Indy or IUI)
Indiana University East, IU East
Indiana University Kokomo, IU Kokomo
Indiana University Northwest, IU Northwest
Indiana University South Bend, IU South Bend
Indiana University Southeast, IU Southeast
Indiana University Columbus, IU Columbus
Indiana University Fort Wayne, IU Fort Wayne

Departments, divisions and programs

Identify departments as an entity of IU School of Medicine. When identifying a division, recognize the department to which it belongs. Do not replace the word and with an ampersand (&) in official department and division names. On second reference, departments and divisions may be used without being preceded by IU School of Medicine. Never capitalize common nouns such as division, school, office and department.

Ex. Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Medicine; IU School of Medicine Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, part of the Department of Medicine.

Capitalize official names of departments, division, centers and institutes. Do not capitalize unofficial, informal, shortened or generic names.

Ex. Office of Strategic Communications, the communications office; Department of Medicine, the department; Office of the Bursar, bursar’s office

Capitalize official names of residency and research programs; this typically includes a specialty and the word Residency. Do not capitalize any descriptive words that follow, such as faculty, group or program.

Ex. Neurology Residency program; Dermatology Residency; Internal Medicine Residency faculty; Cardiovascular Genetics research group

Centers and institutes

Indiana University School of Medicine should generally be given prominence over the name of a center or institute. The center or institute name may be incorporated later in the text.

Ex. Indiana University School of Medicine researchers are studying how to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier. The researchers, who are part of the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute…; An Indiana University School of Medicine oncologist is leading a national study to test a promising new drug for the treatment of lung cancer. John Smith, MD, a professor of medicine and member of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, …

Capitalize official center and institute names but not generic references to the center or institute.

Ex. Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research, the center; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, the institute.

The following are school-level centers and institutes at IU School of Medicine (as of January 2024):

• Brown Center for Immunotherapy
• Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
• Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases
• HEALeR Collaborative
• Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research
• Indiana Alcohol Research Center
• Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
• Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
• Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Heath
• Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center
• Mary O’Daniel Stone and Bill Stone Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Stark Neurosciences Research Institute
• Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research

IU School of Medicine-IU Health institutes

Not to be confused with IU School of Medicine’s research institutes, these three institutes are collaborations between IU School of Medicine and IU Health. In general, do not mention these institutes in external content. When necessary to talk about them, use the following format:

• IU School of Medicine-IU Health Cardiovascular Institute
• IU School of Medicine-IU Health Neuroscience Institute
• IU School of Medicine-IU Health Cancer Institute

Academic degrees

Academic credentials should follow the faculty name upon first reference. Do not use the courtesy title Dr. This is unique to IU School of Medicine due to the many faculty with PhDs who would not be referenced as Dr. under AP style. Faculty credentials should list doctorate degrees first, followed by master’s degrees. Do not list fellowships (i.e. FACS, FACP) unless the faculty member requests it. Do not use periods on degree references. For faculty with both an MD and a PhD, list MD first.

Ex. Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA, spoke at the conference.

Degrees and disciplines are capitalized when referencing a formal degree name. Lowercase disciplines in general references.

Ex. Associate of Science in Radiography, associate degree in radiography; Bachelor of Science in Physics, bachelor’s degree in physics; Master of Science in Anatomy, master’s in anatomy; Doctor of Education, doctorate in educational leadership.

Personal titles

Official titles preceding a person’s name are uppercase. Titles following the name, set off by commas, should be lowercase. Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual’s name.

Ex. IU School of Medicine Dean Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA, issued a statement; Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA, dean of IU School of Medicine, issued a statement; The dean issued a statement.

Always capitalize endowed professorships.

Ex. Naga Chalasani, MD, the David W. Crabb Professor of Medicine, will speak at the conference.

Advisor

Always use advisor, rather than adviser, to match university titles.

Second reference

Upon second reference, refer to an individual by last name only. Do not use the title Dr. unless it is in a direct quote.

Ex. Jon Doe, MD, and Tom Smith, PhD, submitted their research to the journal. Both Doe and Smith received recognition for their published findings.

Publications

Apply the following rules to book titles, academic/research paper titles, journal articles and lecture/conference titles:

• Capitalize principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions containing four or more letters. Capitalize articles with fewer than four letters (i.e. the, an, a) only if it’s the first or last word in the title.
• Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible, the Quran and other holy books, and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material.
• When referencing an article in a scholarly publication, put the article name in quotation marks and capitalize the journal name. Do not use italics.

Ex. “The Evolving Cancer Genome” published in Nature Genetics

Indiana University Health

IU School of Medicine has a unique partnership with Indiana University Health. To maintain the integrity of the Indiana University Health brand, the full name of the hospital site or division should be used on first mention. Use the guide below for first and second reference.

Health care systems, first and second reference:

• Indiana University Health; IU Health
• Eskenazi Health; Eskenazi
• Riley Children’s Health; Riley Children’s; Riley (acceptable only when used as an adjective)

Hospitals

When referring to IU Health hospitals, spell out Indiana University upon first reference. If Indiana University has already been spelled out in the story, it is acceptable to use IU Health on first reference. IU Health may be dropped from subsequent references.

• Indiana University Health University Hospital; IU Health University Hospital; University Hospital
• Riley Hospital for Children; Riley Hospital (Note: it is not necessary to include IU Health for Riley). Geographical indicators may be added: Riley Hospital for Children in downtown Indianapolis; or Riley Children’s Health at IU Health North in Carmel
• Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital; IU Health Methodist Hospital; Methodist Hospital
• Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital; IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital; Ball Memorial
• Eskenazi Health Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital; Eskenazi Hospital (Note: Use the ampersand in the official hospital name.)
• Richard L. Roudebush Indianapolis Veterans’ Administration Medical Center; VA Medical Center

Associations, agencies and governing bodies

Avoid acronyms and abbreviations in running text unless commonly understood (i.e. FBI, FEMA, FDA, NIH). Identify associations, governing bodies and institutions by their full name upon first reference. If using an acronym or abbreviation is necessary, use the official name on first reference, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis. On second reference, use common nouns such as association, agency or governing body, if possible.

Ex. the American Medical Association (AMA), the association; the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the governing body

Note: If necessary, acronyms may be used in headlines, as long as the acronym is defined upon first reference in the text.

Diseases

Do not capitalize words such as arthritis, emphysema, leukemia, pneumonia, etc. When a disease is known by the name of a person or geographical area identified with it, capitalize only the element that is a proper noun. Capitalize Type 1 or Type 2 when referring to diabetes.

Ex. Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Ebola virus, Type 1 diabetes

Clinical trial phases and disease stages

Use numerals for clinical trial phases and stages of disease. Capitalize Phase and Stage. This aligns with AP style on sequential designations.

Ex. a Phase 1 clinical trial; the patient was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

Health care, healthcare

Use health care (two words) in all instances. Note: The use of healthcare (one word) is becoming more standard and is being used by IU Health. IU School of Medicine style (two words) currently aligns with AP and IU style guides. If AP changes its stance, IU School of Medicine will follow AP style.

Avoid hyperlinking the words “click here” or something similar. Links should provide some information when read out of context and explain what the link offers (not talk about mechanics). Linking text like “click here” doesn’t tell a reader anything about the link, and for users with disabilities, it can be even more difficult to discern the context. In general, there is no need to spell out a URL. Instead, hyperlink the relevant text within a paragraph.

Ex. Learn about End Lung Cancer Now and its goals for prevention, screening and clinical trials.
(NOT: Click here to learn more about this initiative.)

External links should be set to open in a new browser tab or window.

Generally, spell out numbers one through nine and use numerals for 10 or more. Spell out fractions less than one and use numerals for fraction configurations greater than one. Use commas in 1,000 and above.

Ex. two students; 10 students; two-thirds of the group; 2 ½ times; 2,000 years

Always use numerals when referring to dates, decades, years, ages, ratios, scores, credit hours; page, volume or chapter numbers; percentages, dates, telephone numbers and units of measurement.

Ex. A 2-year-old child; an 8-year-old law; The boy is 5 years old; two 3-credit hour courses; turn to page 4; 3 ounces; 4-foot fence; 6% growth

Million, billions

Use a lowercased million or billion after the initial numeral(s); never abbreviate with M or B. Use numerals for exact figures.

Ex. 2 million cases; $2.6 billion; $234,563,488

In headlines only, abbreviate millions, billions: $5M grant, $17.4B investment.

Dates

Spell out months and days of the week when used without a specific date. When referencing a specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Lowercase seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) unless part of a formal name.

Ex. January 2016 was a cold month. It snowed heavily on Jan. 26, 2016. The gala takes place in spring 2024. The deadline is Feb. 5, 2024. Join us on Thursday, Aug. 28, for a celebration.

Do not use the year unless the date is more than a year ahead or past. So, if today is April 1, 2024, don’t say the event is scheduled for May 15, 2024; just use May 15. (The post date at the top tells people when it was published.) Exception: If several time periods are mentioned and it could cause confusion to leave out the year. Avoid using words like today, tomorrow, next week; always use the exact date.

Ordinals

Always spell out ordinals from first to ninth. Use numerals starting with 10th.

Ex. Third Street, 17th Street, second century, 21st century, 175th commencement

Percentages

Use the % sign; do not spell out percent unless the sentence begins with the percentage. For amounts less than 1%, precede the decimal with a zero.

Ex. The survey results showed that 70% of marketers wear Converse sneakers. Sixty percent of marketers wear Ray-Ban sunglasses. The results showed a 0.66% increase in popularity.

Phone numbers

Use hyphens in phone numbers.

Ex. 317-555-3333

Time

Use numerals in all cases, except for noon and midnight. Omit the colon and zeros for on-the-hour times. Use periods for a.m. and p.m.; use lowercase rather than small capitals. Use to or hyphens to indicate time ranges.

Ex. 9 a.m.; 11:15 p.m.; 3-4 p.m. or from 3 to 4 p.m.; the luncheon is from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Plurals and possessives

In general, only use an apostrophe when you need to form the possessive of the word, not the plural. Generally for singular possession, add ’s.

Ex: The new EAD’s office has its own entrance. Three EADs went out to lunch.

Certain uninflected singular nouns that look like plurals, such as species and series, are treated like plurals to form the possessive.

Ex. The lecture series’ costs will be covered by the department.

For plural possession, add an apostrophe to the end of the word.

Ex. the twins’ parents; the student teachers’ supervisor; the Smiths’ vacation

When a plural noun ending in -s is linked with an entity that doesn’t exactly belong to it, but rather is for it or about it, the apostrophe is not used.

Ex. Founders Day, Visitors Center, Doctors Day

To demonstrate possession of a personal names ending in -s, add apostrophe only.

Ex. Ira Glass’ radio show; Chris’ new car

Exceptions: The only nouns that commonly take an ’s in the plural are (1) abbreviations with more than one period, (2) single letters, and (3) acronyms with an S at the end.

Ex. She got all A’s and B’s. They sent out the SOS’s. The end-of-year report shocked all of the EADs.

Add -s to make most last names plural. Add -es to those that have endings with sounds such as -ch (as in Hatch, but not as in Bach), -s, -sh, -x, and -z.

Ex. The Hatches are visiting with the Bachs. The Joneses will tour Hong Kong.

Commas

Generally, do not use the serial (Oxford) comma before the last item in a series.

Ex. The flag is red, white and blue.

… unless an item in the series includes the word and.

Ex. He liked salami, ham, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Include a final comma in a simple series only if omitting it could make the meaning unclear.

Ex. The governor convened his most trusted advisers, economist Olivia Schneider and polling expert Carlton Torres. (Schneider and Torres are his most trusted advisers.); The governor convened his most trusted advisers, economist Olivia Schneider, and polling expert Carlton Torres. (The governor is convening unidentified advisers plus Schneider and Torres.)

Dashes

Use em dashes for setting off parenthetical phrases, especially long or complex ones where something stronger than a comma is appropriate. If the parenthetical phrase comes at the end of a sentence, only one dash is needed to set it off — like this. If it is inserted into the middle of the sentence — like this — you need dashes on both sides. Place spaces on either side of an em dash. Note: Typing two hyphens will automatically convert to the em dash in some software programs.

Ex. Some of the pain points — compliance, customer trust and the proliferation of digital information — are so pressing that financial marketers hold off on launching campaigns.

Em dashes are occasionally used to join elements in certain institutional titles, including the names of IU School of Medicine regional campuses (see Regional campuses). Never use en dashes. Do not substitute a hyphen, double hyphen or an en dash with a space on each side of it for an em dash.

Ellipsis

In general, treat an ellipsis ( … ) as a three-letter word, constructed with three periods and two spaces, as shown here. Use an ellipsis to indicate the deletion of one or more words in condensing quotations, texts and documents. Be careful to avoid deletions that would distort the meaning. It is often better to paraphrase.

If the words that precede an ellipsis constitute a grammatically complete sentence, place a period at the end of the last word before the ellipsis. Follow it with a regular space and then the ellipsis.

Ex. “I no longer have a strong enough political base. … I have decided to resign.”

Hyphens

Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words. Use hyphens sparingly and only when necessary to avoid confusion. When two or more words that express a single concept (compound modifiers) precede a noun, use hyphens to link all the words in the compound.

Ex. a full-time job; a well-known professor; a better-qualified candidate

Never hyphenate modifiers when the first word is very or an adverb ending in -ly.

Ex. a very good time; an easily remembered rule

Use hyphens for inclusive numbers.

Ex. 2003-2023; pages 200-21

United States

United States should be spelled out upon first reference. It may be abbreviated as U.S. (with periods) when used as an adjective or upon second reference when used as a noun. Only use U.S.A. in a direct quote or address, if necessary. In headlines, it’s US (no periods).

States and cities

The names of the 50 U.S. states should be spelled out when used in the body of a story, whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, village or military base. Consult AP’s entry on Datelines for large cities that can stand alone and do not need to be followed by a state name. These include Indianapolis, Chicago and Cincinnati. When referring to the state of Indiana, lowercase state.

For addresses in running copy, use commas to separate elements. This is the only instance where postal codes may be used for states.

Ex. Interested parties may direct inquiries to the Office of International Services, Indiana University, Poplars 221, 400 E. Seventh Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405.

Regions

Capitalize Midwest, Northeast, South, West and similar words when they designate regions. Lowercase north, south, northern, southern, etc., when they indicate a compass direction.

Ex. A storm system developed in the Midwest and is spreading eastward. It will bring showers to the East Coast by morning. The Northeast depends on the Midwest for its food supply. She has a Southern accent. He drove west.

With names of nations, states and cities, lowercase unless they are part of the proper name or denote a widely known section or region. If in doubt, use lowercase.

Ex. Northern Ireland, northern France, western Montana, the South Side of Chicago, West Texas.

In writing, as in life, avoid insensitive terms related to age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation. If these terms appear in print, they reinforce prejudicial behavior. Mention a person’s age only when it is relevant. Avoid references to a person’s race or ethnic background unless this information is relevant to your publication.

Review photos and artwork to ensure that, when appropriate, both women and men are portrayed. Include people of various ages and ethnicities and people with disabilities in photos and illustrations whenever it is possible and appropriate to do so. Avoid use of photos and artwork that depict women, minorities, older people or people with disabilities in stereotypical roles.

For further guidance, consult the American Psychological Association’s Inclusive Language Guide.

Gender-neutral language

Consider AP’s guidance on gender-neutral language:

In general, use terms for jobs and roles that can apply to any gender. Such language aims to treat people equally and is inclusive of people whose gender identity is not strictly male or female. Balance these aims with common sense, respect for the language, and an understanding that gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language is evolving and in some cases is challenging to achieve.

Here are some examples of preferred usage: actor (for any gender); alum or alums (instead of alumnus, alumna, alumni, alumnae); businessperson or executive (not businessman); chair (not chairman); councilperson; first-year student (instead of freshman); hero (for any gender); humanity, humans (instead of mankind); human-made, artificial (instead of manmade); salesperson; server (instead of waiter/waitress); etc.

Alumni

When speaking of an individual, use alum rather than alumnus or alumna, or state that the person is a graduate of IU School of Medicine. Alumni or alums may be used for groups, regardless of gender.

Hispanic, Latino/a, Latinx, Latine

Hispanic refers to a person with ancestry from a country whose primary language is Spanish. Latino, Latina and the gender-neutral variants Latinx and Latine refer to a person or groups of individuals with origins from anywhere in Latin America.

Latine is preferred over Latinx, as the term is more adaptable to the Spanish language. This is a deviation from AP style that aligns with IU style. When speaking of an individual, use a more specific identification, such as Cuban, Puerto Rican, Brazilian or Mexican American, if possible. Always use an individual’s preferred term for cultural, ethnic or racial identification. Avoid using Latino or Latina unless it is in the official name of a group, organization or association, or is used in a direct quote.

Person-first and identity-first language

Language should be selected with the understanding that the individual’s preference supersedes matters of style. It is best to ask how a person identifies.

Person-first language emphasizes the person over a disability.

Ex. a person with diabetes (rather than a diabetic); a person living with dementia (rather than a dementia patient)

Identity-first language is preferred in some cases. It is often used as an expression of cultural pride. When referencing the Deaf (capital D) and autistic communities, it is appropriate to use identity-first language.

Ex. a Deaf person (NOT a person who is deaf)

Some terms to avoid and alternatives:

• Instead of mentally ill, insane, etc., use person living with mental illness
• Instead of drug addict, use person with a substance use disorder
• Instead of alcoholic, use person with alcohol use disorder
• Instead of smoker, use person who smokes
• Instead of homeless people, use people experiencing homelessness
• Instead of prostitute, use person who engages in sex work
• Instead of prisoner, use person who is/has been incarcerated

Race — African American, Black, Brown, white

Identify people by race only when it is relevant, as in stories involving historic events, organizations or awards tied to racial identity, or research exploring health disparities.

Systemic racism refers to social, political and institutional systems and cultures that contribute to racial inequity in areas such as health care, employment, housing and education. In general, avoid using the term racist or any other label for a person.

African American, Black

African American is acceptable for reference to an American Black person of African descent; however, the term Black is usually preferred. Black Americans may have other heritages such as Caribbean American. Follow a person’s preference. Capitalize Black when referring to race, people, culture and communities.

Brown

Capitalize and use only as a description if it is the preference of the person/people referenced. It is better to be specific: Indian, Mexican, Brazilian, etc.

white

Lowercase when referring to race, people, culture and communities.

AP guidance on race-related coverage: “Consider carefully when deciding whether to identify people by race. Often, it is an irrelevant factor, and drawing unnecessary attention to someone’s race or ethnicity can be interpreted as bigotry.”