• LibGuide, page, and box titles should all be in Title Case: 
  • Capitalize the first letter of all major words (adjectives, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, and verbs) no matter how short; and the first letters of the first and last words.
  • Lowercase articles (a, an, the), prepositions (to, in, of, on), and coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, if).
• In general, avoid unnecessary capitalization. Capitalize words when Webster’s advises to “often cap” or “usually cap.” 
• Capitalize the first word after a colon or dash when it is followed by a complete sentence.
• Capitalize Class when referring to an entire graduating class.
  • Class of ’77
• Do not capitalize "the" in the title of an organization unless "the" is part of a trademarked name.
  • The New York Times
  • The Los Angeles Times
• In a hyphenated compound, always capitalize the first word, but capitalize the second word, too, if it has equal weight. Lowercase the second word if it modifies the first or if both make up a single word.
  • Well-Known, Blue-Green, Son-in-Law
  • Medium-size, Self-conscious, Twenty-fifth
• Capitalize points of the compass and adjectives derived from them when they designate regions 
  • Drew University is located in the Northeast.
• Do not capitalize when they simply denote direction or compass points.
  • Drew University is located in northern New Jersey.
• Seasons are lowercase.
  • The students will graduate in spring 2022.

Em Dash

• Use an em dash to set off a summary statement.
  • Science, history, and economics—these are my favorite subjects.
• Use an em dash to set off a parenthetical phrase about an element in a series already separated by commas.
  • During their time at Drew, they lived in Brown, Hoyt—by far their favorite—Riker, and Welch halls.
• Use an em dash to denote an abrupt change in thought in a sentence or an emphatic pause.
  • The group offers an array of remarkable—sometimes quirky—accomplishments. 

En Dash

• The en dash functions as a stronger hyphen, to link a two-word noun to another word.
  • New Jersey–style
  • mid–nineteenth century 
• Used in sports scores.
  • The Rangers won 9–3.
• To denote highways.
  • I–80
• To substitute for to in a range.
  • Jan.–Oct.

Hyphen

• A hyphen is the shortest dash (used in compound words and adjectives)
  • Pat Jones is a well-liked professor.
  • The student’s medical records are up-to-date.
• Do not hyphenate numeral-noun modifiers.
  • Disinfect with an 85 percent solution of alcohol.
• Use hyphens with nouns representing different and equally important functions when forming a single expression.
  • city-state, student-athlete.
• Proper nouns may be hyphenated using editorial discretion.
• The following is a list of prefixes that are not hyphenated.
  • ante
  • anti
  • bi
  • co
  • contre 
  • counter 
  • de
  • extra
  • ifra
  • intra
  • micro
  • mid
  • multi
  • non
  • over
  • peri
  • post
  • pre
  • pro 
  • proto
  • pseudo
  • re
  • semi
  • sub
  • super
  • supra
  • trans
  • tri
  • ultra
  • un
  • under
  • whole
• Exceptions:      
  • when the second element is capitalized or is a figure (mid-July, pre-1900s)
  • when it creates a strange spelling (co-chair, not cochair)

• Italicize the first mention of foreign words that have not passed into common usage.
• Italicize the punctuation mark that follows an italicized word.
  • Drew Theological School’s faculty
• Enclose italic text in non-italic parentheses. 
  • (Drew Theological School)
• Italicize titles of the following works: artwork (paintings, sculptures, etc.); ballets, oratorios, operettas, operas, musicals, and long musical compositions; movies, plays, and TV and radio series; books, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, columns, and comic strips; long poems; record albums; legal cases; and official reports. 
• Website titles are not italicized, unless the site functions as one of the above.

• At first mention of a person, use their full name, with an alum citation where appropriate.
  • For subsequent mentions, use only the last name of an adult and the first name of a child.
• As a general rule, use only first name and last name unless the person is widely known and identified in professional or industry circles with an initial or middle name. Always use the president of the University's first name, middle initial, and last name on first reference.

• Spell out whole numbers from zero through nine and general numbers in narrative text. Spell out million and above, and precede with numerals, rounding to significant digits. 
• Exceptions are made for ages, percentages (but spell out the word percent), height, weight, and other dimensions. When a number begins a sentence, it is always spelled out.
  • There were eight people at the table.
  • There are 21 students in the Everyday Ethics class.
  • There are approximately 1,500 undergraduates enrolled at Drew University.
  • Drew University is over 150 years old.
  • Twenty-three thousand people attended the concert.
  • There are a thousand reasons.

Use this format for phone numbers: 

• Print: 973.408.3000
• Digital: 973-408-3000

• Abbreviations that contain no periods and numerals used as nouns form the plural by adding s.
  • MBAs
  • RNs
  • W–2s
  • FAFSAs
  • 1980s
• Acronyms ending in the letter s, single letters, lowercase letters, and abbreviations with both lowercase and capital letters form the plural by adding ’s.
  • SOS’s
  • A’s and B’s
  • x’s and y’s
  • PhD’s
• Use an apostrophe and s to form the plural of an abbreviation with periods or to avoid confusion.
  • I.D.’s
• Hyphenated coinages and numbers used as nouns (either spelled out or as numerals) add s (or es) to form the plural.
  • hi–fis
  • follow–ups
  • sixes and sevens

• Race or ethnicity should be included in a communication after careful consideration and only when race is directly relevant to the content. If this is the case, best practice is to use adjectival reference to individual racial/ethnic groups, never as a noun reference. Avoid broad generalizations and labels.
• Capitalize African American, Asian American, Black, Black American, Indigenous, and Latinx. 
• Do not hyphen African American (or other compound nationalities, even when used as an adjective.)
  • Maya Angelou is an honored African American author.
• Hyphenate compounds with name fragments.
  • Afro-American
  • Indo-European

• Always use nonsexist language.
• Avoid the use of gender-specific pronouns when referring to an unspecified person. Instead, rephrase the sentence into the plural, or avoid the use of pronouns altogether.
  • Use: Students are expected to complete their projects by the end of the semester.
  • Avoid: Each student is expected to complete his or her projects by the end of the semester.
• Use "they/their" for individuals who have adopted the use of this pronoun, do not wish to specify "he" or "she,” or if the gender of the person is unspecified or unknown.  
  • A student left their book in the classroom.
• Avoid assumptions about gender expression and familial relationships by replacing “daughter” or “son” with “student.”
  • Your student will meet with an adviser.
• Avoid gender-specific titles or terms.