Web style and content guide

Abbreviations

In general avoid abbreviations in general text. eg use professor rather than prof.

Exceptions

• where space is limited in tables, buttons or navigation links

eg

An initialism of the Latin exempli gratia, literally meaning 'for example'.

As minimal punctuation is preferred, there is no need to include periods after the 'e' and 'g'; however, it should be introduced with a comma or dash, or included with the examples within parentheses. 'Eg' suggests a partial list, so it is redundant to end the list with 'etc'. For example:

• Flinders offers a range of entry pathways, eg Foundation Studies, uniTEST, and Flinders UniLeap.
• Flinders offers a range of entry pathways – eg Foundation Studies, uniTEST, and Flinders UniLeap.
• Flinders offers a range of entry pathways (eg Foundation Studies, uniTEST, and Flinders UniLeap).

ie

An initialism of the Latin id est, literally meaning 'that is', 'Ie' is used to clarify a preceding statement by restating or clarifying.

As minimal punctuation is preferred, there is no need to include periods after the 'i' and 'e'; however, it should be introduced with a comma or dash, or included with the clarifying statement within parentheses. For example:

• The scholarship is available to current full-time Flinders students – ie those undertaking the equivalent of 36 units of study per year.

Alternatively, rewrite your text to not use ie at all.

Acronymns and initialisms

Acronymns are abbreviations where the abbreviation is formed from letters of other words. TAFE is an example and usually they do not need to be spelled out in full. 

Initialisms are very similar to acronyms except that the abbreviation formed with initialisms is not pronounced as a word, rather you say the individual letters. Examples are DVD and CEO.

Do not use full stops in acronyms or initialisms.

If the initialism is not well known, spell it out in full in the first instance and then follow with the initialism in brackets. The initialism can then be used on its own.

For example:

• The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) is its centrepiece research activity. ALSA is a multidisciplinary study of 2087 older adults.

If it’s not a common acronym, or if it’s not used much on the webpage, you can remove it altogether.

For example:

• The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing is its centrepiece research activity. It is a multidisciplinary study of 2087 older adults.

Be mindful of some acronyms having more than one meaning – SA being a good example. It can mean South Australia or South Africa so consider its use carefully.

The choice whether or not to use a possessive apostrophe after Flinders can often be a confusing one to make.

This comes down to whether Flinders is being used in a sentence as a noun that owns another noun phrase (eg 'Flinders' commitment to student support...') or as an adjective that modifies another noun (eg 'Flinders students are prepared with industry skills...'). Part of the confusion also most likely stems from a more general misunderstanding about how to use an apostrophe after a word that ends in 's'.

It is preferable to not use the apostrophe after Flinders, but sometimes this makes the sentence clunky or confusing.

One handy trick to help you make the distinction is to replace Flinders with Flinders University in the sentence. If the sentence still makes sense without the apostrophe, then simply delete the word 'University'. If it doesn't make sense, then the apostrophe is required after Flinders.

Examples

• 'Flinders University research is highlighting new ways to reduce the risk of cancer.' – This makes sense, so there's no need to add an apostrophe ('Flinders research is highlighting new ways to...')
• 'Flinders University strength in providing industry experience sets its graduate apart.' – This doesn't make sense, so an apostrophe should be used ('Flinders' strength in providing industry experience...')

In addition to the below, refer to the Flinders terms and conventions.

Basic rules

• Use sentence case, ie always use a capital letter to start a sentence.
• All proper nouns should be capitalised. A proper noun is a name of a title that refers to an individual person, place, institution or event.
• Brand names and their products are capitalised.
• The days of the week and months of the year start with a capital.
• The names of languages are always written with a capital letter.
• If you use a generic term in place of a proper noun, do not capitalise it, even if you are still referring to a specific person or organisation.   

Department

Capitalise 'department' when it is included as part of the full title of the department name, but use lowercase when the name is shortened or used informally.

• Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 
• the biochemistry and molecular biology department

Forms

Capitalise the principal words in the complete title of official University forms as well as formal procedures.

Headings

Headings (including page titles) should use sentence case and only have a capital letter at the beginning (except for proper nouns, eg Companion of University recipients)

The rationalisation for this is that it is easier to be consistent, easier to read and breadcrumbs are easier to read.

Don't use:

1. Study > Apply To Study At Flinders > Apply For An Undergraduate Degree

Use

1. Study > Apply to study at Flinders > Apply for an undergraduate degree

Room numbers and building names

Lowercase 'building' and 'room' except when proper nouns.

• The seminar will be held in room 212 in building 11 at 2pm.
• The seminar will be held in the Hub at 2pm.

Scholarships and awards

Capitalise the full name for scholarships and awards.

• Indigenous Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship

Seasons, semesters and holidays

Use lowercase for the four seasons and semesters. Only capitalise the first letter of the first word and proper nouns for religious and national holidays.

• Queen's Birthday long weekend 
• Melbourne Cup day
• There are reduced operating hours in the summer break.
• The students will be returning in semester 2.

Use the following date formats:

• Thursday 25 January 2012, or 25 January 2012 (no commas, spell month in full)
• Financial years: 2012/13 not 2012-13
• Span of years: 2008-13, 1890s (no apostrophe), 8th century, seventeenth century

Use the Australian convention of date-month-year, not the American convention of month-date-year.

Don't use 10.8.12 as this means 8 October 2012 to Americans.

Following is list of terms and conventions commonly employed at Flinders. This list will help you keep content consistent across the website and other applications.

Campus

'Campus’ should always be in lowercase, unless it begins a sentence. For example:

• Flinders University's main campus at Bedford Park
• The Bedford Park campus

College

• The College of Science and Engineering (use capitals when naming a specific college)
• a college
• the college will

Courses and degrees

Use capitals when referring to a specific degree but lowercase for general degrees (Unless it happens to be the name of a language in which case it must be capitalised).

Examples

• Apply for an undergraduate degree (heading)
• Bachelor of Education (course name)
• Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology (course name)
• She earned a bachelor degree in science
• These days, few students study Latin
• Master of Arts or MA
• masters degree (not Master’s degree)
• final honours year (not Final Honours year)

Flinders University or Flinders or the University 

In all cases, the preferred use is simply Flinders University. This is now an official name listed in the Act. Don’t write Flinders University of South Australia as this can be confused with the University of South Australia.

For branding purposes, the words Flinders University Adelaide Australia may be used in association with the University crest for international audiences. 

Graduand, graduate, graduation

A 'graduand' is someone who has finished her degree, but has not yet graduated. Always use lowercase, except when starting a sentence. For example:

• All graduands should register in the foyer prior to the graduation ceremony.

Honours

Use lowercase, except when it is part of the full name of a degree.

• Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
• The honours year of the degree involves a written thesis.

Postgraduate

'Postgraduate' is always one word, with no hyphen. Use lowercase unless it begin a sentence. For example:

• The scholarship is available to current postgraduate students.

Titles and positions

Capitalise titles for a specific person, eg Vice-Chancellor but not for a position, eg topic coordinator, course coordinator  

Only capitalise the full name when a person's official title is given in full, regardless of whether it is accompanied by his or her name. When the title is shortened, it should be written in lowercase. Don't mix full and shortened titles.

Capitalise a job title if it immediately precedes a name.

• Professor Smith (not Prof Smith, professor Smith)

Do not capitalise titles that follow names or stand alone.

• John Smith, professor in biology.

Always capitalise titles of the University's executive.

• Yesterday, Vice-Chancellor Professor Stirling said…
  The Pro Vice-Chancellor said yesterday...

It has been observed that “Vice-President and Executive Dean” is too much of a mouthful, especially in the plural. The Vice-Chancellor says that except in the most formal of instances, the preferred terminology is Vice-President.

University

The proper names Flinders University, should be capitalised. The generic term should be lowercase.

• Every day at Flinders University, we search for greater understanding.
• At Flinders, curiosity is our compass.
• Your academic transcript is the history of your academic performance at the University.
• There are many universities in Australia.

Bulleted or numbered lists can form part of a sentence or be a complete sentence within themselves.

When items in the list form complete sentences, punctuate with a colon and each list item has an initial capital and a full-stop.

This is a list:

• We describe some circumstances.
• This is a different description.

When the contents of the list form are part of the sentence, punctate like with a colon, use lower-case letters and add a full-stop only at the end.

It is important to:

• identify something
• describe something else
• end with the last thing.

In text, spell out numbers from one to nine, but use figures for numbers 10 and above.

In tables write the numbers as figures and use symbols (%, $) rather than words. 

All numbers in decimal point form should be figures and include 0 if less than 1.

0.25 not .25

Always spell out numbers at the start of a sentence.

Use a comma before the thousand with numbers over 9999.

Use a hyphen in fractions, one-third (use hyphen), not 1/3.

Telehone number formats:

• Phone: (08) 8123 0123
• +61 8 8123 0123
• 13 10 84
• 1902 240 699
• 1300 361 021
• 0411 999 999.

Addresses

Set out addresses without punctuation at the end of a line and don't use shortened forms.

Flinders University Library
Flinders University
Sturt Road
Bedford Park, South Australia 5042
Australia

Ampersands - 'and' vs '&'

Don't use the ampersand in regular text, headings or titles as a replacement for 'and'.

Exceptions:

• where space is limited in tables or navigation links
• where it's part of a name, eg Grind & Press Cafe.

Full stops

Only insert one space following a full stop at the end of a sentence.

Include spaces between initials and no full stops.

Don't use full stops with contractions such as Mr, Dr, Mrs.

In general, spelling conventions at Flinders University should follow the Australian standard as provided in the Macquarie Dictionary. The Macquarie Dictionary Online is updated annually and is the most up-to-date Australian dictionary and thesaurus.

Access the Macquarie Dictionary Online via the Flinders Library website (click 'Link to database' to access). You will need to provide your FAN and PIN to gain access, but should only have to do this once.

Some general points to remember about Australian spelling are:

• Use 'se' not 'ze' – eg 'realise', 'organise' (not 'realize', 'organize')
• Use 'our' not 'or – eg 'colour', 'behaviour' (not 'color', 'behavior')
• Use 're' not 'er' – eg 'theatre', 'centre' (not 'theater', 'center')
• 'program' not 'programme'
• Use 'se' for the verb form of nouns like practice, licence – eg 'The degree prepares you to practise medicine' (not 'practice medicine').

Here are some common mistakes:

• ageing (not aging)
• audiovisual (no hyphen)
• aural, oral (distinguish between aural - pertaining to the ear, and oral - pertaining to the mouth)
• car park (two words)
• case study (two words)
• casework (one word)
• per cent (two words)
• percentage (one word)
• convener (not convenor)
• cooperate (not co-operate)
• coordinator (not co-ordinator)
• coursework (not course work, course-work)
• criticises (use ‘s’, not ‘z’)
• database (one word)
• data-driven
• decision-making
• email (not E-mail, e-mail)
• framework (one word)
• full fee-paying
• full-time (not full time or fulltime)
• health care (two words unless used differently in a formal name)
• in-depth
• in-house
• inquiry (used when reference is to interrogation eg inquiry into conduct)
• internet (not Internet or the Net)
• midyear (no space, no hyphen)
• multiculturalism (no space, no hyphen)
• multidisciplinary (no space, no hyphen)
• offshore (no hyphen)
• on-campus (with hyphen if adjective, else two words)
• ongoing (one word, no hyphen)
• online (one word, no hyphen)
• part-time (not part time or parttime)
• pre-registration
• prerequisite(s) (not pre-requisites)
• pro rata
• problem-based
• problem-solving
• semester (write in full, no capital)
• short-term
• subcommittee (no hyphen)
• subsection (no hyphen)
• subtopic (no hyphen)
• website / webpage (not web site / web page)

Do not include a space or full stop between the time and the am or pm. 

• 5am, 7.30pm

For a span of time use the word to instead of a dash.

• 5.30pm to 8pm

Flinders is a world-class tertiary education institution, and its web content should reflect the highest standards of English and aim for precise word usage.

To help achieve this, here are some commonly misused words:

• comprise/compose – a whole comprises individual parts, whereas individual parts compose a whole. Never use 'comprised of', as the 'of' is redundant.
• use/utilise – contrary to popular belief, 'utilise' is not a more impressive way of saying 'use'. To utilise something is to use it for another purpose than it was intended for – eg you use a screwdriver to tighten a screw, but if one is not available you can utilise a butter knife.