黑料不打烊

Abbreviations

We use commonly understood abbreviations such as Mr, Mrs and Dr. For lesser known or University-specific terms, we write the word out in full in the first instance. We do not use full stops in any abbreviations, even if the abbreviation ends in a different letter to the full word.

Examples of correct usage:

• CV
• Mr and Mrs Smith
• BEng is a Bachelor of Engineering.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• C. V.
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• B.Eng is a Bachelor of Engineering.

Acronyms

We always spell out an acronym in the first instance followed by the acronym in round brackets (unless it is well known, such as BBC, UCAS or NASA).

Try to avoid using acronyms in headings. If the acronym does need to first appear in a heading (due to space constraints), then spell it out in the first instance in the body text. 

We typically capitalise every letter in an acronym and do not use full stops. If in doubt, look up the specific acronym on our preferred spellings and style page. If it’s an acronym external to the University, then use the acronym owner’s preferred style (for example, DfE for the Department for Education).

If an acronym has entered the language as an everyday word – such as laser or sim card – then write it in lower case.

Example of correct usage:

• We are accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Examples of incorrect usage:

• We have links with the British Broadcasting Corporation (B.B.C.).
• Students on this course can join the ACCA upon graduation.

Adjectives

When using adjectives, be wary of phrases such as "cutting-edge" and "state-of-the-art", as these are vague, overused and difficult to substantiate.

Alt text for images

When uploading an image to one of the University’s content management systems, you will need to fill in an alt text or description field (unless your image is just for decorative purposes).

Alt text is useful for search engine optimisation (SEO) purposes and improves the accessibility of our websites. For example, users with visual impairments may use screen-readers that pick up alt text and read this information aloud.

Alt text should describe what you can see in the image. The description should be detailed enough so that users who don’t see the image receive the same information as those who do. If you’re sharing a chart or graph, include the data in the alt text so that people have all the important information.

Ampersands

We typically insert a space either side of the ampersand symbol. We avoid using ampersands in copy, course titles and module names. Please note there are some exceptions. For example, some of our department names and our research themes do use ampersands. Check our A-Z list of academic schools and departments if you’re unsure about a specific department name. If a company uses an ampersand in its name, write it with an ampersand.

Examples of correct usage:

• Our BA Film and Theatre combines critical approaches and the opportunity to create films and performances.
• Our research themes include Agriculture, Food & Health, and Heritage & Creativity.
• Students go on to roles in companies such as Marks & Spencer and Johnson & Johnson.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• I am interested in studying BSc Mathematics & Psychology.
• She started her career at Marks and Spencer.

Apostrophes (see also Contractions)

Apostrophes have two functions.

1. To indicate missing letters. For example, “did not” becomes “didn’t”, and “would not” becomes “wouldn’t”. See also: contractions.
2. To indicate possessives. Note: when a word ending in “s” is a singular possessive, the apostrophe goes at the end followed by an extra “s”. For example, you’d write “James’s book” but “parents’ evening”.

Abbreviations use apostrophes in the normal way when denoting a possessive.

Examples of correct usage:

• The Vice-Chancellor's presentation.
• MPs’ expenses.

However, it is a common mistake to use an apostrophe on pluralised abbreviations.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• I have those CD’s you asked for.
• Several MPs’ were present.

When writing about decades, apostrophes are only necessary when abbreviating the decade or indicating a possessive.

Examples of correct usage:

• Star Wars was released in the 1970s.
• Star Wars was released in the ’70s.
• The 1960s’ fashions were even more bizarre than the ’70s’ styles.
• ’70s’ fashions are making a comeback.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• Star Wars was released in the 1970’s.
• Star Wars was released in the 70s.

There are two exceptions to these rules:

1. its/it’s.
2. Plurals. Words that are just plural (not possessive) never have an apostrophe; for example, “We bought some books,” and “Recycle your bottles here.”

Bold

We use emboldened text to emphasise words and highlight important facts. However, this should be done sparingly. This is preferred over all-upper case, italicised or underlined words. Use emboldened text to help break up chunks of text.

Examples of correct usage:

• Other requirements: See pages 182–185 for more details.
• 98% of 黑料不打烊 research is internationally recognised and 78% of our research is classified as internationally excellent.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• Our research is INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED.
• Our desire to create knowledge that will benefit society drives our active and diverse research agenda.

Brackets

Parentheses (commonly called round brackets) often take the place of a pair of commas or dashes; for example: “The research institute (located on our Whiteknights campus) carries out research in a number of areas.”

If you’re using other punctuation with brackets, these will typically fall outside the bracket. For example, “The event is at the 黑料不打烊 (Whiteknights campus).” The punctuation falls within the brackets when it is part of the quoted text.

British English spelling

We typically use British spellings and not American. Examples include "adviser" (not "advisor"), "benefitted" (not "benefited"), “colour” (not “color”), “travelling” (not “traveling”) and “centre” (not “center”). However, American proper nouns, such as Department of Defense, Labor Day and World Health Organization, should use US spellings. You should also not alter American spellings if quoting from an American text.

Use -ise verb endings in preference to -ize ones. Even though -ize isn’t just an Americanism and -ize is often also correct, our audiences tend to expect -ise because we are a British university.

We prefer not to use irregular British conjugations (for example, use “burned”, not “burnt”, “learned”, not “learnt”, and “dreamed”, not “dreamt”), but if you prefer to use “-t” instead of “-ed” words, it’s fine as long as you’re consistent.

Examples of correct usage:

• The students organised a charity collection in the town centre.
• I burned my hand.
• The International Office organised a Labor Day celebration for American students.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• Some students choose to go traveling after graduation.
• The history students studied the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Building names

Capitalise the names of buildings but use lower case for the word “building” when writing the full name of a building. We don’t use initial caps on “hall”, “halls” or “halls of residence”. Only use initial caps when referring to the halls by their full name.

Examples of correct usage:

• The Meteorology building on Whiteknights campus.
• You will make lots of friends in your halls of residence.
• Wantage Hall is catered whereas St George’s Hall is self-catered.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• The agriculture building is located on the Whiteknights campus.
• The lab is in the Harry Nursten Building.
• Many undergraduates choose to live in Halls during their first year.

Bulleted lists (see Lists)

Capitalisation (see also Job titles, Modules, University name)

We capitalise the first word and all important words in:

• school and department names, modules, professional teams and offices, and the University Library
• titles of works including academic publications, newspapers, journals, books, plays, television programmes, films, songs, video games and radio series (note that titles of works are also italicised)
• the titles of our academic programmes of study (however, subjects should be lower case)
• names of University events, for example, “Open Day”.

You should only capitalise articles (such as "the", "an" and "a") when they start a sentence or title.

Examples of correct usage:

• The Department of Mathematics and Statistics
• Disability Support Office
• Content Team
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• BSc Artificial Intelligence
• Your degree in artificial intelligence
• I'm studying mathematics at university.

Capitalisation of headings

Use sentence case for headings.

Example of correct usage:

• Undergraduate degrees at 黑料不打烊

Example of incorrect usage:

• Working With Our Students and Graduates

Centuries

We write centuries in words (lower case) rather than in numbers. For example, “in the twenty-first century” and “in the nineteenth century”. When used adjectively, the century should be hyphenated as an adjectival phrase; for example, “twenty-first-century book” and “nineteenth-century poetry”.

Exception:

Use numbers (for example "19th century") when the character count is restricted, such as in headlines and on social media.

Colons

Use colons between two sentences, or parts of sentences, where the first introduces a proposition that is resolved by the second; for example, “The University has four research themes: Agriculture, Food & Health, Environment, Heritage & Creativity, and Prosperity & Resilience.”

We don’t use a capital letter after a colon except if what follows is a full sentence or a proper noun.

A colon, rather than a comma, should be used to introduce a quotation or to precede a list (see also: Quotations and quotation marks).

Examples of correct usage:

• John said: “He was an expert on punctuation.”
• He was an expert on the following: the colon, the comma, and the full stop.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• John said, “He was an expert on punctuation.”
• He was an expert on the following, the colon, the comma, and the full stop.
• He was an expert on the following: The colon, the comma, and the full stop.

Commas

You only need to insert a comma before the final “and” in lists of three or more items – known as an Oxford comma – if it will make the list clearer for the reader. For example, if an item on your list already contains the word “and”.

Examples of correct usage:

• Our shop sells cake, ice cream and biscuits.
• Sandwiches include ham and cheese, cheese and pickle, and bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Example of incorrect usage:

• Breakfasts include porridge, full English and toast and jam.

Note: please remember to use commas around nonrestrictive clauses. For example, "John Smith, a punctuation expert, says this is important."

Contractions (see also Apostrophes)

Contractions – creating a single word from two separate ones using an apostrophe (for example, “don’t” instead of “do not”) – may be used in less formal writing. For formal communications, you should write words out in full.

If writing on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, do not use any contractions.

Examples of correct usage:

• Haven’t seen a club or society you’d like to join?
• We are delighted to offer you an unconditional place.

Courses (see also Degree and Programme)

We refer to our degrees as courses when communicating with external audiences, such as prospective students and applicants, as they are more familiar with this term. When addressing an internal audience, such as current students, use the term “programme”.

Dashes (see also Hyphens)

There are three types of dashes and hyphens:

• an em dash: —
• an en dash: –
• a hyphen: -

As per the Guardian’s style guide, we use en dashes to add a touch of drama – like this. But they should be used sparingly.

We also use a pair of en dashes as an alternative to commas or round brackets to draw readers’ attention to something.

Beware sentences – such as this one – that dash about all over the place – commas (or even, very occasionally, round brackets) are often better途 semi-colons also have their uses.

A single dash can be used to introduce explanation, amplification, or correction of what has gone before.

Dashes should not be used as hyphens. We do not use em dashes.

Examples of correct usage:

• Our Whiteknights campus – set in 130 hectares of beautiful parkland – has won multiple Green Flag awards.
• Congratulations – we would like to offer you a place to study at 黑料不打烊.

Dates and date ranges (see also Centuries)

Our preferred date format is: Saturday 23 January 1971.

We do not use superscript or commas when writing dates.

For date ranges, use the minimum number of digits to avoid ambiguity.

Use figures for decades, for example, ’60s instead of sixties (see Apostrophes for further guidance), and, when it’s necessary, always include a space between the year and the designation (AD, BC). AD is placed before the year, BC after it.

For academic and financial years, we typically use a forward slash after the full year followed by the last two digits of second year. For example, YYYY/YY.

For calendar years, we use an en-dash instead of a forward slash. For example, YYYY–YY.

Examples of correct usage:

• Christmas Eve is on 24 December.
• Elizabeth I reigned throughout 1558–1603.
• The Second World War took place during 1939–45.
• You will join us for academic year 2026/27.
• Our work focuses on music during the ’60s.
• The Roman invasion of Britain began in AD 43.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• Christmas Eve is on 24th December.
• Elizabeth I reigned throughout 1558–03.
• The Second World War took place during 1939–1945.
• You will join us for academic year 2026–27.
• Our work focuses on music during the sixties.
• The Roman invasion of Britain began in 43AD.

Decimals

Decimals should be written as a full stop, and the number of decimal places used should be consistent within a list or context.

For example, in marketing materials our convention is to round down (if between .1 and .4) or up ( if between .5 to .9) to the nearest whole number when referencing key statistics, such as the Graduate Outcome results.

Degree and degree classifications (see also Courses and Programme)

Lower case; for example, “We offer three undergraduate degrees,” and “She achieved a first in her degree.” 

Avoid numerals when referring to degree classifications. We prefer:

• first-class honours
• upper second-class honours
• lower second-class honours
• third-class honours
• ordinary degree. 

Example of incorrect usage:

• She got a 3rd in English.

Exceptions:

• Where space is limited, and on University course pages, it is acceptable to use abbreviated terms such as “2:1”.

Departments (see Schools and departments)

Ellipses

Ellipses should always be precisely three dots with no spaces in between them. There should, however, be a space on either side of an ellipsis.

Example of correct usage:

• “To be, or not to be … ”

Email addresses

Email is written as one word, no hyphen, and lower case unless it’s the start of a sentence.

University email addresses should be written in lower case with the domain name in full.

Example of correct usage:

• j.smith@reading.ac.uk

Example of incorrect usage:

• Email J.Smith@rdg.ac. uk

Emojis

We do not use emojis in our communications. The only exception is on social media, and you should only use them sparingly.

Exclamation marks

Use sparingly in less formal text.

Never use in formal documents or headlines.

Example of correct usage:

• Lucia said our Open Day was the best she'd ever attended!

Example of incorrect usage:

• We have opened a brand new research centre!

Footnotes (in print)

Use footnotes to reference sources of information that qualify or back up a statement or statistic.

Use superscript font when inserting footnote numerals into body copy. The corresponding footnote below the body copy should start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

We insert footnote numerals after the punctuation only when the footnote refers to an entire sentence.

Example of correct usage:

• Henley Business School, the 黑料不打烊’s hub of business expertise, is among the top-ranked business schools in Europe.¹

When referencing multiple sources within the same sentence, put each numeral immediately after its respective piece of text, even before the punctuation.

Example of correct usage:

• We are ranked in the top 10 in the UK for Accounting and Finance¹ and our student satisfaction ratings across all areas are 85-94%².

This rule does not apply to academic work, and you should check with your department for specific academic preferences. For more information, see the Library’s guide on .

Footnotes (online)

Avoid using footnotes online. They offer a bad user experience because they do not work with screen readers and can end up far away from the content they are referring to.

Do not use footnotes to provide additional information or expand on the content. Everything you need to say should be included in the body copy.

If you need to provide a citation for a statistic or ranking, you should include this in brackets within the body copy.

Examples of correct usage:

• The 黑料不打烊 was named Sustainable University of the Year (The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2025).
• 92% of graduates from the School of Architecture are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation. (Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2022-2024, Graduate Outcomes Surveys 2019/20-2021/22; includes full-time, UK domiciled, first degree Architecture responders.)

Full stops

Every sentence should end with a full stop, unless it’s replaced by a question mark or exclamation mark, or is followed by an ellipsis.

We use single spaces after full stops.

Hashtags

We usually use "UoR" when using a hashtag referring to the University ("#givingtoUoR" rather than "#giving"). We try to use hashtags as part of natural sentence construction instead of just inserting them at the end or beginning of a post.

Try not to use anything too generic such as "#GetReady" ("#GetReadyForUoR" is better). This avoids potential confusion with hashtags separate to the University.

Examples of correct usage:

• It’s a beautiful day on the #UoR campus
• Our Student Ambassadors are ready to welcome you to #UoROpenDay

Examples of incorrect usage:

• It’s a beautiful day on campus #UoR #beautiful #grass #sunny #day #summer #warmth
• Our Student Ambassadors are ready to welcome you #OpenDay

Headings (see Capitalisation of headings)

HTML headings (see also Writing for the web)

Use HTML headings (H1, H2, H3 and so on) to break up your content into smaller, more specific sections. This enhances the readability of your page and enables scan-reading by creating clear signposts for the user. The numbering denotes the importance of a heading (H1 is the most important, whereas H6 is the least important).

An H1 heading should always be the page title. Use H2s for subsections and H3 and below for headings that come under these subsections.

Hyperlinks (see also Writing for the web)

Use links to point users to relevant content and trusted external resources. The text of a link should always be descriptive of the link’s destination to inform users and aid those using screenreaders.

Do not use “Click here”, “Click for more information”, “Read this”, or insert the URL link text as it is. Instead, write the sentence as you normally would, and link the relevant keywords (not the whole sentence).

Use the actual URL (for example, www.reading.ac.uk) when writing University web addresses in print material or when a user is not able to click on the link. Omit the “http://” unless it is needed for the link to work. We write URLs for print in bold, not underlined.

If a link comes at the end of a sentence or before a comma, don’t link the punctuation mark.

Examples of correct usage:

• See the for more details.
• Find more information for international students on our website at .

Examples of incorrect usage:

• Read for details.
• for details.
• Click on

Hyphens (see also Dashes)

1) We use hyphens to avoid confusion:

• "four-year-old children" or "four year-old children".

2) Compound words can be open, closed, or hyphenated:

• real estate (open)
• multidisciplinary (closed)
• world-leading research (hyphenated).

There aren't strict rules around this, but consistency is key.

3) Hyphens can help with pronunciation or clarity, especially with double vowels:

• re-engineer (not reengineer)
• pre-date (not predate).

4) Use hyphens in compound modifiers before a noun:

• triple-accredited business school
• term-time teaching.

5) Don’t hyphenate them after a noun:

• teaching in term time
• the records are not up to date.

6) Adverb and adjective combinations aren’t hyphenated:

• highly qualified staff
• extremely advanced technology.

Initials

When writing initials, we do not include spaces or full stops between the letters. For example, "JRR Tolkien".

Italics

We use italics for titles of works including academic publications, newspapers, journals, books, plays, television programmes, films, songs, video games and radio series.

We use bold, not italics, for emphasis.

Examples of correct usage:

• Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
• 98% of 黑料不打烊 research is internationally recognised and 78% of our research is classified as internationally excellent.

Example of incorrect usage:

• 98% of 黑料不打烊 research is internationally recognised and 78% of our research is classified as internationally excellent.

Job titles

When referring to a role generally, use lower case letters. For example, “She is a director,” and “Our lecturers are engaged in a variety of research.”

When using a role as part of a person’s title, or to refer to a specific person in that role, use initial capitals. For example, “John Smith, Director of Admissions,” and “The Vice-Chancellor gave a lecture.” However, for former titles (for example, “former director”), we do not use initial capitals.

Hyphenate titles where appropriate, but abbreviate without hyphens. For example, "Pro-Vice-Chancellor" but "PVC".

We do not use gender-specific job titles. For example, people who act are actors.

Examples of correct usage:

• The retired professor gave us his views.
• The Emeritus Professor gave us her views.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• The Chef prepared food for the students.
• The authoress spoke to students.

Exceptions:

• Titles of awards, such as “Best Actress”.

Latin terms

Avoid Latin terms (for example: "etc", "eg", "ie", "per se" and "per annum"), abbreviated or otherwise.

If there is an unusual example when using a Latin term is unavoidable, do not use a full stop after an abbreviation.

Example of correct usage:

• We offer a wide range of subjects, including English, agriculture and maths.

Example of incorrect usage:

• We offer a wide range of subjects, e.g. English, agriculture and maths.

Exceptions:

The common exception is “CV”. We also make exceptions for titles like “Emeritus” and talk of “ad hominem degrees”. “Alumni” can be used when referring to the Alumni and Supporter Engagement Office, but we prefer to use “graduate” to refer to a former student who has completed their study here.

Links (see Hyperlinks)

Lists

Bulleted lists can be used to break up information while numbered lists should be used when information needs to be presented in a particular order.

If each item in a bulleted or numbered list is a full sentence they should start with a capital letter and end with a full stop. If each item in the list is not a full sentence, they should start with a lowercase letter. The last item in a list should have a full stop at the end.

We avoid the use of semi-colons in lists.

• Lists should only be preceded with a colon if each list item is not a full sentence.
• Lists should be treated as distinct items, with preceding text/headings giving context.
• Lists should primarily be used to provide users/readers with options or a choice.

Example of correct usage:

You can choose from the following flavours:

• vanilla
• strawberry
• chocolate.

Examples of incorrect usage:

When I go on holiday I like to:

• go skiing.
• eat too much ice cream.

You can choose from:

• vanilla,
• strawberry,
• and chocolate.

Modules (see also Capitalisation)

We use initial capitals for all important words in module names. You do not need to capitalise articles (“the”, “an” and “a”) except when they start a sentence.

Examples of correct usage:

• Students on our Communications at Work module also undertake a short placement.
• Optional modules include:
  • Icons of Spain and Latin America
  • The Making of Modern France
  • Introduction to French Culture.

Example of incorrect usage:

• Optional modules include:
  • Icons Of Spain And Latin America
  • The making of modern france
  • Introduction to French culture.

Money (see also Numbers)

Use the British pound sterling symbol only when figures are used. Use commas to break up figures in excess of 1,000.

Use abbreviations when referring to sums of money in the millions ("m"), billions ("bn") and trillions ("tn") and don't include a space between the figure and the abbreviation.

Examples of correct usage:

• The new building will be worth £15m.
• Undergraduate fees are £9,535 each year.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• We aim to raise £300million in funding.
• The cost of the trip will be fifty £.
• We need to raise £100000.

Names (see Building names, Job titles, Organisation names, Postnominals, Pronouns, Qualifications, Titles, University name)

Numbers (see also Dates, Decimals, Money, Percentages, Telephone numbers, Temperature, Units of measurement)

We spell out numbers from one to nine, and use numerals for 10 and above. For example, “You can choose from three courses,” and “The course is ranked in the top 10 in the UK.” The exceptions to this rule are measurements, statistics and building signage.

Use commas for numbers in excess of 1,000; for example, “The University employs more than 4,000 staff.”

Spell out “million”, “billion” and “trillion” except when referring to sums of money, units, or inanimate objects. For example, we would say, “There are more than eight billion people on the planet” but “This year’s research funding is in excess of £54m.”

Our preference is to write “first” not “1st”; for example, “first-floor corridor,” or “in the second year”. However, in some cases the “1st” form may be more appropriate, such as in building signage (“4th Floor”) or in statistics (“ranked 1st for research”).

Use hyphenated words for compound terms with numerals: “first-year undergraduate” and “two-year-old child”. Ensure your hyphens convey the correct meaning; for example, four year-old children has a different meaning to four-year-old children.

Numbered lists (see Lists)

Organisation names

If in doubt about how to spell an organisation’s name, check their website. If a company uses an ampersand in its name, such as Marks & Spencer or Johnson & Johnson, write it with an ampersand.

However, organisation names do not need to mirror the company logo, for example, O2 (no superscript) and Facebook (not facebook).

Percentages

Numbers and the % symbol should be used for percentages. Always use the symbol in headlines.

If you need to spell out the word, use “per cent” instead of “percent”.

Example of correct usage:

• The NSS survey found an 83% overall satisfaction.

Example of incorrect usage:

• The NSS survey found an 83 percent overall satisfaction.

PhD students

When referring to those studying for a PhD, use "PhD student" or "doctoral student", but not "postgraduate research student". Writing about postgraduate research as an area of study is permitted.

Postnominals

Include postnominals (for example, "KCB") on formal letters/communications, but not in wider communications.

You don’t need to list all postnominals, just the ones that are relevant to your message.

Our preferred order for postnominals is:

• civil honours
• military honours
• KC (King’s Council)
• degrees, in the order bachelor’s, master’s, doctorates, and postdoctoral diplomas certificates membership of academic or professional bodies.

Programme (see also Courses and Degree)

We use programme internally to refer to a programme of study at the University; for example, “You may choose a variety of modules within your programme” and “The School offers several programmes in this subject area.”

We refer to our degrees as courses when communicating with external audiences, such as prospective students and applicants, as they are more familiar with this term.

We also use programme to mean television programme.

Note that Henley postexperience courses are referred to as “programmes”. At Henley, programme participants are referred to as programme members rather than students. Participants can also be used. For example, “Executive MBA programme members will undertake a research project in the final months.”

For programme titles, we use initial capitals on all important words. For example, BA Archaeology and Anthropology with Professional Placement. Always check the order of words and whether the department uses “&” or “and” in titles.

Pronouns

We prefer gender-neutral pronouns, which means we try to use “they” instead of “he/she”. If you’re writing a message for other people, particularly online, try to address the audience directly and inclusively, using words such as “you”, “we” and “our”.

Punctuation (see Ampersands, Apostrophes, Brackets, Colons, Commas, Ellipses, Exclamation marks, Footnotes, Full stops, Lists, Question marks, Quotations and quotation marks, Semi-colons, Slashes)

Qualifications

Follow our standard style for abbreviations when abbreviating qualifications.

For specific qualifications, please see our Preferred spellings and style page.

Question marks

We only use question marks at the end of a direct question; for example, “Do you want to visit the London Road campus?” but not, “I asked her if she wanted to visit the London Road campus?”

Quotations and quotation marks

Only make changes to quotations to correct typos. If you need to shorten a quotation, use an ellipsis, but it should not change the meaning of the text.

Use double quotation marks for direct speech or to highlight a particular phrase or term within a sentence. Single quotation marks should only be used for a quotation within a quotation or speech.

• “I remember the moment the lecturer said, ‘You've passed!’"

For quotations that are complete sentences, punctuation falls before the quotation marks.

• He said: “I’m part of the Content Team.”

If the quotation is only part of a sentence, punctuation falls after the quotation marks.

• According to one student, the campus is “green and beautiful”.

Use a colon when introducing quotations from people, unless embedded in a sentence.

• A spokesperson said: “This is a university.”

If a quotation runs across more than one paragraph, insert opening quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph and only insert a closing quotation mark at the end of the final quoted paragraph.

• "I feel honoured and privileged to have served the 黑料不打烊 as Chancellor for the past 10 years.
  
  "The highlight of my tenure was presiding over the opening of the fabulous new University campus in Malaysia."

References (see Statistics and referencing)

Research projects

When discussing research, use upper case and italics when referring to the title of a project, but not if discussing a research area. For example, “My dissertation title is Elemental Metaphors in the Works of Shakespeare”, but, “My dissertation is on elemental metaphors in Shakespeare’s work.”

Semi-colons (see also Colons)

Use a semi-colon to connect two separate but related sentences. For example: “The Oatmeal has really helpful guidance on semi-colons; you can find it online.” In this example, you could replace the semi-colon with “and”, or a full stop, and it would still be correct – but a semi-colon is more effective.

A semi-colon can replace a full stop, but shouldn’t replace a comma.

Examples of correct usage:

• It’s summertime; everyone is on holiday.
• I like tea with milk well enough, but not with sugar.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• I like tea with milk well enough; but not with sugar.

Schools and departments

Use lower case if referring to schools or departments in general, but an initial capital when referring to a specific school or department. When discussing a particular school or department, in the first instance refer to the name in full, and thereafter as "the School" or “the Department”.

Examples of correct usage:

• Each school is home to a number of research groups.
• The School of Law has a high rate of student satisfaction.
• Interdisciplinary research takes place across a number of schools and departments.
• The Department of Meteorology is a world leader.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• The University is home to a number of Schools.
• The University is divided into Schools and Departments.

Slashes

Slashes should only be used in prose to distinguish between two alternatives when the alternatives can be described with one word each.

Academic years use slashes while financial years should use dashes.

Social media (see also Hashtags)

At times, you may not be able to follow all of our style rules due to space and design constraints within certain social media platforms. In general, try to be as clear and consistent as possible when adapting your messages for social media.

For expert social media guidance, contact the University’s Social Media Manager at socialmedia@reading.ac.uk.

Spelling (see British English spelling, Latin terms, Trademarks)

Statistics and references (see also Footnotes)

Statistics have an important place in our communications and copy – they complement our direct and confident tone of voice with demonstrable evidence.

Statistics should always be consistently sourced, either as part of the copy or in a footnote.

Write out the source name in full, include an abbreviation in parentheses if appropriate, and always include the year. A comma should be inserted ahead of the year, and if your source requires further clarification, add a second comma after the year and write out the clarification in full.

Examples of correct usage:

• Research Excellence Framework, YYYY.
• 92% of graduates from the School of Architecture are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation. (Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2022-2024, Graduate Outcomes Surveys 2019/20-2021/22; includes full-time, UK domiciled, first degree Architecture responders.)
• QS World University Rankings, YYYY.
• Guardian University Guide, YYYY.
• National Student Survey, YYYY.
• Complete University Guide, YYYY.
• The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, YYYY.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• REF.
• QS YYYY.
• Guardian University Guide YYYY.

Telephone numbers

We always use international and area codes, and include spaces between the two codes and phone number. The phone number itself includes spaces after the third and sixth digits.

Example of correct usage:

• +44 (0) 118 987 5123

Examples of incorrect usage:

• 0118 987 5123
• +44(0)1189875123

Temperature

Our preferred temperature format is: 2°C, which in this example indicates a temperature of two degrees Celsius. However, writing out the temperature in full (“two degrees Celsius”) is also acceptable.

Time and time duration

Times should be written numerically and formatted with colons. We do not use “o’clock”. We use the 24-hour clock as it is more widely understood by an international audience and avoids ambiguity.

For time spans (for example, an event that runs from 09:00 until 10:00) we would use an en-dash and no spaces around the punctuation.

Examples of correct usage:

• You can arrive on campus from 09:00.
• Rehearsals on Thursday, 13:00–15:00.

Examples of incorrect usage:

• You can arrive from three o’clock onwards.
• The event takes place at 4 pm.
• Meet us at 1.00pm.
• The graduation ceremony takes place at 11.00.

For time duration, use minutes when a time period is less than one hour.

Examples of correct usage:

• 45 minutes
• 2 hours 15 minutes

Titles (see also Job titles)

Use the full title on first mention (for example, "Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench"), and thereafter use the shortened version ("Sir Ian and Dame Judi").

Include postnominals (for example, "KCB") on formal letters/communications, but not in wider communications.

For further guidance on title protocol and forms of address, please refer to the .

Use an abbreviated salutation only if it is common outside a university context. Write Dr Smith (because Dr is common outside a university context, and because we wouldn’t write it out in full) but Professor Singh (rather than Prof Singh).

Exceptions:

• A shortened version of “Professor” could be included on X (formerly known as Twitter) due to limited character count.

Examples of correct usage:

• Prof Smith (on X only)
• Dr Jones

Trademarks

Do not use trademarks or trademarked terms in your copy unless you are referring to a specific product.

Underlining

Hyperlinks can be underlined online or in digital documents such as PDFs, but should be avoided in printed communications.

We do not underline text for emphasis.

Example of correct usage:

• You can register using our online form.

Example of incorrect usage:

• If you wish to attend you must register in advance.

Units of measurement

We use the metric system for units of measurement.

Length/distance is measured in kilometres (km), metres (m), centimetres (cm) and millimetres (mm), although miles are also commonly used, and acceptable.

Volume is measured in litres and millilitres (ml).

Mass/weight is measured in kilogrammes (kg) and grams (g).

You can write out the full unit of measurement or its abbreviation, but be consistent if you’re writing out a series of measurements.

University name (see also Capitalisation)

We refer to the University as “the 黑料不打烊”, not “The 黑料不打烊” or “黑料不打烊 University”. After the first instance this may be shortened to “University”. Note the upper case “U”.

When referring to universities in general, the word should be lower case.

We also avoid “UoR”, except on social media.

To avoid ambiguity in 黑料不打烊 (the University) being mistaken for reading (the activity), the University uses the phrase “at 黑料不打烊”.

When referring to the University, avoid using 黑料不打烊 at the start of sentences.

Examples of correct usage:

• Study history at 黑料不打烊.
• At 黑料不打烊, I was given the opportunity to…

Example of incorrect usage:

• 黑料不打烊 gave me the opportunity to...

Writing for inclusion

Ensure that you write in a way that doesn’t exclude particular individuals or groups. Exclusion can sometimes happen when there’s an assumption about what’s considered normal or default, or if people are referred to solely by their disability, race, gender or sexual orientation.

Examples of poor usage:

• If you are able to send a primary school teacher to hold a workshop, we’ll ensure her expenses are paid in full. (This presumes that all primary school teachers are women.)
• The event is for teaching staff and for normal staff. (This makes teaching staff sound abnormal.)
• 3% of our applicants are epileptics. 3% of our students are disabled. (Referring to people by their disability can make them feel less of a person.)

You can write inclusively by recognising that the given examples of poor usage can make people feel less important, excluded, stereotyped or stigmatised.

Better ways of writing these sentences include:

• If you are able to send a primary school teacher to hold a workshop, we’ll ensure their expenses are paid in full.
• If you are able to send a primary school teacher to hold a workshop, we’ll cover all incurred expenses.
• The event is for academic and professional staff.
• The event is for all staff.
• 3% of our applicants have epilepsy.
• 3% of our applicants are people with epilepsy.
• 3% of our students have a disability.
• 3% of our students are people with disabilities.

Writing for the web (see also Alt text for images, Hyperlinks, HTML headings, Italics)

You should structure your web content in order of importance, with the most important content appearing first.

In your web content, you should avoid directional instructions or any language that refers to the layout or design of the page. This is because the layout of the page may be different depending on the user’s device or browser window size, or if they are using a screen-reader.

If you want to direct a user to something else on the page, use an anchor link. If you want a user to click a link, include it in the same body of text, rather than telling the user to go somewhere specifically on the page.

Examples of correct usage:

• We regularly run many events. See the full list of upcoming events at the 黑料不打烊.
• Register your interest by filling in the form [anchor link to form further down the page].

Examples of incorrect usage:

• We regularly run many events. Click on the link in the blue sidebar on the right to see a full list of upcoming events.
• Register your interest by filling in the form at the bottom-left of the page.

Year

Use upper case when referring to the specific year of a programme, but not years in general.

Examples of correct usage:

• In Year 3, students will complete a dissertation.
• The programme runs over three years.

Only use “Part” for an internal audience. For an external audience (such as prospective students), use the word “Year", as this is more widely understood.

Example of incorrect usage for an external audience:

• In Part 3, you will complete a dissertation.

For information on academic and calendar years, see Dates and date ranges.