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Editorial Style Guide

An editorial style guide helps an organization such as Indiana Tech promote clarity and consistency in communications by creating standards for how certain things will be written.

Some style standards commonly used at the university appear below. For a complete overview, please refer to the Indiana Tech Editorial Style Guide.

Common editorial styles

  • Indiana Tech: Use Indiana Tech, unless the official name Indiana Institute of Technology is necessary for legal reasons. Tech is OK on second reference in casual use. Avoid IT or IIT. Do not use Indiana Tech University.
  • University: Lowercase the word, unless used as part of the full name of an institution. Please note that university is not part of our name.
  • Commencement: Use a capital C to refer to the Indiana Tech event.
  • Course Listings/Titles: Each course has a course number and a course title, which is always capitalized (even if the course is referred to without the number). There is no punctuation between the course number and the course title, and there are no italics or quotation marks. There is a space between the letters and digits: ACC 1040 rather than ACC1040.
  • Credits: Credit is preferred over credit hours. Do not use semester hours. Use numerals to refer to credits. Spell out credit, but the abbreviation (cr.) acceptable in table formats and when space is limited. Examples: 3 credits; a 3-credit course
  • Degrees: Refer informally to the degree levels as:
    • associate degree (not associate’s degree)
    • bachelor’s degree
    • master’s degree
    • Ph.D. or doctorate
  • Grade: When referring to a grade, use a capital letter. Quotation marks should not be a used around letter grades.

Names and titles of people

  • In text, use first and last names of the person on first reference, and last name only in subsequent references.
  • In text, professional titles immediately preceding a name are capitalized; those following a name are set off by commas and not capitalized. Examples:
    • President Karl Einolf, dedicated the academic center …
    • President Karl Einolf, president of Indiana Tech, dedicated the academic center …
    • In a directory listing or similar situation, the title may be capitalized whether it precedes the name, follows the name on a subsequent line, or appears in tabular form.

Additional resources

If you have specific editorial style questions, contact Matt Bair at 260.422.5561, ext. 2250 or msbair@indianatech.edu.

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