Flinders University Web Style Sheet

Styles below are for our specific usage of words and phrases, and how we use capitalisation, dates, acronyms etc.

Use Australian spelling and if you’re unsure of the spelling of a word refer to the Macquarie Dictionary.

If you would like something added here please email

Aboriginal (not aboriginal - unless referring to non-Australian indigenous people)

Abbreviations

Avoid abbreviations in general text, eg use professor, not prof.

Acronyms

Consider whether you need to use an acronym at all. If you do, write it in full first, followed by the acronym in brackets, and use the acronym after that. 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 web page, you could 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.

ageing (not aging)

and (not &)

Asia-Pacific

Associate Professor Smith (not abbreviated)

audiovisual (no hyphen)

aural, oral (distinguish between aural - pertaining to the ear, and oral - pertaining to the mouth)

Australian dollars

use $ sign, not A$

Bachelor of Education (written in full with capitalisation)

bachelors degree (not Bachelor’s Degree, lower case ‘b’ and no apostrophe)

BEd (no full stops if abbreviated)

campus (all lower-case, eg Flinders University campus)

Capitalisation

Headings should only have a capital letter at the beginning (except for proper nouns, eg Companion of University recipients
Capitalise titles for a specific person, eg Vice-Chancellor but not for a position, eg topic coordinator, course coordinator.

car park (two words)

case study (two words)

casework (one word)

Class Contact

2 one-hour lectures; or

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar; or

2 one-hour lectures and 2 one-hour laboratories.

2 lectures and 1 tutorial

Clause 8 (capital and numeral where referring to a specific numbered clause)

cognitive behaviour

cognitive science

Commonwealth (capitalise if used in Australian context to denote federal level, else lower case)

computer-aided

computer-based

convener (not convenor)

cooperate (not co-operate)

coordinator (not co-ordinator)

course coordinator

topic coordinator

cost-benefit (use hyphen. not slash ‘/’ )

coursework (not course work, course-work)

criticises (use ‘s’, not ‘z’)

database (one word)

data-driven

Dates

Thursday 25 January 2012, or 25 January 2012 (no commas, spell month in full)

Don’t use 10.8.12 (means 8 October 1998 to Americans).

Financial years: 2012/13 not 2012-13

Span of years: 2008-13, 1890s (no apostrophe), 8th century, seventeenth century

Decimals

0.25 not .25

decision-making

degree with honours (no capitals)

dependant (noun)

dependent (adjective as in ‘dependent upon’)

Deputy Vice-Chancellor

eg (no full stops)

email (not E-mail, e-mail)

emphasised (‘s’, not ‘z’)

enquiry (used when seeking information)

etc (no full stops)

Examinations Board (use capitals when referring to formal body)

faculty

Faculty Board (title)

a faculty

appropriate faculty

relevant faculty

the faculty will

the Faculty of Health Sciences (use capitals when naming a specific faculty)

fieldwork (one word)

final honours year (not Final Honours year)

First Year (when title as in ‘a number of First Year students’)

first year (when level or time)

Flinders University or Flinders or the University (not FU, FUSA, FUAA)

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 (see below) for international audiences.

For more information on using the University’s name, refer to Use of the University name and University crest.

focus

focusing

focused

foetal

foetus

four year course

fractions

one-third (use hyphen), not 1/3

framework (one word)

full fee-paying

full-time (not full time or fulltime)

graduate-entry (lower case)

head of department (no capitals when using the term generically)

Head of Department of Psychiatry (use capitals when referring to a specific head of department, eg The applicant must complete a Department of Management application form and submit it to the Head of the Department.)

health care (two words unless used differently in a formal name)

health-related

honours candidate

honours degree

ie (no full stops)

in-depth

in-house

inquiry (used when reference is to interrogation eg inquiry into conduct)

internet (not Internet or the Net)

level (only use capital if in formal name eg Physical Sciences, Third Level)

Lists

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.

long-term

Master of Arts or MA (no full stops)

masters degree (not Master’s degree)

masters qualifying

Measures

3 cm, 100 km (space, no full-stop)

micro-organism

microskills

midyear (no space, no hyphen)

multiculturalism (no space, no hyphen)

multidisciplinary (no space, no hyphen)

National Health and Medical Research Council (abbreviate to NH&MRC)

Numbers (write as text if single digits - four, 26)

twice yearly or two-yearly (every two years)

forty-five (prefer 45 but use hyphen if writing large numbers as text)

one year course

Use words not numerals when a sentence begins with a number, eg ‘One hundred kilometres’.

occurred

offshore (no hyphen)

on-campus (with hyphen if adjective, else two words)

ongoing (one word, no hyphen)

online (one word, no hyphen)

on-site (use hyphen if adjective, else use two words - ‘there are toilets on site’.)

organisation

part-time (not part time or parttime)

pathophysiology

per cent or % (eg 50 per cent, 50%)

PhD (no full stops)

policy-making

post-colonial

postgraduate

pre-registration

prerequisite(s) (not pre-requisites)

pre-term

pro rata

problem-based

problem-solving

Professor Smith (not Prof Smith, professor Smith)

program

programmed

programming

Pro Vice-Chancellor

psychodynamic

psychosocial

Punctuation:

Use minimal punctuation and avoid colons and semicolons where possible.
Use ‘single’, not “double”, quotation marks.
Don’t use full-stops in headings.

reappointed

recognised

Rule 21A

self-evaluation

self-monitoring

semester (write in full, no capital)

short-term

sociobiology (no hyphen)

sociocultural

socioeconomic

sociopolitical

software

South Australian Centre for Applied Economics (SACAE)

South Australian Institute of Technology (SAIT)

specialisation

subclause (no hyphen)

Street numbers

139-146 Rundle Street

subcommittee (no hyphen)

subsection (no hyphen)

subtopic (no hyphen)

teleconference

Telehone number formats:

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

Time

5am, 7pm (no spaces or full-stops)

undergraduate

university (when referring to a university in the generic sense)

University (when referring to Flinders University)

utilise

Vice-Chancellor

website (not web site)

Year 12 (capital when referring to school year)

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