Editorial Styleguide

M - N - O

“M” Award: Initial-cap the M and A, and put the M in quotation marks.
Martha Proctor Mack Grand Ballroom, The: “The” is part of the name.
magazine names: Capitalize the name but do not place it in quotes; use italics. Lowercase magazine unless it is part of the publication’s formal title: The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek magazine, TIME magazine. Check the masthead if in doubt.
majors (as of December 2012): Lowercase names of majors when used in copy. She received a bachelor’s degree in public affairs and corporate communications. He was awarded a doctorate in anthropology.; Accounting
Advertising (General, Creative, Media)
Anthropology
Applied Physiology and Sport Management
Art
Art History
Biochemistry
Biological Sciences
Biomedical Research
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Communication Studies
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Computer Science with Bioinformatics, Game
Development, Research or Security Specializations
Creative Computing
Dance
Economics
Economics with Finance Applications Specialization
Economics with Systems Analysis Specialization
Education (Teacher Certification)
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering with Biomedical, Computer Engineering or Engineering Leadership Specializations
Engineering
English
English with Creative Writing Specialization
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Engineering
Environmental Science
Environmental Science with Engineering Emphasis
Environmental Studies
Ethnic Studies (African/African-American, Mexican-American)
Film and Media Arts
Finance
Finance with Alternative Asset Management Specialization
Financial Consulting
General Business
Geology
Geophysics
History
Human Rights
Individualized Studies in the Liberal Arts
International Studies
Journalism
Management
Management Science
Marketing
Markets and Culture
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering with Engineering
Management and Entrepreneurship or Manufacturing Specializations
Medieval Studies
Music
Music Composition
Music Education with Texas Teacher Certification
Music Performance
Music Therapy
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Pre-Law
Pre-Med
Pre-Physical Therapy
Psychology
Public Policy
Public Relations and Strategic Communications
Real Estate Finance
Religious Studies
Resource Geology
Risk Management and Insurance
Sociology
Statistical Science
Theatre (Acting, Theatre Studies)
World Languages and Literatures (French, German, Italian Area Studies, Spanish); SMU’s 100 undergraduate majors and 75 minors are complemented by nationally recognized graduate programs.
majority vs. plurality: Majority means more than half of an amount. Plurality means more than the next highest number. For example, 51 votes for one person out of a possible 100 would be a majority, while 40 votes for one person and 30 votes for another would constitute a plurality.
master’s: Lowercase as a general term (i.e., not as part of a full degree name, such as Master of Science degree). Stella earned her master’s degree at SMU.
See degrees, bachelor’s and doctoral entries.
MasterCard
Meadows Foundation, The
Meadows Museum Sculpture Plaza
media: In the sense of mass communication, such as magazines, newspapers, the news services, radio and television, the word is plural: The news media are often the target of criticism.
memento, mementos
memorandum, memoranda
midnight: Do not put a 12 in front of it. It is part of the day that is ending, not the one that is beginning.
military titles: Capitalize a military rank when used as a formal title before an individual’s name. Spell out any title used before a name in a direct quotation.; On subsequent references, do not continue using the title before a name. When a title is substituted for a name, spell out and lowercase. For more information, see The AP Stylebook.
millennium
minorities: Use African American, not Black or Negro. Hyphenate when used as an adjective: African-American Studies. When using the term black, capitalize only when used as part of a formal title: the Black History Program. Also, use Hispanic or Mexican American, Latin American, Native American and Asian or Asian American where applicable.
mobile marketing
Moody Coliseum: Basketball and volleyball facility.
Mothers’ Club
Museum: Uppercase when referring to a specific SMU museum. The Meadows Museum specializes in Spanish art. People from around the world visit the Museum annually.
music: Capitalize, but do not use quotation marks for orchestral works: Bach’s Suite No. 1 for Orchestra. If the work has a special full title, all of it is quoted: “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Symphonie Fantastique.”
Mustang Plaza and Mall
nation: Use only in reference to a country when the subject deals with governmental or political matters: The nation was founded in 1885 but This country has three mountain ranges.
nationwide
nondiscrimination policy: Please include a version of the policy in ALL publications.; Long Version. The long version of the statement, which must appear in major University publications such as the catalogs and schedule of classes, will now read as shown below. It should be noted that the long version of the statement is preferred for fully communicating SMU’s commitment and should be used on multipage brochures and publications.; SMU will not discriminate in any employment practice, education program or educational activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. SMU’s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. The Associate Vice President of Institutional Access and Equity has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies.; Intermediate Version. The intermediate version is to be used when space does not accommodate the long version.; SMU will not discriminate in any employment practice, education program or educational activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. SMU’s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.; Short Version. The short version is to be used when space does not accommodate the long or intermediate versions.; SMU will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. SMU’s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.; Brief Version. If the short version is still too long in relation to the size of the ad, the sentence below can be substituted.; SMU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution.
nonprofit: No hyphen.
noon, midnight: Do not put a 12 in front of them; they stand alone.
numbers: In text, and in general, spell out numbers one through nine. Use numerals for 10 and above. Some exceptions are percentages, ratios, monetary amounts, temperature readings, ages, physical dimensions and sports scores: 44 percent, 104 percent, $4 (not four dollars), 4 C or four degrees centigrade (not 4 degrees centigrade), They won the baseball game 4–2, She is 4 years old, The porch is 9 feet by 11 feet, etc.; Large numbers: When large numbers must be spelled out, use a hyphen to connect a word ending in “y” to another word; do not use commas between other separate words that are part of one number: twenty, forty, twenty-one, forty-one, one hundred forty-four, one thousand four hundred forty-four, one million four hundred forty-four thousand four hundred forty-four.; Beginning of a sentence: Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence. If necessary, rewrite the sentence to avoid this. The only exception to this rule is when a sentence is started with a number that identiﬁes a calendar year:; Wrong: 444 ﬁrst-year students entered SMU last year.
Right: Last year 444 ﬁrst-year students entered SMU.
Right: 1989 was a very good year.; Casual uses: Spell out casual expressions: For the thousandth time, please clean the house. Thanks a million. She jogged a quarter of a mile.; Proper names: Use words or numerals according to an organization’s practice: 20th Century Fox, Twentieth Century Fund, etc.; Figures or words: Spell out ﬁrst through ninth when they indicate sequence in time or location: ﬁrst base, the First Amendment, he was ﬁrst in line. Starting with 10th, use ﬁgures.; Use 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. when the sequence has been assigned in forming names. The principle examples are geographic, military and political designations such as 1st Ward, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 7th ﬂeet, 1st Sgt.; Plural numbers: Add an “s” with no apostrophe to form plurals: She threw 6s. She remembers the 60s.; Centuries: The “10 and above” rule applies: Spell out centuries below 10; use numerals for 10 and above. Lowercase century: the 20th century, the fourth century, etc.; Commas: Include commas in all four-digit numbers, except when listing years and SAT scores, also tax forms, rules and regulations and product model numbers: 1,458; 4,404; 9,999; etc. But, He scored 1100 on the SAT in 1993. Also, Form 1040A, Amendment 2401C, Ferrari 8000XT.; Don’t use commas around the year when it is written with a speciﬁc month: July 1990, not July, 1990. However, do set off the year with commas when a speciﬁc month and day are used: July 1, 1969, was a particularly hot day.; When giving a date for an event, do not use on before the date: The Mustangs will play Navy November 1 in Dallas (not on November 1).
off of: The of is unnecessary: He fell off the stage, not He fell off of the stage.
Office of Information Technology: Often abbreviated OIT.
OK: Not okay, o’kay, or O.K.
on-campus, off-campus: Hyphenate only when used as a compound modiﬁer. She used the sources available from the on-campus libraries. He decided to live off campus.
online: One word, no hyphen, no matter the usage when referring to computer networks and services available via modem, such as the Internet.
over: In most cases, try to use the phrase more than: The course required more than eight hours of study each week. While over is generally used for spatial relationships such as The plane ﬂew over the city, it can be used with numerals at times: She is over 30 and The shortstop hit 30 home runs and had 30 stolen bases.
overused words: Try to avoid overusing or trivializing descriptive words such as: unique, excellent, excellence, really, very, state-of-the-art, acclaimed, nationally/internationally recognized, world-class, world-renowned, quality, high-quality and prestigious.