BYU Style Guide updates:
2012-07-06

department


Department of Exercise Sciences; Exercise Sciences Department; Sociology and Psychology Departments; the department
2011-10-03

BYU Broadcasting channels


BYU Television; BYUTV (primarily features BYU- or Church-related content; available via satellite/cable and online)

BYU Television International (similar content to BYUTV, with English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions; available via satellite/cable and the internet)

KBYU-TV; currently branded as KBYU Eleven (local PBS affiliate, also featuring some BYU- and Church-related content; not available via the internet)

KBYU-FM; currently branded as Classical 89 (local radio programming, featuring classical music and some BYU- and Church-related content; available via the internet)

BYU Radio (BYU- and Church-related content; available via satellite/cable and the internet)

Create TV (do-it-yourself and how-to programming from public television; available only over the air and on selected cable systems)

internet or Internet, the


names


When in doubt, refer to the BYU Undergraduate Catalog (which departments are invited to check annually for errors), the person’s office, or , if he or she is a “celebrity,” on the internet.

  • Commonly misspelled names:
Larry EchoHawk
Kieth Merrill
John A. Widtsoe
  • Space between initials: B. H. Roberts (15th Chicago 15.12); AP style, however, would omit spaces

  • The following prefer no periods following the initials in their names:
Jack H Goaslind
Daniel K Judd
Brayden G King
Richard L Manning
Hal G Moore
Stephen L Richards
Michael M. O Seipel (no period after the O)
Ronald J Staheli
Dennis L Thomson
J Paul Warnick
Kevin J Worthen

Net ID


URLs and email addresses


When possible, break between elements. As per the recommendations in Chicago 7.42, break the address “after a colon or a double slash; before or after an equals sign or ampersand; or before a single slash, a period, or any other punctuation or symbols. To avoid confusion, an address that contains a hyphen should never be broken at the hyphen; nor should a hyphen be added to break an email address or URL.”

As an example, the web address https://byusa.byu.edu/campus-activities could be broken in any of the following ways:

  • https:// byusa.byu.edu/campus-activities (but not https ://byusa.byu.edu/campus-activities)

  • https://byusa .byu.edu/campus-activities or https://byusa.byu .edu/campus-activities (but not https://byusa. byu.edu/campus-activities or https://byusa.byu. edu/campus-activities)

  • https://byusa.byu.edu /campus-activities (but not https://byusa.byu.edu/ campus-activities)

2011-03-01

website (16th Chicago); Web site (Webster's 11th); web page


2011-01-19

capitalization


  • Titles of works (headline style): Capitalize the first and last words and all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions (if, because, that, etc.). Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor), and the words to and as in any grammatical function, for simplicity’s sake (see 15th Chicago 8.167). Prepositions in titles: Cap when five or more letters (If you follow AP style, cap when four or more letters.)

  • Hyphenated words in titles: Chicago allows either capitalizing the second element or lowercasing the second element.

  • Brand names like eBay and iPod should not be capitalized when beginning a sentence, though a rewording to avoid awkwardness may be desired. (See Chicago [16th ed.] 8.153.)

  • Lowercase words like chapter and part in text (see 15th Chicago 8.189–190)

  • Lowercase the names of majors except for those that are already proper nouns, e.g., English, European studies,

  • Lowercase university when used alone.

  • Lowercase semesters and terms, i.e., fall semester, spring term.

  • plurals of capitalized terms:

    • the Provo and Jordan Rivers; Mounts Timpanogos and Rainier; the Joseph F. Smith and James E. Talmage Buildings; World Wars I and II (See Chicago [16th ed] 8.52, 55, 112)

    • words derived from proper names: If the dictionary doesn’t give you the answer, you can follow the Chicago Manual of Style’s rationale: “Personal, national, or geographical names, and words derived from such names, are often lowercased when used with a nonliteral meaning.” Examples include brussels sprouts, frankfurter, french dressing, platonic, and the like. (See Chicago [16th ed.] 8.59–60.)

titles


See capitalization

  • forms: Capitalize Form when it’s in the title across the top of the page; otherwise lowercase it or delete it from the title bring discussed.

    • Class Request Form
    Needs Analysis Form (ACT)
    Registration Confirmation Form
  • italicize titles of plays, movies, TV shows, books, artwork (including photographs), exhibits, and the like; put quotation marks around episode titles, though.

  • Leave academic publication titles in roman type, e.g., BYU Undergraduate Catalog (and other catalogs), Fall 2008 Class Schedule, GE Guide, University Honors Program Course Guide, University Electronic Handbook.

U.S.


Use only as an adjective, spell out as a noun; no periods when used in addresses.

web, the (but cap in World Wide Web, which is a proper noun)


2010-11-04

buildings (BYU campus)


For building names and abbreviations, see the BYU Map and Building List under Resources on the menu bar.
2010-10-28

bachelor of general studies degree (BGS)


general studies, bachelor of (BGS)


2010-10-19

athletic conferences


Western Athletic Conference (WAC); BYU a member 1962–99
Mountain West Conference (MWC); BYU a member 1999–2010
West Coast Conference (WCC); BYU a member 2011– (all sports but football, track and field, swimming, and softball)

Mountain West Conference (MWC); BYU a member 1999–2011


MountainWest Sports Network; The Mtn.


Referred to in text as The Mtn.; broadcast partner for the Mountain West Conference

MWC championship


West Coast Conference (WCC); BYU a member 2011– (all sports but football, track and field, swimming, and softball


Western Athletic Conference (WAC); BYU a member 1962–99