M-O Style Guide
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
magazines
Italicize titles
Popular Science
U.S. News and World Report
Us Weekly
master of business administration
MBA (no periods)
master of science
master's degree, MS (no periods)
may
Often confused with can. May refers to possibility or permission. (See also can.)
You may enroll in CS-210.
(Why? Because we give you permission.)
military
Capitalize army, navy or air force when referring to U.S. forces.
U.S. Army, the Navy, Air Force regulations
Use lowercase for the forces of other nations
French army, Spanish navy, British air force
mission statement
Do not capitalize
months
Do not use a comma between the month and year if there is no specific date. (see dates)
multi-
In general, do not use a hyphen with this prefix.
multimedia, multimillion, multicultural
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NASA
In general, does not need to be spelled out on first reference to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
use NASA Goddard on second reference. (Do not use a slash.)
NASA PREP
The summer pre-engineering program for minority high school students.
Can also be Capitol College/NASA PREP
National Society of Black Engineers
Spell out on first reference; NSBE or the society then after.
nonprofit
Most words with a non- prefix are not hyphenated. Refer to the dictionary if unsure.
nonacademic, noncredit, nonessential
numbers
In general, spell out the first nine numbers (one to nine), plus zero. Use figures for 10 and above. Spell out any number that begins a sentence, except for years. (Try to rewrite the sentence to avoid starting a sentence with a year.)
Use numeric figures for all units of measure, time and money, even if less than 10. Use numeric figures for all ages. (see ages)
3 credit hours, $5, 17 degrees, 4 inches, 9 p.m., 4-year-old boy
Percents
Use figures for all numbers and spell out percent. Use the percent symbol (%) only in charts or graphs. (see percents)
Fractions
Spell out fractions less than one, using hyphens between the words.
one-thirds; two-thirds majority
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OK
Do not use okay or O.K.
on-campus (adj.), on campus (n.)
Hyphenate as a compound modifier before a noun. (Follow the same guideline for off-campus and off campus.)
Students can get on-campus jobs.
He works on campus.
online
One word; no hyphen
open house
Do not capitalize when referring to the college-visitation events. Only capitalize open house events that have a special or proper name, such as Jump Start Juniors. (see also capitalization)
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