Introduction. For questions, contact the Communications Team at LUMS STYLE GUIDE 01

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1 LUMS STYLE GUIDE

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3 Introduction The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Style Guide addresses a universal writing standard for all University-related print and electronic content. To uphold the University s mission for excellence, the Department of Marketing and Communications strives to standardise all written content on all platforms. For questions, contact the Communications Team at communications@lums.edu.pk LUMS STYLE GUIDE 01

4 Abbreviations and Acronyms Abbreviations All international organisations, government agencies, academic institutions and entities should be abbreviated using their official acronyms with no full stops; if in doubt, refer to their website: WHO for World Health Organization Use a single full stop for single initial: Dwight D. Eisenhower Wendy O. Williams For multiple initials, use a full stop after each initial, separated by a space: A. J. Liebling For military ranks, full stops should be used: Capt. Col. Lt. Gen. For titles, full stops should be used: Mr. Prof. Dr. For degrees or affiliations, no full stops are used: PhD BSc MBA An exception in this case is the LUMS law programme, which is written as BA-LL.B Corporate, group or stage names, royal titles and objects need no full stops: IMF GlaxoSmithKline SMS When abbreviations are all lower case, there is no need for full stops: kg g m cm mm l ml Exceptions: e.g. i.e. etc. Abbreviations such as i.e. and e.g. should preferably be used only in footnotes or references, not in body text, and should not be followed by commas. 02 LUMS STYLE GUIDE

5 Acronyms Acronyms should be specified in brackets after an entity has been named in full for the first time: Established in 1985, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Once an acronym has been specified, it can be used throughout the document unless it is organisation- specific or not well-known. Acronyms are written in all capitals, with no full stops: the UK the US the HR department And/&/or Always avoid the use of & unless it is part of a name, for example: Johnson & Johnson Avoid using and/or or is generally good enough to convey the meaning Apostrophes Apostrophes are used to indicate possession: When referring to the graduating year of an alumnus, always use the apostrophe before the year: Adeel Bajwa, MBA 90 Mohsin Hameed 00 Apostrophes are not needed in plurals: 1980s NGOs LUMS STYLE GUIDE 03

6 Bullets All the items in a bullet list should have the same grammatical structure. They should all be nouns, adjectives, verbs or complete sentences. Simple bullets should be used for itemised lists. If the bullet content is a full sentence, use an initial cap for the first word and end with a full stop. We used a literature review to identify data gaps. If the bullet point is not a complete sentence, an initial capital for the first word is not needed. Do not use commas, semi-colons or full stops at the end. We used a literature review to identify: data gaps sample size Be consistent in the types, sizes and positions of bullets used throughout a document. Use numbers instead of bullets only when the order of the items is important such as for procedures or instructions. When listing titles, each title should be capitalised and italicised. Books published by SDSB faculty include: Religious Diversity in the Workplace: Conflict, Harmony and Performance The State of Marketing in Leading MNC's and their Local Competitors in Pakistan: Findings of a Baseline Survey, Centre for Management and Economic Research - LUMS 04 LUMS STYLE GUIDE

7 Capitalisation In titles, all words should start with capital letters except for the articles a and the and prepositions fewer than five letters in length. The only exception to this rule is when a or the, or the preposition is the first word of the title: A Conversation with Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi Job titles are in lower case when referring to positions in general. The initial letter of each word is upper case when referring to a particular person: He became an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi Prof. Dr. Adnan Sayed, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry said,... Captions Text that explains an illustration or picture and which appears outside (usually below) it is known as a caption. A caption need not be a complete sentence. It can consist of one or two words, incomplete sentences, several complete sentences or a combination. If the caption is an incomplete sentence there is no need for a full stop at the end. Physics Lab at LUMS If the caption comprises full sentences then there should be a full stop at the end of each. Dr. Khan working in his lab at LUMS. Captions are capitalised like normal sentences and if any titles of works come within the caption they are italicised. Do not mistake it for a key or label which are part of the illustration i.e. appear within it. LUMS STYLE GUIDE 05

8 Colons and Semicolons Colons Colons (:) are used to show that what follows is an explanation or expansion of the sentence that preceded it. Lahore University of Management Sciences focuses on three major areas: education, research and Semicolons Semicolons (;) are used to join two complete sentences that are closely related to one another. The sentences could be joined by a coordinating conjunction, such as and, but, nor, for. The semicolon could also be replaced by a full stop with each sentence treated as a complete sentence. It taps into the extraordinary organisation of management studies; many of these areas are extremely ambitious, employing hundreds of scholars. Semicolons are also frequently used in place of commas in lists: The publication has drawn on visions from the Suleman Dawood School of Business; the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law; and the Centre for Entrepreneurship. Commas Commas mark a short pause in a sentence. They allow the text to breathe and the reader to understand the text. They are a standard separator between items in lists. Do not use a comma between parts of sentences which could be separate sentences; use a full stop or a semi-colon (as in this sentence) instead: For example, on inquiry-based learning in science and mathematics and on health education practices in primary classrooms; issues in teacher education such as the notions of citizenship, human rights and conflict resolution; the degree of community participation in teacher education and school improvement; and the consequences of decentralisation on the effectiveness and efficiency of education. Commas are essential for identifying a title or position following a name. Syed Babar Ali, Pro Chancellor LUMS 06 LUMS STYLE GUIDE

9 Contractions Contractions should be avoided where possible. Contractions are generally used where letters have been omitted: can t isn t won t Currencies The currency symbol goes before the amount, with space in between: $ The same applies to currencies with no currency symbol and only letters denoting it. Note there is no full stop: PKR 500 The $ cannot be used alone when currencies like NZ$, A$, and S$ are mentioned in the document. When this format is used, put space between symbol and number. Never abbreviate million and billion in document text or break the figure in two separate lines in running text. Use the following style: US$ 10 million PKR 3 billion In charts and tables, use the abbreviation m for millions and b for billions. Note there is no space between the number and m or b : US$ 10m or Rs 45b When mentioning large monetary amounts in a chart, table or figure, the currency is usually denominated in thousands or millions and should be specified: US$ in millions or PKR in billions Separate numbers on the hundred, million or billion mark. Write: PKR 250,000 not PKR 2,50,000 and PKR 35,000,000 not PKR 3,50,00,000. LUMS STYLE GUIDE 07

10 Dashes and Hyphens Dashes Use en dashes ( ), rather than em dashes ( ) or hyphens (-), to set off parts of text. Do not overuse. En dash: An en dash is called so because it is the width of a capital N. It is commonly used to indicate a range: The meeting will be on Thursday, 4:00 6:00 p.m. The artist s blue period, , was his most productive. En dashes can also be used to connect a prefix with an open compound (a compound of two or more words with spaces in it, expressing one idea): post World War II ex vice president The reason for using an en dash with such compounds is to send a subtle signal to the reader that the prefix belongs to the entire compound, not just the first word of it. Em dash: Are the same width as the size of a capital M. Most often, they are used in pairs to emphasise an element or elements within a sentence: Cruciferous vegetables broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are said to lower the risk of cancer. Em dashes can also show an abrupt change in thought: I thought I had time more than enough time to finish the article. Or they can show interrupted dialogue: I told you I can t Hyphens Hyphens are used to form compound modifiers (two words which come together to modify a noun) such as: well-attended event part-time employee They can also be used to indicate a break in a word that falls at the end of a line, but with most word processing software having hyphenation features, this use is becoming increasingly less. They are also used to link parts of compound words (nouns, adjectives, numbers over 20) and should be used only when grammatically necessary to improve readability and avoid ambiguity. 08 LUMS STYLE GUIDE

11 Dates The standard date format is: spelled-out month, date, comma, year April 1, 2010 not 1 April 2010, Apr , 1st April 2010, or 1st Apr If only the month is used, avoid commas: November 2009 or April 2010 If a day of the week is added, a comma separates it from the date: Thursday, April 1, 2010 If there is more than one date then add a hyphen between date numbers: April 1-2, 2010 If the date spans more than one month then add hyphen between first and second date: April 1-May 31, 2010 Ellipses An ellipsis is a series of marks, usually denoted by three full stops (...) that indicate the intentional omission of a word, phrase or sentence. When using an ellipsis, leave one space before and after: During your student life... you had to stay in one class for a whole year before you moved on to the next. There should not be a full space between the quotation mark and the ellipsis, or the parenthesis and the ellipsis: Clearly a very accomplished work sophisticated, if lacking in some respects ( perfection is an impossibility, after all ). If the deleted material occurs after a complete sentence, there is no need to include a full stop (or other punctuation) before the ellipsis: Céline s book is a joy to read Slender, compact, light-hearted, filled with optimism LUMS STYLE GUIDE 09

12 Quotation Marks Use to open and close direct speech (quoting a person s exact words) to highlight or draw attention to words for various reasons. Use double quote marks for actual quotations; single quote marks for other applications. Use single quotes ( ) for quotations within quotations; use double quotes ( ) in all other cases. Where both double and single quote marks need to be applied together, use the following style: In his speech, the Professor said LUMS is an institution of great repute and allegations will not be tolerated. If a quote continues into another paragraph without a break, the closing quote marks are not used. If the quotation is a complete sentence, it begins with a capital letter, however, if the quotation is a part from the middle of a sentence, then no caps are required: The Professor stressed the need for flexibility and agility in thinking about the future of LUMS. Italics Italics should always be applied to titles of books, plays, films, newspapers or periodicals. Always italicise foreign words unless they have become common usage in English: bung o horn laissez-faire Names of foreign entities or organisations should not be italicised: La Chaine d Espoir Numbers Numbers one to nine are always spelled out. Numbers 10 and above are expressed in digits. When numbers are mentioned in groups, consistency is favoured: The School has 450 students, 9 staff members and 18 attendants. Sentences never begin with digits, whether from one to nine or 10 onwards: Seventy-three per cent of students were present. It is also undesirable to use digits in one category and spell out the number for the other category: In general, six to eight students were working on a project. Double digit numbers should not be shortened: not LUMS STYLE GUIDE

13 Preferred Language LUMS uses British English. The use of Standard American English is only permitted for names of institutions or departments; their official spelling has to be used: World Health Organization Spelling It is recommended that to avoid spelling errors, the default language on Microsoft Word should be set to English (United Kingdom). The Oxford English dictionary may be frequently consulted for correct spelling reference. It can be accessed on the internet at: Bias-Free Language The language used should not be offensive in any way and must not reflect discrimination or bias of any sort including ethnic, gender, age etc. Telephone Numbers The standard form for telephone numbers is LUMS (5867) Ext:2177 Use the abbreviation, Tel to denote telephone numbers. LUMS STYLE GUIDE 11

14 Time LUMS uses a 12-hour clock not a 24-hour clock with the difference highlighted by am or pm. There is a space between am/pm and the digits. The general time format is: 6:55 pm or 8:00 am not 18:55, 13:31, etc. To designate a time slot, use a hyphen with no spaces before and after the hyphen or colon: 3:00-4:00 pm 1:00-6:00 pm For a change in day break, mention both am and pm hours with no spaces before and after the hyphen or colon: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm 9:00 am - 1:00 pm 4:00 am - 2:00 pm Address Block The international address block is: Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Opposite Sector U, DHA, Lahore Cantt. Lahore, Pakistan Tel: LUMS (5867) Ext:2177 Website: The and website addresses can be in a running line, however there are no hyphens in the phone numbers and a coma denotes the separation of the various means of communication if on the same line. 12 LUMS STYLE GUIDE

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