House Style

Our working name is Brunel University London. Wherever possible, the full title should be used on the first occurrence. Brunel alone will suffice in subsequent mentions.

However, if it affects the flow of an intro to a news story, Brunel can be used and the full title used on the second occurrence. For example:

• Music entrepreneur and Brunel alumna Elizabeth Cawein has been nominated for a prestigious award after giving grassroots talent a platform to play on. Elizabeth, who completed her master's degree in Contemporary Music at Brunel University London in 2008, was pitched alongside 400 nominees from 70 universities across the country before being named a finalist in the Education UK Alumni Awards.

Titles

Works of art/literary works (books, plays, paintings, pieces of music), film titles, exhibition names, TV/radio programmes should be italicised, for example:

·    Panorama, BBC, Dark Aemilia, A Conspiracy of Alchemists.

Research project titles and names of awards should not be italicised. Instead, use single inverted commas, for example:

• '20 ways to improve your life'.
• 'Vice-Chancellor's travel prize'.
• 'Student-led teaching awards'.

Titles of newspapers/magazines/journals should not be italicised, for example, The Guardian.

Avoid use of bold, underlines, italics or capitals to emphasise words unless stated elsewhere in this document.

Web addresses should be bolded in marketing material, not press releases.

Capitalisation

Don't capitalise every word in a heading unless using a title or name e.g. Research impact: Solutions to worldwide problems.

When used as the degree title or department name then use capitals, but when used in text such as "suitable for those interested in pursuing a career in engineering" or "suitable for those who have studied sociology or anthropology or a related social science subject" then lower case is appropriate.

Some commonly used examples where capital letters are required are:

• Visiting Professor
• A-/AS-level
• Joint/Single Honours
• Higher Education.

Some commonly used examples where lower case letters should be used:

• departmental (department is only capitalised when talking about the title of a department in full, for example, Department of Clinical Sciences, not the Clinical Sciences department, the department)
• campus
• international
• upper second class degrees
• universities (when it is general and not referring to Brunel University London)
• term e.g. autumn term.

Don't use capital letters in website and email addresses.

Do not include http:// in web addresses. Simply use e.g. www.brunel.ac.uk.

If there is a really long URL, simplify it by giving the main homepage and directing from there (if it is easily navigable), for example:

• direct.gov.uk and select Money, tax and benefits.
• not, direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/BeginnersGuideToTax.

Don't insert a colon before a web address, for example:

• For more information visit www.brunel.ac.uk.
• Do not use 'For more information visit: www.brunel.ac.uk.

Don't use capital letters in website and email addresses.

​Fonts

Our fonts are Gotham, Arial and Monsterrat. More information can be found on the fonts page.

Layout

Don't justify type.

To signify a new paragraph, use a line break rather than indent the text.

Don't include a double space after a full stop at the beginning of a new sentence, just one space.

Wherever possible, do not split Brunel University London or web/ e-mail addresses across two lines.

Numbers

Spell out one to nine and use figures for numbers 10 onwards.

Never start a sentence with a figure – spell it out instead.

To indicate values of a thousand, insert a comma: 7,000; 500,000, etc.

When stating the Level (year) of the degree programme, use figures, for example:

•     Level 2, Level 3.

Centuries should be written as 20th century, or 20th-century history (no hyphen, apart from when it's 20th-century something).

Do not use apostrophes in dates e.g. 1990s; 60s.

Dates should be written in the format date, month, year, with no commas, and without 'th' or 'st' e.g. 30 October 2013, not 30th October, 2013.

Don't use the 24-hour clock. Use a full stop in times and no space before pm or am, plus no extra 00, for example:

• 11.45pm; 2pm; 12noon; 10.30am.

Use the word 'per cent' and not the symbol '%' in body text. However, use '%' in charts and infographics.

Bullet points

Use lowercase following each bullet, with a full stop after the last one. Do not use semi-colons (;) after each bullet, for example:

To apply for this job, you must:

• be computer literate
• have good communication skills.

The only exception is bullets used to break down several points. Use an initial capital letter for each bullet point for these and finish with a full stop, for example:

Below are some points to bear in mind to protect yourself:

• Look left and right before you cross the road.
• Take care of your money.

Abbreviations

Avoid the use of abbreviations wherever possible, for example:

·    Professor not Prof, postgraduate or undergraduate not PG or UG.

When using abbreviations/acronyms, they should be spelt out in full the first time with the abbreviation stated in brackets. After this, the abbreviation can be used. Do not include the abbreviation in brackets if it is not repeated later in the text, for example:

·    Professor Zahir Irani joined a ministerial delegation in Kazakhstan to build on Brunel University London's blossoming relationship with the Central Asian country's universities. Professor Irani, Dean of the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences, accompanied the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Livingston Professor.

Acronyms

Insert stop marks between letters or not? Use:

• e.g. not eg
• etc not etc.
• i.e. not ie
• 6am not 6a.m.

• do not becomes don't
• could have becomes could've.

• The dog's tail – the tail belongs to the dog.
• Jade's hair – the hair belongs to Jade.

Usually the apostrophe goes before the 's'. However, if the owner already ends in 's' then the apostrophe goes after it, e.g.:

• The cats' tail – the tail belongs to some cats.
• The girls' shoes – the shoes belong to some girls.

• This is lower case when referring to programmes generally, note also the apostrophe, e.g. I have a master's degree. We offer a variety of master's programmes.
• When referring to a specific programme, it is capitalised, e.g. She was awarded a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering.

• Raj Sidhu said: "Employer and alumni-led activities are a key part of Brunel University London's employability strategy."