Last updated May 29, 2008

This is a work in progress. If you have questions about style, grammar, or usage, contact David Etchison at 6-7744 or david_etchison@unc.edu.

The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the University in general follows the Chicago Manual of Style Fifteenth Edition in matters of writing style, punctuation, and usage. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Eleventh Edition (available online at www.m-w.com) is the authority on spelling, capitalization, and hyphenation unless superseded by Chicago. Materials created for the media (such as press releases) should follow the style guidelines of the Associated Press.

The following is a much abbreviated guide to style and usage covering topics that often crop up at the School of Pharmacy.

adviser: This is the preferred spelling.

academic degrees: Do not capitalize degree names (doctor of pharmacy, doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences). Abbreviate without periods (BS, PharmD, PhD) and set off from a name with commas.

ampersand (&): Don’t use ampersands unless they are part of a company name (Proctor & Gamble)

and/or: Don’t use this awkward construction. It’s almost always one or the other (usually and).

backslash (/): Don’t us this as a substitute for a proper conjunction (and, or)

Beard Hall: Named for John Grover Beard, the second dean of the pharmacy school. Beard Hall will suffice in nearly all uses.

capitalization: In general, only proper nouns are capitalized. Proper nouns are the unique names of individual people, places, and things. As an exception to capitalization rules, we capitalize School and Pharmacy when used to refer to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and University when it refers to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Job titles, whether formal or informal, are not capitalized unless the title is used as part of a person's name and they are addressed using the title. (The dean of the School of Pharmacy is Bob Blouin. The committee reports to Dean Blouin.)

capitalization of titles of works: There are very specific rules governing capitalization of the titles of publications, articles, seminars, and presentations. For simplicity's sake, capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, the), prepositions (of, in, about), and conjunctions (and, or, but, because). See 8.167 of the Chicago Manual of Style for a more thorough treatment of the subject.

Carolina: OK to use in reference to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as long as the full name of the University is clearly used initially in a document or publication.

Carolina blue: The Carolina blue used to print the logo is PMS 542 which translates into the following color models:

CMYK     C 62      M 22    Y 0    K 3
RGB        R 113   G 158   B 208
HSB        H 212    S 46     B 82
Web        #6699CC
Note: University guidelines for the School logo forbid printing it in color from desktop printer (inkjet or laser). The color variation between printers is too great. Only black and white may be used.

PMS 278 is usually used as Carolina blue in most other print applications.

centers and institutes: There are two types of research centers at UNC: those house within schools and those that stand alone within the University. All of the centers associated with the School of Pharmacy are housed within the School. For this reason, they should not be referred to as a UNC center in running text. For example, use "the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at UNC" instead of "the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy." The affiliation with the School of Pharmacy should be made clear whenever possible. This does not apply to the centers' logos.

courtesy titles: In general, courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Professor) are not needed in an anything other than personal correspondence (unless you write for the Wall Street Journal). To avoid confusing readers, the School does not use Dr. or Professor as courtesy titles, preferring instead to give the subject's actual title and academic credentials just once in a particular article or work.

dash: See en dash and em dash.

Dr.: In general, the School does not use Dr. as a courtesy title in most materials. We have many different doctors in a University environment. In the School alone, we have PhD’s and PharmD’s, and you don’t have to go far to find the MDs and the DDSs. It is much clearer and helpful to the reader to include the person’s actual degree, set off by commas, after the name the first time it appears (Bob Blouin, PharmD; Ralph Raasch, PhD). The person's title should also be included.

e-mail: hyphenated

ECSU partnership: See UNC-Chapel Hill/ECSU Doctor of Pharmacy Partnership Program

em dash (—): This is what most people know as the dash. In Microsoft Word, you type CTRL + ALT + the minus key on the number pad. Word will often automatically create an em dash if you type two hyphens next to each other

en dash (–): Generally, an en dash is used to indicate a numerical range (1993–2005, 2:00–3:00 p.m.) In Microsoft Word, you type CTRL + the minus key on the number pad. It has a few other uses as well. Refer to the Chicago Manual of Style for more information.

Eshelman, Fred: In 2003, Fred Eshelman gave $20 million to the School of Pharmacy, at the time it was the third largest gift in the University’s history and the largest gift ever to a U.S. pharmacy school. He is CEO and founder of Wilmington-based PPD Inc. He committed an additional $10 million in 2008. The School was named in his honor on May 21, 2008. Eshelman has asked that his name appear as Fred Eshelman in all uses, including the professorships that bear his name. Do not use his middle initial (N.) or his full first name (Frederic).

fonts: Garamond is the standard font chosen by the University for most printed text and should be used for most School of Pharmacy materials produced in house. Avoid using “fun” fonts or fonts that are hard to read, such as script fonts.

Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professorship: At Eshelman's request, we do not include his middle initial in the name of the professorship. These are $1 million professorships.

health care: Two words when used as a noun (Pharmacy is a great field for those looking to work in health care.)

health-care:, Hyphenated as an adjective (Pharmacists are an important part of the health-care system.)

Howard Q. Ferguson Distinguished Professorship: This is a $500,000 professorship.

Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy: See centers and institutes

Internet: capitalized

italics: Italics should not be used for emphasis. Use bold instead. Do not use bold italics. Italics is used for specific purposes. Titles of works (e.g. books, periodicals, movies, poems) should be italicized. Unfamiliar foreign words should also be italicized. Refer to the Chicago Manual of Style for more information.

John A. McNeill Distinguished Professorship in Pharmacotherapy: A $1 million professorship established by John A. “Sandy” McNeill Jr. in honor of his father.

Kerr Hall: Properly Banks D. Kerr Hall, Kerr Hall will suffice in almost all uses. Named for Banks Kerr, an alumnus of the School and founder of the Kerr Drug chain.

lists, vertical—numbered, unnumbered, and bulleted

The following instructions should cover most uses:
1.    Vertical lists are best introduced by a grammatically complete sentence (i.e., a sentence that is still a sentence all by itself, without the help of the list), like the one above, followed by a colon.
2.    No periods are required at the end of entries unless at least one entry is a complete sentence, in which case a period is necessary at the end of each entry.
3.    Items in a list should be syntactically similar.
4.    If items are numbered, as they are in this example, a period follows each number, and each entry begins with a capital letter—whether or not the entry forms a complete sentence.
5.    Bulleted lists are considered appropriate mainly for instructional or promotional material and are treated the same as numbered lists in terms of capitalization and punctuation.
6.    A group of unnumbered items each of which consists of an incomplete sentence should begin lowercase and requires no terminal punctuation.
7.    If a list completes the sentence that introduces it, items begin with lowercase letters, commas or semicolons are used to separate each item, and the last item ends with a period; such lists are often better run into the text rather than presented vertically.

 
For more on this subject, please see paragraphs 6.127–30 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

logo: The University’s guide to the logo and stationery system (Graphic Identity Manual) can be found at www.unc.edu/designguidelines/. Unless printed by a commercial printer, the logo may only be reproduced in black or white. That means that the University does not allow the logo to be printed in blue using desktop printers. The correct color ink for the blue logo is PMS 542. The Web equivalent is #6699cc.  The logo is not art or decoration; it should be treated as a signature or official seal. Please contact the Communications Office with any questions about logo use.

McNeill Family Courtyard

Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professorship: This is a $500,000 professorship.

named spaces: Rooms and areas of the School that have been named should be referred to by their full name whenever possible with the room number included as a parenthetical reference. Named spaces include the W. Seymour and Rheta Holt Auditorium (Kerr 1001), the Howard Q. and Mescal S. Ferguson Auditorium (Kerr 2001), the Mary Lockwood Curry Student Commons (Kerr second-floor lobby), the Ralph P. and Elizabeth Rodgers Lobby (Kerr first-floor lobby), the McNeill Family Courtyard, and the Campbell Boardroom (Beard 101A). On second reference, shorten to last name and room name (Ferguson Auditorium, Curry Commons).

online

partnership program: See UNC-Chapel Hill/ECSU Doctor of Pharmacy Partnership Program

percentages: The percent sign (%) should only be used in tables and graphs, never in running text. Do not spell out the number unless it begins a sentence (10 percent, not ten percent or 10%), and write percent after each number in a range (10 percent to 30 percent, not 10 to 30 percent).

pharmacy: Only capitalized if you are referring to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, not the profession or science.

Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina, Inc.

quotation marks: In general, quotation marks are used in two ways. They set off material that is a direct quotation of something someone said, or they indicate that the use of a word or phrase is ironic. In American usage, a period or comma always goes inside the quotes. (Bart told his teacher to “get bent.”) A question mark or exclamation point goes inside the quotes only if it is part of the quoted material.

research centers: see centers and institutes

school: Capitalize in all uses when referring to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

SoP: Don’t use this abbreviation for the School of Pharmacy. Use School or Pharmacy instead.

Tar Heel: two words. Typically used in reference to Carolina’s athletic teams and should not be used in an academic context. Okay for less formal usage. Always capitalized.

time: Use the abbreviations a.m. and p.m. Use an en-dash (CTRL+Num Pad -) to indicate a span of time (8:00–10:00 a.m. or 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.) in lists and tables. Use the word “to” instead of an en-dash in running text (The class is held from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.). You may write noon or midnight instead of 12:00 p.m. or 12:00 a.m. but never 12 noon or 12 midnight. See also en-dash.

titles, courtesy: see courtesy titles

titles, job: Professional titles are never capitalized when they are used alone or after a persons name. (The dean sent an e-mail. The chancellor stopped by.) This goes for farmer and soldier and for president and pope. If the title is used as part of the person’s name (you use the title when you address them), then the title is capitalized. (Dean Blouin sent an e-mail. Chancellor Moeser stopped by.)

UNC-Chapel Hill: Never UNC-CH by directive of the chancellor’s office

UNC-Chapel Hill/ECSU Doctor of Pharmacy Partnership Program: This is the full name of the degree program partnership between the School and Elizabeth City State University. The name can be shortened.by doing any or all of the following: 1) removing -Chapel Hill, 2) abbreviating Doctor of Pharmacy as PharmD, and 3) removing Partnership. The shortest name allowable is UNC/ECSU PharmD Program.

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy: This is our official name. It should usually be followed by at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when writing for external audiences. UNC is currently part of the name even if followed by the University's name. Capitalize school when it refers to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Pharmacy is capitalized only when it refers to the School (Beard and Kerr Halls are the home of Pharmacy. Do not abbreviate as SoP.

underline: Thanks to word processing software and desktop printers, we no longer need to use underlining. If emphasis is needed, use bold. If you are citing a book, periodical, or other work, italicize the title. Underlining is a relic of the typewriter that makes your text harder to read by interfering with descenders (the part of a letters j, g, p, q, and y that hang below the rest of a line of text). Note that many academic style guides still use underlining and not bold or italics.

Vaughn and Nancy Bryson Distinguished Professorship

Web site: Two words and Web is capitalized

World Wide Web