• Full points should be used in abbreviations. Note, however, it is preferable in text to say: 
  • ‘For example’ rather than ‘e.g.’ 
  • ‘That is’ rather than ‘i.e.’ 
  • ‘And so on’ rather than ‘etc’ 
  • ‘Namely’ rather than ‘viz’ 
  • More examples: 
  • i.e.
  • e.g. 
  • Esq. 
  • etc. 
  • co. 
  • no.
  • ibid. 
  • et al. 
• Abbreviations and acronyms may be used on first reference only if widely recognized. Do not use periods.
• DNA
• FBI
• NASA     
• Otherwise, spell out the complete name or phrase on first reference and follow with the acronym in parentheses if and only if the acronym will be referenced subsequently.
• The collaboration includes University of California, Santa Barbara and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). 
• No full points should be used in upper-case abbreviations such as ‘US’ or ‘UK’ but please note that people’s initials should be capitalized, spaced, and followed by a full point. For example: ‘A. A. Mayfair’ 
• Abbreviated units of measurement do not have full points and do not take a final ‘s’ in plural
• Use two-letter abbreviations for US states in references and bibliography (i.e. Cambridge, MA not Cambridge Mass.) 
   

• Use full caps for acronyms, e.g. NATO, USA, TV
• Use small caps only for BC, AD, CE (common era), BCE (before the common era). 
• Use to distinguish specific from general, for example, ‘He is a professor at Edinburgh University…’ but ‘He is a Professor of literature at…’ 
• Always capitalize initials of key words in English-language title of books (titles are italicized)
   

• Hyphenation should be kept to a minimum. It is normally used adjectivally, e.g. ‘nineteenth-century building’ but ‘a building of the nineteenth century’
• Where the likelihood of confusion is less, no hyphen should be used. 
  • Foreign language requirement 
  • Financial aid policies 
• Do not hyphenate adverbs formed by the addition of “-ly” 
   

• Italics should be used for foreign words except 
  • When part of a foreign-language quotation 
  • When the word has been assimilated into the English language 
• Italics should also be used for titles of newspapers, journals, plays, books, films, works of art, names of ships, but not for the name of institutions or associations. Please italicize only what is necessary, surrounding punctuation should not be italicized.  
   

• Avoid using lines of asterisks or other symbols to separate text.
• Do not indent the first paragraph under a heading, but do indent subsequent paragraphs.
   

• Adapt the tone to the audience and context.
• Maintain a professional and respectful tone.
• Avoid discriminatory or biased language. 
• Use inclusive language that welcomes all readers. 
   

Follow APA levels of heading. There are five levels of heading in APA Style. Level 1 is the highest or main level of heading, Level 2 is a subheading of Level 1, Level 3 is a subheading of Level 2, and so on through Levels 4 and 5.

The number of headings to use in a paper depends on the length and complexity of the work.

• If only one level of heading is needed, use Level 1.
• If two levels of heading are needed, use Levels 1 and 2.
• If three levels of heading are needed, use Levels 1, 2, and 3 (and so on).

Use only the number of headings necessary to differentiate distinct sections in your paper; short student papers may not require any headings. Furthermore, avoid these common errors related to headings:

• Avoid having only one subsection heading within a section, just like in an outline.
• Do not label headings with numbers or letters.
• Double-space headings; do not switch to single spacing within headings.
• Do not add blank lines above or below headings, even if a heading falls at the end of a page.

Because the first paragraphs of a paper are understood to be introductory, the heading “Introduction” is not needed. Do not begin a paper with an “Introduction” heading; the paper title at the top of the first page of text acts as a de facto Level 1 heading.

• All figures and tables should be numbered decimally within each article. 
• Tables should not contain anything that a typesetter cannot set using a keyboard. 
• If the table has any notes, they should be indicated in the table by superscript a/b/c etc, not by asterisks, daggers or other symbols and notes should be given under the table together with source information. 
• Please check carefully that tables tally exactly with the text in the use of abbreviations, units of measurement and content. 
   

Avoid images sourced from the internet

• Images downloaded from the internet are typically low resolution (72 dpi) and are not suitable for reproduction by conventional publication methods. If you locate an image on the internet you will have to find its original source and request a high-resolution version (TIFF or JPG) or else it will appear blurred in the final format. 
• This also applies to images that are screenshotted. 
• If you want to be exact with image resolution and formatting the exact resolution, you can check the image resolution of files by downloading free software, such as GIMP or XN view. If you open the file and then check in the print size facility, it will give you the width and the height of the image and its dpi (dots per inch). 
   

Follow the style that is appropriate for your discipline

• Typically, follow the APA citation style for academic and scientific content.
• Use the Chicago Manual of Style or MLA for humanities, social science, and some non-academic or unconventional work.
   

• For publications with three or more authors, all of the authors’ names should be given in the full bibliographic citation, wherever it occurs. In all other citations of publications with three or more authors, use the surname of first author followed by ‘et al’. 
• In both short title and author-date systems, it is preferable to give details of both the publisher and place of publication, but it is acceptable to leave out the place if it is not provided. Place names should be consistently in or consistently out rather than a mixture of the two. 
• Abbreviations in bibliographies should be spelt out or explained but abbreviations for US states are acceptable. Please make sure this is using a consistent, recognized full set of abbreviations preceded by a comma. 
• Where the author is citing the modern version of an older text, please give the original date of publication in square brackets, e.g: Stone, Elizabeth [1790](1910)
   

• Include the author’s last name and the publication year.
• For every in-text citation in the paper, there should be a corresponding entry in the reference list. 
• Cite web pages in text as you would for any other source, using the author and date if known. Keep in mind that the author may be an organization rather than a person. For sources, with no author, use the title in place of an author. 
   

Include a bibliography at the end of the paper, if needed. Be sure to follow APA or Chicago guidelines (hanging indent) or a consistent numbered list.