UT Engineering Guide to Writing
This stylesheet lists guidelines used by the Cockrell School of Engineering's
Public Affairs Office. It may provide useful tips for your writing.
Before racing through these guidelines and becoming intertwined in questions of
style, grammar, punctuation and spelling rules, step back for a moment and take
a broader view. Consider your audience. Give serious thought to your purpose.
These two elements should guide your tone and content.
Then let your ideas flow. Write first, organize second. Unlike effective math
formulas, English rules are probably best applied to the second draft of your
writing.
Remember that your highest goal is to convey meaning as precisely and succinctly
as possible. Like math, that usually requires practice.
Elements of Style
Adhering to a consistent style provides readers a subconscious comfort. They are not distracted by multiple spellings of the same term. They're not forced to reinterpret subtle meanings. To learn more on this subject, several good handbooks supply general writing guidelines. Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" is a classic. Read it once a year. For thorny usage questions, consult the "Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manuel" and "The Elements of Nonsexist Usage." For guidelines specific to the Cockrell School of Engineering, read on.
- After your first reference to the Cockrell School of Engineering, use the Cockrell School.
- Capitalize department names only when used in full: the Department of Chemical Engineering or the chemical engineering department.
- Capitalize titles only when used before a name: Assistant Professor Josie Smith received the award or Dr. Streetman is dean.
- Omit commas after surnames followed by junior, senior or a number: Mr. J. Lee Jr., Dr. M. Ortiz II.
- Avoid gender-specific words; use department chair and first-year student. References to alumni break this rule: one woman- alumna, two+ women- alumnae, one man- alumnus, two+ men or a mixed group- alumni.
- Rewrite sentences that presume gender. For example, change "A student sets his priorities" to "A student sets priorities" or "Students set priorities."
- Ethnic categories recognize heritage without severing their link to citizenship. Use the following when referring to ethnic categories: Anglo-American, African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American and International.
- Make sure subject and predicate numbers agree: First-year students form teams under the guidance of upper-class students.
- Capitalize the semester when referring to a specific semester and a specific year (but don't use a comma to separate the semester and year): Fall 1994.
- Don't capitalize the semester when referring to a general semester: Applications accepted only during the fall semester.
- Capitalize popular names of localities: Texas Hill Country or West Texas.
- Write formal publications in third person. Less formal publications, such as those directed at prospective students, can be written in first or second person.
- Use action verbs; avoid forms of the verb be.
- Colons tell the reader that what follows closely relates to or illustrates the preceding clause. Use a colon only after a complete sentence. For example, "Students must take three precautions during lab work: wear safety goggles, observe warning labels on chemicals, and never proceed with an experiment before reading all guidelines."
- Avoid jargon, euphemisms, vague language and words or phrases that all members of your audience don't recognize.
- Abbreviate with care. Use only easily recognizable abbreviations, omitting spaces and periods between letters when possible: U.S., Ph.D., M.S., NASA..
- Plural abbreviations don't need apostrophes: Ph.D.s should attend this meeting.
- Spell out United States when used as a noun: The United States needs more engineers with graduate degrees. Abbreviate United States when used as an adjective: Enrollment of U.S. students increased last year.
- State names are spelled out when they stand alone in text: The students are from Oregon.
- State names that follow the name of a city, town, village or military base are abbreviated. However, the following state names are never abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.
State abbreviations
- Ala.
- Ariz.
- Ark.
- Calif.
- Colo.
- Conn.
- Del.
- Fla.
- Ga.
- Ill.
- Ind.
- Kan.
- Ky.
- La.
- Md.
- Mass.
- Mich.
- Minn.
- Miss.
- Mo.
- Mont.
- Neb.
- Nev.
- N.H.
- N.J.
- N.M.
- N.Y.
- N.C.
- N.D.
- Okla.
- Ore.
- Pa.
- R.I.
- S.C.
- S.D.
- Tenn.
- Vt.
- Va.
- Wash.
- W.Va.
- Wis.
- Wyo.
- Easily recognizable city names stand alone: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago. In all other cases use the cities' and states' names: Wolton, Wyo.; Golden, Texas; Rivas, N.M.
Texas cities that stand alone
- Amarillo
- Corpus Christi
- El Paso
- Laredo
- San Antonio
- Austin
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Lubbock
- Waco
Words and phrases
In grade school writing classes many of us started using flowery language. It helped us reach minimum word requirements and boosted our egos. Wordy phrases bog down writing. If you're truly interested in conveying meaning to your readers, get to the point.
- Shorten and summarize your writing. For example, shorten "for the purpose of" to "for;" summarize "despite the fact that" as "although."
- Limit sentences to 11 or fewer words.
- Use no more than three prepositions per sentence.
- To avoid ending a sentence with a prepositional phrase, rewrite. For instance, change It's a problem we should attend to to It's a problem we should correct.
- Avoid surplus words. For instance, change In case of an emergency use the stairs to In an emergency, use the stairs.
- Make your message easy to understand; try these shorter words and phrases:
Nouns
- assistance: aid, help
- component: factor, part
- information: facts, data
- requirements: needs
- responsibility: duty, task
Verbs
- administer: direct, manage
- establish: begin, launch, start, locate, place
- experiment: test, try
- indicate: show, suggest
- integrate: blend, combine, merge, mix
- stimulate: spark, kindle, pique
Adjectives
- comprehensive: complete, thorough
- fundamental: basic, key
- sufficient: ample, enough
Numbers in copy
If you've ever struggled while writing a sentence containing numbers, you're not
alone. Numbers seem simple, but they can confuse readers and muddy your message.
Using consistent style when writing numbers eliminates both of these problems. "The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual" gives additional guidelines.
- Write out numbers one through ten.
- Use Arabic numerals for numbers 11 and higher.
- Don't mix numerals and words for items in the same list: 15 wells, 3 aquifers.
- Do mix numerals and words when quantities are adjacent: eleven 90-ohm resistors.
- Use numerals for units of measure (4 inches), time (3 p.m.), page numbers, percentages (7 percent), money ($63 million), and proportions (3 to 1 odds).
- Write out a number at the beginning of a sentence and when using approximations: Nine people—one-third of the class—agreed.
- Use hyphens to connect words ending in y to other words: twenty-one students.
- Always write years using numbers: 1993 was a year of sweeping changes.
Commonly misused words
There's a "correct grammar expert" in every audience who will immediately know when you've misused effect or ensure or some other word. Writers are best served (and can preserve a shred of dignity) by avoiding the more common errors of word or grammar usage. Use Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and The Elements of Style as your guides.
- affect: act on-affect our work
- effect: end results-the effect of our decision
- assure: make people certain or secure
- insure: make money or property secure
- ensure: make things secure
- fund-raising: an adjective-fund-raising event
- fund raising: a noun-fund raising starts tomorrow
- perspective: view or outlook
- prospective: potential-prospective student
- precede: go before
- proceed: begin
- principal: main or chief
- principle: rule
- regardless (not irregardless) despite all else
- respectfully: courteously
- respectively: in the order given
- semiannual/biannual: twice a year
- biennial: every two years
- semiweekly: twice a week
- biweekly: every two weeks
Using hyphens
Knowing when to use or omit hyphens can be tough. Keep in mind that hyphens join
words to help us avoid ambiguity and communicate a single concept by combining
two or more words.
- Use a hyphen whenever meaning would be unclear without the hyphen. For instance: We joined an association of small-parts manufacturers. In the preceding sentence, small modifies parts — the hyphen makes this clear.
- Link modifying words that precede a noun with a hyphen, even those separated by another word. Exceptions to this rule are very and words ending in -ly. Examples: full- and part-time staff, nationally recognized firm, very respected engineer.
- Don't link modifying words with a hyphen if they follow a noun: Staff work full time.
- Do link modifying words with a hyphen when they follow both a noun and a form of the verb to be. For example: The director is full-time, but the assistant works part time.
- Use hyphens when writing ratios, odds and scores. For example, offering a 13-1 faculty-student ratio, giving 3-1 odds, winning 5-3.
- Hyphens also link the prefix co- to nouns, adjectives and verbs that indicate occupation or status: co-chair, co-authored.
- Don't use a hyphen to connect a prefix to a word that starts with a consonant.
- Generally, hyphens connect a prefix ending with a vowel to a word starting with the same vowel: co-opt (exceptions are found in Webster's).
- Use a hyphen when a prefix precedes a capitalized word or to join doubled prefixes: pro-Mexican, sub-subgroup.
- Never hyphenate UT Austin.
Suggestions for improvement
If you have questions or additional suggestions for improving this stylebook, please contact Becky Rische, Public Affairs Director, ECJ 10.348, Mail Code C2100, 471-7272. E-mail: brische@mail.utexas.edu. Thanks!