Flinders University Web Style Sheet
Styles below are for our specific usage of words and phrases, and how we use capitalisation,
dates, acronyms etc.
Use Australian spelling and if you’re unsure of the spelling of a word refer to the Macquarie
Dictionary.
If you would like something added here please email web@flinders.edu.au
A
Aboriginal (not aboriginal - unless referring to non-Australian indigenous people)
Abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations in general text, eg use professor, not prof.
Acronyms
Consider whether you need to use an acronym at all. If you do, write it in full first,
followed by the acronym in brackets, and use the acronym after that. For example:
The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) is its centrepiece research
activity. ALSA is a multidisciplinary study of 2087 older adults.
If it’s not a common acronym, or if it’s not used much on the web page, you could
remove it altogether. For example:
The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing is its centrepiece research activity. It
is a multidisciplinary study of 2087 older adults.
Be mindful of some acronyms having more than one meaning – SA being a good
example. It can mean South Australia or South Africa so consider its use carefully.
ageing (not aging)
and (not &)
Asia-Pacific
Associate Professor Smith (not abbreviated)
audiovisual (no hyphen)
aural, oral (distinguish between aural - pertaining to the ear, and oral - pertaining to the
mouth)
Australian dollars
use $ sign, not A$
B
Bachelor of Education (written in full with capitalisation)
bachelors degree (not Bachelor’s Degree, lower case ‘b’ and no apostrophe)
BEd (no full stops if abbreviated)
C
campus (all lower-case, eg Flinders University campus)
Capitalisation

Headings should only have a capital letter at the beginning (except for proper
nouns, eg Companion of University recipients
Page 1

Capitalise titles for a specific person, eg Vice-Chancellor but not for a position, eg
topic coordinator, course coordinator.
car park (two words)
case study (two words)
casework (one word)
Class Contact
2 one-hour lectures; or
1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar; or
2 one-hour lectures and 2 one-hour laboratories.
2 lectures and 1 tutorial
Clause 8 (capital and numeral where referring to a specific numbered clause)
cognitive behaviour
cognitive science
Commonwealth (capitalise if used in Australian context to denote federal level, else lower
case)
computer-aided
computer-based
convener (not convenor)
cooperate (not co-operate)
coordinator (not co-ordinator)
course coordinator
topic coordinator
cost-benefit (use hyphen. not slash ‘/’ )
coursework (not course work, course-work)
criticises (use ‘s’, not ‘z’)
D
database (one word)
data-driven
Dates
Thursday 25 January 2012, or 25 January 2012 (no commas, spell month in full)
Don’t use 10.8.12 (means 8 October 1998 to Americans).
Financial years: 2012/13 not 2012-13
Span of years: 2008-13, 1890s (no apostrophe), 8th century, seventeenth century
Decimals
0.25 not .25
decision-making
degree with honours (no capitals)
dependant (noun)
dependent (adjective as in ‘dependent upon’)
Page 2
Deputy Vice-Chancellor
E
eg (no full stops)
email (not E-mail, e-mail)
emphasised (‘s’, not ‘z’)
enquiry (used when seeking information)
etc (no full stops)
Examinations Board (use capitals when referring to formal body)
F
faculty
Faculty Board (title)
a faculty
appropriate faculty
relevant faculty
the faculty will
the Faculty of Health Sciences (use capitals when naming a specific faculty)
fieldwork (one word)
final honours year (not Final Honours year)
First Year (when title as in ‘a number of First Year students’)
first year (when level or time)
Flinders University or Flinders or the University (not FU, FUSA, FUAA)
In all cases, the preferred use is simply Flinders University. This is now an official
name listed in the Act. Don’t write Flinders University of South Australia as this can
be confused with the University of South Australia.
For branding purposes, the words Flinders University Adelaide Australia may be used
in association with the University crest (see below) for international audiences.
For more information on using the University’s name, refer to Use of the University
name and University crest.
focus
focusing
focused
foetal
foetus
four year course
fractions
one-third (use hyphen), not 1/3
framework (one word)
full fee-paying
full-time (not full time or fulltime)
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G
graduate-entry (lower case)
H
head of department (no capitals when using the term generically)
Head of Department of Psychiatry (use capitals when referring to a specific head of
department, eg The applicant must complete a Department of Management application form
and submit it to the Head of the Department.)
health care (two words unless used differently in a formal name)
health-related
honours candidate
honours degree
I
ie (no full stops)
in-depth
in-house
inquiry (used when reference is to interrogation eg inquiry into conduct)
internet (not Internet or the Net)
L
level (only use capital if in formal name eg Physical Sciences, Third Level)
Lists
Bulleted or numbered lists can form part of a sentence or be a complete sentence
within themselves.
When items in the list form complete sentences, punctuate with a colon and each list
item has an initial capital and a full-stop.
This is a list:


We describe some circumstances.
This is a different description.
When the contents of the list form are part of the sentence, punctate like with a colon,
use lower-case letters and add a full-stop only at the end.
It is important to:



identify something
describe something else
end with the last thing.
long-term
M
Master of Arts or MA (no full stops)
masters degree (not Master’s degree)
Page 4
masters qualifying
Measures
3 cm, 100 km (space, no full-stop)
micro-organism
microskills
midyear (no space, no hyphen)
multiculturalism (no space, no hyphen)
multidisciplinary (no space, no hyphen)
N
National Health and Medical Research Council (abbreviate to NH&MRC)
Numbers (write as text if single digits - four, 26)
twice yearly or two-yearly (every two years)
forty-five (prefer 45 but use hyphen if writing large numbers as text)
one year course
Use words not numerals when a sentence begins with a number, eg ‘One hundred
kilometres’.
O
occurred
offshore (no hyphen)
on-campus (with hyphen if adjective, else two words)
ongoing (one word, no hyphen)
online (one word, no hyphen)
on-site (use hyphen if adjective, else use two words - ‘there are toilets on site’.)
organisation
P
part-time (not part time or parttime)
pathophysiology
per cent or % (eg 50 per cent, 50%)
PhD (no full stops)
policy-making
post-colonial
postgraduate
pre-registration
prerequisite(s) (not pre-requisites)
pre-term
pro rata
problem-based
Page 5
problem-solving
Professor Smith (not Prof Smith, professor Smith)
program
programmed
programming
Pro Vice-Chancellor
psychodynamic
psychosocial
Punctuation:



Use minimal punctuation and avoid colons and semicolons where possible.
Use ‘single’, not “double”, quotation marks.
Don’t use full-stops in headings.
R
reappointed
recognised
Rule 21A
S
self-evaluation
self-monitoring
semester (write in full, no capital)
short-term
sociobiology (no hyphen)
sociocultural
socioeconomic
sociopolitical
software
South Australian Centre for Applied Economics (SACAE)
South Australian Institute of Technology (SAIT)
specialisation
subclause (no hyphen)
Street numbers
139-146 Rundle Street
subcommittee (no hyphen)
subsection (no hyphen)
subtopic (no hyphen)
T
teleconference
Page 6
Telehone number formats:

Phone: (08) 8123 0123

+61 8 8123 0123

13 10 84

1902 240 699

1300 361 021

0411 999 999.
Time
5am, 7pm (no spaces or full-stops)
U
undergraduate
university (when referring to a university in the generic sense)
University (when referring to Flinders University)
utilise
V
Vice-Chancellor
W
website (not web site)
Y
Year 12 (capital when referring to school year)
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