Flinders University
Web Editorial Guide
Version 1.0
Statement of purpose
This document was developed as part of the web redevelopment for the purpose of providing
web authors with some guidance on planning and writing web content.
It provides guidelines for:

planning web content

writing for the web

designing text for readability and accessibility

style

proofreading and approvals.
It was used as a guide for content copywriting within the phase 1 implementation of the web
redevelopment.
It is also intended to inform and assist the further rollout of the web redevelopment whilst also
being applicable to web content outside of the University’s content management system.
Revision history
Version
Date
Updated by
Summary info
0.1
16 October 2006
Helpful Partners
First draft
0.2
20 April 2007
Helpful Partners
Second draft
0.3
24 April 2007
Web Project Officer
Third draft
1.0
3 August 2007
Web Project Officer
Ready for publication
Table of contents
Web content ................................................................................................... 1
Planning your web content .................................................................................... 1
Consider your goals and target audiences ....................................................................... 1
Consider the impact of incorrect and out of date content ................................................. 1
About writing for the web .............................................................................. 1
How readers use the web ...................................................................................... 1
Principles for best practice..................................................................................... 1
Split your content into chunks ........................................................................................... 1
Make each page self-explanatory ..................................................................................... 2
Rewrite printed material .................................................................................................... 2
Useful planning steps........................................................................................................ 2
Designing text for readability and accessibility ....................................................... 3
Use a concise, personal, direct style ................................................................................ 3
Write for your target audience .......................................................................................... 3
Make content easy to scan ............................................................................................... 3
Titles and headings ........................................................................................................... 4
Summary paragraph ......................................................................................................... 4
Page and section text ....................................................................................................... 4
Highlighting ....................................................................................................................... 4
Bulleted and numbered lists ............................................................................................. 4
Write meaningful link text .................................................................................................. 5
Provide contextual content for file downloads .................................................................. 5
Style guidelines.............................................................................................. 6
Spelling ................................................................................................................. 6
Spelling names ................................................................................................................. 6
Local information ................................................................................................... 6
University location ............................................................................................................. 6
Phone numbers................................................................................................................. 6
Australian dollars .............................................................................................................. 6
Capitals ................................................................................................................. 6
Punctuation ........................................................................................................... 7
Lists ................................................................................................................................... 7
Numbers................................................................................................................ 7
Dates ................................................................................................................................. 8
Financial years .................................................................................................................. 8
Span of years .................................................................................................................... 8
Time .................................................................................................................................. 8
Street numbers ................................................................................................................. 8
Percentages ...................................................................................................................... 8
Decimals ........................................................................................................................... 8
Fractions ........................................................................................................................... 8
Measures .......................................................................................................................... 8
Inclusive language ................................................................................................. 8
Gender neutral language .................................................................................................. 9
Indigenous peoples ........................................................................................................... 9
Ethnolinguistic groups ....................................................................................................... 9
People with disabilities .................................................................................................... 10
In relation to age ............................................................................................................. 10
Acronyms and abbreviations ............................................................................... 10
Flinders University Web Style Sheet.................................................................... 10
Before publishing your content .................................................................. 11
Proofreading ................................................................................................................... 11
Proofreading checklist..................................................................................................... 11
Approval .......................................................................................................................... 12
Keep web content up to date ...................................................................... 12
Glossary of general web terms ................................................................... 13
Bibliography ................................................................................................. 15
Flinders University Web Style Sheet .......................................................... 16
Web content
Planning your web content
Consider your goals and target audiences
All content should serve a purpose and be useful to your target audience. Keep the specific
goals of the content and the needs of your target audience in mind when planning and writing
web content.
Consider the impact of incorrect and out of date content
Incorrect or out of date content can frustrate and mislead users. There are also potential
ethical and legal ramifications.
When planning web content, always consider the impact of incorrect or out of date content
prior to publishing content.
If the content will be subject to regular factual updates, consider how those updates will be
made and what resources are required to maintain that content.
Consider if the value of providing that content is worth the costs associated with maintaining it
and the potential risks associated with providing out of date or incorrect content.
If your business or academic organisational unit is not the authorative source for a particular
piece of content (eg parking fees, the process for applying for a visa) you should provide a
link to the the authorative source rather than duplicate the content within your web pages. Eg:
We recommend you visit the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) website
for comprehensive information about applying for a student visa.
About writing for the web
How readers use the web
Readers process information on web pages differently than on printed pages.
Studies have shown that:

80% of people scan the screen for keywords or phrases rather than reading word-forword

reading from a computer screen is 25% slower than reading from the printed page

readers do not like to scroll down through lengthy web pages.
Therefore, web text needs to be much more concise. Aim to cut equivalent printed text by
about 50%.
Principles for best practice
Split your content into chunks
Keep page length short without compromising depth of content by splitting content into
multiple pages connected by hyperlinks.
The reader can quickly scan the page and select the level of information they want. The web
is unique because it is interactive and it enables the user to move through the deeper levels
for more information.
Each page should focus on a separate topic and be connected to other levels by links.
Flinders University Web Editorial Guide
Page 1
Make each page self-explanatory
Readers interact with the web and will quickly jump to another link without moving through a
logical sequence of pages.
Search engines can also deposit readers at any page within your site, or users may have
bookmarked a specific page rather than the whole site.
Each web page needs to be self-explanatory and able to stand alone. Understanding the
content of a page should not depend on a reader having arrived at it from a previous page.
Help readers who do not have the background to understand the page by linking to
explanatory information.
Rewrite printed material
Where possible, rewrite material for the web rather than duplicating what is already available
in print. Aim to reduce the amount of printed information by 50%.
PDF files can be used where:

you wish to retain the layout or integrity of a printed document such as reports,
brochures or forms, or

where conversion to HTML would take too much time.
The maximum size of files should be about 2 MB.
When working with large publications can be split into separate downloadable chapters.
Useful planning steps
1. Understand the purpose of the content, and the communication and information
needs of your target audience.
2. Decide on the major headings and sections for each page.
3. Write down the minor points under each section.
4. Add any points relating to potential content management implications under each
section.
5. Add relevant links against points.
6. Write each minor point as a paragraph/list/dot point.
7. Write a short summary of the page.
8. Shorten the summary into an informative title.
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Designing text for readability and accessibility
Use a concise, personal, direct style
Web users prefer text to be short, concise and to the point. Aim to use as few words as
possible to convey the message. Each word should need to be in the text.
Remember web text is both slower and harder to read than printed material. It is better to
provide short sentences that users will read than complex, lengthy sentences that they will
skim over and ignore.
Use plain English and avoid technical language and jargon. Keep sentences as direct as
possible. Use ‘planned’ instead of ‘anticipated a future planning need’, ‘use’ instead of
‘utilised’, ‘help’ instead of ‘facilitate’, ‘try’ instead of ‘endeavour’ etc.
Use active rather than passive language, ie ‘The Vice-Chancellor decided…’ rather than ‘The
decision was made by the Vice-Chancellor’.
Avoid the urge to be self-promotional and don’t use marketese words like ‘great’ or ‘exciting
development’. Use words to inform, not impress or persuade.
The web is a more informal and immediate medium than print, and readers prefer a more
personal and direct style of writing. Use of direct address invites interaction and
participation, for example, ‘You can contact the Alumni Office…’ rather than ‘Alumni can
contact the Office …’
The site will also be accessed by readers interstate and overseas. Therefore, avoid local
expressions and slang where possible.
Write for your target audience
Remember the site will be read by both young and older people, people from other language
backgrounds, experts and people unfamiliar with the University environment.
A simple and direct writing style that follows good readability principles will suit most
readers.
Pages directed at particular audiences should, however, be written in a style familiar to them.
For example, use suitable language for pages directed at postgraduates and researchers.
In addition, ensure that your content addresses the communication needs of your audience.
Make content easy to scan
The web demands that you put the readers’ needs first, otherwise they will grow impatient
and move on.
Web users want to scan a page quickly and know immediately if it is relevant to their needs.
The topic and main content should be obvious from the page heading.
A short summary at the top of the page helps the reader understand if the page is useful and
if they should continue reading.
Page headings and summaries are also used by search engines and in bookmarks, and
should clearly state the page content.
Break down remaining text into short sections with subheadings. Each paragraph should
contain one idea.
Links embedded in text act as highlighted key words and aid scanning.
Only embed meaningful links as part of the text or they will become a distraction.
Group other useful links to additional information at the end or side of the page. If you are
using the content management system use the related links side box area available in the
new templates of the content management system.
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Titles and headings
Headings should be in lower case with an initial capital (sentence case) and no full stop at
the end.
Headings are important scanning devices and should clearly indicate the content of the
page or section.
Titles should be no more than about 60 characters. Don’t start with ‘A’ or ‘The’. Put the most
important words at the beginning.
Keep subheadings to no more than three hierarchy levels. Any more is confusing and
difficult for readers to follow.
Summary paragraph
The summary paragraph should immediately convey the main purpose of the page. Be brief.
Limit the summary to two or three short sentences. Highlight key words with bold.
Page and section text
Keep pages short. No more than two or three screens long. If your text is longer than this,
break it up into linked pages covering different topics.
However, don’t use linked pages to break up a long passage of text covering a single topic,
for example a statute. Accessing sequences takes longer and is more difficult to print.
Consider providing documents longer than three screens as downloadable PDF files.
Sections of text should be less than about 100 words. If you can, break up lengthy sections
into two or three paragraphs with subheadings.
Highlighting
Key words emphasising minor points within sections can be highlighted to catch the scanning
eye. It also makes it easier to pick out sections readers want when re-reading a page.
Highlighting can be used more and with greater impact on the web than in print.
Words are usually highlighted with bold text.
Don’t use blue or underlining as they can be confused with links.
Do not use capital letters. THEY ARE HARD TO READ AND SLOW THE READING
PROCESS EVEN FURTHER.
Highlight only information-carrying words or words that you wish to draw the reader’s
attention to.
Do not bold whole sentences or paragraphs as they will dominate the page and are
difficult to scan for important points.
Do not use italics for blocks of text as they are also slow to read online. Use only when
necessary to highlight a quote.
Bulleted and numbered lists
Numbered and dot point lists slow down the scanning eye and can be used more effectively
on the web than in print.
Use numbered lists when order of items is important, or when related text refers to a specific
item from the list. Otherwise, use bullets.
Try to limit items in a list to less than ten.
For more information, refer to Punctuation - lists.
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Write meaningful link text
Avoid writing ‘Click here to view ...’ or writing out a URL address in full. Instead, use the name
of the page you are linking to as the link.
eg ‘Refer to our News and events for the latest updates’ rather than
‘Click here to access our news and events’
and
‘For further information refer to using text matching software’
rather than
‘For further information go to http://www.flinders.edu.au/teach/aims/detection/index.php’.
Provide contextual content for file downloads
It is good practice to advise users that a particular link refers to a downloadable file.
The following good practices apply.

Provide some contextual content outlining what content is available within a
document.
Eg ‘The Complete SET Manual (PDF 111 KB) provides the complete list of
questions.’
Note: This means that you should not provide direct links to files from navigation
menus.

Provide the file name, type and size within the link name.
Eg ‘Administrative structure (PDF 38 KB)’
Note: If you are using the content management system (CMS), the file manager will
automatically do this as part of the default insert file behaviour.
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Style guidelines
Spelling
Use Australian English spelling as given in the latest edition of The Macquarie Dictionary, and
when you choose a spelling option be consistent with it.
The Flinders University website uses some terms in specific ways. Refer to our style sheet for
details.
Be careful—spellcheckers may not be based on Australian English, and do not recognise
words in context ie ‘there’ instead of ‘their’.
Use ‘ise’ not ‘ize’ and ‘isation’ not ‘ization’ for word endings.
For information about using acronyms refer to Acronyms.
Spelling names
Spell the name of official bodies or companies exactly as spelt by the organisation itself, eg
World Health Organization not Organisation.
Local information
University location
If it is necessary to identify where Flinders University is located, this can be done using
conventional narrative. Do not write Flinders University of South Australia – there is a risk of
confusion with the University of South Australia. When writing for an international audience,
be aware that readers may not understand that South Australia is a designated state rather
than a general region.
Phone numbers
Use area codes for phone numbers. Use standard formats:

(08) 8123 0123

13 10 84

1902 240 699

1300 361 021

0411 999 999.
Australian dollars
Use $ sign, not A$.
Capitals
Headings should be in lower case (except for proper nouns) with a capital letter at the start,
eg Companion of University recipients.
Use initial capitals only for proper nouns.
Titles are capitalised when referring to a specific person, eg the Vice-Chancellor. However
titles are not used when referring to the position in general, eg topic coordinator, convener,
course coordinator.
Refer to the Flinders University Website Style Sheet for more examples of how to use capitals
in specific circumstances.
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Punctuation
Use minimal punctuation and avoid colons and semicolons where possible.
Use ‘single’, not “double”, quotation marks.
Do not use full stops in headings.
Apostrophes are used to indicate possession (the Chancellor’s office) and contraction (we’re
ready), not plurals (there were six dogs).
Lists
Bulleted or numbered lists can form part of a sentence or be a complete sentence within
themselves.
When the items in a list form complete sentences, they should be punctuated like this:
This is a list:

We describe some circumstance.

This is a different description.
Note that there is a colon at the beginning of the list. Each item is a complete sentence so it
has a capital letter and full stop.
When the list forms part of a sentence, it should be punctuated like this:
It is important to:

identify something

describe something else

end with the last thing.
Note that there is a colon at the beginning of the list, and a full stop only after the last item.
The items do not have capitals and there is no ‘and’ before the last dot point.
Numbers
Use minimal punctuation.
In general, use numerals (15) not words (fifteen) on web pages. Use numerals in technical
documents.
Conventional style guidelines may be used for documents designed to be printed, such as
reports, brochures and policy statements:

use words not numerals for cardinal numbers up to 10, numerals for numbers over 10

use words not numerals when a sentence begins with a number, eg 'One hundred
kilometres’.
Use space before each group of three digits, eg 1 700, 17 000, 17 000 000.
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Dates
Thursday 25 January 2007, or 25 January 2007 (no commas, spell month in full).
Do not use 10.8.98 (means 8 October 1998 to Americans).
Financial years
2008/09 not 2008-09
Span of years
2008-15, 1890s (no apostrophe), 8th century, seventeenth century
Time
5am, 7pm (no spaces or full stops)
Street numbers
139-146 Rundle St
Percentages
50% (no space) or 50 per cent.
Decimals
0.25 not .25
Fractions
One-third, ⅜ not 3/8
Measures
3 cm, 100 km (space, no full stop)
Inclusive language
Language should not exclude or discriminate against any group or section of the community.
It should be gender neutral and non-racist in tone, and show respect for people who are
disabled, older, younger or from other language backgrounds.
A simple and direct writing style that follows good readability principles will suit most users.
Use commonsense. A sentence can often be rewritten to avoid discriminatory phrases or the
need to substitute words.
Where appropriate, consider your target audience, eg pages written for international students
should reflect an appropriate writing style.
Further examples of appropriate terminology and Australian English usage are
available in the Style manual for authors, editors and printers.
Other useful sources are:

Flinders University’s Appropriate Terminology, Indigenous Australian
Peoples (PDF document 1 MB), developed as part of the Cultural Diversity
and Inclusive Practice Project.

Flinders University’s Guidelines for Language Use in the University.
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Gender neutral language
Use ...
Not ...
businessperson / owner
businessman
chairperson / the chair / convenor
chairman
fishing licensee / angler
fisherman
supervisor / work supervisor
foreman
police officer
policeman
tradesperson / trader
tradesman
representative / official
spokesman
worker / employee
workman
working hours
man-hours
human resources / labour force / personnel /
staff
manpower
You can avoid the he/him/his pronouns by:

using the plural ‘they’

using ‘he and she’ or ‘she and he’

rephrasing the sentence to leave out the pronoun

changing the address to ‘you’, ‘I’ or ‘we’.
Indigenous peoples
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission recommends use of the following
terminology to designate the original inhabitants of Australia and their descendants:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous peoples.
Ethnolinguistic groups
Avoid using terms like ‘New Australians’, ‘ethnic’ or ‘migrants / immigrants’.
Preferable terms are ‘people from other language backgrounds’ or ‘people from non-Englishspeaking backgrounds’.
Note: exemptions may be appropriate for content written in an academic context.
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People with disabilities
Disabled people are depersonalised by language in which they are treated as a disability
rather than a person with a disability.
Use ...
Not ...
persons with a disability / disabled persons /
disabled people
the disabled
blind people / people with a visual impairment
the blind
people with a disability / people with a
handicap
the handicapped
physically disabled people / people with
physical disabilities
the physically handicapped
deaf people / hearing-impaired persons
the deaf
In relation to age
Use ...
Not ...
older people / seniors / senior citizens
the aged / the old
young persons / young people
youth / the young
Acronyms and abbreviations
Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of other words. They should be used with
great care on the Flinders University website. Remember that many of your readers will not
be familiar with the language of higher education, and some will be from interstate and
overseas so will not recognise acronyms that South Australians regard as self-evident.
The best practice for using acronyms is to write them in full, followed by the acronym the first
time they are used on each web page. Thereafter on that page the acronym alone may be
used. Remember, readers can access the website randomly so may not have seen previous
pages where the term was written in full.
Below is an example of this.
One hundred and eighty prominent and influential alumni willingly serve the University
through the Flinders Ambassadors in the Community organisation (FACes).
Members of FACes are now leaders in many fields including business, medicine,
education, film and television.
Do not use full stops between the letters of acronyms.
Avoid starting a sentence with an acronym or abbreviation. Write the words in full or
rearrange the sentence.
Some acronyms can have more than one common meaning, eg SA can be South Australia or
South Africa. Take special care with these acronyms. In these cases it may be better to
always write the acronym in full, depending on the context of the page.
Flinders University Web Style Sheet
Although the latest version of The Macquarie Dictionary is an effective authority for most
words, there may be occasions where it provides more than one alternative form with the
preferred form appearing first.
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A style sheet has been prepared specifically for Flinders University. It lists many of the
common terms used in the website and specifies the preferred form for each one.
Refer to style sheet at the end of this document, if you are in any doubt about how a word
should be spelled when you use it in the website.
Before publishing your content
Proofreading
Proofreading is essential to ensure the quality of your web content. It is hard to proofread your
own writing, so it is often beneficial to have a fresh set of eyes review your work. If you can’t
have someone else proofread your work, it is a good idea to:

leave the work aside for a little while (a day or a week, if you have the time) and look
at it again when you are fresh

proofread in a different setting – away from your desk, for example

if you have been working on screen, print the document and proofread it on paper

read from back to front, section by section.
All these strategies trick your brain into thinking it has not read the material before. This can
improve concentration and help identify problems.
Proofreading checklist
Yes, there is a lot to think about when proofreading! All the elements of this guide have to
come together.
Here is a proofreading checklist that might help you produce quality web content:

Have you split your content into chunks?

Have you made each web page self-explanatory?

Have you written your content with your target audience in mind?

Is your writing style concise, personal and direct?

Have you used techniques to make your content easy to scan?

Have you avoided marketese terms?

Are key words highlighted in bold?

Have you written meaningful link text?

Have you provided contextual content for file downloads?

Have you written meaningful headings and a summary at the top of the page?

Have you cut printed text by approximately 50%?

Have you complied with the Flinders University Style Sheet and The Macquarie
Dictionary?

Have you explained acronyms and abbreviations?

Do your web page lists use correct punctuation?

Are numbers written in the right style?

Have you used inclusive language?

Have you checked spelling, local information, capitals and punctuation?
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Approval
All new web material must be appropriately approved before publication.
If you want to include material written by someone else on your web pages, eg a report by
another organisation, you will need to get permission from the holder of the copyright.
If you want to include links to other sites, you may wish to check with the proprietors of the
other site.
Each site should have an appropriate authoriser / approver.
For those using the content management system, the approval process will be automated in
the workflow, requiring the approval of the allocated ‘Publisher’ prior to publication.
Other relevant approvals may be necessary based on the nature of the content and its
relationship to the exisiting policies and procedures.
Keep web content up to date
People expect that the content they find on a website is current.
Out-of-date and inaccuarate content is frustrating and misleading. In the worst case scenario
it also creates legal and ethical risks.
Do not publish and forget. Make sure you maintain and manage the content you publish.
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Glossary of general web terms
Adobe Acrobat files
See PDF
Bookmark
A record kept by your web browser of selected URLs which the user
can readily return to. Frequent web users tend to accumulate a long
list of bookmarks or favourites.
Browser
An application or program used to view or interact with various kinds
of Internet resources. The browser uses HTML tags to open the web
page on your screen. The two most common browsers used by users
of the Flinders University web are Internet Explorer and Firefox,
followed by small numbers of Safari and Netscape users.
Content
Management System
(CMS)
The content management system (CMS) is a software application. It
provides improved management of web content, controls web
publishing through a workflow process, and makes it easier for
authorised end users to create and edit content in accordance with
standardised styles.
Flinders University is in the process of progressively rolling out the
ShadoMX CMS for use across the University.
Web publishers within faculties may be using other forms of content
management systems, which have been developed by faculty web
developers.
Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver is a web development tool, created by Macromedia
(now Adobe Systems). The majority of web publishers at Flinders
University use Dreamweaver to publish web content.
As the University’s content management system rolls-out, the use of
Dreamweaver will decrease.
HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language)
The standard method for tagging documents for publishing on the
World Wide Web
http (Hypertext
Transfer Protocol)
A protocol for exchanging HTML pages and forms.
Hyperlink
An electronic path that connects two places in a network, often
represented as buttons or pointers on web pages.
Hypertext
A piece of text that allows embedded links to other documents.
Clicking on a hypertext opens up another web page or goes to
another section of the page.
Metadata
Coded information about a web document used by Internet search
engines to find and classify web sites. This information is contained
in the 'head' section of web documents in the HTML code underlying
the document.
PDF (Portable
Document Format)
Files in Adobe Acrobat format. These files can be read with a free
reader from http://www.adobe.com. These files retain document
layout features and are used to retain the appearance of existing
printed documents and for downloading large files.
Random access
The ability of a user to immediately and easily access any of the
Flinders University Web Editorial Guide
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contents of an electronic document, in contrast to linear access with,
for example, videotapes or audiotapes.
Server
A powerful computer connected to the Internet which stores web files
and 'serves' them back to a user's web browser on request.
URL (Uniform
Resource Locator)
The location or address system used by servers and web users to
request web documents, eg http://www.etc.
World Wide Web
(www)
The World Wide Web (WWW) or simply ‘the web’, is a system of
interlinked, hypertext documents that runs over the Internet. With a
Web browser, a user can view web pages containing text, images
and other multimedia and navigate between them using hyperlinks.
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Bibliography
Guidelines for Commonwealth Information Published in Electronic Formats, [online book]
Canberra: AusInfo, 2000.
http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/file/18799/master_jan2000_guidelines.pdf
Comprehensive design and style guide for web and digital publishing.
The Macquarie Dictionary, 4th edition, 2005
For Australian spelling, hyphenation and use of italics.
Krug, Steve, Don’t make me think, 2nd edition, 2005
A short and very easy-to-read book about human computer interaction and web usability.
Jakob Nielsen has done a great deal of research on the useability and scannability of web
pages. Some useful articles on web writing are:
Nielsen, Jakob, 'Be succinct! Writing for the web' [online article]
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html
Morkes, John and Jakob Nielsen, 'Applying writing guidelines to web pages' [online article]
January 6, 1998.
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/rewriting.html
For those interested in the research, a detailed study can be found at:
Morkes, John and Jakob Nielsen, 'Concise, scannable, and objective: how to write for the
web' [0nline article] 1997.
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html
Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 6th ed. Canberra: AusInfo, 2002.
Guidance and recommendations for publications in print or electronic format.
Flinders University Web Editorial Guide
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Flinders University Web Style Sheet
A
Aboriginal (not aboriginal - unless referring to non-Australian indigenous people)
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)
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
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)
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criticises (use ‘s’, not ‘z’)
D
database (one word)
data-driven
decision-making
degree with honours (no capitals)
dependant (noun)
dependent (adjective as in ‘dependent upon’)
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.
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
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foetal
foetus
four year course
fractions
one-third (use hyphen)
framework (one word)
full fee-paying
full-time (not full time or fulltime)
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)
long-term
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M
Master of Arts or MA (no full stops)
masters degree (not Master’s degree)
masters qualifying
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 (prefer to 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
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 %
PhD (no full stops)
policy-making
post-colonial
postgraduate
pre-registration
prerequisite(s) (not pre-requisites)
pre-term
pro rata
problem-based
problem-solving
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Professor Smith (not Prof Smith, professor Smith)
program
programmed
programming
psychodynamic
psychosocial
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)
subcommittee (no hyphen)
subsection (no hyphen)
subtopic (no hyphen)
T
teleconference
U
undergraduate
university (when referring to a university in the generic sense)
University (when referring to Flinders University)
utilise
V
Vice-Chancellor
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W
website (not web site)
Y
Year 12 (capital when referring to school year)
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