These guidelines are to be used by members of the Saint Mary’s University community in all print and digital communications intended for both internal and external use, including way-finding and signage. The goal of adhering to the Saint Mary’s University Style Guide is to achieve consistency and professionalism across the institution.
Saint Mary’s University refers to the Canadian Press Stylebook 19th Edition and the Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English. If something is not covered in this guide or when in doubt, please consult both publications.
This style guide is not meant to replace academic style guides for classwork, assignments, research publications and the like. In academic contexts, students should consult with your course professor about which academic style guide you should use.
Learn five basic style rules when producing content or communications products.
More about how to reference Saint Mary's facilities and the acronyms that accompany them as well as proper use of the university tagline World without limits.
More information on referencing degrees, programs, affiliations and definitions of alumni.
Learn about how to use commas, dashes, hyphens, quotation marks, ellipses, parentheses, italics, semicolons, slashes, underlines, bold, bullets, spacing and so much more.
Correct ways to shorten words including days, months, measurements and contractions.
Information on when to capitalize including titles, geographical areas, departments, seasons, headlines and people.
Correct spellings for Canadian versus American words and other resources.
A reference page for how to demonstrate respect for diversity through content and communications.
Find out more about numbers, dates, time, addresses and telephone numbers.
Learn more about web links and definitions.
How to apply the Saint Mary's University brand in your written, print and digital communications.
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