Why we need an editorial style guide

This guide is designed to promote clarity and consistency in all our writing.

While academic writing is targeted at a critical and informed audience, our general writing is aimed at a much wider range of users - students, colleagues, partners and members of the general public - so needs to be produced in such a way as to get the message across in a clear, economical and simple manner.

This style guide is for when we communicate to all our users - when they are using our services, reading our marketing messages or browsing our digital domain. We recommend the Guardian and Observer style guide for issues not covered here.

How to use the editorial style guide

The style guide is arranged in alphabetical order. Each entry is listed on a page according to its first letter.

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Don't worry if you're not sure of the correct term for an entry. There are links between pages in case you search for a different word than the one we use. For example, if you look up 'contact details', you will be directed to phone numbers, email addresses, and postal addresses on their individual pages.

We suggest using Ctrl+F (cmd+F on a Mac keyboard) to search each page for a specific item. For example, if you need to know how to refer to the Chancellor, press Ctrl+F and type 'The Chancellor' in the box which appears in your browser window. Your browser will show you all instances of the words so you can find the relevant information.