Writing Guide
Style conventions
Degree abbreviations: no periods (see also Year of graduation after degree abbreviation)
Hyphenation in French street, building and place names, and in scholarship/bursary/award titles
Number symbol and abbreviation (no., nos.,#)
Year of graduation after degree abbreviation
Degree abbreviations: no periods (see also Year of graduation after degree abbreviation)
Write all degree abbreviations without periods and without spaces for simplicity and consistency:
- PhD, MA, MSc, BComm, BSocSc, MD, BA
Use of commas in dates
When writing the date out in full in a sentence, use the following format:
- The meeting was held on Tuesday, March 17, 1963, at the Faculty.
Use commas to separate the day, month and date, year. Be sure to also include a comma after the year if the date does not end the sentence.
Hyphenation in French street, building and place names, and in scholarship/bursary/award titles
In English, retain the hyphen for French-named campus streets and buildings:
- Marie-Curie Street
- Séraphin-Marion Street
- Jean-Jacques-Lussier Street
- Roger-Guindon Hall (Guindon Hall is also used)
Off-campus examples:
- René-Levesque Blvd.
- Sainte-Catherine Street
- Mont-Laurier (the town)
Retain the hyphens in French-named bursaries and scholarships:
- the Yvan-Lepage Memorial Scholarship
- the Huguette-Labelle Scholarship Fund
For more information and additional examples of French names in English texts, see the section titled French in the Canadian Press Stylebook and Chapter 15 of The Canadian Style.
Number symbol and abbreviation (no., nos., #)
Use the abbreviations in the body of a text and keep the symbol strictly for tables and charts. Examples:
- Item no. 2 was dropped from the agenda.
- Nos. 9 and 10 require essay-style answers.
Percent symbol (%)
Use the symbol (%) whenever possible. Examples:
- The Board recommends a 5% cut for all faculties and services.
- Registrations increased by 1% in 2008 and 1.5% in 2009.
If you choose to write the word out in a very formal text, spell it as one word, percent.
Year of graduation after degree abbreviation
After an abbreviated degree (MA, BA, PhD, LLB, etc.), write the year of graduation as follows:
- LLB ’98 (that is, apostrophe and two digits, regardless of the century)
Language Services and Alumni Relations use this style, so you’ll see it in most every text where the names of alumni are followed by their degree and year of graduation.
This is strictly a matter of ensuring consistency at uOttawa, as other usages are equally acceptable. Many institutions, for instance, drop the apostrophe before the year (BA 78) or write the year in full (BA 1978).
Dr. (Doctor)
We often see the professional title Doctor (Dr.) used in academic settings to refer to people with a PhD outside the health care field. In Canada, however, the provinces decide which licensed health care professionals may use the title Dr., generally physicians, dentists and psychologists. When you refer to an individual who holds a PhD or an honorary doctorate, we suggest you replace the title Dr. with something like this:
- Susan Doesitall, PhD, will be ….
- Jim Doesitall, who holds an honorary doctorate from Concordia, will be...
In a list of individuals at a conference where some are medical doctors and some hold PhDs, simply include the designation after the names:
- Jack Wilson, MD, infectious-disease specialist
- Jill Smith, PhD, expert in international development