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Key terms and styles

Referring to our Institution

When referring to our Institution, use “Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,” not “the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.”

After an initial mention of “Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,” it is acceptable to use the informal “WHOI” (without periods) in subsequent references. Use “WHOI” only in a familiar context where the reader will know who we are, since there are many people who are not familiar with our organization.

In running text, capitalize the word “Oceanographic” or “Institution” when used alone to refer specifically to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Example: "The Oceanographic is home to R/V Neil Armstrong."

When using “oceanographic” or “institution” in a general sense, it is lowercase in running text. Example: “We are the leading independent oceanographic institution.”

Editorial style guide references

The main editorial and word-use references for all WHOI in communications are the current editions of The Associated Press Stylebook and Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

Titles, headings, and headlines

For titles, headings, and headlines, use “sentence case.” This is where the first word of your title or subtitle is capitalized. Example: “New geochemical tool reveals origin of Earth's nitrogen.”

Commas

At WHOI we use what is referred to as the serial comma or Oxford comma. This is when a comma appears immediately after the penultimate term in a series of three or more terms. Example: “Researchers study the biology, chemistry, and geology at the hydrothermal vent system.”

“Smart quotes” — commonly curly or sloped — are the ideal form of quotation marks and apostrophes. "Dumb quotes," or straight quotes, are a vestigial constraint from typewriters. Example: These are “smart quotes” and these are "straight quotes."

Always use smart quotes, not straight quotes, in your design work and professional writing.

One exception is for numerical measurements. In that case, you should use prime quotes. Example: “The ship is 156′4″ in length.” Another exception is for computer programming, where straight quotes are used in html and other code.

Italics

Italics should be used in academic writing under the following circumstances:

  • Titles of things that can stand alone, such as books, journals, news publications, films, long poems, TV and radio programs, famous speeches and artwork. Example: Nature magazine, The Washington Post, or One Strange Rock.
  • Names of vehicles or ships. Example: “R/V Atlantis” or “ROV Jason.” Note that the “R/V” and “ROV” are not italicized, just the name of the vehicle or ship.
  • Scientific and technical terms. Some aspects of technical and scientific writing require italics, as do physical quantities or mathematical constants. Examples include species names such as Homo sapiens, and the constant c (the speed of light).
  • Foreign words and phrases. Foreign words and phrases should be italicized (e.g. ad valorem) unless they are in common use in the English language (déjà vu, et al., in situ).
  • Emphasis. Although emphasis should be used with restraint in writing, you add it by using italicized text.

Academic degrees

  • Capitalize an academic degree when it is given in full. Example: “Doctor of Philosophy” or “Master of Science.”
  • Omit periods in abbreviations of degrees. Example: “PhD” or “MS.”
  • Use lowercase for informal references. Example: “doctoral degree” or “master’s degree.”

Abbreviations and acronyms

  • Spell out for first citation and follow with the abbreviation or acronym in parentheses. Example: “The Center for Marine Robotics (CMR) hosted a forum for entrepreneurs. CMR invited participants from across industry and research organizations.”
  • Avoid overuse of acronyms; include only if necessary to clarify multiple references in copy or if the organization/program/etc. is more commonly known by an acronym (e.g. NASA).
  • Use the upper- and lowercase abbreviations for states in narrative text, not the postal abbreviations (i.e., Calif., not CA)

Active voice versus passive voice

Use active voice whenever possible. Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb, as compared to passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb's action. Example of active voice: “A WHOI scientist viewed the volcano as it erupted.” Example of passive voice: “The volcano was viewed by scientists as it erupted.”

Ampersands

For regular text, headings, and titles, spell out “and.” Do not use “&” as a replacement. A few situations allow for use of an ampersand, which include:

  • Proper nouns like company names, e.g., “Crown & Co.”
  • When logos, titles, or names contain the mark as a design element.
  • In titles of creative works such as novels, songs, and albums.
  • In film credits for stories, screenplays, etc. In those special cases, “&” indicates a closer collaboration than “and” does.
  • Inside tables, parentheses, and website navigation when space is limited.
  • In common shorthand expressions such as “R&D,” “rock & roll,” or “country & western.”
  • In names that are themselves abbreviations, such as “AT&T” or “A&W” (note: no spaces are used, here).
  • In citations when the source has more than one author, use an ampersand to connect the last two (Smith, Greene & Jones, 2008).
  • When identifying more than one addressee: “Mr. & Mrs. Pitcairn,” or “Judy & David Pitcairn.”
  • The phrase et cetera (“and so forth”), commonly written as etc., is also properly abbreviated &c. — representing the combination et + c(etera).

Numerals

  • Spell out one through nine.
  • Use figures for 10 and above, and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages: “the 90-year-old Institution;” “the 2-year-old whale.”
  • Spell out numbers that begin a sentence (or rewrite the sentence so it doesn’t begin with a number): “Twelve scientists sailed on the cruise.”

Dates

  • Use cardinal, not ordinal, numbers: “April 1,” not “April 1st;” “July 4, not July 4th.”
  • Use a comma before and after the year if placing a full date (month + day + year) within a sentence: “The board met on September 25, 2014, to review the report.”
    • Note that although AP style uses abbreviations for months (Sept.), it is also acceptable to spell out the entire month in text when space permits.
  • Do not use a comma if only listing the month and year: “The board will meet in December 2021.”

Names of people

  • In narrative text, use a person’s full name on first reference.
  • For subsequent references, use only the person’s last name, per AP Style and common journalistic practice. There are exceptions where the first name may be used on its own in subsequent references, but this is much more casual. Consider which option is most appropriate for your audience and platform, and stay consistent throughout.

Gender-specific language

  • Avoid language that indicates gender unless it is truly necessary; never assume gender.
  • Use “chair” to refer to the head of a committee, unless the official title is chairman or chairwoman: “Was a new chair elected at the meeting?”
  • Use “spokesperson” instead of “spokesman” or ”spokeswoman,” unless the person’s gender preference is known.
  • Use “human-occupied” instead of “manned” submersible.
  • Use “crew member” instead of “crewman;” “crew” instead of “crewmen;” and “able-bodied sea personnel” instead of “able-bodied seaman.”
  • Ships and vehicles are never referred to as “she;” use “it.” Whenever possible, also avoid such gender-specific terms as “sister ship” and “maiden voyage.”