Chicago style updates
If you’ve been a reader of this newsletter for a while, you might remember a special edition back in April that previewed some coming style changes in the 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style—the style guide’s first update since 2017.
The bright yellow, can’t-miss-it 18th edition was published in September, and the style updates announced in April are now official. Because the University Style Guide is based on Chicago, these updates change University style, too. Let’s take a closer look at some of these changes that will likely affect your work!
“Headline style,” or “headline case,” will now be called “title case.” This is to avoid confusion: Headlines written in AP style use sentence-style capitalization, but headlines in CMOS style often use title case, which left confusion about what “headline style” actually meant.
In title case, prepositions of five or more letters are now capitalized—e.g., A Room with a View but All About Eve. Until now, CMOS guidance had been to lowercase prepositions regardless of length.
Capitalize the first word of a complete sentence following a colon. Previously, CMOS’s guidance was to always lowercase the first word after a colon, regardless of whether what comes after constitutes a complete sentence. With this update, the first word after a colon should be capitalized if it begins a complete sentence.
The Chicago Manual is embracing the use of singular they in formal writing. At Notre Dame, whether you take this advice will depend on what you’re writing and who your audience is.
For newspapers and other periodicals, an initial The in the title—if The appears on a masthead or cover—will now be retained in running text: It’s now The New York Times and The American Naturalist but the Chicago Tribune and the American Journal of Sociology. The The in The New York Times appears on the paper’s masthead, but the Chicago Tribune does not use The on its masthead.
The 18th edition also features clarified or expanded rules for compound modifiers and en dashes, and new guidance on accessibility, inclusive language, and Indigenous languages. For more information, visit the CMOS Shop Talk blog.
Save the date!
Are you curious about using generative AI in your work? Do you already use it and want to share what you’ve learned?
The Office of Information Technology and I are hosting an AI for Campus Communicators Workshop from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 30, in the Information Technology Center. Join us for an in-person, interactive workshop on using generative AI in communicators’ roles and work. See some hands-on demonstrations, discuss benefits and concerns, and brainstorm possible campus guidelines. Or just come for the snacks.
To register, please fill out the short form here. Registration is not necessary, but it will help us know how many people to expect.
Pop quiz
Which of the following options is the verb form?
Click on your answer to submit your response. If you have the correct response, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a prize!
A note about the pop quiz
Please think of these monthly quizzes as open-book! I don’t expect you to know the answer off the top of your head. I designed these quizzes, in fact, to get readers more comfortable using the University Style Guide to find the answer. You are encouraged to consult that before submitting your answer.
Please think of these monthly quizzes as open-book! I don’t expect you to know the answer off the top of your head. I designed these quizzes, in fact, to get readers more comfortable using the University Style Guide to find the answer. You are encouraged to consult that before submitting your answer.
Summer pop quiz winner
Congrats to Rebecca Corrente, program manager of the Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative, the winner of the summer pop quiz!
Following University style, which of these statements is true for endowed titles?
Writing the name of a faculty member or administrator alongside a title that includes someone else’s name is a recipe for confusion for readers. To help, always add “the” before the endowed title to give readers that little bit of separation.
- Sarah Mustillo, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters
- The I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean Sarah Mustillo
What we’re reading
These are stories that we found to be interesting, fun, or thought-provoking. The views are not necessarily endorsed. Want to share a story you found? Feel free to send it to me.
9 changes to the Chicago Manual of Style — and why they matter
The Washington Post (gift article)
The Washington Post (gift article)
The power of words: Conscious language, with Karen Yin
Grammar Girl (video)
Grammar Girl (video)
Readers of online news prefer simple headlines, research suggests. Journalists? Not so much.
The Journalist’s Resource
The Journalist’s Resource
Latest style guide updates
There are no updates this month. Have a suggestion for a new or updated entry? Please feel free to send it to me at bcollin8@nd.edu!
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