Recommended LU style for English

Language variety

The LU Language policy stipulates British English. This is the recommended variety unless special circumstances call for a deviation.

Some examples:

• Verb endings: socialise (not socialize)

• Words: centre, labour, autumn (not center, labor, fall)

  LU Language Policy

Recommended style

Date and time

• Use the 24-hour clock, e.g. 9:15 to 15:00
• Always write out dates to avoid confusion. For example, 11 April 2025 (not 11/4/25 or other abbreviated version using only numbers).

Numbers

• Thousands: Use a comma to separate thousands: 1,000 (not 1 000, 1000 or 1.000)
• Decimals: Use a decimal point in decimals rather than a comma: 9.55 (not 9,55).

Capitalisation

Titles

Capitalise the title when it is placed directly in front of the name in question. Otherwise use small initial letters. Examples:

• Head of Department Joe Smith
• Joe Smith, head of department
• The head of department said…
• Head of Department Joe Smith said…
• Vice-Chancellor is an exception (always capitalise when referring to LU’s Vice-Chancellor)

Organisations

Use initial capital letters when referring to a specific entity with a proper name, otherwise use small initial letters. Examples:

• the Faculty Board and the Board (when referring to a specific faculty board) but faculty board and the board, for example each faculty has a faculty board
• Education Board and the Board (when referring to LU’s Education Board specifically)
• Faculty of xx and the Faculty (when referring to a specific faculty)
• Department of Biology or the Department (when referring to a specific department)
• the Government – when referring to the Swedish Government
• the University (when referring to Lund University); however,  note lower case university-wide for universitetsgemensamt

Headings

• In headings, use capital letters for the first word and proper nouns only.
• When the title refers to an official policy document with e.g. a STYR number, use capital letters for all words except small words like prepositions and conjunctions.

Terminology

• Use the LU Glossary for terminology specific to Lund University
• Use the UHR Glossary for terminology applicable to Swedish higher education
• Contact LU’s in-house translation team at oversattning [at] legal [dot] lu [dot] se (oversattning[at]legal[dot]lu[dot]se) for customised glossaries based on your needs that can be used on their own or uploaded to DeepL. This service is free of charge.

Punctuation

Quotation marks

• Use curly double quotation marks that point inwards towards the text, e.g.

Albert Einstein said, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”.

• Use curly single quotation marks to signify a quote within a quote, e.g. 

He declared, “Albert Einstein said ‘Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value’” at the conference yesterday.

 Apostrophes also need to be written in curly style rather than straight style, e.g. the student’s books

Commas

Avoid the Oxford (serial) comma unless absolutely necessary for clarity.

E.g. The courses provide inspiration, practical tools and support for engaging with the public, the media and policymakers  is preferable to

The courses provide inspiration, practical tools, and support for engaging with the public, the media, and policymakers.