UM Copy Style Guide
A guide to the university's official copy style for news releases, publications and other communications.
What is the University of Mississippi Copy Style Guide?
This style guide is intended to encourage consistency among members of both University Marketing and Communications and the many offices and departments throughout the university. It contains the rules and standards we apply when editing copy submitted to this office. This includes news releases, magazine and newsletter stories, website copy, announcements and brochure copy.
Understanding the Copy Style Guide
We rely on the Associated Press Stylebook and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for most usage rules, spellings and social media guidelines. The AP Stylebook was created with newspapers, periodicals and the like in mind, and this is the style that the writers and editors at University Marketing and Communications use in Ole Miss printed pieces and electronic communications.
- However, as with any organization, certain language conventions are specific to the University of Mississippi, and in those cases, this guide takes precedence over the AP Stylebook.
We encourage you to become familiar with this guide and to apply its rules to any text you write or edit on behalf of the university.
Please contact University Marketing and Communications at 662-915-7066 or umpr@olemiss.edu with comments or any matters you think should be addressed in future editions.