Correctly format numbers, dates, and times to ensure consistency in your content.
Formatting numbers and numerals
- Spell out single digit numbers.
- Example: One, not 1.
- Use numerals for 10 and higher.
- Use numerals for all numbers in a sentence if 1 of the numbers is 10 or higher.
- Example: "To protect the University's institutional data, University Information Security recommends reducing the amount of time a session can remain active from 14 to 7 days."
- Don't start a sentence with a numeral. Spell it out or reword the sentence.
Formatting dates
- Write out dates:
- Example: "Starting on June 1, 2022, the University is updating its security policy regarding how long you can remain signed in to your University Google account."
- If a communication is less than one page long, only use the full date once, and subsequently use the month and day (not year).
- Only include the day of the week if it is relevant to the subject of the communication. For example, if an update is happening on a weekend day, specify which day.
- Do not use "th, nd, rd" and "st" with dates. The only time to use "th, nd, rd" and "st" is with ordinal numbers. Ordinal numbers are those used to indicate a progression.
- Example: first, second, third, fourth, and so on. When written as numerals showing a progression: When written as numerals: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Formatting time
- Use a.m. and p.m.
- Do not use AM, PM, or other variants
- Example: 4:30 p.m., not 4:30 PM
- Use noon and midnight instead of 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.
- Example: "The meeting will occur from 11 a.m.–noon."
- Use en dashes between date and time ranges.
- Example: "The meeting ran 9 a.m.–4 p.m."