Skip to main content

CVM editorial style guide

The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine follows AP Style with a few exceptions. This is to match university style as closely as possible and avoid unnecessary edits and revisions. Implementation of this style guide may change based on design needs or display restraints in items such as ‘Scopes or banners.

AP Style

With a Cornell netID you can access the latest AP Style Book for free. Please use this resource to answer questions not addressed here.


Exceptions to AP Style

Alumni years (university exception):

All Cornell alumni should have their degree years listed in the order they achieved them. Specify the graduate degree.

  •  Undergraduate: Jane Doe ’10 was an excellent student.

            o Note: No punctuation between the last name and the degree year for undergraduate degrees.

  • Graduate: Jane Doe, D.V.M. ’16, was an excellent student.
  • Combination: Jane Doe ’10, D.V.M. ’16, was an excellent student.
  • Combination: Jane Doe, Ph.D. ’12, D.V.M. ’16, was an excellent student.

Honorifics (college exception):

AP Style only lists the honorific “Dr.” before a person’s name if they have a medical degree (i.e. veterinary medicine). Our exception is that all people with a doctorate of some kind receive the honorific “Dr.” This is only on the first mention; subsequent mentions refer to the person by his or her last name. The honorific of “Dr.” is not listed if the person’s Cornell degree year contains a doctorate, so as not to duplicate.

  • Dr. John Smith worked with Jane Doe, D.V.M. ’99, in New York City. Both Smith and Doe have returned to volunteer.

Other college-specific notes:

  • Current veterinary and/or graduate students should be listed with their anticipated graduation year.
  • CVM is one of the land-grant colleges at Cornell. Use lowercase “land grant.” It is hyphenated only when it modifies a subsequent noun (i.e. land-grant mission).

Writing tone and voice

The CVM voice is approachable and informative. We tailor our writing for our intended audiences, which can vary from the general public to the academic, depending on the platform. When producing content for CVM, always put your readers' needs first.