Editors | Emeritus | Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (KLG) Style Guide | AIS / PCDM R3 / PCPM R3

Key Style Guide Information and Links

This card covers style guidance for KLG e-learning documents.

• For any style points not covered in this guide, refer to:
• AP Style
• Spelling: Merriam–Webster
• Dialect: US English
• For marketing documents, use:
• Proofed | Editors | Emeritus | Kellogg School of Management (KLG) Marketing Content Style Guide
• For video editing specifics, refer to:
• Proofed | Editors | Emeritus | Kellogg School of Management Video Style Guide

School and Course Terminology

course, teacher and learners

Bold green indicates the preference for this school/the specified courses.

school name and faculty

• On first mention, use Executive Education at Kellogg School of Management
• After the first mention, you can say, Kellogg Executive Education or Executive Education at Kellogg School
• KLG-PCDM R3: "Professor" before a professor, otherwise full name of industry expert

Important Course-Specific Notes

• KLG-PCPM R3: Check that the role is referred to as "product manager", NOT "project manager".
• KLG-PCDM R3: In the "Key Activities" and "Self-Study Activities" lists under the list of learning outcomes, do not use "Required" or "Self-Study" prefixes for the items in the bulleted lists. For example, "Discussion 1.1: Example", not "Self-Study Discussion 1.1: Example".
• Multiple answer is a specific question format and doesn't need to be changed to "multiple answers."
• Avoid using spatial directions to refer to the course content (above, below, the following...)
• Single pages in CANVAS are referred to as sections (e.g., "In this section...").
• If the Discussions, Assignments, or Activities are not numbered, no need to add numbers to them.
• For instructing learners to use a button or feature on a screen, use the verb select (not click).
• Use gentle language for instructions.
• e.g., please or be sure to, not you should or you must.

pronouns

• When writing and editing program content, use the second-person singular pronoun you (not third-person singular "one"). This creates a feeling of more direct communication with the learner.
• For introduction, overview, and welcome pages, use the collective pronoun “we” and simple future verb tense.
• Example: This week, we will study a variety of leadership perspectives.
• For assignments and instructions, use the individual pronoun “you” and simple future verb tense.
• Example: For this week’s discussion, you will answer these questions.

Capitalization

Headers/subheaders

• Headers: AP Title Case
• Subheaders:
• KLG-AIS: AP Title Case
• KLG-PCDM R3 / KLG-PCPM R3: AP sentence case
• See the Title Case Converter to confirm correct capitalization for title/sentence casing.

Punctuation

• Do not use the serial comma unless required for clarity.
• Parenthetical dashes: use spaced em dashes.
• Use hyphens, not en dashes, for number ranges.

Numbers

• Spell out numbers one to nine; use numerals for 10 and above.

Bullet Lists

• Use colons for lead-ins, regardless of whether they are complete or incomplete sentences.
• Capitalize the first word of each bullet.
• Use periods only for bullet points that are full sentences.
• No periods for fragments
• When the list has a mix of complete and incomplete sentences, do not use final punctuation.

learning outcomes

• Do not use periods at the end of the learning outcomes.
• KLG-PCDM R3: Do not use a colon after "Learning Outcome(s) Addressed".

Citations/Referencing

• Use APA 7th style for full references/reference lists.
• For secondary source titles (e.g., in Recommended Resources or in the running text), use AP title case.
• A reference to a generative AI tool being used in the creation of content should appear in the following format:
• AI Company. (Year). Name of AI Model (Version) [Description of AI tool]. URL
• e.g., OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/
• e.g., OpenAI. (2024). DALL-E (Oct 8 version) [Image creator]. https://openai.com/dall-e-2

hyperlinks

• Always let the participants know what kind of file they should expect when they select the hyperlink.
• Comment if this hasn't been done.
• PDF: Name of document or file. Be sure the file name and the title of the content are the same or very similar.
• Spreadsheet: Name
• MSWord document: Name
• Webpage – correct: Go to Google and look up the definition of online learning.
• Webpage – incorrect: Click here to look up the definition of online learning.
• Hyperlinks should be underlined and in blue boldface type.
• Hyperlinks in online programs are linked from the actual name of the linked page; do not use the actual url as the link.

Subject-Specific Terminology/Spelling Preferences

• crowd source (two words)
• decision-making: hyphenate both noun and adjective
• Learning Outcome, not learning objective
• micro-moments (with a hyphen)
• online learning (not elearning)
• Participants is the preferred term for those who take the program, not students
• Pre-Reading is always hyphenated
• Self-Study is always hyphenated
• startup
• Try-It Activity is always hyphenated
• website (not Web site or Website)
• Section refers to a single page on Canvas, which can include a mix of videos and activities (learner-facing text)
• e.g., This section includes two video lectures and a graded activity

Kellogg-Specific Terms to Not Use

Because our target participant is a professional who is probably more experienced than a typical participant, please avoid academic terms such a syllabus, grades, and degrees. The participants earn certificates of completion, receive feedback from program leads, and use program outlines.

• Correct: Participants review the program outline to see the list of activities required to earn a certificate of completion.
• Incorrect: Students review the syllabus to see what assignments are required to earn a passing grade.

for reference: aCTIVITY NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR FLORYBOARD DOCUMENTS