Hannah Zelinski

Professor Carolyn Patterson

ENGL 5124

14 November 2023

Style Guide of the ‘Harvard Business

Review’
The following includes the specific style conventions that are to be used in the publication of
the ‘Harvard Business Review.’ For any issue that does not appear in this guide, refer to the
‘Associated Press Stylebook.’

Table of Contents
1. Punctuation .............................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1 Serial Comma ...................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Quotation Marks ................................................................................................................................. 2
1.3 Parentheses......................................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Colons.................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.5 Ellipses................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.6 Em-Dashes........................................................................................................................................... 3
1.7 Ampersand .......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Abbreviations & Acronyms ...................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Abbreviating United States ................................................................................................................. 4
2.2 Latin Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 4
3. Numbers ................................................................................................................................................... 4
3.1 Percentages......................................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Fractions.............................................................................................................................................. 5
3.3 Large Intervals ..................................................................................................................................... 5
3.4 Dates ................................................................................................................................................... 5
3.5 Money ................................................................................................................................................. 6
4. Contentious Spellings ............................................................................................................................... 6

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1. Punctuation
1.1 Serial Comma
When utilizing commas to separate three or more items in a list, the serial (or oxford) comma
should be used in addition to a conjunction—usually “and” or “or”—to indicate the final list
item.
Example:
When assessing the team, VCs factored in ability, industry experience, passion,
teamwork, and entrepreneurial experience, in that order.

1.2 Quotation Marks

Smart, double quotes should be utilized when using quotation marks in any capacity.
Example:
“The team is more important than the business to the ultimate success or failure,” –
Quoting a source
“How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions?” – Citing a title

1.3 Parentheses

1.3.1 Parentheticals that are full sentences end with an internal period.
Example:
(Most of the rest prioritized the company’s “fit” within the VC’s portfolio.)
1.3.2 Fragmentary parentheticals that appear at the end of a sentence end with an external
period.
Example:
If boards sense that the leader’s anxiety-driven risk aversion is hurting the organization,
they might grant or increase equity-based pay (known to incentivize risk taking).
1.3.3 Following a parenthetical, commas and most other punctuation should be placed
externally.
Example:
Interestingly, the change to employees’ physical space seemed to boost performance
even more than did another switch the company made (which Lee also studied), from
individual incentives to fixed wages.

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1.4 Colons
The first word after a colon is capitalized only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete
sentence; otherwise, it remains lowercase.
Example:
Those results differed slightly by geography: For example, VCs in California rated passion
higher and experience lower than investors in other regions did. – Full sentence following
colon
For a broad assessment of the executives’ propensity to worry, they turned to third
parties: spouses, families, friends, and close colleagues. – Fragment following colon

1.5 Ellipses
No spaces should appear on either side of an ellipsis, nor between the individual periods.
Example:
“This…suggests that one can reduce algorithm aversion by giving people some control—
even a slight amount—over an imperfect algorithm.”

1.6 Em-Dashes
No spaces should appear on either side of an em-dash.
Example:
Computer-driven algorithms are becoming adept at making decisions and offering
forecasts—in fact, their assessments are frequently better than those of humans.

1.7 Ampersands
The ampersand (“&”) should only be used as a part of a name or common abbreviation;
otherwise, “and” should be spelled out.
Example:
Procter & Gamble – Company name
R&D – Common acronym meaning “research and development”

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2. Abbreviations & Acronyms
Abbreviations and acronyms should generally appear in all capital letters with no periods
separating them. Additionally, an abbreviation should be spelled out in its first appearance
unless it is common. Some common abbreviations include:
CEO – Chief Executive Officer
OECD – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
R&D – Research and Development
STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
VC – Venture Capitalist

2.1 Abbreviating: United States

The abbreviation of “United States” should include periods (“U.S.”), contrary to the general rule.
This abbreviation should only be used as an adjective as in “the U.S. economy,” but never alone
as a noun—spell out “The United States.”

2.2 Latin Abbreviations

Common Latin abbreviations are often lowercase and often include periods, contrary to the
general rule. Some common Latin abbreviations include:
e.g. – exempli gratia (“for example”)
i.e. – id est (“that is”)
etc. – et cetera (“and so forth”)

3. Numbers
Generally, numbers under 10 should be spelled out, while numbers 10 and above should be
represented as numerals.

3.1 Percentages
Percentages should always be represented as a numeral paired with a “%” symbol, regardless of
if the number is above or below 10.
Example:
Adding recommendations for similar items to product pages on a fashion retailer’s
website boosted overall sales by 8%, but the gains were unevenly distributed:
Recommended items saw sales jump by as much as 13%, while sales of other items
dropped by an average of 18%.

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3.2 Fractions
A fraction should be spelled out, hyphenated, and represented in its simplest form. In the case
of a fraction with a denominator of four, the preferred suffix is “quarters” rather than “fourths.”
Example:
Three-quarters
One-third
Three-tenths

3.3 Large Intervals

3.3.1 Numbers in the thousands should be represented exactly and as numerals.

Example:
38,435
3.3.2 Numbers in the interval of millions, billions, trillions, etc. should be rounded to the nearest
whole number and be represented as a numeral paired with the word indicating the
appropriate interval.
Example:
7 million

3.4 Dates

3.4.1 When referring to a particular decade, use the full four-digit year paired with a lowercase
“s.”
Example:
The 1990s
3.4.2 To indicate a specific point within a decade, pair a prefix and decade together using a
hyphen.
Example:
Mid-1990s
3.4.3 Avoid using an en-dash when referring to a span of time. Instead use words to indicate the
interval.
Example:
From 1990 to 2010

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3.5 Money
When referring to an amount of money, use a numeral preceded by the “$” symbol, regardless
of if the number is above or below 10.
Example:
$4
$6,000
$7 million

4. Contentious Spellings
Some words have multiple correct spellings. The following is an alphabetized list of the correct
spellings of a few such words commonly found in the Harvard Business Review:
e-commerce
policy maker
setup (n.)
start-up (n.)

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