Language & Grammar

Other

Bylines

If the article or column is written by a staff writer or regular contributor and his or her name is already listed somewhere in the print publication, such as the masthead, include only the name.

Example: By Jake Woods

If the piece is written by someone other than a staff writer or regular contributor and requires a byline, include information about the author at the end of the article.

Example: By Louise Chan (under headline)

At the end of the article, write the following in italics:

Louise Chan is a third-year sociology student at Simon Fraser University.

In the case of specialty publications, a byline for an alumnus is to include the program and year of graduation.

Example: By Preeya Singh, computing science, ’89

Web articles that include a byline should identify the author.

Example (for staff members of marketing communications):

By Angelo Van Nuys, staff writer (under the headline)

Example for non-staff:

By Sophie Smith (under the headline)

At the end of the article, write the following in italics:

Sophie Smith is a Vancouver freelance writer.

In all cases where a second writer has provided supplementary files for the story, the writer may be acknowledged at the end of the story in italics.

Example: With files from Bruce Harper

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Obituary policy

SFU publishes obituaries for select members of the university community. Obituaries are written by a communicator in the affiliated faculty, department or VP-portfolio.

If there is no obvious department, faculty or VP-portfolio communicator available, a member of the Communications & Marketing team may be appointed (at the discretion of the executive director or one of the senior directors) to write the obituary.

All faculty & staff email

Obituaries will be sent via an all faculty and staff email if the deceased is a current high-ranking university executive, including president, chancellor, chair of the board of governors, vice-president, associate vice-president, dean or associate dean. A version of the obituary will be posted concurrently on the Staff and Faculty section of SFU News.

What's On newsletter and Faculty & Staff Dashboard

Obituaries can run in the What’s On newsletter, if the deceased was:

A current faculty member or lecturer, administrator, board member or staff member;
A recently retired (<1 a year) long-time faculty, lecturer, administrator or staff member;
A former president, vice-president or chancellor;
A major donor to the university;
A professor emeritus.

All other SFU obituaries will be run on the affiliated department, faculty or VP-portfolio website, and amplified on the Faculty & Staff Dashboard at the discretion of the unit.

Social media

Once an obituary is posted, a link may be shared by the affiliated department, faculty or VP-portfolio on their social media channels.

Letters of condolence

For information on condolence letters from SFU for donors or alumni, please email SFU Advancement and Alumni Engagement.

Communicators Toolkit