Common terms with multiple possible spellings. There are many words in the English language with multiple spelling variations. The University style is, as a rule, to use the most common British English spelling and to refer to spellings included in the Oxford English Dictionary. Examples Our examples show which approach we've chosen for specific words. A adviser Not 'advisor' all right Not 'alright' amid Not 'amidst' among Not 'amongst' archaeology Not 'archeology' artefact Not 'artifact' B-J benefited, benefiting Not ‘benefitted’, ‘benefitting’ car park Not 'carpark' cooperate, cooperation No hyphen or space coordinate, coordination No hyphen or space enrol, enrolling, enrolment Not 'enroll' focused, focusing Not 'focussed, focussing' groundbreaking Not 'ground-breaking' helpdesk Not 'help desk' a historic Rarely 'an historic' judgement Not 'judgment' M-W medieval Not 'mediaeval' nationwide Not 'nation-wide' no one Not 'no-one' online, offline Not 'on-line' or 'off-line' postgraduate, undergraduate No hyphen or space supersede Not 'supercede' uncooperative No hyphen under way Not 'underway' Vice-Chancellor, Vice-President, Vice-Principal Hyphenated vice versa No hyphen voicemail Not 'voice mail' website Not 'web site' or 'web-site' wellbeing Not 'well-being' Further guidance on spelling is available in the following sources: British English Oxford English Dictionary (login needed). The A to Z PDF of the Editorial Style Guide has a more extensive list. Download the full guide This article was published on 2024-09-17