The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, spelling, numerals and many other questions of language usage. In addition, the college has established its own standards. Middle eastsouth asia studies program middle eastsouth asia studies. For subsequent references, use only the persons last name, per ap style and common journalistic practice.
In ap style, magazines names and titles are governed. Ap style was developed and is maintained by the associated press, the worlds oldest news service. In narrative text, use a persons full name at first reference. Notice that the ap stylebook does not recognize professor as a formal title. Associated press style guide hometown newsmaker guide. Learn how to share confidential information securely with us. Finance is jamies specialty but not the name of his or her team. Style rules examples academic degrees use an apostrophe and spell out academic degrees use abbreviations for degrees only when you need to include a list of credentials after a name. See the lists that follow to determine whether the title should be spelled out or abbreviated in regular text. Retain capitalization in referring to a specific body if the dateline or context makes the name of the nation, state, county, city, etc. Find a copy of the most recent ap style guide at the circulation desk. For many of your style and citation questions, its best to go straight to the source. The associated press stylebook remains the primary style reference for caption writers. Consult datelines in the associated press stylebook for a list of cities.
Purdue universitys english department offers doctoral majors in. Use lowercase spellings for college courses, unless part of the course name is a proper noun or includes course numbers. Jul, 2019 one of the first things a student in a beginning journalism course learns about is associated press style or ap style for short. Capitalize brief titles when used before the individuals name. Postal service abbreviations for states unless you are providing a full address including zip code. Please consult this resource if you have questions. There are exceptions where the first name may be used on its own in subsequent references, but this is much more casual. Do we capitalize department, as in finance department. Send contributions to relief fund, box 185, pasadena, ca 91030. Once youve determined your organizations chosen style, make sure to keep a copy of the guide on hand if ever youre unsure about usage you can find the chicago manual of style here and the ap style guide here. In line with this, use state of washington or washington state to differentiate the state from the district of columbia. Some of these decisions might run a bit counter to ap style, and thats ok, as long as you are consistent. In this post, we will summarize all of the ap stylebook state abbreviations rules. Aps automated stylechecking tools speed up the editing.
If youre new to news writing or switching from one to another, youll want to keep this ap cheat sheet handy and. The names of eight states are never abbreviated in datelines or text. Associated press style basics journalists resource. Professional and honorary titles capitalize brief titles when used before the individuals name. To subscribe to the associated press stylebook online, or to find out about purchasing hard copies of the book. The main references for all university of washington communications are the current editions of the associated press stylebook and websters new world college dictionary.
Websters new world dictionary of the american language, second edition. Ap stylebook type search query into the search bar below. For proper names of academic departments, programs, graduate groups, and major and minor degrees. Ap stylebook, also known by its full name the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law, is an english grammar style and usage guide created by american journalists working for or connected with the associated press to standardize mass communication.
Use the companys full name somewhere in the article, especially if the articles subject matter could affect the companys business. Both men and women are introduced with their first and last names and without a courtesy title on first reference. In this video were going to look at the particular style called associated press, or ap style that is used by journalists when they write for newspapers. Ap style is a very comprehensive list of writing rules and can be tricky at times. Finance is the name of the department, group, or division. Ap style is designed to address the challenges of the organizations large size and readership.
First reference for spelling, style, usage and foreign geographic names. Wildfires continued to rage through southern california yesterday. Acting as a job title agency names and use of the word the avian fluswine flupandemic flu or influenza commissioned corps. We took at look at the ap stylebook s section on possessions possessives and exorcised some demons coming up with these guidelines. The associated press style is the goto style for journalism and news writing. Associated press style guide all press releases should abide by associated press style guidelines. Department of defense visual information style guide. When a title stands alone or is offset from a name by commas, it should be lowercase. How to write names of highways, streets, and other roadways. While it often may seem that ap stylebook guidelines can be difficult to learn, ap style company names are quite simple if you keep a few things in mind. For singular proper names ending in s sounds such as x, ce, and z, use s for plurals of a single letter, add s do not use s for plurals of numbers or multiple letter combinations bullets associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. Lowercase department names, except for proper nouns.
Other newspapers do consider the a part of their formal names, causing it to be capitalized. The ap style as its known in the trade is quite different from the new york times style or chicago manual of style. Writing center quick reference associate press style guide. Capitalize formal names exception to ap style and lowercase informal references.
All you need to know about titles in ap style gatehouse. The wsdot style guide is provided to help writers and editors working for the washington state department of transportation provide clear and consistent information. Although it is sold as a guide for reporters, it has become the leading reference. Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board. The associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide of the associated press, a notforprofit news agency thats been around since 1846. Do not capitalize or abbreviate when used by themselves. Associated press style citation ap style is a standardized way of referencing people, dates and things all news organizations and many business organizations recognize ap style. They are the accepted reference sources for material not covered by the stylebook. Osu follows the associated press style with only a few exceptions. The most recent edition of this style guide is kept at the circulation desk and must be used within the library. I have consulted ap stylebook, cp stylebook and chicago manual of style to ascertain if the departments and divisions within a company are capitalized.
Spell out the names of all states when used alone and in body text. Here you will find a summary of some ap guidelines that relate directly to hometown news. For external communication we use the associated press stylebook 2017 for all public documents and materials, excluding correspondence from the administrator and deputy administrator. Style and punctuation uw brand university of washington. The lieutenant governor, gavin newsom, was serving in the. Writing for the web follows the department s style, which is based on the ap stylebook. Northeasterns editorial style for marketing and communications writing adheres to the associated press stylebook for spelling, style, and usage matters that arent covered in the associated press stylebook, please consult websters new world college dictionary. A communicators guide to ap style ragan communications. Ap style is simply a standardized way of writing everything from dates to street addresses to job titles. Ap style holds that it is preferable to list the subject first in stories, such as the agriculture department and commerce department. According to ap style, you should put quotation marks around the names of.
Capitalize the full proper names of governmental agencies, departments, and offices. References to these papers should lowercase the article. Capitalize only the official and complete names of colleges, schools, departments, divisions and offices. Ap stylebook, also known by its full name the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law, is an english grammar style and usage guide created by american journalists working for or connected with the associated press to standardize mass communications. The dod captioning style guide is designed to supplement the associated press stylebook reference b and pertains speci. Capitalize the first word, last word and all words that are more than four letters in length of titles of articles, chapters, episodes, etc. True which of these is correct, according to ap style. Do not use quotations around the names of magazine, newspapers, the bible or books. The associated press was founded more than 150 years ago and now has thousands of employees working in more than a hundred countries for a readership that numbers in the millions.
Its often used by news organizations, magazines, and web publications, but brands often use it to form the basis of their own style guides, too. Capitalize subsidiaries and use lowercase for internal. These sentences illustrate standard capitalization of words such as department, committee, team, unit, lab, division, and company. Spell out all generic parts of street names avenue, north, road. Never capitalize a title used alone, no matter how important it seems. The associated press stylebook ap style recommends lowercasing any roadrelated term in combined names if the term is the same for both names. What follows are summaries of some of the most common style rules. I checked my associated press stylebook ap, which states. These are the rules wed like you to follow for the contests.
Most of the time the government department or agency is used as the author for an apa style government report reference. Editorial guide brand and style guidelines university of arkansas. Any state name may be condensed, however, to fit typographical requirements for tabular material. Capitalization in apa style in apa style, you will most likely need to describe a number of tests, measures, and theories, among other things. Exceptions to ap style brand and messaging university of. The office of communications uses the below writing style guide along with the associated press ap stylebook and websters dictionary as the standard for writing web content, employee communications, news releases, broadcast information, articles and other materials. Ap covers a lot, so well look at some of the most important parts of using ap style. Sep 15, 2016 if possession is ninetenths of the law, just imagine how important correctly signifying it in your writing is.
This is an exception to associated press style, which treats academic departments as common names and. This article originally ran on pr daily in march of 2017 for journalists, the associated press stylebook is the industry bible. There are quite a few rules in the ap stylebook for state names and ap style state abbreviations. If a states name is standing alone or in conjunction with a city or town in your text, spell out the entire states name. For building abbreviations, the department of facilities. All of these reference books state to capitalize subsidiaries and use lowercase for internal elements of an organization, but i dont know if that applies to the name of a specific department or. Version 174 march 22, 2017 page 1 navy editors and writers should follow the most recent edition of the associated press stylebook except. Websters new world college dictionary, fourth edition, wiley, hoboken, n. Put quotation marks around the names except the bible and catalogs of reference material almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and similar publications. In many workplace settings, you will likely use ap style in reports and documentation rather than academic citation. Access to ask the editor, where you can search thousands of previously answered questions in the archive and submit your own query to the stylebook editors.
Here are a few answers to common style issues, based on the ap stylebook. As it is necessary, use new york state to differentiate the state of new york from new york city. The only way to determine this for newspapers not specifically mentioned in the ap stylebook is to check a media directory or look at the. For items not covered in this district style guide, refer to the ap stylebook and websters new world college dictionary. The 2016 associated press stylebook and briefing on media law associated press on. Updates throughout the year, with email notifications as ap editors add or change entries. Sep 12, 2007 yesterday in the keys to errorfree writing someone asked about a topic that comes up often. Your first impulse might be to capitalize everything because you will use specific names, but capitalization is not always acceptable. Formal titles in ap style should be capitalized when they immediately precede one or more names. The department meeting was chaired by jesse andrews, coach of. The ap stylebook holds to the following guidelines.
But do not capitalize the names of academic and administrative units within colleges and universities except where a word would ordinarily be capitalized. Never capitalize titles used after the name or titles that stand alone. Editorial guide brand and style guidelines university. States spell out the names of the states in text when they appear alone. Also, be sure to use a lowercase state in both of these instances to avoid any confusion. How to use religious titles in ap style bka content. Capitalize full, formal department names department of economics and lowercase shortened or informal titles economics department. Using defined structure and rules similar to words spelling and grammar checking, ap styleguard helps ensure the consistency of your writing. One of the first things a student in a beginning journalism course learns about is associated press style or ap style for short. The 2016 associated press stylebook and briefing on media law. For writing style, college relations follows the associated press stylebook guidelines.
Government printing office style manual 2016 is used for internal communication. Capitalize full proper names, and hyphenate us when thats part of the name. Ap style states that you should use lowercase for internal elements of an organization when they have names that are widely used generic terms. Refer to all adults by last name on second reference. Abbreviations for states use postal service style, rather than ap style. Treat department names as proper names and capitalize the full name in constructions such as department of history, or ralph e. Spiralbound book, updated each spring 2019 ap stylebook. For spelling, compounding, style, and usage questions that are not covered. The following guidelines are rules set out in the ap stylebook for ap style book titles, computer game titles, ap style movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, album titles, ap style song titles, radio and television titles, and the titles of lectures, speeches, and work of art. Writing for the web follows the departments style, which is based on the ap stylebook.
The associated press stylebook and briefing on media law. Buying the most recent edition of the associated press stylebook or signing up at can prevent spills down the most slippery of stylistic slopes. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free. Distributed by satellite and the internet to more than 120 nations, ap services daily reach more than. The associated press stylebook is used for institutional news communications and web sites items that university communicators uses every day, ensuring msu billings titles, locations, departments, etc. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Ap style usage tips central oregon community college. Sometimes individual people are also credited as having written the report. The information below highlights some key guidance as well as critical areas in which nij style deviates from ap. Ap styleguard is a powerful yet easytouse solution that integrates with microsoft word and outlook to provide automatic ap style checking.
Following are preferred styles and correct usages for written material at seattle public schools. Abbreviate them when they appear in conjunction with the name of a city, town, village. For slide presentations of ap style basics, go here. Alaska, hawaii, idaho, iowa, maine, ohio, texas and utah. Ap style also aims to avoid stereotypes and unintentionally offensive language. If possession is ninetenths of the law, just imagine how important correctly signifying it in your writing is. The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as. The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. Other references, including the chicago manual of style and the gregg reference manual, were consulted in creating the uws house style guidelines. Sep 25, 2018 most of the time the government department or agency is used as the author for an apa style government report reference. How to include ap style company names in your writing. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new chapter on health and science. Adopting a consistent style reinforces our agency brand and makes it easier for our customers to understand and use the information we provide.