On wednesday, professor james currier, who has a doctorate in biology and a masters in economics, will argue that improving automobile fuel efficiency from an average of 17 to 22 miles per gallon would save billions of dollars and protect endangered. Ap style was developed and is maintained by the associated press, the worlds oldest news service. The associated press stylebook 2019 a fully revised and updated edition of the bible of the newspaper industry the style of the associated press is the gold standard for news writing. Wellknown acronyms and common abbreviations of names should be.
It goes on to say that if an abbreviation or acronym would not otherwise be clear upon its second reference, do not use it. The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as. If people are unlikely to understand an abbreviation, then dont use it. Ap style cheat sheet for wjeas writeoff contests and beyond student journalists should have at least these two sources available to answer basic style questions. Use numerals for days without st, nd, rd or th and abbreviate the. See the lists that follow to determine whether the title should be spelled out or abbreviated in regular text. The guidelines below are based on the associated press stylebook ap style and the chicago manual of style chicago style. Much of this confusion stems from differences between the primary style manuals, as demonstrated below. The associated press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. In the past we discussed how to correctly use ap style title case. 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. Consider the following examples of ap style numbers, the chicago white sox finished second.
Although it is sold as a guide for reporters, it has become the leading reference for most forms of publicfacing corporate. Fully revised and updated, this new edition contains more than 3,000 a to z entriesincluding more than 200 new onesdetailing the ap s. One of the first things a student in a beginning journalism course learns about is associated press style or ap style for short. Ap styleguard is a powerful yet easytouse solution that integrates with microsoft word and outlook to provide automatic ap style checking. In fact, the sheer number of conflicting guidelines can make you feel like youve driven right off the grammar map. Ap style state abbreviations differ from their corresponding united states postal service abbreviations, provided in parentheses. Writing numbers correctly in ap style includes a few basic rules that should get you through most situations. Unfortunately, we dont have such fixed boundaries for how to abbreviate united states. According to the ap stylebook and its social media guidelines, the abbreviation app for application in describing a computer program that runs inside another service may be used on first reference.
The following guidance went out on the ap wire wednesday. Ap stylebook rules for height, feet, inches gatehouse. The american psychological association apa publication manual, which is used for writing academic papers, agrees about using the periods. Ap is not done rocking the journalism world with style changes. Ap stylebook rules for height, feet, inches gatehouse media 20170706. 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. Both the ap stylebook and the buzzfeed style guide already recommend spelling email without the hyphen. Also note no hyphen linking numerals and the word million, billion or trillion. Associated press style basics journalists resource.
Ap style is designed to address the challenges of the organizations large size and readership. Ap does not use twoletter postal abbreviations, although many other publications do. The president asked congress to trim medicaid spending by 60 billion dollars, but. What follows are summaries of some of the most common style rules. The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, spelling, numerals and many other questions of language usage. When following ap style, numbers zero through nine are typically written in word form, while numbers 10 and above are written as cardinal numbers. All you need to know about titles in ap style gatehouse. The ap stylebook, the buzzfeed style guide, the economist style guide, and the chicago manual of style all recommend hyphenating ebook, as well as most other e words such as ereader and ecommerce its conceivable that over time, ebook may lose its hyphen. Using defined structure and rules similar to words spelling and grammar checking, ap styleguard helps ensure the consistency of your writing. Use figures with million, billion, or trillion in all except casual uses.
Use abbreviations for degrees only when you need to include a list. Italicized words are still iffy for wire transmission ap stories, so book titles are enclosed in quote marks. Exceptions are ages and measurements, which are always written as digits. Use decimals up to two places for amounts in the millions and billions. Exceptions can also be made for numbers in lists or for clarity. How to write about money in apa style by rebecca renner. All abbreviations in the first section should be used inside of parentheses only, that is. In subsequent references, do not continue ising the. Ap style is simply a standardized way of writing everything from dates to street addresses to job titles. In a news story, can you start a sentence with an acronym. You should use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. Abbreviating months and days editing and writing services. Ap style quick reference guide basic knowledge 101.
Ap style for states abbreviations march 14, 2015 a. Previous post how a newsroom solved the mystery of an old story that resurfaced. 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. Effective may 1, the ap will spell out state names in the body of. But like most grammar dogma, there is always those special cases. Abbreviate names of states when used after the names of cities and towns, but spell out. On first reference, use the appropriate title before the full name of a member of the military. The underten or singledigit rule will suffice in most cases. In general you should spell out numbers one through nine in ap style. The official associated press style guide gets updated year to year. It is not necessary to include the state abbreviation with chicago.
Hyphenation with numbers and units of measure grammar. Associated press ap style is most often used by news and journalism writers to present consistent and clear writing to the consumer. From 1977 to 2005 more than two million copies of the ap stylebook have been sold worldwide, with that. Select the sentence free of errors in ap style for abbreviations for print publications. With the ap stylebook in hand, you can learn how to write and edit with the clarity and professionalism for which their writers and editors are famous. In this post, we will summarize all of the ap stylebook state abbreviations rules. I dont know if this will help, but for chapter style, ap says. To subscribe to the associated press stylebook online, or to find out about purchasing hard copies of the. Follow ap style writing out numbers zero through nine and using digits for 10 and numbers greater than 10. Be sure to use the stylebook abbreviations, and not the u. Consult individual entries in the ap stylebook to see if these abbreviations are. Capitalize chapter when used with a numeral in reference to a section of a book or legal code. Two guidelines for the use of metric measurements in a story.
Ap style state abbreviations differ from their corresponding united states. Always use figures and spell out the words million and. The ap stylebook will help you master the aps rules on. How to format numbers in associated press style pen and. The exception to this rulewe said there would be a fewis the. If you locate anything further on this topic, please. When writing about money in apa style, clarity and precision are key. In general, newspaper style guides in the united states in particular, the associated press stylebook ap and the new york times manual of style and usage recommend u.
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. In the past we discussed how to correctly use ap style title case, and now were here to tackle the often confused topic of ap style numbers. You can find abbreviations discussed in the publication manual in section 4. At bka, we prefer ap style, which is a standard in journalism.
Ap style also aims to avoid stereotypes and unintentionally offensive language. Capitalize a military rank when used as a formal title before an individuals name. Brand brand standards writing guidelines editorial style guide. Clearness is secured by using words that are current and ordinary. In larger numbers less than 1 million, use commas after each three digits. Government printing office style manual 2016 is used for internal communication.
In most instances, our style is based on the associated press ap stylebook online. Ap style indicates that metric terms should be included when relevant, although it provides no strict rules for what defines relevance. For words not in this book use the firstlisted abbreviation in websters new world college dictionary. The style of the associated press is the gold standard for news writing. Spiralbound book, updated each spring 2019 ap stylebook. This is the style guide that professional media use. Select the sentence free of errors in ap style for abbreviations in print copy. Some widely known abbreviations are required in certain situations, while others are. The writers of most content creation companies usually write using a popular style guide ap, apa, chicago, mla mixed with a house style. In apa, abbreviations should be limited to instances when a the abbreviation is standard and will not interfere with the readers understanding and b if space and repetition can be greatly avoided through abbreviation. It has been estimated that over 85 million house cats live in north america. Founded in 1846, ap today is the most trusted source of independent. With the ap stylebook in hand, you can learn how to write and edit with the clarity and professionalism for which they are famous. Nearly a thousand, half a million, about four hundred.
Distributed by satellite and the internet to more than 120 nations, ap services daily reach more than one billion people. 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. The equivalent resource for the older apa 6 style can be found here. Ap stylebook rules for datelines, cities that stand alone. Most style guides, including the chicago manual of style, advise that if you have to abbreviate the word continue, you should write cont and add a period after it. Ap style millions, billions, trillions writing explained. Click a question below to jump straight to its answer. The ap stylebook states to not follow an organizations full name with an abbreviation or acronym in parenthesis or set off by dashes. Ap style recommends spelling out state names in the body of stories effective may 1, 2014 and using abbreviations in datelines. Select the sentence free of errors in ap style for addresses, abbreviations. For external communication we use the associated press stylebook 2017 for all public documents and materials, excluding correspondence from the administrator and deputy administrator. Associated press style essentials this ap short guide is.
1067 1502 429 636 1393 71 1087 64 204 1186 1275 1262 1356 1046 1025 128 57 1179 823 480 36 504 1021 937 1215 526 445 1416 1556 938 1293 1097 1096 1435 1337 745 1453 701 991