AP Style Guide Quick Facts for Professional Communication
General guidelines on AP style including punctuation, capitalization, acronyms, and more. Learn to adhere to the standards set by AP for professional communication.
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AP Style Guide Pearce Center for Professional Communication
AP Style Quick Facts: General AP Style does not use the oxford comma! Wrong: She went to the store to buy bread, milk, and cereal. Right: She went to the store to buy bread, milk and cereal. Use only one space after a period at the end of a sentence. When using em dashes, place spaces on either side of them. Also make sure you are using an actual em dash rather than two hyphens placed together. Right: Wrong: --
AP Style Quick Facts: General (Cont.) Use a person s full name when it is first mentioned. Every subsequent mention should be only their last name. If two people in the article have the same last name, use their full names in every mention. Titles of books, movies and TV shows are denoted with quotation marks. To Kill a Mockingbird NOT To Kill a Mockingbird Newspapers, journals and other reference materials get no special treatment Spell out numbers one-nine and use figures for 10 and over. There are several exceptions to this rule, so be sure to check the stylebook if you are unsure!
AP Style Quick Facts: Acronyms Contrary to popular belief, you should not write an acronym in parentheses after spelling it out. Wrong: Students worked to produce grant templates for Building Bridges of Hope (BBOH). If using an acronym, simply place it in after the first mention where it is spelled out. Students worked to produce grant templates for Building Bridges of Hope. BBOH is a non-profit organization. If you are writing for a magazine, keep in mind where your article will appear in the printed product. If the acronym has been mentioned before, you should use only the acronym in your writing.
AP Style Quick Facts: Capitalization Generally, AP Style says to lowercase anything unless there is a valid reason to capitalize it. Pearce Center is always capitalized since it is a proper noun. When speaking about a semester, capitalize it if it is a specific semester but don t if it is general. Ex: Fall 2016 vs. fall semester vs. fall of 2018 Room is not capitalized unless it is part of the actual name. Lincoln Room vs. conference room
AP Style Quick Facts: Majors/Degrees Unless the major is a proper noun (ex. English), it should not be capitalized. Degree names are not capitalized Right: She received her master s in sociology from Clemson University. Wrong: She received her Master s in Sociology from Clemson University. Titles like professor are not capitalized unless they come directly before a person s name. Right: She is an associate professor. Wrong: She is an Associate Professor. Right: Then, Associate Professor John Smith wrote a book about birds. Wrong: Then, associate professor John Smith wrote a book about birds.
AP Style Quick Facts: Peoples Titles If the title is formal and/or appears before a person s name, it is generally capitalized. President Biden If the title is informal, does not appear with a name, or is after a person s name, they are generally not capitalized. He is the president of the United States. If a title is long, place it after a person s name or set it off with commas before a person s name. Lowercase any adjectives that specify a title. Ex: former President Bill Clinton
AP Style Quick Facts: Peoples Titles (Cont.) Spell out titles when used alone. The senator visited local elementary schools to discuss education policies. Abbreviate titles when they come before a name. Sen. John Smith visited local elementary schools to discuss education policies. When titles are used in direct quotes, spell them out. Exceptions: Dr., Mr. and Mrs.
AP Style Quick Facts: Academic Degrees Use apostrophes when spelling out degree names bachelor s degree Do not use apostrophes when writing out the entire title of a degree. Bachelor of Arts degree If listing degrees after someone s name, use abbreviations and set them off with commas Maria Kingston, LL.D., Ph.D, spoke at the benefit.
AP Style Quick Facts: Dates/Locations Don t use st, nd, rd or th in dates, use the Arabic figures. Ex: Oct. 3 NOT Oct. 3rd Write out the name of the month unless it is followed by a date. Ex: October vs. Oct. 3 When writing about a decade, use s but no apostrophe. 90s not 90 s Don t use yesterday or last month because a reader who reads it later won t know when it occurred. Always spell out days of the week.
AP Style Quick Facts: States Spell out the name of a state when used alone Ex. The couple went on vacation to North Dakota. When used in conjunction with city names, abbreviate states with seven or more letters Pittsburgh, Pa, vs. Youngstown, Ohio State abbreviations in AP Style differ from the US Postal Service abbreviations. Make sure you look up the proper abbreviation in the AP Stylebook A few states you will probably need to know: South Carolina is S.C. (not SC) Georgia is Ga. (not GA) North Carolina is N.C. (not NC)
AP Style Quick Facts: Time Write out midnight and noon Do not use :00 in times 1 p.m. not 1:00 p.m. Lowercase p.m. and a.m.
A More Complete AP Guide If you are unsure of how something should be done in AP Style visit https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/02/ or the Associated Press website.
Practice #1 I received my bachelors degree when I was 23 years old. Incorrect! The correct answer is: I received my bachelor s degree when I was 23 years old. You should add apostrophes in degree names
Practice #2 Sen. Frank Burns told the general that nothing was wrong at the hospital. Correct! Titles before a name are capitalized and abbreviated.
Practice #3 On December 30, the ballet came to Columbus. Incorrect! The correct answer is: On Dec. 30, the ballet came to Columbus. Months followed by a date should be abbreviated
Practice #4 The interns worked on creating a flyer, writing a press release and creating a video. Correct! AP Style does not use the Oxford (serial) comma unless not using one creates confusion.
Practice #5 He travelled to Clemson, South Carolina to sign the document. Incorrect! The correct answer is: He travelled to Clemson, S.C. to sign the document. When written after a city, states should be abbreviated according to AP guidelines. Exceptions are: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. These state are never abbreviated.
