StyleBy Bradley Wilson, Ph.D.

Why learn AP Style?

• It helps to ensure consistency.

• It is the de facto standard for journalists.

• Many companies supplement AP style with local style.

• Credibility.

Titles• Proper titles before a name are capitalized.

Lowercase after a name.• President Jesse Rogers came to class.

• Jesse Rogers, the president of Midwestern State University, fell.

• Capitalize titles only when used with an individual’s name.• He wanted to be a university president.

• Use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., etc.) only in direct quotations or special situations.

Titles

• Abbreviate the following titles before a name:• Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Mr., Mrs., Rep., the Rev., Sen. and

some military titles.

• Separate long titles from the name, after the name, with a comma.• Mark Murray, the assistant to the assistant director for

technology systems for the Arlington Independent School District, won the award.

Academic Titles

• Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as chancellor, chairman, etc. when they precede a name.

• Lowercase modifiers such as department Chairperson Jane Doe.

Titles

• Use Dr. to refer for doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, or doctor of podiatric medicine.

• Preferred not to use an abbreviation for academic degrees.• Frank LoMonte, who had a doctorate in jurisprudence, …

Composition Titles

• Capitalize the principal words and the first word. Lowercase words fewer than four letters otherwise.• “Gone With the Wind”

• Put quotation marks around composition titles except the Bible and catalogs of reference material.

Attribution

• Refer to both men and women by first and last name on first reference.

• Use “said” as the verb.

• Period and commas always go inside quotation marks.

Abbreviations

• Do not use abbreviations or acronyms which the reader would not quickly recognize.

• Omit periods in an acronym unless the result would spell an unrelated word.

Abbreviations

• Abbreviate company, corporation, incorporated and limited after name of a corporate entity.• Student Publications, Inc.

• Abbreviate months of more than five letters when used with numbered dates• Sept. 11, 2001; July 17, 1965,

• Organizations widely recognized• CIA, FBI, GOP

Academic Degrees

• Bachelor of arts

• Bachelor of science

• Bachelor’s degree

• Master’s degree

• Ph.D.

City Names With States

• Only 30 cities do NOT require a state.• Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, New York, Houston, Miami, San

Antonio, Washington, for example.

• City, State

• Spell out Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Idaho, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Abbreviate others when used with city names.

Dimensions

• Use figures and spell out inches, feet, yards, etc. to indicate depth, height, length and width.• She is 5 feet 6 inches around.

Numbers

• Spell out one through nine in general use. Use numbers for larger figures.

• Spell out casual expressions.• It was a one in a million chance.

• Use figures for ages.• The 10-year-old boy was missing.

• The sassy cat was 8 years old.

Addresses

• Use numbers as part of an address.

• Use Ave., Blvd. and St. only with numbered addresses. Spell out all similar words.

• Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names.

• Abbreviate compass points.• He lived at 1600 N. Pennsylvania Ave.

Dollars

• Use figures and the $ sign.• Jaime sold her green eggs for $3 each.

• For figures more than $1 million, use the $ and numerals up to two decimal places.• The budget was $4 million in the red.

• Spell out the word cents and lowercase.• Gum used to cost 5 cents.

Temperature

• Fahrenheit• 86 F or 86 degrees Fahrenheit

• Celsius (not centigrade)• 32 C or 32 degrees Celsius

Measurements• A liquid pint is equal to 16 ounces or two

cups.

• A liquid quart is equal to 32 ounces.

• A gallon is equal to 128 ounces. There are 3.8 liters in a gallon.

• A liter is 1,000 milliliters.

• milli (1/1,000), kilo (1/100), kilo (100)

Seasons

• Lowercase fall, winter, spring and summer in general use

Trademarks

• Jell-O (flavored gelatin)

• Kleenex (facial tissue)

• Xerox (photocopy)

• Kitty Litter (cat box litter)

• Velcro (fabric fastener)

• Vaseline (petroleum jelly)

Internet• e-mail

• http://www.thewichitan.com

• Internet

• Emoticon (also called smileys)• :-)

• Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

• World Wide Web (or the Web)

Capitalization

• Capitalize nouns that are the unique identification for specific things.• The Apollo 11 astronauts returned to Earth.

• He was a down-to-earth guy.

• Capitalize common nouns when they are an integral part of full name.• Kansas River, Republication Party, East Germany

• Lowercase common noun elements in plural uses.

Capitalization

• Capitalize words derived from a proper noun and still depend on it for their meaning• Shakesperean, Marxism, English literature

• french fries, manhattan cocktail, herculean effort

• Capitalize principle words in names of books, movies, plays, poems, etc.

Capital & Capitol

• Capitol• capitalize when referring to building in Washington or

state capitols

• The Texas Capitol is in Austin

• Capital• The city where a seat of government is located.

• Do not capitalize.

Time

• Use figures except noon and midnight.

• a.m.

• p.m.

• noon

• midnight

• Capitalize the full name of the time in force within a particular zone.

Assignment

• Write FIVE sentences containing AP Style errors, errors that we have NOT covered in today. They may also contain errors we have discussed today as well as spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

BY BRADLEY WILSON, PH.D.

BRADLEYWILSON08@GMAIL.COM

BRADLEYWILSONONLINE.NET

TWITTER: BRADLEYWILSON09

PHOTO BY KEVIN NIBUR