AP Style

Sabre Nation Celebrates National School Counseling Week

  • Event Overview

    • A celebration recognizing the contributions of school counselors.

Associated Press (AP)

  • Definition

    • A not-for-profit news-gathering cooperative that has existed since 1846.

  • Staff Composition

    • Two-thirds of its staffers are journalists.

  • Coverage and Technology

    • Delivers coverage across various categories and develops innovative newsroom technology.

  • Reputation

    • Considered the undisputed source for news, known for fast, unbiased news delivery globally.

AP Style

  • Definition

    • A set of editing guidelines for news writing created by the Associated Press.

  • Usage

    • The style is used by most newspapers and magazines in the United States.

  • Documentation

    • Presented in the Associated Press Stylebook, which is updated yearly and includes over 5,000 entries for reference while writing.

Importance of AP Style

  • Rationale

    • The content a publication produces is typically the result of many writers and editors.

    • AP style provides consistent guidelines to follow regarding grammar, spelling, punctuation, and language usage.

  • Benefits

    • Promotes

    • Clarity

    • Consistency

    • Accuracy

    • Brevity

    • Avoidance of stereotyping and offensive language.

AP Stylebook Entries

  • Content

    • The Stylebook contains over 5,000 entries to reference while writing.

  • Relevance

    • Specific entries that are most relevant for school publications will be detailed in the following sections.

Common Style Guidelines

Abbreviations

  • General Rule

    • Use universally recognized abbreviations in some contexts, avoid creating an "alphabet soup" of acronyms.

  • Specific Guidelines

    • Before a Name: Abbreviate titles when used before a full name (e.g., Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Mr., Mrs., Rep., the Rev., Sen., certain military designations).

    • After a Name: Abbreviate junior or senior after an individual’s name. Abbreviate company, corporation, incorporated, and limited when used after the name of a corporate entity.

Addresses

  • General Usage

    • Use abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address (e.g., 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.).

    • Spell them out and capitalize if they are part of a street name without a number (e.g., Pennsylvania Avenue).

    • Spell out and capitalize terms like alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.

  • Numbering

    • Always use figures for an address number (e.g., 9 Morningside Circle).

    • Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names; use figures for 10th and above (e.g., 100 21st St.).

    • Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or quadrants of a city in a numbered address (e.g., 222 E. 42nd St., 600 K St. NW); do not abbreviate without the number (e.g., East 50th Street).

Ages

  • Formatting

    • Always use figures for ages (e.g., The boy is 20 years old; the law is 4 years old; the 100-year-old house).

    • If the age acts as an adjective or substitute for a noun, it should be hyphenated (e.g., A 5-year-old boy, The contest is for 10-year-olds, The girl, 8, has a brother, 16).

Books, Periodicals, Reference Works, and Other Compositions

  • Quotations

    • Use quotation marks around titles of books, albums, songs, television shows, computer games, poems, lectures, speeches, and works of art (e.g., Author Angie Thomas read from her new book "Concrete Rose.").

    • Do not use quotations around names of magazines, newspapers, the Bible (or similar holy books), catalogs, or reference materials (e.g., The Washington Post first reported the story. He reads the Bible every morning).

  • Format Specifications

    • Do not underline or italicize any of the mentioned works.

Dates, Days of the Week, Months, Years

  • Dates

    • Always use Arabic figures without st, nd, rd, or th.

  • Days of the Week

    • Always capitalize them and do not abbreviate except in tabular formats (e.g., Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun).

  • Months

    • Always capitalize month names; spell them out unless used with a date. Only abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. with a date.

  • Years

    • If a phrase references a month and day within the current year, omit the year (e.g., The meeting is scheduled for May 5). Include the year if referencing a past or future year and set it off with commas (e.g., Jan. 10, 2021, is the target date). Use an "s" without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries (e.g., The 1700s).

Names

  • Mentioning Rules

    • Always use a person’s first and last name the first time they are mentioned in a story. Only use last names in subsequent mentions.

    • Distinguish between two people with the same last name by using both names on subsequent references.

    • Avoid courtesy titles like Mr., Mrs., or Ms. unless they are part of a direct quotation.

Numerals

  • General Guidelines

    • Spell out numerals one through nine (e.g., She placed second in the race; We have four more months of school).

    • Use figures for 10 and above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or when referring to ages of individuals, animals, events, or things (e.g., The man had six children and 12 grandchildren).

    • Never start a sentence with a figure, except for sentences beginning with a year (e.g., Four actors took the stage. 2020 was the year of the Coronavirus outbreak).

    • Use Roman numerals for wars and sequences of people (e.g., World War II, Pope John Paul II).

    • In relation to monetary amounts, always use numerals; for cents or amounts of $1 million or more, spell out the words million, billion, trillion, etc. (e.g., $5 million, 5 cents).

Punctuation

  • Spacing

    • Only use a single space after a period.

  • Quotations

    • All commas and periods should go within quotation marks (e.g., "It’s almost my birthday," he said).

  • Series

    • Use commas to separate elements in a series without a final comma in most simple series (e.g., The flag is red, white, and blue).

    • Include a final comma in a series if omitting it would make meaning unclear (e.g., I convened my best friends, John Doe, and Sarah Brown).

States and Cities

  • State Names

    • Spell out state names when they appear in the body of text.

  • Datelines

    • When used together with a city name in a dateline, abbreviate state names except for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah.

  • Comma Usage

    • Place one comma between the city and state name and another comma after the state name unless ending a sentence (e.g., She was traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, to Austin, Texas).

Times

  • General Guidelines

    • Use figures for time except for noon and midnight.

    • Use periods in a.m. and p.m. (e.g., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 9-11 a.m., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

    • Avoid redundancies when referencing times (e.g., 10 a.m. this morning, 10 p.m. tonight).

Titles

  • Capitalization

    • Limit capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual’s name.

    • Lowercase and spell out titles when not used with an individual’s name (e.g., The pope gave his sermon.
      The president made a statement).

  • Formal Titles

    • Capitalize formal titles when used immediately before one or more names (e.g., Pope Francis, President Joe Biden, Vice President Mike Pence).

    • Formal titles denote authority, professional activity, or academic activity (e.g., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Dr. Benjamin Spock).