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Editors | Emeritus | Associated Press (AP) Stylebook Guidelines

This card covers key AP guidelines for editing Emeritus materials that follow this style.

Please see the much more detailed Proofed Guide to AP Style for more information (including the December 2024 AP update).

Capitalization

AP uses "downstyle'; words should be lowercase unless a specific rule says to use uppercase.

Headers/subheaders

Use the Title Case Converter to confirm capitalization approach.

  • Headers: Title Case
  • Subheaders: sentence case
  • In Title Case:
    • Capitalize any prepositions/articles of more than three letters.
    • Capitalize "To" as part of an infinitive verb, but not as a preposition:
      • The Way To Learn
      • The Way to the Beach

nouns

  • Capitalize common nouns only when used as part of a proper name (the Democratic Party; the Ohio River; the Lincoln Room).
    • Lowercase when standing alone (the party; the river; the room).
    • Lowercase plural common nouns (the Mississippi and Ohio rivers).
  • Capitalize Bible, the Scriptures, the Gospels, the Old Testament, etc.
    • Lowercase biblical.
    • Lowercase bible in non-religious usage (My dictionary is my bible).
    • Do not abbreviate the names of individual books in the Bible.
  • Lowercase seasons unless part of a proper name (the Winter Olympics).
  • Lowercase directional indicators unless referring to a specific geographical region or popularized name (in the east of the state; the Northeast; the Midwest).
  • Uppercase academic and job titles only when preceding the name of a specific person.
    • Vice President Mary Smith
    • Mary Smith, vice president of the college

Punctuation

  • Do not use the serial comma unless required for clarity.
  • Use semicolons to separate lists that include multiple items with commas:
    • Tampa, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Parenthetical dashes: use spaced em dashes.
  • Use hyphens for number ranges (not en dashes).
  • Use hyphens to link words in a compound adjective: a 10-year period, a high-risk project.
    • Don't hyphenate compounds where the first word is an adverb ending in "-ly": highly respected leaders.
  • To form a plural of a single letter, include an apostrophe before the "s". No apostrophe for a plural of multiple letters:
    • Lots of students received A's; She's learned her ABCs; They sell old TVs

Numbers

  • General rule: spell out numbers one to nine; use numerals for 10 and above.
  • EXCEPTIONS!!
    • Always use figures for:
      • Addresses: 7 Park Place
      • Ages, but not for inanimate objects: the 4-year-old cat, the four-year-old car
      • Cents: 8 cents
      • Dollars: $3
      • Dates: March 4
      • Dimensions: 5 foot 2, 5-by-9 cell
      • Highways: Route 7
      • Numbers in the millions, billions, etc.: 6 billion people
      • Percentages: 1 percent
        • Always spell out "percent" (one word) in running text.
      • Speed: 8 mph
      • Temperatures: 2 degrees
        • Always spell out "degrees" in running text.
      • Times: 4 p.m.
    • Spell out numbers when starting a sentence (usually preferable to rephrase to avoid this).
      • Never spell out a year, even when starting a sentence: "1999 was a terrible year for..."
  • Use thousand separator commas in numerals higher than 999 (except for years and addresses).
  • Use up to two decimal places for millions and billions that do not require a precise figure: 3.74 billion.
  • Add an "s" but no apostrophe to a number to make it plural: She kept rolling 7s.
    • Same for decades: the 1980s.
      • Use an apostrophe on a decade only if cutting off the initial figures: the ’80s.

Currency

  • Do not include a period and two zeroes when referring to an even dollar figure: $3

Times and Dates

  • Dates use cardinal numbers, not ordinal numbers: March 4, not March 4th.
  • Write times as a figure followed by "a.m." or "p.m."
    • 4:30 p.m.
    • Do not include a colon and two zeroes when referring to an even hour: 4 p.m., not 4:00 p.m.
    • Use "noon" and "midnight" instead of 12:00 a.m./p.m.

Citations/Referencing

  • As AP is a journalistic style, it does not have its own specific referencing guidelines. Please refer to the school/course style guide to confirm which referencing style to apply.
  • Titles of books, movies, artworks, journals, etc. mentioned in the text should be set out in quotation marks and written in title case: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"; "The Shawshank Redemption".
  • A reference to a generative AI tool being used in the creation of content should appear in the following format:
    • AI Company. (Year). Name of AI Model (Version) [Description of AI tool]. URL
      • e.g., OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/
      • e.g., OpenAI. (2024). DALL-E (Oct 8 version) [Image creator]. https://openai.com/dall-e-2

Technological Terminology

Correct spellings and capitalization for some common technological terms:

  • BlackBerry, BlackBerrys
  • cellphone
  • download
  • eBay Inc. (use EBay Inc. when beginning a sentence)
  • e-book
  • e-book reader
  • e-reader
  • email
  • Facebook
  • Google; Googling; Googled
  • hashtag
  • IM (IMed, IMing; for first reference, use instant messenger)
  • the Internet (after first reference, the Net)
  • iPad, iPhone, iPod (use IPad, IPhone, or IPod when beginning a sentence)
  • LinkedIn
  • social media
  • smartphone
  • Twitter, tweet, tweeted, retweet
  • World Wide Web, website, Web page
  • webmaster
  • YouTube

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