Associated Press Writing rules:
1. AP style guidelines for dates
BEST PRACTICES FOR DATES
Specific dates should be abbreviated, without the use of “st, nd, rd, or th.”
→ Time periods should use the full month and year with no comma.
→ Time should include a.m. or p.m., aside from noon and midnight.
Months that should be abbreviated when used in a full date include:
February (Feb.)
If a writer is using only a month and a year to refer to a time period, the month should be spelled out fully. There should be no comma between the month and year. For example, the second month of this year would be written as
E: February 2020.
If a phrase refers to a month, day, and year, the year should be separated with a comma — i.e. March 10, 1990, or Oct. 14, 1995.
For days of the week, you should always capitalize the specific day but NEVER abbreviate it.
In addition, if you are referring to a specific day that is more than one week away, you should also reference the month and year.
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TIME: , even hours do not require a colon and two zeroes at the end. For instance, “eight o’clock” in AP style is simply 8, not 8:00.
- To distinguish between night and day, a writer should always include “a.m.” or “p.m.” after the numeral. However, it’s best to use “midnight” or “noon” instead of
EX: 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.
2. AP style guidelines for capitalization
AP style incorporates what’s known as a “downstyle” for capitalization. This means that words are all lowercase unless a specific rule says to capitalize them, such as proper nouns like specific state names in the United States.
For example, when it comes to state names, if the state is used upon first reference in the description by itself, you should spell it out.
However, if the state and city are used together, you should abbreviate the state. For example, Tallahassee, Fla., Montgomery, Ala., Tulsa, Okla., Madison, Wis., or Little Rock, Ark.
However, there are 8 states that should always be spelled out in full and never abbreviated, which include Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah.
Some additional capitalization rules to be aware of include:
Common nouns such as river or street should be capitalized only when used as part of a proper name for a person, place, or thing, such as the Colorado River or Democratic Party.
The seasons should only be capitalized when used in a proper name, such as the Winter Olympics. Similarly, directional indicators such as east or west should all be lowercase — unless they refer to specific geographic regions or popularized names for certain regions, such as the “the Midwest.”
For the most part, job descriptions should never be capitalized. For instance, police officers, teachers, or accountants do not need to be capitalized in AP style. However, formal titles, such as Doctor Evans or President Lincoln, should be capitalized when they come directly before a name.
3. BEST PRACTICES FOR CAPITALIZATION
→ Common nouns are only capitalized when used as part of a proper name
→ Directions and seasons are only capitalized when used in a proper name.
-Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name.
● Capitalize common nouns such as party, river and street when they are part of a proper name.
● Capitalize the word Room when used with the number of the room or when part of the name of a specially designated room
ex. Room 60
. ● Capitalize formal titles that come directly before a name.
● Lowercase formal titles that appear on their own or follow a name.
→ Common nouns are only capitalized when used as part of a proper name
→ Directions and seasons are only capitalized when used in a proper name.
-Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name.
● Capitalize common nouns such as party, river and street when they are part of a proper name.
● Capitalize the word Room when used with the number of the room or when part of the name of a specially designated room
ex. Room 60
. ● Capitalize formal titles that come directly before a name.
● Lowercase formal titles that appear on their own or follow a name.
4. Always avoid first and second person unless it is in a quote
- 1. Thoroughly research your topic. Before you start the writing process, ensure you have a thorough knowledge of your topic—particularly if it’s a complex issue. Read newspaper articles, scholarly journals, and history books to fully understand the topic and context surrounding it.
- 2. Pick a thesis statement. Your thesis statement will form the foundation of your editorial. Take the time to craft a clear, concise statement that will lead into the rest of your editorial structure.
- 3. Back up your thesis with several main points. Depending on your prescribed word count, plan to pick two to four main points to buttress your thesis statement. Expect to dedicate a paragraph or two to each of these points.
- 4. Acknowledge counter-arguments. You can concede points to the other side or spend a paragraph refuting counter-arguments, but it’s important to address alternative points of view to buttress your own argument.
- 5. Conclude with a call to action or summary of your main point. If your editorial is intended to address a problem, inform readers about possible solutions. If you want to empower your readers to learn more about the topic, provide links to resources or book titles to explore. At the end of an editorial centered on praise or criticism, return to your thesis statement and connect any ideas that remain open-ended.
- 6. Edit your work until you reach a final draft. Self-editing involves revising your editorial for quality and clarity. Read over your draft and remove unnecessary words, clichés, or sentences that distract from the central argument. Once you’ve revisited your draft for substantive issues, proofread your editorial for grammatical errors and typos.
Links for editorial examples:
5. BEST PRACTICES FOR NUMBERS
→ Numbers less than 10 are spelled out fully.
→ Numbers greater than 10 expressed with numerals.
-Sports scores, records and stats are written in numeric form
5-4 record
→ Ages, dollar, and millions are expressed with numerals.
→ When referring to a person’s age as an adjective, make sure to use hyphens.
-Spell out numbers used at the beginning of a sentence. Exception: Never spell out years.
-Add an s but no apostrophe to a number to make it plural. The same rule applies to decades.
They were divided into groups of 5s.
-Use an apostrophe on a decade only if cutting off the initial figures.
1980's
● Use hyphens for phone numbers
6. BEST PRACTICES FOR CITATIONS
→ Citing an article must include the author’s full name, article title, where it was published, and when.
→ Use the author’s full name on first mention and last name on secondary mention.
→ Use “said” to attribute a quote and keep punctuation within the quotation marks.
7. BEST PRACTICES FOR REFERRING TO TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA
It can be hard to keep up with the proper AP Style guidelines for common tech terms.
→ Use iPhone and iPad.
→ Website is one word, not two words. However, a web page is two words.
→ Hashtag is one word, along with email and smartphone. However, there should be a hyphen for the following words, such as e-book and e-reader.
→ When referring to a website in a post, reference the site’s title and not the full webpage address. For example, it is Google NOT www.Google.com
7. BEST PRACTICES FOR HEADLINES
AP style guidelines for headlines
AP style guidelines for headlines may differ from what certain content writers or marketers are used to. Generally speaking, AP style uses title case for headlines, which means all words are capitalized except for certain short words, such as articles and short prepositions.
→ The first word in a headline should always be capitalized.
-In AP style, headlines capitalize the first word, proper names, or proper abbreviations, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
- Do not add a period to the end of a headline
→ Short words (less than three letters) are typically lowercase.
→ Articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions are typically lowercase.
-NEVER use THE ARTICLES: A, An, or The
-Use a comma instead of and when you have multiples
EX: Smith, Jones won the game.
-Use actual numbers in headlines
- TRY TO WRITE IN PRESENT TENSE
-If using more than one line,
-don't: Split infinitives
EX: Jones to
go to states - Wrong
-Don't split names:
EX> Winner Thelma
Smith moves on. - Wrong
Don't split Prepositions ex: Smith critical of
America's journalists
-Headline should always be larger than article font size
-If two headlines on a page,
The one on top is the largest
-Headlines of articles lower on the page will be smaller font.
