Writers will work with several different writing styles over their literary lifetime. AP style is a standard in journalism and mass media. Knowing the AP Stylebook and its standards is invaluable for all writers.
What is AP Style?
The Associated Press Stylebook is a style guide created by journalists. Standardized in the 1950s, this reference book makes consistent spelling, grammar, punctuation, and usage guidelines. Initially intended for journalism, these standards have grown to be used for corporate communications and mass media.
Why Use AP Style Guidelines?
The AP Stylebook’s guidelines provide consistency for writers and their mediums. A variety of authors write newspapers and websites. To ensure everything follows similar procedures, universally accepted standards create norms for spelling, punctuation, grammar and other elements of language.
Because the Associated Press created this style, several beneficial attributes of journalism are contained within the guidelines. Good journalism is accurate, unambiguous and concise. AP style leads writing toward simple and to-the-point text.
Quick, Reliable Reference: The AP Style Cheat Sheet
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law is hundreds of pages long. It also has over 50 editions in print. This reference is not a complete guide. However, it aims to cover some of the guidebook’s essential and most commonly used style points.
AP Style Punctuation
The AP Stylebook requires the use of a single space after a period. Commas are not used before a conjunction in a simple series. However, commas are advised before conjunctions in complex series.
Example: John’s favorite colors were red, blue and white. His favorite classes were English, Anatomy and Physiology, and Family and Consumer Science.
AP Style Quotation Marks
According to AP style rules, commas and periods go inside quotation marks.
Example: “I never saw anything like it,” she said. He said, “I agree. It was crazy.”
Using AP Style Numbers
The AP Stylebook specifies numbers from 10 and above should be written using figures. Nine and below should be spelled out.
Example: William had 11 cats and two dogs.
Furthermore, a sentence should never begin with a numeral unless it is a year.
AP Style Examples: Five times a night. Fifty cats howled. 1918 marked the end of the war.
There are specific rules concerning numbers in AP Style.
Ordinals
Ordinal numbers follow the same AP style as ordinary numbers. A writer would spell out ‘third base’ when referring to an amount below 10. From 10 and beyond, figures would be used to refer to the ‘12th place runner.’
Money
Writers referencing money should use numerals. Amounts in cents should be spelled.
Example: $26.50, 2 cents
Additionally, amounts of a million and greater should be spelled out.
Example: 1 million, 20 billion, $1.5 trillion
Roman Numerals
The use of roman numerals is required for showing the sequence of people or wars.
Example: King Charles II, World War I
Ages
Ages should always be written as figures. When used as a noun or adjective, it should be hyphenated. Additionally, age ranges should not use an apostrophe.
Example: The boy is 8 and his sister is 11. The 15-year-old broke the 100-year-old vase. The man was in his 30s.
Dimensions, Measurements and Distances
When writing about dimensions, such as length or weight, use figures but spell out the labels.
Example: He is 6-foot-2. The hoop is 8 feet high. The ball weighed 10 pounds.
Any distance under 10 should be written out. Amounts above 10 should be written as figures.
Examples: The store was three miles from their home. The plane flew 1,234 miles.
AP Stylebook Terms for Social Media and Technology
Social media and tech companies, and their products, should be capitalized as they appear.
Example: Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube
Companies and products that begin with a lowercase letter should be written as they appear. They should only be capitalized if they begin a sentence.
Example: eBay (EBay when starting a sentence), iPhone (IPhone when starting a sentence)
General terms should be written in lowercase.
Example: download, email, social media, cellphone
Dates
Figures should be written following AP style to report dates and years. Dates should never be used with ordinal suffixes like ‘1st’ or ‘3rd.’ But use caution: attaching a month to the date and year can get tricky.
AP Style Months
Months should always be capitalized. When written on their own, they should be spelled out in full. However, seven of the 12 months are required to be abbreviated when combined with a date.
The months of March, April, May, June and July, which are all less than five letters, are written in full. The longer months should be abbreviated: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Highlight:
March, April, May, June, July
Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
Further Points
If the month, date and year are given, a comma should be used to separate the date from the year. Keeping with AP recommendations, an apostrophe should not be used after ranges of decades or centuries. It should, however, be used before a decade if figures are left out.
Examples:
The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. Spring semester begins Jan. 14. Life was difficult in the 1700s. The diner draws inspiration from the ‘80s.
Time
Times should always be written as figures, with a colon used to separate hours and minutes. The abbreviations of a.m. and p.m. are written in lowercase. Furthermore, noon and midnight should be spelled out.
Example: 6:30 a.m., 9 p.m.
Addresses in AP Style
Numbered addresses should always use figures. The only exception is when a street name is a number from one to nine. In this instance, First through Ninth should be written out. For street names from 10 or higher, figures should be used with an ordinal suffix. Any directional word is also required to be abbreviated (ex. N., S., E. and W.).
Abbreviations should be used for Avenue (Ave.), Boulevard (Blvd.), and Street (St.). Words like drive, alley and road should be spelled out in full. Furthermore, street and directional names should be written out and capitalized.
Highlights: Ave., Blvd., St., Drive, Alley, Road
Examples: 101 N. Ave. 12 Mainline Drive., 57 N. 14th St.
States
The names of US states should be written out and capitalized. However, there are exceptions when abbreviations should be used. Abbreviated state names should be used when included in Captions, Tables, Lists, Credits, Political Parties, Datelines and Short-form Identification.
AP Style State Abbreviations
| Ala. (Alabama) | Md. (Maryland) | Okla. (Oklahoma) |
| Ariz. (Arizona) | Mass. (Massachusetts) | Ore. (Oregon) |
| Ark. (Arkansas) | Mich. (Michigan) | Pa. (Pennsylvania) |
| Calif. (California) | Minn. (Minnesota) | R.I. (Rhode Island) |
| Colo. (Colorado) | Miss. (Mississippi) | S.C. (South Carolina) |
| Conn. (Connecticut) | Mo. (Montanna) | S.D. (South Dakota) |
| Del. (Delaware) | Neb. (Nebraska) | Tenn. (Tennessee) |
| Fla. (Florida) | Nev. (Nevada) | Vt. (Vermont) |
| Ga. (Georgia) | N.H. (New Hampshire) | Va. (Virginia) |
| Ill. (Illinois) | N.J. (New Jersey) | Wash. (Washington) |
| Ind. (Indiana) | N.M. (New Mexico) | W.Va. (West Virginia) |
| Kan. (Kansas) | N.Y. (New York) | Wis. (Wisconsin) |
| Ky. (Kentucky) | N.C. (North Carolina) | Wyo. (Wyoming) |
| La. (Louisiana) | N.D. (North Dakota) |
There are eight states missing from this list. These states are never abbreviated:
Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah
Cities
The names of cities should be followed by their state. However, the AP Stylebook allows the following 30 cities to stand alone without their respective states mentioned.
AP Style Cities That Do Not Need State Names
| Atlanta | Houston | Philadelphia |
| Baltimore | Indianapolis | Phoenix |
| Boston | Las Vegas | Pittsburgh |
| Chicago | Los Angeles | St. Louis |
| Cincinnati | Miami | Salt Lake City |
| Cleveland | Milwaukee | San Antonio |
| Dallas | Minneapolis | San Diego |
| Denver | New Orleans | San Francisco |
| Detroit | New York | Seattle |
| Honolulu | Oklahoma City | Washington |
Datelines
For journalists, the Associated Press style has rules for datelines. When they appear at the beginning of a news story, they should include the name of the reporting city in capital letters, followed by a state, if applicable.
Examples:
WASHINGTON – The President announced…
PORTLAND, Ore. – Two residents began…
Abbreviations
Certain titles, like Gov. (Governor), Dr., Rep. (Representative) and Sen. (Senator), are required in front of a name and in quotes, and can be abbreviated.
Following the first reference, many titles can be dropped from subsequent use.
Names, Titles and Positions
A person’s first and last name should be used the first time they are mentioned in an article. On any further reference, they can be referred to as only their last name. Titles such as Mr. and Mrs. should not be used unless they are part of a quote or there are multiple individuals with the same last name.
When a formal title comes before a name, it should be capitalized. When it appears after a name or is offset by a comma, lowercase letter can be used.
Example: President Washington; Major Tom; Abraham Lincoln, former president
AP Style Books, Titles, Songs and Other Works
Writers should use quotation marks around the title of songs, shows, games, poems, books, movies and other works of arts.
Example: He was reading “All Quiet on the Western Front.” The man took his date to see “Halloween 2.”
Quotation marks should not be used for the names of periodicals, reference materials, newspapers, magazines or the Bible.
Example: Joan reads The Wall Street Journal. David bought the Bible from a book store.
The Perks of Learning AP Style
A standardized style of writing is an extremely useful tool for writers seeking employment in the professional world. AP style has outgrown its roots- it is no longer a writing format for journalists. Since its inception, Associated Press style has become the leading guide to spelling, grammar, and punctuation for corporate writing and mass media. Instead of buying an expensive AP style checker, this skill can easily be learned. Aspiring writers looking to keep up with the latest writing trends should look no further than the AP Stylebook.
Leave a Reply