Adapted AP Stylebook
* Abbreviations (Addresses Businesses Dates Degrees Names States Miscellaneous)
* Attribution (Titles/Names)
* Capitalization (General Geographic Features Government/Politics Proper Names)
* Numbers (General Age Money Percentages Size Time)
Punctuation (Commas Quotes Miscellaneous)
* Problem Words

This style guide has been adapted from the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and the University of Missouri School of Journalism Copy Desk Reference. AP style rules differ from those of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and other formats used specifically for academic writing and should, thus, not be automatically used for college research papers.

Abbreviations
Addresses

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Dates/Months

Degrees/Academic Titles

• Try to write out academic degrees whenever possible. Abbreviate degrees (A.A., B.A., M.S, LL.D., Ph.D.) only in formal titles following a person's name.
  Example: She has a doctorate in psychology.
  Example: Mary T. Johnston, Ph.D.
  

• Don't abbreviate either professor or the rank. (By the way, it is assistant and then associate, followed by full professor.)
  Example: Associate Professor Christine Braunberger

Names

• Don't use any spaces when using two initials instead of the full first name and middle initial.
  Example: O.J. Simpson
  
• Titles, such as Gov., Sen., Rev. and Dr., are abbreviated only when they come before a name.

States

• Abbreviate states when used with a city.
  Example: He lives in Elmira, N.Y.
  
• Eight states are not abbreviated: Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas Utah, Alaska and Hawaii.
  
• Write out the names of all states when they stand alone.
  Example: She lives in Vermont, but goes to school in New York.
  
• Do not use the post office's two-letter abbreviations for states.
  
• Accepted abbreviations are: Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kan., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Neb., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.M., N.Y., N.C., N.D., Okla., Ore., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.D., Tenn., Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis. and Wyo.

Miscellaneous

• No periods are used with mph (as in miles per hour) or mm (as in millimeter).
  Example: He drove 70 mph to develop the 35mm photos of the murder site. (Note the space before mph, but not before mm.)
  
• Write out United States when it is used as a noun, but it can be abbreviated with periods when used as an adjective.
  Example: U.S. military spending is up this year.

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Attribution
Names and Titles

• The first time you refer to a person, use the person's full name and title , if applicable.
  Example: AIDS Task Force Director John Brown said the annual AIDS Walk-Run was a great success.
  
• A person's title before the name is always capitalized.
  Example: AIDS Task Force Director John Brown said...
  
• A person's title is always kept lowercase after the name.
  Example: John Brown, director of the AIDS Task Force, said...
  
• For second references, use only the person's last name.
  Example: Brown said the fundraising event earned the organization $175,000.
  
• Put nicknames in quotation marks.
  Example: Martha "Sunny" Von Bulow
  
• Abbreviate and capitalize junior and senior after a person's name. Do not separate it from the name with a comma. 
  Example: Cuba Gooding Jr.
  
• For second references to children, it is appropriate to use their first names.
  Example: Nyseha Green was the first-place winner in this year's Syracuse Newspapers Spelling Bee. Nyseha, 10, won for correctly spelling the word, "ennui."
  
• When the title stands alone or come after a name, they are not capitalized or abbreviated.
  Example: I voted for the mayor.
  Example: I trust my dentist.
  
• When a title is used before a name, but there is a comma between the title and the name, do not capitalize the title.
  Example: I believe the chapter president, Matthew Jones.
  
• Put long titles after the name.
  Example: Vivian Moore, director of multicultural resources and diversity awareness, said OCC strives to maintain affirmative action policies.
  
• In general, do not use "honorifics" or courtesy titles, such as Ms., Miss, Mr. or Mrs. Use only the person's last name for second references.

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Capitalization
General

• Do not capitalize seasons of the year or years in school.
  Example: She will be a sophomore during the spring semester.
  
• Capitalize the proper names of races and nationalities, but do not capitalize black, white or mulatto. Do not use "colored" and Latino is preferable to Hispanic.
  Example: She is an Arab-American, but views her personal identity as white.

Geographic Features

• Capitalize geographic features such as mountain, river, or dam when they are part of a proper name:
  Example: Grand Coulee Dam
  Example: Song Mountain
  
•  Do not capitalize geographic features or locations when they are not part of a proper name or if more than one are mentioned together.
  Example: Oneida and Mohawk rivers.
  Example: The mountain is an imposing sight.
  Example: Lodi and James streets.
  Example: Onondaga and Madison counties
  
• Capitalize the specific regions of the country, such as Northeast, South, East, West and so forth.
  Do not capitalize compass directions.
  Example: Head west on Seneca Turnpike.
  
• Capitalize words like "building," "office" or "room" when they are part of the proper title.
  Example: The meeting will be in The Founders' Room

Government/Politics

• Capitalize Congress, Senate, House, General Assembly and government agencies, including County Legislature and Syracuse Common Council (Note: It is not Syracuse City Council.)
  
• Capitalize Party in Republican Party, Democratic Party and other political parties.
  
• Capitalize branches of the U.S. military: Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and so forth.

Proper Names

• Do not capitalize titles of academic departments, unless it involves a proper noun or adjective.
  Example: The Spanish department.
  Example: The chemistry department
  
• Capitalize award names, holidays, historic events and periods, and wars.
  Example: The Purple Heart
  Example: Valentine's Day
  Example: The McCarthy Era
  Example: World War II
  
• Capitalize Bible and God, but do not capitalize pronouns referring to God (he, thee).
  
• Capitalize brand names.
  Example: Spam, Toyota Camry, Ford truck

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Numbers
General

• Write out numbers one to nine. Use numerals for numbers 10 and over.
  Example: Mary ate nine pieces of chocolate, but John ate 15 pieces.
  
• Write out numbers at the beginning of a sentence.
  Example:  Six new students are starting this semester.
  
• You don't need to write out a year at the beginning of the sentence.
  Example:  2001 was a climactic year.
  
• Use numerals for times, along with a.m. and p.m. (lower case, with periods).
  Wrong example: The man will pull the winning numbers at ten o'clock at night.
  Correct Example: The man will pull the winning numbers at 10 p.m.
  
• Use numerals and hyphens for ratios and sports scores.
  Example: The score was 3-2.
  Example: The odds were 2-to-1 that he would win.
  
• Use number as an abbreviation and a numeral when doing ranking.
  Example: We never thought the team would come in No. 1.
  
• Use numbers for all temperatures except for zero, which is written out.

Age:

• Use numbers for all ages. In cases of compound adjectives, use hyphens.
  Example: The boy is 9 years old. He is a 9-year-old boy.

Money

• Use the dollar sign and use exact figures up to $1million. You don't have to use the word "dollar."
  Example: $15   $25,000   $900,000 
  
• For amounts more than one million, use the word for "million" or "billion."
  Example: $5.5 billion, $300 million
  
• Round off, unless an exact figure is required.
  Example: More than $900,000 (instead of $921,222)
  
• Write out cents and use numerals for amounts less than a dollar. Use a dollar sign and decimal point for amounts of more than a dollar.
  Example: The raise of 50 cents brought his wage to $7.75 an hour.

Percentages:

• Use a numeral and use the word "percent," not the symbol %.
  Example: The raise will be 5 percent
  
• Percent is one word, not two.
  
• Make sure your percentages add up to 100 percent whenever appropriate, such as in stories about political polls.

Size:

• Use numbers for all weights and measurements. Again, in cases of compound adjectives, use hyphens.
  Example: She is 5 feet 10 inches tall. She is a 5-foot-10 woman.
  Example: The panel is 3 feet by 6 feet.

Time:

• a.m. and p.m. is lowercase, with periods, but with no spaces.
  Example:  10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
  
• When listing events, it is always: time, day or date, and place (in that order). No commas after the time and date.
  Example:  The movie will open at 7 p.m. Friday at the Palace Theater.
  Example:  The classes will be 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. for four weeks beginning Jan. 23 at the Northsite.
  
• An apostrophe is used to indicate when a character is left out. Use an apostrophe when leaving out part of a year, but there is no apostrophe before the "s." Lowercase century. You can use "th" when listing centuries.
  Example:  The '60s were a turbulent time in the 20th century.

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Punctuation
Commas:

• Parenthetical, descriptive facts or phrases are always set off by commas.
  Example: Mary Smith, 18, of Tully, would like to be a doctor.
  
• Similarly, appositives , phrases that describe nouns or pronouns, are also set off by commas.
  Example: Mary Smith, a student who wants to become a doctor, began her education at SUNY Oswego. (The phrase, a student who wants to become a doctor , is an appositive.
  
• Do not use a comma before "and" in a simple series.
  Example: I ate the pie, the cake and a donut.
  

Quotes

• Punctuation almost always goes inside the quotation marks.
  Example: Mary asked her sister, "Do you want to do to the casino tonight?"
  
• When you have a "quote within a quote," use a single quotation mark, as well as a double quotation mark for the larger quote. You still keep the punctuation inside the quote marks.
  Example: The speaker said, "An entire era of American expansion and rugged individualism can be exemplified by John Lane Soule's famous quote, 'Go West, young man!'"
  
• Use a comma to introduce a complete, direct quote. Do not use a comma to introduce an incomplete, direct quote.
  

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Miscellaneous

• Hyphens are used when two words modify a third word (a compound adjective).
  Example: A blue-eyed girl... Low-income housing... Top-rated movie...
  
• Dashes are used to emphasize parenthetical phrases and are considered more dramatic and conversational than parenthesis or commas. They are always two hyphens, with no spaces on either side.
  Example: Margaret won a sizable amount--$27,000--at the casino the other day.
  
• Colons are used to present a list or to introduce material that provides a direct example for the preceding clause.
  Example: My favorite movies are: "Sophie's Choice," "Gandhi," "Titanic," "Schindler's List" and "Cross Creek."
  Example: Mark just won the prize of his dreams: $1 million a year for life.
  
• You may use a dash instead of a colon to be more informal and dramatic.
  Example: Mark just won the prize of his dreams--$1 million a year for life.
  
• Semi-colons have only two acceptable uses. The first is to link two independent clauses that are connected in thought. Remember, one cannot be a dependent clause.
  Example: Mary ate the pie; Tanya ate the cake.
  Example: To give a good party, you must also consider the lighting; no one feels comfortable under the bright glare of fluorescent bulbs.
  Incorrect Example: Mary ate the pie; Tanya eating the cake. The second clause cannot stand on its own, since it is a fragment. Therefore, you cannot use a semi-colon to connect it to the previous thought.
  
• Keep in mind that you could also use a comma and a conjunction in place of the semi-colon:
  Example: Mary ate the pie, while Tanya ate the cake.
  Example: To give a good party, you must also consider the lighting, since no one feels comfortable under the bright glare of fluorescent bulbs.
  
• The second acceptable use of a semi-colon is to separate items in a series that have commas themselves.
  Correct Example: My favorite movies are: "Schindler's List," directed by Steven Spielberg; "Titanic," directed by James Cameron; and "Gandhi," directed by Richard Attenborough.

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Titles

• Titles of books, movies, plays, operas, ballets, poems, songs, television shows, lectures, speeches and works of art are capitalized and placed in quotation marks.
  Example: Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" is one of the greatest of his works.
  
• Capitalize the titles of magazines and newspapers, but do not underline or use quotation marks. Unless "magazine" is in the title, do not capitalize it.
  Example: I read The Post-Standard and Time magazine.
  

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Problem Word Usage:

• It is a lot, not alot.
  
• It is afterward, not afterwards. Similarly, it is backward and forward, not backwards and forwards.
  
• It is all right, not alright.
  
• Amongst, is archaic. Use among.
  
• Assure, ensure and insure have different meanings. Assure means to "convince" or "promise." Its direct object in a sentence is usually a person, or persons. Ensure mean "to make certain," and many experts believe they are interchangeable. However, insure is to issue an insurance policy. To please style purists, make the distinction. Use insure when you want to express the sense of protection against some form of financial loss.
  Example: She assured voters she would not raise taxes.
  Example: When the city rationed water to ensure that the supply would last, the Browns could no longer afford to insure their car-wash business.
  
• Use boy and girl for anyone under the age of 18. When you are in college, you are no longer "boys" and "girls."
  
• Avoid starting sentences with " But ," " Like ...," " Which ," " Whereas " and similar words. These are generally used to start dependent clauses and, therefore, indicate that the sentence you are writing is probably a fragment.
  
• Use children instead of  "kids."
  
• Do not use etc... It is just a lazy way of explaining additional ideas without making the effort to think out your writing.
  Wrong Example: At Darien Lake, my friends and I went on the Mind Eraser, Boomerang, Viper, Predator, Pirate Ship, etc...
  Corrected Example: At Darien Lake, my friends and I went on the Mind Eraser, Boomerang, Viper, Predator, Pirate Ship, and a number of other rides.
  
• Get/Have are not interchangeable. Get means to "acquire" or "to come to have possession of." Have means "to hold in one's possession."
  Wrong Example: They got great CDs in the new store at Carousel Center.
  Corrected Example: They have great CDs in the new store at Carousel Center.
  
• Its is the possessive form; It's is the contraction for "it is."
  
• Important: Do not start a sentence with "me ." Me is used for direct objects, not subjects, despite its common, incorrect usage as such. Always list yourself second.
  Wrong Example: Me and my friends had a great time the day we traveled to Darien Lake.
  Corrected Example: My friends and I had a great time the day we traveled to Darien Lake. My best friend won a big stuffed animal that he gave to me.
  
• Use "police officers" instead of "cops."
  
• That/Which -- That is used for restrictive clauses and is not set off by commas. "Restrictive" (sometimes called essential) means that the intent of the sentence would drastically change if the phrase is omitted.
  Example: The grant fund was designed for programs that treat adolescent substance abusers. (The information about adolescent substance abusers is a restrictive clause.)
  
• That/Which -- Which is used for nonrestrictive clauses and is set off by commas. "Nonrestrictive" means that the intent of the sentence would not drastically change if the phrase were left out or placed in a separate sentence.
  Example: The program, which was started in 1984, has successfully treated about 91 percent of its clients each year. (the year the program started can be moved to another sentence, if necessary, and is therefore considered a nonrestrictive clause.)the phrase were left out or placed in a separate sentence.
  
• Their, There and They're are not the same!
  
• Avoid starting sentences with " There is " or " There are " and " It is" or " It was." These indicate you are writing in the passive voice , which is a no-no!
  
• Books and other creative words are "titled" not "entitled."
  
• Who/That-- When referring to people it is always who, not that.
  
• Use "women" instead of "ladies."
  
• It is would have , not would of.
  Wrong Example: She would of met me at the movie, but she missed the bus.
  Corrected Example: She would have met me at the movie, but she missed the bus.
  
  For an extensive list of word usage errors, you can go to: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors

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