Associated Press Style Manual 2007

A

abbreviations: Typically, spell out words. However, titles such as Dr., Gov., Mr., Mrs., Rep., Rev., Sen., and certain military designations may be abbreviated.

academic departments: Use lowercase (department of history…in his history class) except for words that are proper nouns, such as English (Jeff’s English class).

adviser (not advisor) air bag (two words) airmail (one word) a lot (two words) American Medical Association (AMA on second

reference) April Fools’ Day ax (not axe)

B

Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science (general reference: bachelor’s degree)

barbecue (not barbeque or bar-b-q). Bible. Capitalize, no quotation marks, no italics.

Lowercase as nonreligious term: “My dictionary is my bible.”

Britain. Capitalize. Acceptable in all references to Great Britain, which consists of England, Scotland, and Wales.

burglary, larceny, robbery, theft (all are important legal terms). Burglary involves entering a building, not necessarily illegally, and remaining there unlawfully with the intention of committing a crime. Always follow police reports when dealing with these terms.

C

capitalization: Avoid unnecessary capitals. Use capitals only if they identify a proper noun/name (Lake Erie, John Smith, December). In contrast, the word “month” would not be capitalized.

CD, CD-ROM (compact disc [optical], not disk [magnetic]) CD-ROM disc is redundant; use CD-ROM.

Central Intelligence Agency. CIA is acceptable in all references.

Coca-Cola, Coke. Trademarks for the brand.

convicted. Convicted of murder (not for).

D

datelines should include city name, entirely in capitals, followed by the state: ALLENTOWN, PA

daylight saving time (not savings). district attorney (do not abbreviate). dollars, always lowercase. Use figures and

dollar sign: “McDonald’s earned $234 last month.

domain names: the address used to locate a particular website.

drunk: He was drunk. drunken: He was convicted of drunken driving.

E

e-mail, email is increasingly acceptable Environmental Protection Agency (EPA is

acceptable on second reference) espresso, not expresso except: to take out or leave out,

exception; Accept, to embrace, to allow Exxon Mobil Corp. eyewitness (one word)

F

FBI, acceptable in all references to Federal Bureau of Investigation

female, preferred (not woman) forbear/forebear, To forbear is to avoid. A

forebear is someone’s ancestor. forward, not forwards full time, full-time, hyphenate when used as

a compound modifier: “He works full time. She holds a full-time job.”

Other

Spell out whole numbers below 10: One, Two, Three, Four, Five…

Libel:

Libel is a written statement, which is false, which holds a person up to ridicule, scorn, or hatred. Defamation is called "libel" if it is printed and "slander" if it is oral. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.