The main references for all university of washington communications are the current editions of the associated press stylebook and websters new world college dictionary. You should write numbers that begin sentences even if the number is above 10. For example, you may start a sentence with a number and, even though that number is below. Marine corps news style guide ii marine expeditionary force. If youre new to news writing or switching from one to another, youll want to keep this ap cheat sheet handy and. Ordinal numbers are thus the labels needed to arrange collections of objects in order. How do i write dates, times, numbers, and measurements. Where precision is intended, spell out fractions less than one. These are numbers like first, second, third, and fourth. However, the chicago and mla style guides disagree.
Generally speaking, we follow the guidelines outlined in the ap stylebook. This is where ordinal numbers, or ordering numbers, come in. Many newspapers, magazines and public relations offices across the united states use ap style. The lawrence university style guide incorporates both these sources, as well as some guidelines that are specific to lawrence. Style and punctuation uw brand university of washington. Ap style dictates specific comma placement in a series and with dialogue, dates, numbers.
Objectives of the style guide we have three main objectives in writing this style guide. Seventeen cars were involved in the crash is correct whereas 17 cars were involved in the crash is not. Article title and headline capitalization rules when it comes to creating headlines and titles for articles, it can get confusing what words to capitalize and what words should remain lower case. An ordinal number is a number that indicates position or order in relation to other numbers. The associated press style is the goto style for journalism and news writing. The office of communications uses the associated press stylebook as the preferred reference for the colleges printed and online publications. In addition, the chicago manual of style is a secondary source for items not referenced in the associated press stylebook. Hyphens hyphenate a compound adjective when it comes before a noun. First word after colon is always uppercase in headlines. Some ordinal numbers, such as those indicating political or geographic order, should use figures in all cases. Use numerals for cardinal and ordinal numbers in headlines, email subject lines, and html page titles. Other references, including the chicago manual of style and the gregg reference manual, were consulted in creating the uws house style guidelines. Associated press ap style is most often used by news and journalism writers to present consistent and clear writing to the consumer. Anthropology news is scholarly and journalistic in style.
Note, however, that apa discourages writers from using numbers to begin. Writing headlines with numbers is a completely different beast than general copywriting with numbers, with a completely set of rules to follow. Thats just one of the common style rules on numerals. But this graphic depiction of a 20word complete sentence with punctuation does not look like a headline to me. In fact, some of the rules for writing numbers in copy are completely thrown out the window when it comes to writing headlines since the objectives for both are. Styles are taken from the 2017 ap stylebook and defense imagery style guide, along with established army public affairs style ar 3601. Sep 27, 2012 5 tips for writing numbers in headlines. Nov 06, 2015 if you want to follow the writing style used by magazines, newspapers, editors and journalists, then you need to study up on associated press style, or ap style. Use figures when discussing dates, but never turn to ordinal numbers. Writing effective headlines the university of kansas. You should use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. Captions should be included in the metadata of the photograph file. The associated press has a stylebook with rules and standards used primarily in journalistic and news writing. Ordinal numbers do not represent quantity, notes mark.
Per ap style, headings express most numbers numerically, even 19. The ap style as its known in the trade is quite different from the new york times style or chicago manual of style. Use numerals for all numbers except in casual uses. Notice that the word ordinal is similar to the word order and that they, in fact, share the same first three letters. Aug 12, 2015 covering the ap style rules on numbers could be a novel in itself. For ordinal numbers, spell out first through ninth and use figures for 10th and above when describing order in time or location. In ap style, only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized in headlines. An ordinal number is a number that indicates where something is in sequence related to another number or object. Covering the ap style rules on numbers could be a novel in itself. Ap style is designed to address the challenges of the organizations large size and readership. Consider the following examples of ap style numbers, the chicago white sox finished second. Hyphens hyphenate a compound adjective when it comes before. Associated press style provides guidelines for news writing. Numbers brand and messaging university of colorado boulder.
If you are going to write for a newspaper even some magazines you need to have your ap style guide handy. Do not use the ordinal form of numbers 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th unless you use only the day. Other references, including the chicago manual of style and the gregg reference manual, were. Ordinal numbers do not represent quantity, but rather indicate rank and position, such as the fifth car, the twenty. Cardinal numbers are numbers that represent how many of something someone has. The style guide is not intended for public or external use, and does not purport to compete with oups professional writing guides and dictionaries. Swimming distances can be reported both in yards, and in meters. The 21st century was fodder for many imaginative novelists and entrepreneurial visionaries during the latter half of the 20th century.
Granted, nonjournalists cant be expected to know ap style. Spell ordinal numbers smaller than ninth if you are indicating a sequence in time. Ap is choosy about punctuation, too the friendly stickler. We publish pieces with a strong academic background and accessible style that will appeal to a broad readership. In titles, subheadings, and interface labels, we use numerals instead of spelling out. Ap style is simply a standardized way of writing everything from dates to street addresses to job titles. Follow story style in spelling, but use numerals for all numbers and single quotes. In other words, writing out july 4 is okay, but stay away from july 4th. Apr 26, 2017 how can i change the regional settings of my system to display dates, times, currency values, and numbers in a different format. One of the first things a student in a beginning journalism course learns about is associated press style or ap style for short.
How to format numbers in associated press style pen and. Captions should include a dateline and the photographers name and be written in complete sentences. Im going to give guidelines on how to write news releases so the newspaper you might submit to will. In ap style, you write full alphabetical names for ordinal numbers from one to nine when stating in a locationbased sequence. Nov 30, 2012 the associated press style guide says to use this method if precision is not intended.
Jul, 2019 one of the first things a student in a beginning journalism course learns about is associated press style or ap style for short. If you want to follow the writing style used by magazines, newspapers, editors and journalists, then you need to study up on associated press style, or ap style. Neither guide recommends that single quotes be used. May 07, 2009 the associated press was founded more than 150 years ago and now has thousands of employees working in more than a hundred countries for a readership that numbers in the millions. Spell out the first through ninth ordinal numbers and use figures for 10th and above second base, 11th stop some ordinal numbers, such as those indicating political or geographic order, should use figures in all cases 6th precinct, 8th district. Because apa style is used for scientific and clinical writing, numbers are often included. Headline capitalization is a free headline checker that correctly capitalizes titles for all your writing. Marine corps news style guide captions photographic captions should be written for external release in accordance with the ap stylebook and the marine corps news style guide. In pamplona, 8 injured in running of the bulls headline.
An ordinal number is used to describe the order type of a wellordered set though this does not work for a wellordered proper class. University terms in the editorial style guide, use these guidelines when referring to ucla, uc and other policy or law. Associated press style basics journalists resource. Aug 01, 2018 the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide of the associated press, a notforprofit news agency thats been around since 1846. The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. In the past we discussed how to correctly use ap style title case, and now were here to tackle the often confused topic of ap style numbers. In english, an ordinal number is different than other types of numbers in that there are usually a couple of letters added to the root word to produce the ordinal number. How to use commas in associated press style pen and the pad. For ordinal numbers, spell out first through ninth and use figures for 10th and above when. So when i found this article at about frequently botched ap style points, i thought id share them. Ap systems may automatically replace some fractions with singlecharacter versions. Style guidelines from the american psychological association apa help writers maintain a uniform way of writing. Its why ap style calls for quotation marks instead of italics.
All numbers are spelled out if they begin a sentence, with the exception of years, which always appear as numerals. Use quotation marks around the titles of books, songs, television shows, computer. Ordinal numbers are numbers that represent place or position. However, use a numeral for fractions larger than one, and leave a space between the whole number and the fraction. Contrast these types of numbers with cardinal numbers in math theyre also called natural numbers and integers, those numbers that represent countable quantity. Ap style was developed and is maintained by the associated press, the worlds oldest news service. The associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide of the associated press, a notforprofit news agency thats been around since 1846. Do not use s for plurals of numbers or multiple letter combinations bullets associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. For best results, please view in the fullwidth of your computer screen. So in this story published on april 1, the headline read 2 new york siblings are among the dead in. Ap style cheat sheet for wjeas writeoff contests and beyond student journalists should have at least these two sources available to answer basic style questions. Sep 21, 2009 the same principles are true with ordinal numbers. For example, you may start a sentence with a number and, even though that number is below 10, you do not have to spell it out. The guidelines help writers present clear and concise information with consistent structure to keep readers focused.
The associated press, new york times, and apa style guides agree on this point. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each item. In general you should spell out numbers one through nine in ap style. We aim for magazine style feature writing rather than conventional academic prose. How do i write dates, times, numbers, and measurements using ap style. Please use this guide and check back for updates when writing media and press releases, and copy for stockton university webpages and publications the stockton times, stockton now ezine, the presidents newsletter, etc. On the other hand, chicago style allows you to write full alphabetical names of one to one hundred, such as 100th is spelled as one hundredth. Note, however, that apa discourages writers from using numbers to begin sentences unless you absolutely must. When following ap style, numbers zero through nine are typically written in word form, while numbers 10 and above are written as cardinal numbers. Follow story style in spelling, but use numerals for all numbers and single quotes for quotation marks. For cardinal numbers, consult individual entries in the associated press stylebook. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free.
When writing telephone numbers, use periods to separate numerical groups this is an exception to ap style. How can i change the regional settings of my system to display dates, times, currency values, and numbers in a different format. With the exception of question marks, do not use a period or other terminal punctuation at the end of headlines or subheads. How do i write dates, times, numbers, and measurements using.
Spell out first to ninth, and capture 10th or greater with numerals. In body copy, we prefer to spell out numbers one through nine, and use numerals for numbers 10 and greater. This is the style guide that professional media use. Style and selfediting guidelines anthropology news. The associated press stylebook prefers the ambiguous word figure to refer to number symbols e. May 25, 2006 q why has ap changed its style on phone numbers to use a hyphen instead of parentheses. When using fractional characters, use a forwardslash mark. Numbers in headlines always appear as numerals 5 ap style tips for bloggers. Readers can more easily understand information when it is consistently communicated in one way.
Refer to the dictionary or ap stylebook, if needed. The associated press was founded more than 150 years ago and now has thousands of employees working in more than a hundred countries for a readership that numbers in the millions. I agree that there should be a bullet point about the ordinal superscripting. A wellordered set is a set with a relation such that. These editorial guidelines are based on associated press style, which continues to change. If no usage is specified, spell out numbers below 10 and use figures for numbers 10 and above. In general, spell out one through nine, use figures for 10 or above and for a unit of measure or ages of people, animals, events or things. For a general rule, spell out zero through nine, and use numerals for 10 and above. Its often used by news organizations, magazines, and web publications, but brands often use it to form the basis of their own style guides, too. Im going to cover some basics, and if you have specific questions on ap style numbers, please leave it in the comment field below and ill answer it fast. For gordon communications, the rule of thumb is to use meters. Oct 24, 2014 ap style matters for your press release. How to format numbers in associated press style pen and the pad.