Welcome to Ask the Editor, a forum for writing, style, and copywriting topics that go beyond the pages of the AP Stylebook. AP Editor Paula Froke answers the top questions posed by subscribers to the AP Stylebook Online. here is a sample of the most frequently asked questions, with examples of the ap style used in the answers.
• abbreviations, acronyms (24/7; born; laser; u.s.; no. 1…)
Q: In a news story, can you start a sentence with an acronym? a: some examples: radar, laser, nato, opec.
• capitalization (proper nouns: america; proper nouns: democratic party; popular names: indy 500; compositions: books, movies, operas…)
Q: Why isn’t atheist capitalized while Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. are? a: We follow webster’s on that term, which is lowercase.
q: The Great Depression is capitalized and so is the American Revolution. How about the civil rights movement? a: lowercase ap civil rights movement.
• dates, time, eras (July 4, 2008; 9 a.m.; the great depression…)
Q: When I refer to a period of time, I never know when to use a hyphen to separate the two times (for example, from 2 pm to 5 pm) and when to use the word “until”. to: 2-5 p.m. m. is preferred
Q: Do decade names need to be capitalized when written? a: use Arabic numerals to indicate decades of history: the 1920s, the 1980s…
• figures, numbers, dimensions (7-year-old boy; three years ago; 1 percent; third grade; size 9; 6 by 8 foot rug; 5 ounces; 68,000 – installation of square feet…)
Q: Is the age of an inanimate object expressed in numbers or spelled? a: always use figures for people, animals and objects: house of 3 years.
q: when denoting area, which is correct for numbers less than 10 – 5 acres or five acres? a: ap uses the number for acres, even when it is less than 10, as a dimension: 5 acres.
• geography, addresses (names of states, regions: middle east; northwest; northeast minnesota; 1600 pennsylvania ave.; fifth ave…)
Q: If we’re talking about regions of the state, should it be Southern Louisiana, Northern Louisiana, and Central Louisiana? a: lowercase compass point – central louisiana – unless it’s a well-known section, like southern california or south florida.
• grammar (essential vs. non-essential clauses; pronouns; subject-verb agreement…)
q: I’m confused about the use of “it” and “who” when talking about groups. a: use “it” for a thing, “who” for the personal pronoun, although “it” also fits some human references
Q: For a subject/verb agreement, how should I treat “one or more features”? a: In this case, use a plural verb.
• formats (italics, lists…)
q: my ap style book always includes italicized examples, so it’s hard to see if the italic is part of the style. for example, are newspapers in italics? a: ap does not use italics in the news. which includes newspaper names and magazine references. no italics. the style book uses italics for examples only.
Q: Is there a standard ap style for bulleted text areas? a: ap uses hyphens, not bullets, for lists in news that follow colons. after each hyphen, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each section.
• possessive versus descriptive
q: a month of confinement or a month of confinement? a: a month of confinement, according to the quasi-possessives section of the “possessives” entry
Q: Veterans Benefits, Veterans Benefits, or Veterans Benefits? a: Veterans Benefits, lowercase and non-possessive, is usually a descriptive term.
• punctuation (commas, quotes, colon, semicolon, ellipsis…)
Q: Is clarity essentially the only rule that determines when a serial comma should be included? a: In a simple string, ap does not use a comma before the last element. however, for a series of complex terms, use commas after each for clarity.
q: what is the ap style in the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy? a: “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
• singular/plural (collective nouns…)
Q: Do musical groups take verbs in the singular, like collective nouns, or verbs in the plural, like in sports teams? a: an ap stylebook entry on “collective nouns” says that band names take plural verbs. the fantastic shakers have won many awards
q: does the staff have or does the staff have? a: usually the staff is a collective that takes a singular verb,
• spelling (a word or two; hyphenation; noun phrases; prefixes; suffixes)
• Sports terms
• titles (academic, courtesy, professional, military, occupational, political, religious)
Q: Would “team leader” and “team owner” be capitalized before a name? a: ap lowercase those descriptive titles.
Q: Why is “PhD in Psychology” not limited, but “Bachelor of Arts” is? a: As a descriptive term, Ph.D. in psychology is lowercase. Bachelor of Arts is capitalized as an academic degree, as is B.A. and doctorate see “doctor” for an explanation of dr. as a medical degree in first reference.
• writing, phrasing, usage (word choice, clarity, subjunctive mood, ethnic-racial, profanity, slang…)
Q: Is the correct sentence “if money were not an object” or “if money were not an object”? a: The phrase suggests a contingency that is unlikely to come true, so use “were” for the subjunctive mood.
Q: Is clarity essentially the only rule that determines when a serial comma should be included? a: Commas in a series are for clarity and prevention of ambiguity. in a simple string, ap does not use a comma before the last element. if the elements are complex, use commas for all.
Q: How do I deal with a vulgarity from a movie that is an integral part of the article I am writing? a: a partial spelling with hyphens instead of some letters would convey the meaning. ap notes these cases at the top of the story with an editor’s note.
• online and technology (the web; internet; url; computers; electronic commerce…)
q: others use a word for terms related to the internet. how about app? a: ap style is email (changed from email), but other electronic words are hyphenated: e-commerce and e-book. our modified style is website (one word, lowercase w), along with other compounds: webcam, webcast, webmaster.
Q: How does the programming language treat ap when used in general text? a: ap stories use php, ajax, xml, ftp… search engine optimization… click rate… pay per click.
Q: How about using e- as a prefix for new terms in the world of technology and business? a: ap uses hyphenated e- for generic terms like e-commerce and e-strategies. one exception: email (no hyphen, which reflects most usage). For company names, use your preference: eBay.
• news media (dates, headlines, news writing…)
Q: Which states are never abbreviated on date lines? A: Eight states are never abbreviated on the date lines or in the text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah.
q: do you capitalize a conjunction in a headline? a: ap headlines cover only the first word and proper nouns or proper abbreviations.
Q: If you have a hyphen in a title, is the word that follows the hyphen capitalized? a: In the ap title style, only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
• other terminology (business, food and drink, legal and justice, medicine, ethnicity and nationality, politics, religion…)
Q: When referring to your company in internal (or external) communications, which is correct: corporate or corporate? a: corporate (adj.) in lower case.
q: there seem to be divergent opinions on whether or not to capitalize the names of the grapes used to make wine. a: ap lowercase wine varietals like cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, and uppercase regional names like burgundy, sauternes and chablis.
Q: Should diseases also known by acronyms like ptsd be capitalized? a: lowercase for post-traumatic stress disorder, or ptsd, hepatitis c, etc. see the “diseases” entry for further guidance.
Q: If “member of congress” is used instead of congressman/congressman, does “member” have to be capitalized? a: member is lowercase, as are congressmen and congressmen. see the “legislative titles” entry for resolutions.