AP Style Rules at a Glance

AP Style Rules at a Glance

Abbreviations

Names and titles: Use full name (and title if appropriate) only on first reference. On subsequent references, use the last name only for adults (for kids, use the first name). [First reference] Gen. David H. Petraeus … [Other references] Petraeus …

Titles: If used directly before a name, abbreviate titles allowed by AP: Gov., Dr., Lt., Rep., Sen. … Don’t abbreviate Superintendent, President, Attorney General … Spell out and lowercase professor … See AP Stylebook for legislative titles, military titles, religious titles, courtesy titles.

State officials: Gov. Bob McDonnell, former Gov. Tim Kaine, Govs. Michael Easley of North Carolina and Martin O’Malley of Maryland … Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling … But: Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, Insurance Commissioner Alfred Gross …

Legislative titles: Use Rep., Reps., Sen. and Sens. as formal titles before one or more names: U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, state Sen. Yvonne Miller, Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner. Spell out other legislative titles in all uses: Delegate Manoli Loupassi, City Council Member Reva Trammell. Don’t use ‘Congressman’ or Congresswoman’ as a title except in quotes. Don’t pile on titles; use only one: House Speaker Bill Howell. Not: House Speaker and Delegate Bill Howell.

Party affiliation: If party is relevant, use any of these forms: Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said ... Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina said ... Sen. Jim DeMint also spoke. The South Carolina Republican said ... Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, the senior Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, said he supports the amendment. … Set short forms such as R-S.C. off from a name by commas. Use AP state abbreviations. Use R- for Republicans, D- for Democrats, and I- for independents: Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., spoke with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. … For state legislators, use district office location: Delegate Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave; Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond …

Courtesy titles: AP generally does not use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms.). Use courtesy titles only in direct quotations or when a woman specifically requests it. When writing about people with the same last name, use the first and last name, without courtesy titles.

Military titles: Abbreviate Gen., Col., Maj., Lt., Sgt., Adm., Cmdr., Pvt., Pfc. … Spell out Warrant Officer, Petty Officer, Seaman, Ensign, Airman … Partly spell out: Staff Sgt., Lance Cpl., Rear Adm. … Apply same strategy to police and fire officials. Capitalize and spell out Officer as a title.

Religious titles: Usually: the Rev. Billy Graham, the Rev. Jerry Falwell … Sometimes: the Most Rev. Francis Xavier DiLorenzo, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond … Capitalize and spell out these titles when used directly before a name: Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo; ditto for Cardinal, Archbishop, Monsignor … Avoid father or pastor before a name. If they appear before a name in a quotation, capitalize them. Lowercase priest, minister … Uppercase: Rabbi Ben Romer … Uppercase: Sister Dorothy Merth …

Jr. and Sr.: Abbreviate junior or senior after an individual’s name; no comma: Sammy Davis Jr. … Paul Goldstein Sr. … [In the same vein:] Henry Marsh III …

Company names: Abbreviate Co., Corp., Ltd. and Inc. when they appear at the end of a company’s name: Reynolds Inc., Philip Morris Co., Circuit City Corp.

Organizations: Spell out first reference: Public Relations Society of America. Abbreviate subsequent references: PRSA. Some organizations can be abbreviated on first reference: NAACP, AFL-CIO, FBI. Avoid unfamiliar abbreviations; use a shortened name of the organization: Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce > the bureau …

Periods? Usually, no: Generally, no periods in abbreviations: FBI, VCU, mph, NATO …

But: Use periods in most two-word abbreviations: U.S., U.N., U.K., B.C., A.D. (AP, a trademark, is an exception. Also, no periods in GI or EU.) Often use periods if the abbreviation spells an unrelated word: c.o.d.; a.m. (and for consistency, p.m.)

Academic degrees: Generally, spell out and lowercase. If abbreviated after name, capitalize and use periods: master’s degree or M.A. … medical degree or M.D. … doctor of philosophy, doctoral degree, doctorate or Ph.D.

Months: Spell out months without exact dates. That’s true even if the month is followed by the year: September 2001 … February 1945 …

Dates: In exact dates, abbreviate months with more than five letters: Jan. 5 … Feb. 28, 1864 … Aug. 10, 2000 … Sept. 9, 2009 … Oct. 14, 1784 … March 1, 1965 … July 20, 2019

Days of the week: Always write out.

States: Write out state names when standing along. If the city or county precedes the state, abbreviate the state using the AP Stylebook. Don’t use postal style like “VA”. Use abbreviations such as: Ala., Ariz., Calif., Fla., Ga., Md., Mich., Minn., Miss., N.J., N.Y., Okla., Ore., Va. … Never abbreviate these eight states: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah.

Streets: If there’s no street address, spell out the street name and direction (North, West, etc.). The city will close West Main Street. … At the intersection of Belvidere Street and Grove Avenue …

Addresses: If it’s an exact address, abbreviate everything you can (the direction and “street,” “boulevard” and “avenue”). Always write out “road,” “drive,” “circle” and “court.” The Temple Building is at 901 W. Main St. … She lives at 1327 Monument Ave. … Police raided the home at 8 E. Selvin Court.

Symbols: Always spell out cents (not ¢) and percent (not %). Always use numerals with cents and percent: 5 cents, 1 percent, 22 cents, 100 percent … Use $ if it accompanies a number: $3 … $10.99 … $2 billion … Round sums, like clock hours, carry no zeros or punctuation: Average gasoline prices rose from $3 to $3.65. … Use “&” only when it’s part of an organization’s name: Dow Jones & Co., Florida A&M, Owens & Minor …

Miscellaneous: Abbreviate U.S. time zones: 9 a.m. EST (instead of 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) … No periods in call letters: WCVE, WRVA … Always spell out Fort and Mount: Mount Vernon, Fort Pickett, Fort Worth … Abbreviate “Saint” in the names of saints, cities and other places: St. Paul, Va.; St. Lawrence River; St. Catherine’s School … Never abbreviate Christmas … in 450 B.C. … in A.D. 30 [rarely used; literally, anno Domini, or ‘in the year of the Lord’; it comes before the year] … in room No. 6 … VCU ranks No. 2 …