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The ACL uses AP Style for its editorial, marketing, social, and all other public-facing content. The full AP Style Guide is available upon request, but the sections below will be a handy guide to most use cases. If you have any questions, please ask or check this cheat sheet.
PUNCTUATION
PUNCTUATION
Use the Oxford comma (before “and”) in a series.
Example: I like eating, sleeping, and playing cornhole. ✅
Punctuation marks always go within quotation marks.
Example: Trey said, “What a great bag!” ✅
Use single quotations for quotes within quotes.
When using a colon, the first word after the colon should be capitalized only if it is a complete sentence.
Examples:
Next up: the best players ever. ✅
Next up: The best players ever are set to take to the court. ✅
NUMBERS
NUMBERS
Digits: Use digits for numbers 10 and higher, as well as scores, times, dates, ages, percentages, temperatures, speeds, money.
Written-out numbers: Any number below 10 should be written out.
Examples:
I watched 12 cornhole matches today. ✅
You watched six cornhole matches today. ✅
Ages
Ages
Always use numerals for ages
Hyphenate when using ages as adjectives.
Example:
That six-year-old can really throw! ✅
Alternatively, “That kid is six years old,” does not need to be hyphenated.
Dates
Dates
This one is very commonly misused so please read carefully.
Don’t use th, nd, or st after days.
Examples:
Today is February 6, 2024. ✅
Today is March 6th. ❌
Times
Times
Don’t use :00 in times on the hour.
a.m. and p.m. should be lowercase and have periods
Examples:
It’s 2 p.m. ✅
It’s 2:00 pm. ❌
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