AP STYLE

For most common AP Style, check the following link: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/ap_style.html

IF you still can't find your answer, go to the New York Times website and search your terminology. Use the same style they are using.

Transgender Style Rules

Click here: https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

PUBLICATION STYLE RULES

(edited 9-4-2014)

NOTE: WHS Style Rules win any conflicts with the AP Style book, or the Purdue Writing Lab.

SECTION A

1A. Lower case modular scheduling.

2A. Lower case homeroom (even when a specific numeral reference is made).

3A. Lower case freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, freshman class, etc.

4A. Lower case senior pass.

5A. Lower case honor roll, unless the school name precedes it.

6A. Lower case committee except when referring to a national committee.

7A. Lower case a.m. and p.m. The style for time is 8 p.m., NOT 8:00 or 8 o’clock.

8A. Lower case junior varsity, varsity and reserves.

9A. Lower case adult education program and special education. Spell out special education and do not use “sped” or “SPED”

10A. Lower case room as in room 122.

11A. Lower case large group, small group and independent study.

12A. Lower case secretary, custodian, cook, librarian and clerk.

13A. Lower case activity tickets, downslips, blue slips, parking permit and parking lot.

14A. Lower case seasons of the year: fall, winter, spring, summer.

15A. Lower case district, state, unless it is part of the OFFICIAL title, such as Class A State Basketball Tournament; he hopes to qualify for state. Always capitalize Metro.

16A. Lower case general parts of the school: swimming pool, band room, bookstore, etc.

17A. Lower case general areas of study, such as social studies, history, science, math, art, foreign language, journalism, etc.

18A. Lower case all titles following names, such as Marty Kauffman, dean of boys.

19A. Lower case general terms of identification, even when used before a name, such as junior John Doe, instructor Bill Nelson, head coach Don Gilpin, etc.

20A. Capitalize OFFICIAL titles used before names, such as Principal Phyllis Uchtman, Superintendent Ken Bird.

21A. Capitalize certain parts of the school: Warrior Hut, C Main Gym, Strength Complex, West Gym, Instructional Materials Center, Courtyard, Landing etc.

22A. Capitalize National Merit Semifinalist, National Honor Society, Key Club.

23A. Capitalize all languages: English, French, Spanish, etc.

24A. Capitalize specific courses such as Mass Communications, AP U.S. History, Advanced Senior Math.

25A. Capitalize club when used in conjunction with a specific club such as Chess Club.

26A. Capitalize Varsity Poms and Warriors, but not flags corps.

27A. Capitalize JV as the acronym for junior varsity; do NOT capitalize reserves, freshman football, etc.

28A. Capitalize ID as an abbreviation, when referring to identification cards, senior ID.

29A. Capitalize College Boards, PSAT, ACT, SAT, Nebraska Regents’ Scholarship and College Admissions Test.

30A. Capitalize baccalaureate, graduation and commencement and denominations.

31A. Capitalize national and religious holidays.

32A. Capitalize nationalities, races, religions, and denominations.

33A. Capitalize Homecoming (and all events associated with it ex. Homecoming Parade), Prom, and other officially sponsored activities and policies (such as Code of Conduct) of Westside. Lower case when simply referring to the code.

34A. Capitalize Summer School, West Campus and Community Education Center.

35A. Capitalize Student Advisory Board and Forum.

36A. Do not capitalize internet and web site.

37A. Spell out state names when not following a city. When states are preceded by cities, use these standard abbreviations.

AL Alabama

FL Florida

IL Illinois

KY Kentucky

MA Massachusetts

DE Delaware

NC North Carolina

OR Oregon

SD South Dakota

MN Minnesota

NE Nebraska

VT Vermont

WI Wisconsin

DC District of Columbia

MD Maryland

OK Oklahoma

MT Montana

AK Alaska

GA Georgia

IN Indiana

LA Lousiana

CA California

NJ New Jersey

ND North Dakota

PA Pennsylvania

TN Tennessee

MS Mississippi

NV Nevada

VA Virginia

WY Wyoming

ID Idaho

CT Connecticut

SC South Carolina

UT Utah

AZ Arizona

HI Hawaii

IA Iowa

ME Maine

CO Colorado

NH New Hampshire

OH Ohio

RI Rhode Island

TX Texas

MO Missouri

NM New Mexico

WA Washington

AR Arkansas

KS Kansas

NY New York

MI Michigan

WV West Virginia

38A. Never include a state designation with the following cities:

Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New Orleans, St. Louis, Washington, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Oklahoma City, San Diego, Cincinnati, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, San Francisco

39A. DO NOT include state designations with familiar Nebraska cities, and Council Bluffs.

SECTION B: PUNCTUATION

1B. Do not place periods in acronyms such as IMC, DECA, FBLA, etc.

2B. Use Quotation marks around short works such as titles of speeches, chapters of books, plays, songs, poems, etc.

3B. Italicise longer works such as movies, plays, books, magazines, newspapers, Lance, Shield. (Italicize throughout the story)

4B. Do not put quotation marks around musical groups, but do capitalize them.

5B. Use commas and semicolons in lists of names and identifying phrases such as Forum officers: Mary Smith, president; Tim Jones, vice-president.

6B. A period or comma at the end of a quotation is always put inside the quotes. “The Prom was a huge success,” sponsor Nancy Rice said.

7B. A question mark goes inside the quotation marks only if it belongs to the material quoted.

8B. In long lists of names (such as honor roll) place only eight names to a graph. End the paragraph with a semicolon (following the last name). Alphabetize names when giving long lists, but first group them by class.

9B. Never underline in a story.

10B. Use an apostrophe in abbreviations of classes or years. Class of ‘91, or the ‘60s generation.

11B. Do not use apostrophes with boys basketball, girls basketball, etc.

12B. Generally do NOT use the comma before the word “and” when listing a series of items. Example: They offer advanced placement courses in math, English and history.

13B. Direct quotations are written as separate paragraphs. Paraphrase or use indirect quotes when necessary.

SECTION C: ABBREVIATION

1C. Never abbreviate titles such as superintendent of school, vice-principal, etc.

2C. Do abbreviate some titles used before names such as Gov. Nelson, State Sen. Ernie Chambers, Pres. Clinton, etc. (Consult the A.P. Stylebook for others.)

3C. When writing about clergymen, use the form: Rev. John Smith. Do not use Rev. without “the” preceding it.

4C. Abbreviate months only when followed by a date. Never abbreviate March, April, May, June, or July.

5C. Never abbreviate first names (B. McCann for Blaine McCann, superintendent of schools), unless specified by the source.

6C. Never abbreviate days of the week. Our style is to spell out the day, followed by the month as Tuesday, Sept. 15. Be sure to set off the date with commas (... Tuesday, Sept. 15, in Lincoln). Never include the year designation.

7C. Do not abbreviate United States as a noun, but it may be abbreviated as an adjective (U.S. Senate).

8C. Abbreviate and capitalize fraternal, religious, scholastic (B.A.), or honorary degrees, etc., but lower case when spelled out as Bachelor of Arts.

9C. Never abbreviate physical education as PE.

10C. Acceptable acronyms (do not use periods):

DECA Distributive Education Club of America

FBLA Future Business Leaders of America

FMA Future Medical Assistants

JV junior varsity

ID identification

ACT American College Test

SAT Scholastic Aptitude Test

SAB Student Advisory Board

CEC Community Education Center

WMS Westside Middle School

NSAA Nebraska School Activities Association

NSPA National Scholastic Press Association

NHSPA Nebraska High School Press Association

CSPA Columbia Scholastic Press Association

JCL Junior Classical League

SPED Special Education

MIP minor in possession

DWI driving while intoxicated

UNO University of Nebraska at Omaha

UNL University of Nebraska at Lincoln

IMC Instructional Materials Center

SECTION D: HYPHENATION

1D. General rule: Hyphens are used with “like” characters and are not used with “unlike” characters. Examples: 20-20 vision, 3D, B60, 3-2 (odds and scores), etc. Exception: 4-H.

2D. Adjectiveal use must be clear. Example:

The 6-foot man eating shark was killed. (The man died)

The 6-foot man-eating shark was killed (The shark died)

3D. Suspensive hyphenation:

The A- and H-bomb exploded

The 5- and 6-year-olds attend classes.

4D. In many cases, a hyphen is used after a prefix ending in a vowel, which is followed by the same vowel. Examples: re-elect, pre-empt. Check dictionary such as coed, cooperation.

5D. Do not use hyphens with adverbs ending in “ly” such as badly damaged, newly elected, etc.

6D. Use hyphens to distinguish the meaning of similarly spelled words. Example: recover, re-cover.

7D. Use a hyphen to separate a prefix from a proper noun. Example: un-American.

8D. Hyphenate the prefix “ex”. Example: ex-champion.

9D. Do not use a hyphen in such assorted words such as worldwide, nationwide, weekend, etc.

SECTION E. REFERENCES, Identification

1E. All faculty and student initial references should include first and last names.

2E. Initial faculty references should indicate position such as Donald Jones, business instructor; or business instructor Donald Jones. (Remember to only capitalize titles when they come before the name and are considered “official.”) For instance, use “Athletic Director Tom Kerkman” instead of “athletic director Tom Kerkman.” - This is an official title, and there is only one of his position.

3E. Initial student references should include a class designation as freshman Mary Smith. We do NOT use the designation (9) for freshman or (10) for sophomores.

4E. All subsequent student and faculty references should include last name only.

5E. We do not carry courtesy titles on adults in any publication (do not use Mr., Mrs., etc.)

6E. Identify elementary teachers as teachers and secondary teachers as instructors.

7E. General rule: when identifying use shorter titles before names and longer titles after names. If the identification involves more than two words (not including “of”), place it after the name. It is more fluent to say sophomore Tim Smith, or sophomore quarterback Tim Smith, or Principal Maryanne Ricketts, than it is to say quarterback Tim Smith, sophomore.

8E. General rule: when giving attribution, use the word “said” after the name, except when lengthy information is added to the identification. Example: “The Code of Conduct is wrong,” senior Jane Doe said. (regular identification). “The Code of Conduct violates our civil rights,” said senior John Doe, who filed a civil discrimination lawsuit against Westside Community Schools. (additional lengthy identification)

SECTION F: MISCELLANEOUS

1F. Spell out numbers up to 10. Write out numerically 10 and above. Dates, ball scores, times, age, money and class periods are exceptions; on these occasions always write out numerically. Do not write out 10 if it starts the sentence:

2F. Alphabetize long lists of names unless grouped specifically.

3F. Check spelling; their, they’re and there.

4F. There is no such word as alot. It is either allot a sum of money, or a lot of people attended the dance. When possible, do NOT use “a lot” unless it is in a quotation. The reporter should be specific.

5F. Never use etc. in journalism. Journalists are specific.

6F. Avoid the use of indefinites as many, few, varied, some, lots, frequently, etc. Again - reporters should provide specifics.

7F. Always check and double check the spelling of names. Use email to check their name if necessary. Of course, always ask how to spell a person’s name when interviewing them.

8F. Always spell out cents as in 50 cents; drop the ciphers in dollar references as $4, not $4.00. Do not spell out dollars, use the symbol when attached to a numerical value.

9F. Use the symbol, % for percent.

10F. Homeroom advisor is spelled “or.” Journalism adviser is spelled “er.” Clubs have sponsors, publications have advisers.

11F. Never use Xmas for Christmas.

12F. Points of the compass are lower case as in east, north, west. When referring to specific regions of the United States or as the Northwest area of town, they are capitalized.

SECTION G: SPORTS REFERENCES

1G. Westside athletic teams have traditionally been called the Warriors whether referring to boys, or girls’ squads. We do NOT use Lady Warriors.

2G. Write No. 1 in the state instead of number 1.

3G. Capitalize JV as the acronym for junior varsity; do NOT capitalize reserves, freshman football, varsity basketball, etc.

4G. When writing scores within a story, always give the winning score first: the Warriors lost to Creighton, 10-6, not 6-10.