UCLA - AP Style Guide Cheat Sheet
Last Updated: June 13, 2022
Table of Contents
Nomenclature for UCLA Graduates
Degrees and Academic Departments/Titles
Grammatical Symbols – Commas, Apostrophes, Quotation Marks, etc.
Introduction
This document provides tips, rules, explanations and examples relating to the use of AP style in Alumni Affairs communications. What is AP style and why do we use it? As explained on ndash.com,
AP style refers to the guidelines we find in the Associated Press Stylebook available digitally and in print. This guide updates continuously to keep up with trends regarding appropriate word choices, usage, and jargon.
Initially, the purpose behind AP style was to help journalists work with space limitations in print publications and prevent costly errors from occurring. In today’s digital age, the adoption of AP style ensures news and other media outlets maintain consistency regarding readability, conciseness, and no biases.
This document is not meant to be an exhaustive set of AP style guidelines; it is meant to handle some of the most basic issues - those that we see crop up in our emails and other communications. For other AP style resources, including UCLA’s implementation of it, see:
Strategic Communications Style Guide
Time
Correct: “6 p.m. PST”
Incorrect: “6:00pm PT”
Correct:
- “8-10 a.m.”
- “6-8 p.m.”
- “10 a.m. – 2 p.m.”
Incorrect:
- “8:00-10:00am”
- “6-8:00pm”
- “10:00am – 2:00pm”
Always use “Noon” or “noon” (NEVER “12 p.m.”)
- Example: “10 a.m. – Noon” (NEVER “10 a.m. – 12 p.m.”)
Always use “Midnight” or “midnight” (NEVER “12 a.m.”)
- Example: “9 p.m. – Midnight” (NEVER “9 p.m. – 12 a.m.”)
Dates
The following months are abbreviated when followed by a date:
- Jan.
- Feb.
- Aug.
- Sept.
- Oct.
- Nov.
- Dec.
If not followed by a date, spell out the full month.
The following months are NEVER abbreviated:
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
The year is NEVER included if the date referenced happens within the current calendar year.
- Example: if the year is 2014 and the UCLA Alumni Day being referenced is in 2014:
- “UCLA Alumni Day will occur on May 17.”
- Example: if the year is 2014 and the UCLA Alumni Day being referenced is in 2015:
- “UCLA Alumni Day will be returning on May 16, 2015.”
When writing a complete date in copy, set off year with commas.
- Example: “Please come out on Saturday, April 15, 2017, to show your support for the marathon runners.”
(reference: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/commas-in-dates/)
Numbers
Numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine are ALWAYS written out.
- Example: “Nine students volunteered with UCLA Alumni Affairs on Saturday.”
Numbers 10 and greater are written in numerals unless they begin a sentence.
- Example: “Eleven students paid $10 at UCLA Alumni Day.”
Phone numbers, use the dash: “310-825-2486”
Nomenclature for UCLA Graduates
Alumna – singular, female term for a graduate of the university
Alumnus – singular, male term for a graduate of the university
Alumnae [pronounced al-um-nee] – plural, female term for multiple female graduates of the university (ex: Prytanean Alumnae Network)
Alumni – plural, male and female combined term for graduates of the university
UCLA alumni - only cap alumni when referring to the organization
NEVER use “alum” or “alums” (except in extremely special circumstances). If you want to use a singular, non-gender-specific term, use “UCLA graduate” or “Bruin.”
Degrees and Academic Departments/Titles
Academic departments and titles should be lowercase unless they are proper nouns or used as part of the department name or with an individual’s formal name. Examples:
- “sociology,” “psychology,” “engineering,” “theater,” etc.
- “UCLA Department of Sociology”
- Always cap “English,” “Spanish,” “Italian”
- “Chancellor Gene Block is the chancellor of UCLA”
Abbreviated degrees include periods, except for MBA: B.A., M.A., Ph.D., MBA
- “master’s degree” or “master’s” is conjunction for master of arts or master of science degree
Degree Years
For undergraduate degrees, do not include a comma after the person’s name; for graduate degrees, always precede and follow degree/year with commas (unless at the end of a sentence). Examples:
- “Joe Bruin ’07 was elected president”
- “Joe Bruin, M.A. ’09, was elected president”
- “Joe Bruin ’07, M.A. ’09, was elected president”
Capitalization
- Capitalize the first letter of all words in titles (e.g., the names of events) except for conjunctions, articles and prepositions of three letters or less. Examples:
- “Ant and Bee Are Friends”
- “Tender Is the Night”
- “A Concise History of Practically Everything”
- “Still Life With Woodpecker”
- “A Better Way To Find an Alternative Career With Markell Morris”
This site can be used to put a title in AP Style title case: https://capitalizemytitle.com/.
- Seasons: “spring,” “summer,” “fall” and “winter” are not capitalized unless part of a formal name
- “serves as vice president of Client Loyalty and Retention” – lower case title, upper case department name since it’s a specific and formal name of that department.
- “The State of the Bruin” - “The” is capped when it’s at the beginning of the title. When referring to the Bruin in body copy, it is not capped.
- Non-standard Degrees: capitalize “Cert.” and “Exp.”
- Capitalize “Gold Member,” “Blue Member” and “Sustaining Donor” when they’re “ours.”
- Capitalize “Greater” in “Greater Los Angeles”
Grammatical Symbols – Commas, Apostrophes, Quotation Marks, etc.
- Be careful not to overuse the exclamation point.
- A comma is not needed before the and in a simple list of items, but should be used for a complex list of items.
- Example (simple): “She ordered pens, pencils, notebooks, binders and highlighters.”
- Example (complex): “She ordered a small coke, chips, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
- Use the apostrophe that opens left (html: ’) for degree years: (“Joe Bruin ’97”)
- Enclose in quotation marks the titles of books, films, operas, plays, poems, exhibits, albums, songs, and television programs and episodes. Examples:
- the art exhibit “Chicano Visions”
- the opera “The Marriage of Figaro”
- the famous novel “Paradise Lost”
- the song “Some Enchanted Evening”
- the film “The Godfather”
- “Chuckles Bites the Dust,” an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”
Exceptions: Do not use quotation marks for the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, journals and magazines, newspapers, and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material. Examples:
- Time magazine
- The New York Times
- the journal Science
- the Los Angeles Times
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- the Bible.
Hyphens
AP style generally recommends using a hyphen to avoid duplicated vowels and tripled consonants. Examples:
- “anti-intellectual”
- “shell-like”
But double-e combinations usually don’t get a hyphen: Examples:
- “preempted”
- “reelected”
Hyphenate up-to-date as a compound modifier before a noun:
- Example: “We bring you the most up-to-date news.”
Otherwise, no hyphen. Examples:
- “Stay up to date with Stylebook Online.”
- “My calendar is up to date.”
Example: “A six-week-long trip is six weeks long.”
State Abbreviations
- In articles or titles, spell out the state.
- When giving complete postal address, use two-character abbreviation for state.
- In lists, tables, datelines, photo captions, short-form identification, political party affiliation and credit lines, use the abbreviations below. Note: eight states are never abbreviated in AP Style.
| Name | AP Style Guide Abbreviation. |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Ala. |
| Alaska | Alaska |
| Arizona | Ariz. |
| Arkansas | Ark. |
| California | Calif. |
| Colorado | Colo. |
| Connecticut | Conn. |
| Delaware | Del. |
| District of Columbia | D.C. |
| Florida | Fla. |
| Georgia | Ga. |
| Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Idaho | Idaho |
| Illinois | Ill. |
| Indiana | Ind. |
| Iowa | Iowa |
| Kansas | Kan. |
| Kentucky | Ky. |
| Louisiana | La. |
| Maine | Maine |
| Maryland | Md. |
| Massachusetts | Mass. |
| Michigan | Mich. |
| Minnesota | Minn. |
| Mississippi | Miss. |
| Missouri | Mo. |
| Montana | Mont. |
| Nebraska | Neb. |
| Nevada | Nev. |
| New Hampshire | N.H. |
| New Jersey | N.J. |
| New Mexico | N.M. |
| New York | N.Y. |
| North Carolina | N.C. |
| North Dakota | N.D. |
| Ohio | Ohio |
| Oklahoma | Okla. |
| Oregon | Ore. |
| Pennsylvania | Pa. |
| Rhode Island | R.I. |
| South Carolina | S.C. |
| South Dakota | S.D. |
| Tennessee | Tenn. |
| Texas | Texas |
| Utah | Utah |
| Vermont | Vt. |
| Virginia | Va. |
| Washington | Wash. |
| West Virginia | W.Va. |
| Wisconsin | Wis. |
| Wyoming | Wyo. |
Reference: https://www.bkacontent.com/ap-style-spelling-out-state-names/
Miscellaneous Spelling
- Normally it’s “L.A.” – not “LA” - unless the formal name of something has it without periods.
- Always spell “résumé” with the accents when referring to the document.
- “theater” is the American spelling and “theatre” is the spelling used in England and most other English-speaking areas of the world. However, even on Broadway, while buildings are referred to as “theaters,” the business is often spelled “theatre” so it is a preference, both spellings could potentially be correct.
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