AP Style Cheat Sheet

Common AP Style Tips:

No serial commas!

• EXAMPLE: internships, jobs and volunteer opportunities
• NOT: internships, jobs, and volunteer opportunities

Numbers one through nine are written out; 10 and up are digits.

• This can be confusing because you can switch between writing out numbers and digits in the same sentence.
  • EXAMPLE: There are eight students at the event and 12 employers reviewing resumes.
• This applies to precise numbers, which are written as digits. Sentences with figurative numbers are spelled out.
  • EXAMPLE: There are thousands of jobs in Handshake
  • EXAMPLE: There are currently 39,291 jobs in Handshake
• The exception is that when starting a sentence; the number should always be spelled out. To avoid this confusing clause, you can always rewrite the sentence to avoid starting with a number!
  • EXAMPLE: Twenty-two employers attended the meetup.

Dates are written numerically and not phonetically.

• EXAMPLE: The event is on Thursday, September 14
  
• NOT: September 14th

Times are written as single digits followed by a space and then a.m. or p.m.

• EXAMPLE: 5 p.m., 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 11 a.m.
• NOT: 5:00p.m., 8AM, 12pm noon, 11:00AM

When writing a range of time, use an en-dash (option+hyphen) and only include the day period on the start time if the event starts in the morning and ends in the afternoon or evening.

• EXAMPLE: 5–8 p.m. and 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
• NOT: 5 p.m.–8 p.m. or 11–2 p.m.

En-dashes (option+hyphen) are used for ranges of time, dates and academic years.

• EXAMPLE: September–November, October 11–12, 2023–2024

Phone numbers are written with dashes in between area code and digits.

• EXAMPLE: 302-831-5555
• NOT: (302) 831-5555

Em-dashes (option+shift+hyphen) are used for sentence breaks in place of parentheses or colon and semicolon.

• EXAMPLE: The students—including the peer mentors—are in the lobby.
• EXAMPLE: There’s an event in Perkins—this is why the parking garage is full.

No double space after sentences. This requires careful review, as Word and Google Docs do not flag this as a typo.

“Toward” is preferred American English spelling vs. “towards.”

• EXAMPLE: “Take a step toward your future self.”
• NOT: “Take a step towards your future self.”

Websites do not require http, www or the final slash of the website

• EXAMPLE: udel.edu/career-center
• NOT: https://www.udel.edu/career-center/

Alum is singular for a graduate regardless of gender (and safer for singular use, if you’re unsure of preferred gender pronouns). Alumni is the plural form for a co-ed group or a group of male graduates.

• Alumnus is a singular male graduate.
• Alumna is a singular female graduate.
• Alumnae is a group of female graduate students.

A list or singular item follows a colon. 

• EXAMPLE: “There are two resources available: Canvas and Handshake.

Only a full sentence can follow a semi-colon.”

• EXAMPLE: “Everyone can access the Career Center; students, alumni and employers are all welcome.”
• NOT: “Everyone can access the Career Center; students, alumni and employers.”

Do not capitalize bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or doctorate when used in a sentence.

Do not capitalize majors.

Capitalize schools and proper nouns.

“Follow up” as a verb needs no hyphen.

• EXAMPLE: “Employers should follow up with students after the fair.”

“Follow-up” needs a hyphen when used as an adjective

• EXAMPLE: “Send a follow-up email to check in.”

Double quotation marks (“like this”) are always used when calling out a word or phrase or quote, and single quotation marks (‘like this’) are only used when calling out a quotation within a quotation

• EXAMPLE: “We are bringing the ‘henergy’ this week to Perkins,” said Heather Tansley.

General Tips:

Include day of the week! Students think in terms of weekday class schedule, so a student may not know if they’re free on September 14 and forget to check, but they do know that they’re free on Thursdays after 1 p.m.

Unique UD Style Guide Tips:

University of Delaware is written out on first reference and referred to as UD on second or the University with a capital U in all other cases. (The University capitalization does not refer to other universities when mentioning other schools.)

Accessibility Tips:

Use left-alignment instead of center-alignment in email copy.

When sharing fliers or images, incorporate alt text to be read by screen readers and repeat any copy written in images or fliers into the body of the email.

• EXAMPLE: “Sign up for this session before Friday.”

Don’t use language like “click here” and make the hyperlinked copy indicative of the link.

• EXAMPLE: “Learn more about the Center for Intercultural Engagement.”