Although the AP Stylebook is the golden standard for most of us in the marketing and communications profession, there are times when an organization may want to establish its own deviations from that norm. Provide the written guidelines to anyone who provides you with written input, such as freelancers and outside agencies. It will save you time and headaches in the editing process and help your communications be consistent.

Here is an example of what we developed at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business.

Baylor Business Guidelines

Academic degrees – do not use periods with abbreviations of degrees or credentials
Ex:  MBA, BBA, MA, MS, JD, CPA or PhD

 Academic degrees – use an apostrophe and lowercase the degree when spelled out
Ex:  master’s degree, bachelor’s degree

Academic subjects – capitalize areas of study in reference to titles, majors or programs
Ex:  Kobelsky is an assistant professor of Accounting.
Ex2:  Wade majored in Economics and Finance.
Ex3:  Baylor Entrepreneurship Program

Baylor University – capitalize when referred to as the University
Ex:  Founded on Christian principles, the University produces tomorrow’s leaders.

Dates – spell out month if standing alone or listed with year, abbreviate month if listed with a day
Ex:  Nov. 15, 2008
Ex2:  November 2008

Hankamer School of Business – capitalize when referred to as the School
Ex:  A number of undergraduate degrees are offered at the School.

Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation – full name on first reference, second reference is Foster Campus
Ex:  The Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation opens fall 2015. The Foster Campus is the new home of the Hankamer School of Business.

Publications – italicize journals, magazines and books
Ex:  Wilkinson’s work appeared in CPA Journal.

Publications – use quotation marks for papers and presentations; capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters
Ex:  Artz wrote “Does it Pay to be Different? Competitive Non-Conformity Under Different Regulatory Regimes,” which was published in the Journal of Business Research.

Résumé – use accent marks over both e’s

Technology – lowercase internet
Ex:  Not all information found on the internet is trustworthy.

– Use email as one word
– Hyphenate other e-terms: e-commerce, e-business
– Use website as one word

Titles – lowercase all titles unless it is a specific chairman’s position or precedes a name
Ex:  Mitchell Neubert, Chavanne Chair of Christian Ethics in Business, will serve as the speaker.
Ex2:  Foster is the president and chief executive officer of Western Refining, Inc.

Titles – refer to people by name. Do not use titles such as Dr., Mr., Mrs. or Miss. Use full name upon first reference of the person. Use last name in later references.
Ex:  Kent Gilbreath has taught at Baylor over 30 years. Gilbreath continues to inspire his students.

United States – abbreviate with periods as U.S.

Washington, D.C. – use periods in D.C.

*For other style questions, default to AP style.