Editorial Style Guide

On this page:

• Associated Press (AP) style
• Common exceptions
• Common elements
• Wright State specifics
• Wright State campus names, building names, and abbreviations
• Additional resources

Associated Press (AP) style

Wright State follows Associated Press style for all nonacademic communications, with some exceptions. This promotes consistency, accuracy and a unified voice when communicating with all audiences, regardless of the program, area or department producing the communication.  

Common exceptions

Wright State’s most common exceptions to AP style include: 

• Advisor.  Use advisor, not adviser.   
• Capitalize the names of our armed forces, whether preceded by U.S. or not.  
  • Although his mom was an officer in the U.S. Army, he has always dreamed of serving in the Air Force.  
• Telephone and fax number formatting. Use dashes. 937-777-1111  
• The dash (1-2 p.m.) and the en dash (10 a.m.–noon.) are appropriate to separate dates or times, but be consistent on individual pieces. No spaces are inserted before or after the dash or en dash. Spaces are inserted before and after an em dash.  
• Time. We follow AP’s use of noon and midnight instead of 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. However, if you know your audience includes a significant international component, you may use those numbers. Here are some examples of time formatting using AP style:  
  • 10:30 a.m.–noon 
  • 9 a.m.–2 p.m. 
  • 8–9:30 a.m. 
  • Midnight–3 a.m.  
  • 10 a.m.–12 p.m. (for international audience)

Common elements

Common elements of AP style include:

• Capitalization. As a rule, only capitalize proper nouns (formal or official names of things), and don’t capitalize common nouns (generic references to things). When in doubt, do not capitalize. 
• Capitalize semester names (but not the four seasons on their own). 
  • Spring Semester 2027 ends, ironically, in early spring. 
• Capitalize titles preceding a name.  
  • President Rowdy Raider met with boosters. The boosters gave Raider, president of Wright State, a new goal. 
•  Comma. AP does not use the Oxford or serial comma. If the additional comma is needed to avoid ambiguity, then use it.  
  • The flag is red, white and blue.  
• Use the title Dr. when referring to a doctor of medicine, dentistry, or veterinary medicine in formal contexts. Often, professors are referred to as “Dr.” regardless of these distinctions, and it is certainly appropriate to retain those titles in any attributed quotes: “Dr. Davis inspired me to pursue further studies in engineering,” she said.
• Apply the title professor only before the name of a staff member of a professional rank: professor, associate professor, or assistant professor. Do not qualify the title professor with associate or assistant before a person’s name, but do qualify it after the name. Similar to the discussion above relating to the use of “Dr.” If an instructor or lecturer is called “professor” in a quote, that is also appropriate to retain. 
  •  Professor Samuel Jones. 
  • Samuel Jones, associate professor of biology 
• Use an apostrophe for class years, which points down, (Class of ’26) not a single quotation mark, which points up, (Class of ‘26). 
• Degree abbreviations: Most follow standard formatting, like the A.A., B.S., and Ph.D. An exception to this is the Master of Business Administration (MBA). 
• Numbers.  
  • Spell out numbers zero through nine; use numerals for numbers 10 and above. 
    • He and his friends ordered 11 cheeseburgers, eight sodas, three milkshakes, and 14 fries. 
  • The same rules apply for ordinal numbers (numbers that denote order in a series). 
    • Medals were given to runners in first, second, and third place, but he finished in 10th.  
  • Use numbers for writing ages, address numbers, dimensions, currency amounts, dates, percents, temperatures, times, and do not begin a sentence with a number.  
• Titles of works: contain within quotation marks and do not italicize.

Wright State specifics

Some Wright State specifics that often arise: 

• The Wright brothers. Do not capitalize brothers.  
• Wright State University. When referring to the university, only use Wright State University or Wright State; never WSU.  
• Do not capitalize university when referring to Wright State when using the word university alone.  
  • Wright State has more than 11,000 students. The university has exceeded enrollment projections four years in a row.  
• Wright State University–Lake Campus. The punctuation between “State” and “Lake” is an en dash. (can also shorten to Wright State–Lake Campus) 
• Wright State University Child Development Center. Wright State University must appear in the title. 
• Units and departments are only capitalized on full reference of the formal title.  
  • He is completing University Honors Program coursework. She is completing honors program coursework. She works in the Department of Psychology. He went to a meeting in the psychology department. 
• Room Names and Numbers. 
  • Room names and "Room" should be capitalized with the building name preceding. Whether it is accompanied by a building abbreviation and room number is dependent on the audience.  
    • Student Union Apollo Room, 160 SU 
  • If there is no room number designation, the room should be written as: 
    • Student Union Apollo Room 
  • Not all rooms require numbers such as the Student Union Apollo Room, Student Union Atrium, Nutter Center Berry Room, Millett Hall Atrium, Union Market, and Creative Arts Center Galleries. 
  • When not using a common room name, such as an office or meeting space, numbers precede the building name. Do not use the word room with the room number. If there is a letter in the number (common in office suites), the letter follows the number with no space. 
    • 160 Student Union 
    • 210A Medical Sciences 

Wright State campus names, building names, and abbreviations

• Wright State University has two campuses: Dayton Campus; and Wright State University–Lake Campus, Wright State’s branch campus between St. Marys and Celina, Ohio. It can be referred to by the simpler name Lake Campus. Do not refer to the Dayton Campus as the main campus. Do not capitalize the word campus when used alone or generically. 
  • Wright State University’s Dayton Campus is known for its accessibility. 
  •  The Lake Campus, Wright State’s branch campus, is located next to Grand Lake St. Marys. 
• The following abbreviations are designated by the Office of Budget, Planning, and Resource Analysis. 

Dayton Campus abbreviations

Lake Campus abbreviations

• AN: Andrews Hall
• DH: Dwyer Hall (includes James F. Dicke Hall, which is an addition to Dwyer Hall)
• TL: Trenary Lab (includes the Learning Center, formerly known as the Lake Campus Library)

Additional resources

• Merriam-Webster is the primary dictionary used.  
• Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary is an additional resource for medical terms. 
• For assistance with trademarks, the International Trademark Association. 
• AP Stylebook