Berkeley Advancement Identity

SPELL OUT
In general, spell out on first reference, followed by the acronym in parentheses. Use the acronym in subsequent references: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

ABBREVIATE
CEO is acceptable in all references for chief executive officer.

Spell out state names in the body of a story. In datelines, lists, or party affiliations (D-Calif.), use the abbreviation listed in AP. Postal code abbreviations (CA, MD, IL) are acceptable in formats such as class notes. See Cities.

Omit periods from most initialisms: DOE, NCAA, NEA, NIMH, SAT scores, and UNESCO.

The exceptions are U.S., which is used as an adjective (the U.S. government), and U.N. Use United States as a noun.

Only use the ampersand in design elements or when it is part of a formal name or acronym (College of Letters & Science/L&S). Otherwise spell it out.

PLURALS
Do not use apostrophes to form plurals (1960s, not 1960’s), unless it would be confusing without (A’s and B’s, not As and Bs; p’s, not ps).

POSSESSIVES
Add ‘s to possessives of singular common nouns ending in s. Athletics does not use the ’s: campus’s legacy, thesis’s premise

Possessives of singular proper names ending in s use only an apostrophe: Chancellor Lyons’ team, Nikki Jones’ research

Plural proper possessive for names ending in s: the Lyonses’ dog, the Joneses’ library

Plural nouns modifying other nouns do not need an apostrophe if they are used in an attributive versus a possessive sense. Parents Weekend is for parents, not possessed by parents.

Don’t use the apostrophe if it is not part of a formal name: Department of Veterans Affairs

Follow AP for holidays: Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day

They should be short and consistent in their look and general length, but they may vary in construction. You can add periods at the end of bullet points that are full sentences.

STATES
Lowercase state when used as an adjective or common noun: a state map, the state economy

Capitalize state when writing about the state government: The State of California provides about 14 percent of Berkeley’s annual budget.

TITLES AND HEADINGS
Capitalize all major words in hyphenated compounds unless they are preceded by a prefix or musical note: Long-Range Development Plan, Pre-collegiate Academy, E-flat Concerto

PLURALS FOLLOWING PROPER NAMES
Lowercase plurals of generic terms when using proper names: University and Shattuck avenues, departments of Chemistry and Physics

Look up “datelines” in AP for a complete list of domestic and international cities that can stand alone in a dateline without a state or country identification. Most U.S. cities do not need state identifiers, except those with the same name in different states (Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri). In general, spell out state names.

MOST COMMON USE
While AP does not use the serial or Oxford comma to separate elements in a series, UDAR does: Berkeley researchers are tackling the biggest scientific, technological, societal, and cultural issues of our time.

The final comma in this example separates each component: You help support scholarships, academic mentoring and tutoring, and health and wellness programs.

SEPARATING CLAUSES
Use a comma to separate clauses in a sentence when both clauses can stand alone as independent sentences: Graduates should assemble at 1 p.m., and the doors open for guests at 2 p.m.

Do not use a comma if the sentence has one subject and two verbs or objects.

• Incorrect: For more information, or to make hotel reservations, visit celebration.berkeley.edu.
• Correct: For more information or to make hotel reservations, visit celebration.berkeley.edu.

CONJUNCTIONS
The comma rule for separating clauses applies to English’s seven coordinating conjunctions (mnemonically named FANBOYS): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

The same rule also applies to not only and but also.

• Incorrect: He was not only a good friend, but also a great brother.
• Correct: He was not only a good friend but also a great brother.

AS WELL AS
In general, you don’t need a comma before as well as, which means “in addition to,” because it makes the information that follows less important than the rest of the sentence. You could get rid of the comma and use “and” instead.

INTRODUCING ONE COMPLETE SENTENCE
Capitalize the first word after a colon if it is a proper noun or starts a complete sentence: I say it often: Research is different at Cal.

MONTH AND YEAR

• September 2000 (no comma)

MONTH, DAY, YEAR

• September 10, 2009

DECADES

• 1980s (no apostrophe) or ’90s

SEASONS
Seasons are not capitalized. She graduated in spring 2025. The fall 2026 semester has begun.

TIME

• Use a.m. or p.m., not A.M., AM, pm, or other variations.
• Use either noon or 12 p.m., but not 12 noon.
• Do not use :00 to indicate the top of the hour: 10 a.m., not 10:00 a.m.
• Pacific Daylight Time/PDT
• Pacific Standard Time/PST

Make sure to note the time correctly. Daylight savings time in the United States falls between early March and early November.

DURATION
To indicate duration of time, use “to” between the hours in text and an en dash in calendar or tabular entries.

• Text: The picnic will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Tabular: Class times are 11 a.m.–noon, 4–5 p.m., and 9:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

EM DASH
Use an em dash with spaces on both sides to set off phrases. I will go — no matter what — tomorrow night.

EN DASH
Use an en dash with no spaces between numbers in times.

Capitalize it as a motto, but don’t italicize it unless it’s the name of a book, magazine, or title of a publication: Fiat Lux

See also Gender under Bias-free Language section.

In general, use gender-neutral terms whenever possible: chair, chairperson, police officer

Do not default to maleness. Instead, recast in the plural:

• Incorrect: A donor may use his credit card to make a gift.
• Correct: Donors may use their credit cards to make a gift.

Be careful not to mix singular and plural.

• Incorrect: Every student has their preference.
• Correct: All students have their preferences.

When writing a feature or bio, ask what pronouns the person or people you are interviewing use, not what they prefer.

THEY/THEM/THEIR
Use they/them/their as a gender-neutral singular pronoun for a person who uses those pronouns.

Explain if it isn’t clear in context: Morales, who uses the pronoun they, said they will pursue a Ph.D. in English.

If confusion persists, consider rewriting the sentence with no pronoun. Instead of, “Hendricks said they are thrilled about the new program,” write, “Hendricks said the new program is a thrill.”

CAPITALIZATION
In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, etc., when they indicate compass direction, and capitalize these words when they designate regions: He drove south to Santa Cruz. They are from the Midwest.

Lowercase directional or area descriptions when referring to a section of a state or city, and capitalize in denoting widely known sections: western Montana, Southern California

Other accepted uses: the Bay Area, the West Coast, Eastern religion

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES THAT PRECEDE THE NOUN THEY MODIFY

You don’t need to hyphenate them if they are easily recognized as a single concept. lower division class, computer science field, real estate markets

COMPOUNDS THAT ARE HYPHENATED AS ADJECTIVES

off-campus housing, part-time employment, decision-making skills

COMPOUNDS NOT HYPHENATED AS NOUNS

Her housing is off campus. She works less than full time.

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES WITH -LY

Do not hyphenate. privately funded scholarship, highly regarded department

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES WITH NUMERALS

Do not hyphenate: $7 billion campaign

For additional guidance, see Common mistakes.

Use the article “a: before consonant sounds: a historic event, a one-year term (sounds like a w), a united stand (sounds like you)

Use the article “an” before vowel sounds: an energy crisis, an honorable man (silent h), an NBA record (sounds like an e), an 1890s celebration

Use one space after a period in printed and online materials.

COMPANY
For a company’s formal name, consult the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.

In general, include the company’s full name somewhere in the story. Follow the company’s spelling and capitalization preferences, including using the ampersand and capitalizing “the” if those elements are part of the company’s formal name: H&M, The Walt Disney Co.

However, you do not need to capitalize “the” in formal names in running text. She works for the Walt Disney Co.

Other exceptions according to AP Style:

• Omit the comma before “Inc.” or “Ltd.,” even if it is included in the formal name.
• AP capitalizes eBay and iPhone if they start the sentence. Consider rewriting the sentence instead.
• AP uses Ikea instead of IKEA, but BMW is okay because each letter is pronounced individually.

PERSONAL
Except in letter salutations, avoid use of courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., or Ms.) except to distinguish persons with the same last name. First and last names may be used in informal situations. Subsequent references should be consistent: either last names (preferred) or first names.

Enclose nicknames in quotation marks: Adeline “Addy” Smith

Do not divide personal names at the end of a line. Break after the middle initial(s) if it’s impossible to keep the whole name together: J. R. R. / Tolkien not J. R. R. Tol- / kien

Drop the comma before a suffix: Walter A. Haas Sr., Arthur C. Oppenheimer II

Exceptions are made to follow individual preference: Walter A. Haas, Jr. Pavilion

Hyphenate compound names according to the individual’s preference. If a compound name is hyphenated (Amy Smith-Jones), alphabetize it in listings under the first surname. If a compound name is not hyphenated (David King Lane), alphabetize it in listings under the second surname.

FIRST AND LAST NAMES IN PROSE

AP Style recommends using a person’s first and last name on first reference, and their last name only on all subsequent references. UDAR generally follows this rule.

Depending on the use, audience, or the person’s request, we sometimes use the first name only on subsequent references in informal pieces or when using the last name only would feel too impersonal or institutional.

Whichever you choose, be consistent. Do not use a first name for one person and a last name for another person in the same piece.

In general, spell out zero through nine in ordinary text, and use numerals for 10 and above: It took him five years to complete his undergraduate degree. There were 23 students in last year’s cohort.

Use numerals for course numbers (History 102), ages (a 20-year-old student), unit and monetary values ($5 bill), scores (The Bears beat Stanford 24–21), percentages (a 3.7% increase), and decimals (a 4.2 magnitude earthquake).

Use commas with all numbers above 999: 1,000, $13,500, 500,000

Use figures with million, billion or trillion except in casual uses: 8 million people or $7 billion campaign. But “I hope to win a million dollars.”

Apply the standard guidelines to a series: Berkeley’s current faculty includes nine Nobel laureates and 32 MacArthur Fellows.

Spell out ordinals through ninth: first grade, fifth reunion, 21st century, 25th anniversary

Use a numeral in reference to a specific annum: In year 2 of the program, we will recruit three new professors.

Add an s to single or multiple letters or numbers used as nouns to form the plural: the three Rs, YMCAs, in twos and threes

Faculty is singular when referring to an academic body: Berkeley’s faculty is one of the finest in the nation.

Faculty is plural when referring to several individuals: The college’s faculty are working with local schools.

Plural nouns ending in s take only an apostrophe: states’ rights

Singular nouns ending in s take ’s: campus’s legacy, virus’s reach

Singular proper nouns ending in s take only the apostrophe: Lyons’ speech, Jones’ book

Plural proper possessive for names ending in s: the Lyonses’ dog, the Joneses’ library

Exception for when two or more sibilants precede the apostrophe: Kansas’ election, Moses’ story

In running text, lowercase “the” preceding the name of an association, company, or institution when it is part of the official title. Made up of donors who provide vital annual support, the Charter Hill Society is uniquely powerful at Berkeley.

‎PEOPLE
ACADEMIC

• the professor; Laura Sanchez, professor of comparative literature; Professor Sanchez

USED IN APPOSITION
When a word that is typically thought of as a title is used as an equivalent to a personal name, it is a descriptive phrase and is lowercased: former presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, Berkeley Haas professor Christine Parlour

DESCRIPTIVE TITLES
Lowercase generic titles that describe a person’s occupation: the historian Daniel Alexander Payne Murray, not Historian Murray

WORKS

Applies to books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, and works of art:

• Enclose in quotation marks.
• Capitalize all words except articles (a, an, the); prepositions of three or fewer letters (for, of, on, up, etc.); and conjunctions of three or fewer letters (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet, etc.) — unless they start or end the title.
• Capitalize prepositions of four or more letters (above, after, down, inside, over, with) and conjunctions of four or more letters (because, while, since, though, etc.).