• Attribution and sources
o Make sure you attribute facts
o Use a variety of sources; lots of students, not enough officials, faculty, experts, reports, etc.
• Avoid opinion
o “make sure …”
o “hopefully” “fortunately”
o “you should”
o “let’s make it”
o “I think”
o “my recent poll”
o “students should never feel trapped”
• Avoid writing in general terms; be specific, use numbers and/or examples
o “many websites”, “many popular sports”, “many students feel”
o “some”
o “most students”
o “it seems”
o “generally not funded”, “generally have to car pool”
• Compound modifier (page 333, AP Stylebook)
o When two or more words that express a single concept precede a noun, use hyphens to link all the words in the compound except adverbs that end in –ly.
o regular-season championship
o seven-foot frame
o bite-size pieces
o gin-based drink
o off-campus students
• Its vs. their
o UAlbany won 16 of its last 20 games
o The Danes won 16 of their last 20 games
• Over vs. more than
o Use more than for numbers (Wilson averages more than 17 points per game, More than 100 people attended)
o Use over for relative position (the blimp hovered over the stadium)
• Dates and times
o a.m. and p.m. (not AM, A.M., PM, P.M.)
o in the morning (not in the a.m.)
o abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. when writing dates, such as Feb. 21; spell out months if not part of a date (at the end of February)
• Numbers/numerals (page 180, AP Stylebook)
o Spell out numbers less than 10, unless writing about a child’s age, using a percentage, writing an address or sports score
o Number one party school
