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2018 AP Stylebook adds 200 new or revised entries

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The Associated Press today released the 2018 edition of The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, which includes about 200 new or revised entries and a new chapter on polls and surveys.

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Stylebook editors worked with AP Deputy Managing Editor for Operations David Scott and AP Polling Editor Emily Swanson, and consulted with Pew Research Center and NORC at the University of Chicago, to review polling guidance and create a new chapter for the 2018 edition, which became available to AP Stylebook Online subscribers in April.

Changes to the 2018 Stylebook also include:

  • New guidance on emoji, including how to quote emoji and its proper plural usage.
  • A new entry on marijuana and medical marijuana adds more terminology and usage details.
  • Biracial/multiracial is now acceptable when relevant, though one should be specific about a person’s background when it’s pertinent. Avoid mixed-race unless the story subject prefers that term.
  • A new entry on act, amendment, bill, law, measure, ordinance, resolution, rule and statute explains the distinctions.
  • Beginning a sentence with a numeral-and-letter combination is now allowed: 3D movies are drawing more fans.
  • Other new or revised entries include sexual harassment and sexual misconduct; survivor; victim; homepage; lists and bulleted lists; today and tonight; LEED; coworking; HIPAA; gig economy; and storm names.
  • Nearly two dozen entries, ranging from matcha to churros, have been added to the food chapter.

AP Stylebook editor Paula Froke will answer questions about the new book today at 2:30 p.m. ET in a Twitter chat, using the hashtag #APStyleChat.

At more than 600 pages, the AP Stylebook is widely used as a writing and editing reference in newsrooms, classrooms and corporate offices worldwide. Updated regularly since its initial publication in 1953, the AP Stylebook is a must-have reference for writers, editors, students and professionals. It provides fundamental guidelines for spelling, language, punctuation, usage and journalistic style. It is the definitive resource for journalists.

The AP Stylebook is available in spiral-bound print and several digital formats.

The subscription-based AP Stylebook Online is updated throughout the year with new and revised entries. It includes all Stylebook listings, plus an Ask the Editor feature with extensive archives, a pronunciation guide with phonetic spellings and audio pronouncers, and topical style guides about news events. Users can add their own entries, make notes and get notifications throughout the year when AP’s editors add or update listings.

AP Stylebook & Webster’s New World Online adds 185,000 definitions from Stylebook’s primary dictionary to Stylebook Online’s subscription website. A single search delivers results from both and clearly identifies the source of each entry.  

The 2018 print edition costs $18.35 for AP member news organizations and college bookstores and $22.95 retail. AP Stylebook Online prices are $26 for individual subscribers for one year and $20.80 for news organizations that are AP members. Prices for online site licenses are based on the number of users, starting at $210 for 10 users for a year.

The new print edition and digital subscriptions can be ordered online at http://www.apstylebook.com.

The AP Stylebook is also available as an e-book on Amazon.

On the web: http://www.apstylebook.com/

On Twitter:  http://twitter.com/apstylebook

Contact

Lauren Easton
Director of Media Relations
The Associated Press
212-621-7005
leaston@ap.org

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