Missouri State University follows the Associated Press Stylebook for guidance on writing for print or electronic publication. AP Style recently added several new entries and updated some sections.

Missouri State has a limited membership to the online AP Stylebook. More information on each of these entries is available in the online guide. If you create content for the university, contact Andrea Mostyn to request access.

A local style guide with exceptions and entries specific to the university is available on the Brand website.

Updates and additions

Lists, bulleted lists

Introduce lists with a short phrase or sentence, followed by a colon.

Capitalize the first word in each bullet.

Use periods at the end of each line, whether or not it’s a full sentence.

Use parallel construction for each item in a list:

• Start with the same part of speech.
• Use the same voice (active or passive).
• Use the same verb tense.
• Use the same sentence type (statement, question or exclamation).

Numerals

In most cases, a sentence cannot start with a number. The main exception is that a sentence can start with a year (2018).

A new exception was added. Sentences may start with a number-and-letter combination such as 3D.

Survivor, victim

AP recommends using these terms with care because they can be imprecise and politically and legally charged.

Survivor is usually used for someone who has lived through injury or disease or for someone who escaped potential injury. It is also sometimes used to refer to someone who lived through trauma.

Victim can mean someone who is killed, injured or mistreated. Using the word “victim” can be confusing because it could mean the person died or suffered injury.

Be precise when using these terms.