The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, usually called the AP Stylebook, is the primary style and usage guide for most newspapers and newsmagazines in the United States. The Stylebook is edited by longtime AP editor Norm Goldstein, and it is updated annually, usually in June. The 2004 edition of the book is about 400 pages long.

The Stylebook covers a variety of topics, including:

• Grammar, punctuation, and spelling. For example, AP style does not use a serial comma before the last item in a list — that is, AP writes "red, white and blue," not "red, white, and blue."
• AP style on a variety of questions, such as whether to convert foreign times to local times in an article, and when to put "Dr." in front of a person's name when they have a doctoral degree (only for certain medical titles; optional if the subject matter is relevant to the article).
• Quick background information on a wide variety of topics, such as the Public Broadcasting Service ("not a network, but an association of public television stations organized to buy and distribute programs selected by a vote of the members") and the state of Hawaii ("comprises 132 islands about 2,400 miles southwest of San Francisco.")
• A sports section, which includes terminology and guidelines for printing league standings.
• A business section.
• A briefing on American media law.
• Information specific to working with the Associated Press, such as instructions for filing photo captions.

AP also offers a subscription-based online version of the stylebook, which is updated with style changes as they are made and supports the addition of local style entries.

External links

• AP Stylebook Official website

Style guides | Copy editing | Newspapering