Abbreviations, Capitalization, and Numbers

1. Always spell out acronyms upon first reference, for example, United Auto Workers, followed by the acronym in parentheses (UAW).
2. In ordinary writing use Ms. (or Ms), Mr., Mrs., Dr., and St. before a proper name. Use such designations as Jr., Sr., II, and M.D. after a proper name.
3. Spell out names of states, countries, continents, months, days of the week, and units of measurement.
4. Abbreviations for degrees are as follows: B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.
5. Abbreviate words used with dates and figures: 58 B.C., 8:00 A.M. or 8:00 a.m., 9:00 EST or 9:00 E.S.T., No. 14, 80 MPH.
6. Abbreviate The District of Columbia: Washington, D.C.
7. Abbreviate common Latin expressions: e.g. (for example), et. al. (and others), etc. (and so forth), vs. or v. (versus), i.e. (that is).
8. Avoid the use of the ampersand (&) unless it is part of an official title, for example, Miller & Company.

Numbers:

1. Spell out numbers one through nine, although some publications also demand that "Ten" be expressed as a word.
2. Spell out numbers, regardless of their word count, if they begin a sentence: Two million dollars is the estimated cost of damage from last week's tornado.
3. Use numbers to specify time of day: 4:30 P.M.
4. Use numbers for dates: May 8, 1999, 1990s or 1990's, from 1990 to 2007 or 1990-2007.
5. Use numbers for addresses: Apartment 8D, 675 East Sunset Dr., 230 Ninth Street.
6. Use numbers for pages and divisions in books and plays: page 21, chapter 19, act 3, scene 2 or Act 3, Scene ii.
7. Use numbers for decimals and percentages: a 7.5 average, 50 percent, .900 metric ton.
8. Use numbers in series and statistics: 135 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 15 feet deep; the members voted 35 to 16 against the measure.
9. 
   
10. Large round numbers: forty billion dollars or 40 billion dollars if it does not begin a sentence; 15,000,000 or 15 million if it does not begin a sentence.

    Capitalization:

11. Names of particular people, places, and things: Susan B. Anthony, Oak Street, Empire State Building
12. Geographic names: Deep South, Arctic Circle, Old West, Pacific Northwest
13. People of all cultures and their languages; Spanish, Latin, English, French, Russian, Yiddish
14. Organizations, government agencies, institutions, companies: American Red Cross, Congress, Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard University, Federal Express
15. Days of the week, months, and holidays: Monday, April, Valentine's Day
16. Historical documents, periods, and events; the Bill of Rights, Vietnam War, Romantic Movement
17. Religions and their adherents, holy books, holy days, words denoting the Supreme Being; Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Baptist, Methodist, Mormon; the Holy Bible, the Quran, the Book of Revelations, Yom Kipper, Easter, Ramadan.
18. Personifications: I felt the Eternal Footman breathing down my neck.
19. Derivatives if they derive from proper nouns: Americanize, Stalinism, Orwellian
20. Shortened forms of capitalized words: D.C., LA, IRS, CNN, NATO
21. Titles of persons that precede the name but not those that follow it; Governor Kathleen Blanco; Kathleen Blanco, our governor; President George Bush; George Bush, our president; Captain John Smith; John Smith, the captain of the ship.
22. Capitalize all words in the title of a book, article, play, etc. except for articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and the "to" in infinitives-unless they are the first word: "What It Takes to Be Successful;"; For Whom the Bell Tolls; Death of a Salesman.
23. Capitalize titles of courses but not subjects: I am taking history at the college this semester; I had Dr. Yancy for History 102; I do not enjoy literature; I hate my American Literature 125 class!