Editorial Style Guide
Generally, HJF follows the Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Consult the AP guide for all general questions regarding proper spelling, capitalization, punctuation and grammar. For HJF HQ staff, a copy of the guide is located in the Communications Department.
The following are some pertinent highlights from the AP guide, as well as several HJF- or industry-specific deviations from AP style.
Acronyms
Do not use periods in acronyms.
The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. acronym: HJF (this is our registered trademark; never use "HMJ" or any other acronym)
Do not use "the" before the acronym. e.g., "HJF administers the fund," not "The HJF administers the fund."
When referring to the Foundation, always use the full name on first mention (The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine). In formal documents, include the ", Inc." In marketing and similar copy, the ", Inc." is not necessary.
Do not use other shortened versions of our name, such as "The Jackson Foundation" or "Jackson." There is more than one Henry M. Jackson Foundation, so we must distinguish ourselves clearly.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences acronym: USU
Do not use "the" before the acronym (e.g. "The research was conducted at USU," not "The research was conducted at the USU.")
When determining what article to use before an acronymn, phoenetic guidelines apply. For example, "An HIV trial," not "A HIV trial."
Apostrophes
Use apostrophes to indicate possession. e.g., "The program's staff" or "HIV's transmission rate." (Exception for single letters--"mind your p's and q's.")
Do not use apostrophes to indicate plurals. e.g., "They started studying the disease in the 1970s." "The VPs met yesterday."
Between/Among
"Between" should be used when discussing being in the middle of or concerning two items.
"Among" is for three or more items.
e.g., "The program is a collaboration between USU and HJF." "The program is a collaboration among USU, WRAMC and HJF."
Clinical trials
Capitalize "Phase" and do not hyphenate (e.g. Phase III trial).
Commas
AP style does not use the serial comma. Therefore, when listing one, two or three items, do not include a comma before the last item in the list.
Dashes
When you use an em dash—the double line—do not insert spaces on either side.
Degrees
See also "Ranks"
Include the person's degree(s), along with their full name, on the first mention. Subsequently, use the person's last name, only.
Jane Doe, Ph.D.
Second reference: Doe
e.g., Jane Doe, Ph.D., published an article recently. In the article, Doe details her findings.
If the person holds both an M.D. and a Ph.D., list the medical degree first. e.g., Jane Doe, M.D., Ph.D.
Capitalize a military rank when used as a formal title before an individual's name. Consult the AP guide for proper abbreviations of military titles by branch of service.
For medical doctors in the military, use the following convention:
Colonel Jane Doe, M.D.
Second reference: Doe
Department of Defense
On first reference, spell out, followed by the acronym in parenthesis. Use "DoD" after the first reference.
e.g., "The program was funded by the Department of Defense (DoD). DoD has funded a number of research projects in this area."
Also, refer to "DoD," not "the DoD."
e.g., "The funding came from DoD."
Diseases
Do not capitalize disease names like arthritis or leukemia. If a disease is named after a person, capitalize only the proper noun (e.g., Parkinson's disease).
Latin terms for organisms are italicized. e.g., "The researchers are working on vaccines to combat E. coli and campylobacter jejuni."
Do not hyphenate the word email, nor capitalize the "e," unless the word starts a sentence.
federal
Capitalize the word only when it appears as part of a title (e.g., "federal government," but "Federal Aviation Administration").
HIV
Place a hyphen before the strain of HIV, e.g., HIV-1.
Hyphens
Hyphenate two or more words used to express a single concept (unless using an adverb). e.g., "It was a well-executed plan." "It was an easily executed plan."
Money
For figures of $1 million or larger, use the dollar sign and numerals (e.g., "$2.25 million" or "$4.1 trillion").
Numbers
Spell out one through nine, but use Arabic numerals for 10 and higher.
The exceptions to the rule are:
- addresses: 8 West Elm Street
- ages: 5-year-old program
- dollars: $9
- dates: May 3
- dimensions: 6-foot-ceiling
- millions and billions: 2 million people
- percentages: 7 percent increase
- speed: 4 miles per hour
- temperatures: 2 degrees
- times: 1 a.m.
Do not begin a sentence with numerals unless using a date.
e.g., "Thirty-two people attended the lecture." "2001 was an important year."
List phone numbers as: 301-555-5555. Do not use parenthesis around the area code.
If listing a range of numbers, such as 1-18, use and "en" dash (the medium-length dash; as opposed to a hyphen, which is the short dash; or an "em" dash, which is the double dash) with no spaces on either side.
hyphen: -
en dash: –
em dash: —
off-site/on-site
Hyphenate both words
online
One word, no hyphen
Ranks
See also "Degrees"
In formal written materials, on first mention, spell out the person's rank. On subsequent mentions, use the last name only.
e.g., "Colonel Smith's team conducted the research. Smith and his colleagues are working on an anthrax vaccine."
For correspondence, photo captions, lists and similar situations, use the following rank abbreviations:
Army
general GEN
lieutenant general LTG
major general MG
brigadier general BG
colonel COL
lieutenant colonel LTC
major MAJ
captain CPT
first lieutenant 1LT
second lieutenant 2LT
command sergeant major CSM
sergeant major SGM
first sergeant 1SG
master sergeant MSG
sergeant first class SFC
staff sergeant SSG
sergeant SGT
corporal CPL
private first class PFC
private E-2 PV2
private E-1 PV1
Navy
admiral ADM
vice admiral VADM
rear admiral RADM
captain CAPT
commander CDR
lieutenant commander LCDR
lieutenant LT
Lieutenant junior grade LTJG
ensign ENS
master chief petty officer MCPO
senior chief petty officer SCPO
chief petty officer CPO
petty officer first class PO1
petty officer second class PO2
petty officer third class PO3
seaman SN
seaman apprentice SA
seaman recruit SR
Air Force
general GEN
lieutenant general Lt Gen
major general Maj Gen
brigadier general Brig Gen
colonel Col
lieutenant colonel Lt Col
major Maj
captain Capt
first lieutenant 1st Lt
second lieutenant 2nd Lt
chief master sergeant CMSgt
senior master sergeant SMSgt
master sergeant MSgt
technical sergeant TSgt
staff sergeant SSgt
senior airman SrA
airman first class A1C
airman Amn
airman basic AB
Marine Corps
Ranks and abbreviations for commissioned officers follow the same conventions as the Army.
Use the designation "MC" to indicate that someone is in the Medical Corps (M.D.s). Use "MSC" to indicate that someone is in the Medical Service Corps (Ph.D.s).
e.g., CPT Robert White, MC, USA (Army)
Capt Robert White, USAF, MC (Air Force)
CAPT Robert White, MC, USN (Navy)
States
Use the Associated Press guidelines for state abbreviations, as follows (zip code abbreviations in parenthesis):
| Ala. (AL) | Alaska (AK) | Ariz. (AZ) | Ark. (AR) | Calif. (CA) | Colo. (CO) | Conn. (CT) | Del. (DE) | Fla. (FL) | Ga. (GA) |
| Hawaii (HI) | Idaho (ID) | Iowa (IA) | Ill. (IL) | Ind. (IN) | Kan. (KS) | Ky. (KY) | La. (LA) | Maine (ME) | Md. (MD) |
| Mass. (MA) | Mich. (MI) | Minn. (MN) | Miss. (MS) | Mo. (MO) | Mont. (MT) | Neb. (NE) | Nev. (NV) | N.H. (NH) | N.J. (NJ) |
| N.M. (NM) | N.Y. (NY) | N.C. (NC) | N.D. (ND) | Ohio (OH) | Okla. (OK) | Ore. (OR) | Pa. (PA) | R.I. (RI) | S.C. (SC) |
| S.D. (SD) | Tenn. (TN) | Texas (TX) | Utah (UT) | Vt. (VT) | Va. (VA) | Wash. (WA) | W.Va. (WV) | Wis. (WI) | Wyo. (WY) |
That/Which
"That" is a relative pronoun that is restrictive, which means that it provides information necessary to the antecedent. "Which" is non-restrictive and does not limit the word to which it refers.
e.g., "The secure website, which we call HJFOnline, contains financial reports." The portion of the sentence containing "which" isn't necessary to the meaning of the sentence. This sentence implies that we have one secure website, it is called HJFOnline and it contains financial reports.
"The secure website that we call HJFOnline contains financial reports." This sentence implies that we have more than one secure website, and the one called HJFOnline is the one that contains financial reports.
Titles
Do not capitalize titles unless they are used in conjunction with the person's name.
e.g., "Joe Smith is the vice president." "She introduced Vice President Smith, who was the keynote speaker."
For politicians, follow Associated Press style.
John McCain, R-Ariz.,
Sen. John McCain
United States
Abbreviate United States as U.S. (with periods).
website
Do not hyphenate or use two words. Do not capitalize the "w" unless the word starts a sentence.
Who/That
"Who" is used when referring to a person, and "that" when referring to a thing.
e.g., "The PI is the person who authorized the request." "The request that we processed was authorized by the PI."
x-ray
Use a hyphen; do not capitalize the "x" unless the word starts a sentence.