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Forward Thinking

When placing a food or lifestyle article in a newspaper or magazine, it pays to keep editor style guidelines in mind. Editors use Associated Press (AP) style for punctuation and formatting. Giving them an article in a ready-to-place form simplifies their task and makes them more likely to run the story.

Here are some general guidelines to help you get your food and lifestyle copy – as well as your recipes – editor-friendly from the start.

Trademark/Service Mark

• AP does not use either the TM symbol or ® in any of its news copy. In virtually all cases, the symbol is not a legal necessity, as long as there is some recognition of the trademark status—usually an initial cap (such as Roquefort cheese or Tabasco sauce).


• For a brand name that is trademarked all in caps, using all caps in a feature depends on whether it's a "word" mark or a "graphic" trademark (such as the AP red logo). If it is a "word" mark, there is no legal need to keep the all caps and AP does not recommend it.

Style Conventions

• Do not use all caps, except in the case of acronyms when each individual letter is pronounced (such as AP).
• AP doesn't use italics, bold face or underlining in news stories.
• Capitalize the initial letters of a magazine and don't underline, italicize or put the title in quotes.
• Book titles should be in quotes.
• AP doesn't use footnotes. Try to cite sources within the text.
  

Food

• Most food names are lowercase: apples, cheese, peanut butter.
• Most proper nouns or adjectives are capitalized when they occur in a food name: Boston brown bread, Russian dressing.
• Lowercase is used, however, when the food does not depend on the proper noun or adjective for its meaning: french fries, cheddar cheese.
  

Recipes

• Always use figures, do not spell them out.
• Do not use abbreviations. Spell out teaspoon, tablespoon, etc.
• Avoid using an ampersand (&) in recipe titles, instructions or text.
• Because of space limitations, it is best to use articles (“a,” “an,” “the”) only when referring to equipment and utensils, but not ingredients.
• List each ingredient in order of use in the instructions.
  

References:

• 2008 Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law - The Associated Press.
• The Recipe Writer’s Handbook (2001) - John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• The New Food Lover’s Companion (2007) - Barron’s Educational Services, Inc.