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Utah Foundation Style Guide

Ultimately, this is not well defined. We are working on it. In general, follow AP. Below is a list of things that override AP.

Use the AP Style Guide. This site or this site will get you started.

Quotes

Rather than "quoting" others, Utah Foundation should focus on writing in a way that is "quotable" in itself.

Quotes may be used with the following criteria:

  1. Purpose
  2. They emphasize a key finding of the report.
  3. There is no better way to present this information.
  4. Uncited individuals that represent a theme or narrative in a qualitative design.
  5. Who:
  6. The person being quoted is not a partisan politician/ highly partisan citizen.
  7. Speaker should be a subject matter expert.
  8. When quoting non-partisan leaders, like mayors, treat them like subject matter experts.
  9. How to quote:
  10. They are used sparingly only when they emphasize a key finding.
  11. Cite specific people only if they are used to gather background information.
  12. If the speaker has a relationship with the Utah Foundation, that should be stated.
  13. If people are not willing to be on the record, summarize instead of quote.

Numbers

  • When showing constant, real dollars, use the term “inflation adjusted dollars.” When using nominal, current dollars, maybe don’t need to specify?
  • One through nine are spelled out, but 10, 11 and above are numerical, unless it is followed by a “%”
  • Do not abbreviate ordinal numbers; spell them out (like twenty-third)
  • Use percentage and % (but not “percent”)

Other Details

Below are either exceptions to the rule, or rules that often catch people up. 

  • Limit the use of quotations, unless we are quoting other research.
  • Use Oxford Commas. I.E. Sam, Christopher, and Dan went to the store. Comma after Christopher.
  • Health care, not healthcare.
  • Don’t, and I mean do not, use contractions.
  • In titles, capitalize prepositions when longer than five letters long.
  • Avoid passive voice unless it's a very rare case where it serves a specific purpose. Active voice is easier to read, sometimes uses less words and usually assigns responsibility.
  • Passive = Multiple factors are used to analyze spending.
  • Active = Utah employs multiple criteria to analyze spending. (But who in Utah does this? Be specific!)
  • Do not using the following terms or verbs
  • "comprised of"
  • "impact"
  • "effect"
  • Use “member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” the first time. Afterwards, "the Church" or the "Church of Jesus Christ" can be used as appropriate. “Mormon” is best when speaking about Mormon culture. 
  • Use “Hispanic or Latino” residents, students, etc., in the text but only “Latino” in the figures (so they are clean and neat).
  • Please no “minorities.” Instead use people, students, etc. “of color.”
  • Shawn’s personal preference: n dash (the medium one) instead of m dash (the long one), with spaces on either side, when emphasizing a parenthetical expression
  • First time use “Utah State Legislature” and after that use “the Legislature” unless of course you write about other legislatures in the report, in which case use “the Utah Legislature.”
  • Recommendations on PR and on first page should be exactly the same as in the body of the report. Action words! When we are feeling courageous, be as specific as possible (who should do what, exactly)