Gustavus Adolphus College

The first mention of any organization, firm, agency, or group should be spelled out. If the organization's name is not well known, indicate the initialism or acronym in parentheses immediately following the first reference and refer to the organization by its abbreviation thereafter.��Initialisms and acronyms are appropriate if well known; they do not contain periods (except for U.S., U.N., and U.S.S.R., which are adjective forms only, and���unique to Gustavus���terms like the Alumni Office���s G.I.V.E. volunteer service program, which may be a noun or adjective). Avoid coining initialisms or acronyms; instead, merely shorten the name after the first reference:��"The St. Peter Educational Reform Committee," to use a hypothetical example, might be subsequently referred to as "the educational reform committee" or even "the reform committee."

Abbreviate the following in text copy (display uses may deviate):

• "St." in city and town names, as in "St. Peter," "St. Cloud," etc. This is an exception to the U.S. Postal Service Directory of Post Offices listings to reflect the official signage and identification of the communities and to conform to AP usage.
• Units of measure when preceded by numerals.
• "a.m." and "p.m." (not "pm" or "PM"; " P.M. " is permissible if the font you are using includes small caps. And, while we're on the subject of time, avoid "o'clock").
• " A.D. ," " B.C. ," " B.C.E. " ( A.D. should precede the date, the latter two should follow it; use small caps where possible: A.D. 1066, 3000 B.C.E. ).

• Days of the week or months.
• The first word in a sentence.
• The title "Professor."