A STYLE GUIDE FOR INTELLIGENCE PUBLICATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84T00896R000200550005-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 119
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 3, 2009
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: August 1, 1978
• Content Type: REPORT

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National
Foreign
Assessment
Center
A Style Guide for
Intelligence Publications
PP 78-10001
August 1978
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A Style Guide for Intelligence Publications
(Second Edition)
This guide supersedes the first edition (PP 77-10001),
issued in August 1977. The new edition provides updated
instructions for English usage in publications of CIA's
National Foreign Assessment Center. The purpose of the
guide is'to set a common and consistent style for issuances
which are produced by a number of separate NFAC Offices and
staffs but which generally are processed centrally in the
NFAC Publications and Presentations Group.
The basic reference for spelling, compounding, and other
instructions in this guide is the Style Manual of the US
Government Printing Office, dated January 1973. Many of the
GPO rules applicable to CIA publications are summarized in
this guide and are occasionally amended to fit the needs of
intelligence issuances. Those GPO rules not carried over
into this guide are nevertheless applicable in any question
of usage not covered herein that arises in NFAC publications.
Other style references consulted in preparing this guide in-
cluded those of press services, major newspapers, publishing
organizations, and,various past and present Offices of CIA.
The GPO's authority for spelling common words is Webster's
Third New International Dictionary, published by the G. & C.
Merriam Company. That dictionary or the more up-to-date
abridgments of it (which are entitled Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary) are the authorities for the preferred spellings
listed in this guide that were not found in the GPO manual.
The authority for word division (hyphenation of words at the
ends of lines) is the special supplement for that purpose
issued by the GPO.
In NFAC publications the spelling of geographic names
follows the advice of the Office of Geographic and Carto-
graphic Research, which implements for CIA the judgments of
the US Board on Geographic Names. The authority for the
spelling of names of persons and organizations is the office
of Central Reference. Procedures for consulting these Offices
are explained at the end of chapter 6.
This style guide is organized roughly along the lines
of its GPO equivalent. It has chapters on capitalization,
numbers, abbreviations, italics, punctuation, spelling, and
compound words. The three chapters on the last two subjects
include sizable lists of preferred forms of spelling and
compounding. They are at the end of the guide, for easy
reference.
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We welcome comments and queries regarding this style
guide, which takes account of the feedback occasioned by the
first edition. They may be directed to the Senior Editor,
Publications and Presentations Group, National Foreign As-
sessment Center, room 7G30, CIA Headquarters. These comments
will be taken into account in the next edition of the guide.
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1 - Capitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Common Nouns in Proper Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Derivatives of Proper Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Particles in Proper Napes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Names of Organized Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Government Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Military Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
International Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Diplomatic and Consular Units . . . . . . . . . . 5
Political Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Religious Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Political Philosophies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Communism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Non-Communist Philosophies . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Communist Jargon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Geographic Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Nationalities, Tribes, and Other Groups of People . . 9
Coined Names . . . . . . . . .
Trade Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Titles of Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Before the Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
After or In Place Of the Name . . . . . . . . . . 12
Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Historic Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Foreign Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Shortened Titles . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Graphics, Tables, Chapter Titles . . . . . . . . . 15
Cross-References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Table Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Indented Bullet or Dash Paragraphs . . . . . . . . 16
2 - Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Basic Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Numbers of 10 or More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Numbers Under 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Mixes of Numbers Above and Below 10 . . . . . . . 17
Ordinal Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Indefinite Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Millions and Billions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Figures of 1,000 or More . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Numerical Unit Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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Possessive Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Ranges of Numbers Below the Millions . . . . . . . 20
Ranges of Numbers in the Millions. . . . . . . . . 21
Numbers in Tables and Graphics and for
Pages, Paragraphs, and Footnotes . . . . . . . . 21
References to Numbers as Numbers . . . . . . . . . 21
References to Numbers in Nonliteral Sense . . . . 22
Decimals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Mixed Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Expressions of value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
US Dollars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Foreign Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Percentages and Times Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Times Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Expressions of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Ages of Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Ages of Inanimate Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Decades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Clock Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Other Time Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Units of Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Metric System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Factors for Converting to Metric Units
of Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Figures With Units of Measure . . . . . . . . . . 31
Other Number Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Numbers Close Together ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Ratios, Odds, Scores, Returns . . . . . . . . . . 32
Indefinite Expressions Using Figures . . . . . . . 32
3 - Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
When To Spell Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
First Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Subsequent References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Well-Known Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Foreign Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Explanation Following . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Incomplete or Possessive References . . . . . . . 34
Plural Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Abbreviations With Unusual Forms . . . . . . . . . . . 34
MIRVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
SALT, MBFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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Country Names Not Abbreviated . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Country Names Abbreviated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Long Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
USSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Titles of Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Civil or Military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Complimentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Latin Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Other Abbreviations To Avoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Political Subdivisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Months and Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Units of Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Ambiguous Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4 - Italics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Prominence or Emphasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Foreign Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Anglicized Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Familiar Foreign Words . . . . . . ... . . . . . . 42
Other Foreign Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Titles of Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Names of Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Imeni in Russian Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Cited'Letters, Words, and Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Names of Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Apostrophe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Possessives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Bullet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Colon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Comma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Dash (or Em Dash) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Ellipsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
En Dash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Exclamation Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Hyphen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
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Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Question Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Quotation Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Double Quotation Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Single Quotation Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Punctuation With Quotation Marks . . . . . . . . . 63
Terms Precluding Need for Quotation Marks . . . . . 64
Semicolon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Virgule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 - Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Preferred and Difficult Spellings . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Americanized Spelling of British Terms . . . . . . . . 70
Anglicized Foreign Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Plural Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
O Endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Compound Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Other Difficult Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Endings -yze, -ize, and -ise . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Endings -sede, -ceed, and -cede . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Endings -ible and -able . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Doubled consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Indefinite Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Geographic Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Names and Titles of Persons and Organizations . . . . . 78
General Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Separate Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Joined or Hyphenated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Solid Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Unit Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Hyphenated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Unhyphenated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Comparatives and Superlatives . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Adverbs Ending -ly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Three-Word Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Foreign Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Proper Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
En Dash in Proper Noun Compounds . . . . . . . . . 84
Quotation Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Chemical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Letter or Number Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Common Basic Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
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Prefixes and Suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Unhyphenated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Hyphenated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Numerical Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Other Compound Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8 - Guide to Compounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
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1 - Capitalization
1.1 - This chapter summarizes GPO capitalization rules
applicable to CIA needs. These rules have been adapted and
expanded as necessary.
Common Nouns in Proper Names
1.2 - Capitalize a common noun when it forms part of a
proper name but not when it is used alone as a substitute
for the name of the place or thing or when it becomes sepa-
rated from the rest of the name by an intervening common
noun or adjective.
Atlantic University, the university
Quebec Province, Quebec separatist province
This rule does not apply to certain well-known short forms
of specific proper names. For example:
the British Commonwealth, the Commonwealth
the Panama [or Suez] Canal, the Canal
the Golan Heights, the Heights
the English Channel, the Channel
the Church of England, the Church
A noun common to two or more proper names is capitalized in
the plural form when preceded by the proper adjectives in
those names.
Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties
Atlantic and Pacific Universities
Baltic and Black Seas
Derivatives of Proper Names
1.3 - Do not capitalize derivatives of proper names
used with acquired independent meanings.
diesel engine roentgen examination
roman type venetian blinds
italic type plaster of paris
pasteurized milk anglicized words
but: degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius
Doppler effect Plimsoll line
Morse code Marxism
Gaullist policies Leninist doctrine
Castroite sympathies neo-Stalinism
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Particles in Proper Names
1.4 - Capitalize the definite article, or its equiva-
lent in a foreign language, when it is used as part of an
official name or title. When such a title is used as an
adjective, an uncapitalized the is used and, despite the
redundancy, may precede a capitalized non-English equiva-
lent.
The Hague, but the Second Hague Conference
El Salvador, but the El Salvador situation
The Bahamas, but the Bahamas Tourist Office
A capital T is also used for The Gambia but not for the
Vatican. For some country names the definite article is
used but is not capitalized because it is not part of the
official name (for example, the United Kingdom, the United
States, the USSR) or because the convention has been to
use a lowercase t, as in:
the Netherlands (The proper adjective is
Dutch or Netherlands; the people are called
the Dutch or the Netherlanders.)*
the Philippines (The proper adjective is
Philippine; the people are called the
Filipinos.)
There is no the in Congo, Sudan, or, unless you are writing
about the desert, Sahara (properly called Western Sahara).
1.5 - In foreign names of European origin, capitalize
such particles as d', de, delta, den, du, van, and von
unless they are preceded by a forename or title.
Van Agt, Prime Minister van Agt, Andreas
van Agt
De los Reyes, Professor de los Reyes,
Domingo de los Reyes
* See the table "Nouns and Adjectives Denoting Nationality" on pages 258-
260 of the GPO Style Manual. Similar information is given in the entries
following "PEOPLE . . . Nationality" under the country names listed alpha-
betically in the National Basic Intelligence Factbook. The Factbook,
which is issued semiannually by the Office of Geographic and Cartographic
Research, also lists official country names.
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In certain non-European names, particles are often dropped
when the family name alone is used.
Anwar al-Sadat, but President Sadat
Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, but General Zia
Anglicized-versions of foreign names vary".in the matter of
retaining or dropping particles and in the use of capital
letters. In any personal name the preference of the indi-
vidual, if known, should be followed. Our authority for
the spelling of personal names is the Office of Central
Reference. (See paragraph 6.24.)
Names of Organized Bodies
1.6 - Government Bodies. Capitalize the full proper
name of a national government body as well as the shortened
form of a proper name.*
the British Parliament, the Parliament, Parliament
the Argentine Congress, the Congress
(but the Argentine legislature, the legislature)
the French Senate, the Senate, the upper house
the Soviet Council of Ministers, the Council of
Ministers
the British Cabinet, the Cabinet, the Labor Cabinet
(but the Conservative shadow cabinet)
the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry; but a
proposed department of health, the proposed
department, various departments, several
ministries, the economic ministries, the
foreign service, the civil service
the US Government, the British Government, the
French and British Governments; but the
government (shortened form always lowercased),
* Capitalize Congressional in any reference to the US Congress (Congres-
sional elections, investigations, etc.) but otherwise lowercase this and
other adjectival forms of words referring to government bodies unless
they are part of an official name or title: Congressional [Departmental,
Ministerial] Liaison Office[r], but congressional [referring to a foreign
legislature] action, parliamentary elections, departmental policy,
ministerial reaction.
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these governments, the Callaghan government,
the Labor' government, the European governments;
the executive, legislative, Sand judicial branches
of government; the Carter administration, the
administration; the Fukuda administration
One of the lowercase formulations is usually
more appropriate when referring to a government
in a diffuse or less-than-formal sense.
The Japanese Government conferred on him the
Order of the Rising Sun.
but: Officials in Tokyo insist that the gov-
ernment alone cannot solve the problem
of trade imbalance.
He has lived in the capital and worked
for the government all his adult life.
For a subnational government body, capitalize only a full
proper name and avoid shortened forms that might be con-
fused with national equivalents.
the Maryland House of Delegates, the state
legislature [not the House]; the Quebec
Parliament, the provincial parliament;
the Jerusalem Municipal Council, the
council, municipal councils all over Israel
1.7 - Military Forces. Capitalize the full proper name
(or reasonable translations and approximations of the proper
name) of a military force or service as well as the short-
ened form of that name.
the Egyptian Army, the Army, an Army engineer;
but Egyptian artillery units; army, division,
or regiment level
the Soviet Navy, the Navy, a Navy officer;
but Soviet naval forces, a naval officer
the People's Liberation Army, the Army, the PLA;
but Chinese ground forces*
* In the USSR the service called the Army in other countries is properly
called the Ground Forces and is one of four coequal arms of the armed
forces, along with the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Navy, and the Air
Force. The term Army with an uppercase A would therefore be inappropriate
for the Soviet Union.
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the Royal Air Force, the Air Force, the RAF,
an Air Force pilot
the Strategic Rocket Forces, the SRF (not the
Forces
This rule does not apply to individual units in the matter
of capitalizing the shortened form of the name.
the 3rd Army, the army
the 7th Fleet, the fleet
the 28th Division, the division
Nor does it apply to a reference, other than a proper name,
to military services as a group, or to a general reference
to one kind of service in the plural form.
the Soviet armed forces
the British military establishment
the infantry, the artillery, the submarine forces
US naval forces
the East European air forces
the navies of the Mediterranean NATO members
but: the East German and Czechoslovak Air Forces,
the Greek and Turkish Navies [specific services
referred to by proper names in plural form (see
paragraph 1.2))
1.8 - International Organizations. Capitalize the full
proper name (and the shortened orm of an international
organization and its subelements.
the UN General Assembly, the Assembly
the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development, the Bank, the IBRD
1.9 - Diplomatic and Consular Units. Capitalize the
full or shortened name of a specific embassy, mission, or
consulate, but not those words when used generally.
the British Embassy, the Embassy, an Embassy guard
the US Mission, a spokesman for the Mission
the French Consulate, the Consulate, during
Consulate hours
but: reports from African embassies
employees skilled in consulate operations
members of diplomatic missions
US embassy guards in the Communist states
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1.10 - Political Parties. Capitalize the full or
shortened name of a political party but do not capitalize
the word party standing alone.
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the
Soviet Communist Party, the party, the CPSU
the Chinese Communist Party, the party, the CCP
the Italian Socialist Party, the Socialist Party,
the PSI
the Christian Democratic Union, the party, the CDU
the British [or Australian, or New Zealand] Labor*
Party, the party, Labor (as in "Labor's chances
for reelection")
Religious Terms
1.11 - Capitalize the names of religions, religious
bodies, and the terms for their adherents and writings.
Christianity Judaism Talmudic scholar
Methodist Church a Jew the Koran
an Episcopalian the Bible Koranic law
Catholicism Biblical text Islam
a Protestant the Talmud a Muslim
Do not capitalize such terms when they are used in a
nonreligious sense.
This style guide, which should be the bible for
intelligence writers, attempts to be catholic
in its approach to English usage.
1.12 - The terms for and titles of religious leaders
are governed by the same rules given under "Titles of
Persons." Titles are always capitalized preceding a name
and are capitalized following the name or when used alone
in reference to the person to whom the title belongs.
Bishop Alton . . . the Bishop;
but: consecration of a bishop
Rabbi Schonfeld . . . the Rabbi;
but: meeting of Canadian rabbis
Pope Paul . the Pope;
but: election of a pope; future popes
* Note that we always use, even in proper names, the American spelling
for English words spelled differently in the British Commonwealth.
(See paragraph 6.3.)
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Political Philosophies
1.13 - Communism. Capitalize the words Communist and
Communism when referring to any part, adherent, or aspect
of the Communist movement, whether referring to a form of
government, a nonruling party, or even a Communist party
.that does not have one of these words in its name. The
derivatives, including the opposites, of these words must
also have a capital C.
ruling Communist party or parties
the Communist countries
a non-Communist country
a Communist ruling party called the Socialist
Unity Party
a Communist opposition party called the
People's Party
conference of European Communist parties
anti-Communist movement
a group dedicated to anti-Communism
a pro-Communist organization
pre-Communist China
but Eurocommunism
1.14 - Non-Communist Philosophies. Capitalize in ac-
cordance with the parties' own names the words referring to
members of organized parties but do not capitalize words re-
ferring to non-Communist political philosophies and their
adherents.
a Socialist, a Liberal, a Laborite, a Conservative,
a Tory, a Social Christian, a Christian Socialist
(all party members)
A British socialist is likely to be a member
of the Labor Party.
The insurgent nationalists are hoping for
support from one of the Communist states.
The socialist parties of Western Europe
include the British Labor Party and the
West German Social Democratic Party.
The liberal parties of the EC do not all
have the word liberal in their names.
An exception is made for Christian Democracy (and for
Christian Democrat and Christian Democratic). The D, as
well as the C, is always uppercased.
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1.15 - Communist Jargon. The Communist countries and
parties often call themselves "Socialist" or "socialist."
In paraphrasing Communist statements, put such references
in quotation marks. The same applies to imperialism and
imperialist (and to anti-imperialism and anti-imperialist),
which are terms the Communists use in describing their
opponents (and those who oppose these3opponents).
Geographic Terms
1.16 - A geographic term used to denote mere direction
or position is not a proper name and is not capitalized.
north, south, east, west
northerly, eastward, western
east coast, southern France, central Europe*
1.17 - Geographic terms often become part of a
proper name for a definite region, locality, or geographic
feature and are capitalized.
the West, the East, Western countries,
East-West dialogue
the Western Hemisphere
the Continent (meaning continental Europe)
but the contiguous [or conterminous] United
States (meaning the first 48 states)
and the continental United States (meaning
the first 48 states plus Alaska)
North and South, capitalized, are often used as abbrevia-
tions of the two Koreas or to refer, respectively, to the
developed and underdeveloped nations, as in "the North-
South dialogue."
1.18 - Some capitalized geographic terms are used to
divide the world into groups of countries for purposes of
intelligence reporting.
Middle East [preferred South Asia
over Near East]; Middle East Asia [preferred
Eastern [avoid Mideast over Far East (but
and its derivatives] the Soviet Far East)]
* The C in Central Europe is capitalized in certain contexts referring
to a potential area of conflict between the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and the Warsaw Pact.
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North Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
West Africa
East Africa
but southern Africa
[South Africa refers
only to the republic]
Western Europe;
West European
Eastern Europe;
East European
Latin America
Middle America
Central America
Some countries fall into more than one category, depend-
ing on the context. In some reports, countries logically
belonging in a geographic category are grouped separately
by some other criterion, such as membership in NATO or the
Warsaw Pact. Often the Communist countries are arbitrarily
separated from the East Asia category for purposes of re-
porting economic statistics. The Arab states are frequently
treated as a group in papers on the Middle East. And the
terms Middle America and Central America are not synonymous.
Be careful, therefore, to explain any such groupings or any
deviations from normal geographic categories in a foreword,
preface, or introductory footnote. (See also paragraphs
6.21-6.23, concerning guidance in spelling geographic names.)
Nationalities, Tribes, and Other Groups of People
1.19 - Capitalize the names of racial, linguistic, tribal,
and religious (see also paragraph 1.11) groupings.such as
the following.
Amerindian
Hottentot
Mormon
Arab
Indian
Negro
Aryan
Indo-European
Negroid
Asian
Jewish
Nordic
Berber
Magyar
Oriental
Bushman
Malay
Polynesian
Caucasian
Maori
Protestant
Caucasoid
Mongol
Pygmy
Colored*
Mongoloid
Walloon
1.20 - Do not capitalize the following terms based on
racial origin, size, and local or other usage.
aborigine
animist
black
bushman (general sense) overseas Chinese
mestizo pygmy (general sense)
mulatto white
Such terms with offensive connotations should never be used.
-*-the capitalized term Colored is used in reporting on South Africa and
other white-populated areas of Africa. Except in the way it is spelled
here (see paragraph 6.3), the term conforms to local usage.
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Coined Names
1.21 - A coined name or short form
economic, political, or other grouping
for a military,
is capitalized.
the Pact (for the
Warsaw Pact), Pact
the Intelligence
Community
countries
the
Third World
the Alliance (for NATO)
the
Group of 77
the Community (ies) , the
the
New Left
EC Nine, or the Nine
the
Frontline States
the Bloc (for the
the
Gang of Four
Soviet Bloc)*
the Free World*
but the establishment
Names of holidays and religious feasts and the names used
to designate historic events are also capitalized.
the Holocaust
the Feast of the
Passover
the Depression
the Great Leap Forward
the Cultural Revolution
Trade Names
New Year's Day
the Renaissance
the Cold War
World War II
the Odtober War**
the Six-Day War**
1.22 - Trade names (see examples beginning on page 57 of
the GPO Style Manual) should be capitalized or, if inappro-
priate, replaced with a generic term.
tracked vehicles (unless they have genuine
Caterpillar treads)
fiberglass (unless it is Owens-Corning
Fiberglas)
* There is no more Sino-Soviet Orbit (or Bloc). It is risky to refer
to a Soviet Bloc, although on. rare occasions it may be appropriate.
The term Free World is vintage 1950s. Such terms should be replaced with
more appropriate modifiers: Communist or non-Communist; Eastern or Western;
Soviet-aligned; Japanese; West European; Asian Communist. (See also
paragraph 1.18.)
Capitalize the W in October War or Six-Day War because either term
as a whole is a distinguishing coined name, but 1973 Middle East war
or 1967 Arab-Israeli war is distinguishing enough without the capital
W. Avoid Yom Kippur war, which is slangy and possibly offensive. Do
not uppercase the w in Korean war, which was "undeclared"; the same
logic applies to Vietnam war.
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a copy (unless it is known to be a Xerox copy
of a Mimeograph copy)
a vacuum bottle (unless it is a real Thermos)
oxytetracycline (unless the physician specifically
prescribed Terramycin)
Sometimes an acceptable replacement is hard to find. For
example, "Ping-Pong diplomacy," the catchphrase once used
to describe the exchange of sport and cultural delegations
between the United States and the People's Republic of China,
was probably not entirely accurate even with the trade name
uppercased (something not all writers bothered to do) but
was certainly preferable to "table-tennis diplomacy." Usage
eventually pushes bestselling trademarks into the generic
language. The Merriam-Webster dictionary now lists deep-
freeze and dry ice in lowercase and may in later editions
give similar treatment to Laundromat and Linotype.
Titles of Persons
1.23 - Before the Name. Capitalize any title (or short
form of it) immediately preceding a person's name. The
plural form of the title preceding more than one name is
also capitalized. Do not capitalize the word former or the
prefix ex- in front of a title. Do not confuse a mere
description with a title by capitalizing it.
President Valery Giscard d'Estaing
Acting President Carlson, Deputy Premier Smith
Foreign Minister Gromyko
Prime Ministers Callaghan and Trudeau
Bishop Jones, Chairman Smith, Prof. Mary Brown
Mayor Black, Assistant Principal Jones
party Vice Chairman White
Chief Justice Ramirez, Associate Justice Alberti
Justices Alberti and Ramirez
former Prime Minister Gandhi
ex-President Echeverria
vice-presidential candidate Gonzalez
pianist Magda Kibordskaya
but: First Lady Ismelda Marcos
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Avoid preceding a name with more than one title. Use the
more important one first, and then the other later in the
text--if necessary, or desired for variation.
Minister of Defense Ustinov . . . Marshal Ustinov
President Geisel . . . General Geisel
1.24 - After or In Place Of the Name. To indicate'pre-
eminence or distinction in certain instances, capitalize a
common-noun title or shortened title following the name of
a person or used alone in reference to the person to whom
the title belongs. The plural form of such a title is
also capitalized as appropriate. So is the word Acting
if it is a valid part of a capitalized title. Do not
capitalize such a title when it refers to the office
rather than the individual or when it is used generally.
Do not capitalize the suffixes designate and elect.
-- Head or assistant head of state or government*
or a royal heir apparent
Valery Giscard d'Estaing, President of
France; the President; the Premiers of
Italy and France; the Premier-designate;
the Vice-President-elect; was designated
Premier; was elected Vice President; the
former Vice President, an ex-President;
the Queen of England, the Prince of Wales;
but aspire to be president, destined to be
king, a younger head of state, the new chief
of state (Note also: the First Lady)
-- Head or assistant head of a national government unit
in the executive branch and principal members of
the legislative and judicial branches
David Owen, Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs; the Acting Foreign
Secretary; the Minister of Foreign Affairs;
the Foreign Minister; a Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs; but conferred with Cabinet
ministers and secretaries of state
* Capitalize Presidential in any reference to the US President
(Presidential elections, proclamations, etc.) but otherwise lower-
case this and other adjectival forms of words referring to government
offices unless they are part of an official name or title: Presiden-
tial [Ministerial, Vice-Presidential] Liaison Office[r]; but presiden-
tial (referring to a foreign presidency] action, ambassadorial cour-
tesies, prime-ministerial caliber.
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Jack Horner, Minister Without Portfolio
the President of the Senate, the President;
the Speaker of the House, the Speaker, the
Senator, the Representative, the Member of
Parliament, the Deputy to the National As-
sembly; the Chief Justice, an Associate
Justice; but chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, the deputy chairman
-- Principal officers of party organizations in
Communist-ruled countries
Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the
General Secretary, the party General Sec-
retary; but the party secretary responsible
for agriculture, a full member or a candi-
date member of the party Politburo
-- Highest official of a first-order administrative
division under a national government or his or
her deputy
Rene Levesque, Premier of Quebec; the Vice
Premier of Quebec; the Governor of Washington;
the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; the
Acting Governor of Maryland; but a capable
premier, several state governors, the mayor
of Philadelphia
-- Highest officer in a military service or his
deputy
Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army;
the Commander in Chief
Chief of Staff, Brazilian Air Force
Deputy Chief of Staff
but: the quartermaster
commander, IV Corps
chief, G-2 (Intelligence Branch),
Army Headquarters
the general (military title standing
alone not capitalized)
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-- Principal official of an international organization
the Secretary General
the present Secretaries General of the
United Nations and the Organization of
American States
but: periodic selection of NATO secre-
taries general
-- Principal members of the diplomatic corps
the Ambassador, the British Ambassador
the Minister, the Charge, the Consul General;
but the consul
the Deputy Chief of Mission, the Counselor
of Embassy, the Economic Counselor
but: the first secretary, the military
attache, the rank of ambassador, ambassadors
at the conference (general use)
Publications
1.25 - Titles. Capitalize the first letter of the initial
word and all principal words in titles of publications (books,
newspapers, magazines, periodicals, articles, series, reports,
speeches, plays, movies, and musical compositions). Principal
words include all nouns, pronouns, verbs (including the to in
infinitives), adjectives, adverbs, other words of more than
three letters, and parts of compounds that would be capital-
ized standing alone.
1.26 - Historic Documents. This rule also applies to
historic documents--for example, to the Balfour Declaration
(but not to a British white paper)--as well as to works
of art.
1.27 - Foreign Titles. The rule does not apply to titles
that must be given in a language other than English; capital-
ization in these titles should conform to the practice in
that language.
1.28 - Shortened Titles. The above rule is sometimes
modified to apply to accepted shortened titles of some
publications and historic documents. The following illus-
trations show full and shortened titles.
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article in The Washington Post (full title)
quoted in the Post article (shortened title)
reported in The Times (full title)
from the London Times* (shortened title)
Quadripartite Agreement (full title)
the Agreement (shortened title)
Balfour Declaration (full title)
the Declaration (shortened title)
the Ruritanian Constitution (full title)
the Constitution (shortened title)
but: The 1962 Constitution was a vast
improvement over earlier constitutions.
Writers of constitutions Igeneral use]
and compilers of style guides are
kindred souls.
1.29 - Graphics, Tables, Chapter Titles. The rule
in paragraph 1.25 concerning capitalization of titles
applies to titles of graphics, tables, chapter and part
headings, headlines, and the equivalent.
1.30 - Cross-References. The common nouns used in
numeral or letter designations of chapters, parts, graphics,
tables, etc., are not usually parts of titles and are not
capitalized in cross-references.
covered in chapter III
refer to appendix B
(see figure 13)
(detailed in table A-4)
disagrees with paragraph 27
1.31 - Table Headings. The capitalization rule in
paragraph 1.25 also applies to table headings except for
abbreviations of units of measure. These are usually
given separately, following a dash or enclosed in paren-
theses, at the end of the heading and contain only those
uppercase letters called for in the standard abbreviation
(for example, kW, Mt, dB, kPa, km). Be especially careful
to use the properly specified (by GPO and other authorities)
abbreviations for metric units, in which the uppercase and
lowercase of a letter always have different meanings (for
example: K, kelvin; k, kilo; M, mega; m, meter). (See page 30.)
* The initial reference to this newspaper should always be so worded
to avoid confusion with The New York Times (and vice versa).
1-1