If you are a student, researcher, or professional writer, then I am pretty much sure that you are aware of different English style guides. Every style guide for English serves a different role. Usually, students and writers are aware of the MLA or APA writing style, but there are only a few who are aware, can recognize and write The Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook. First, let me introduce you to The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). It is a much larger and detail-oriented work mainly due to the breadth of its envisioned spectators, including those from the modern mystery author to the doctor inscribing articles for their medical journal. It also includes the disquiets of editing the work and setting out the various articles by publishers. Larger parts of Chicago writing are dedicated to citing other sources, reference lists, and bibliographies.
Conversely, AP Stylebook distresses itself with a much smaller group of writers as compared to CMOS. It concerns itself for those who make newspaper copy and those writers who work for public relations and informational news releases for the public. The citation of APA source is taken much contrarily in news media when the final creation is done. You must have understood that there are various differences in both the CMOS and AP style. Here are the other comparisons in both the styles explained on different features.
Punctuations
| Category | CMOS | AP |
| Comma | In all instances, a serial comma is used | Serial comma is not used in simple series |
| Etc./like/so forth/such as | A comma is not required after such terms except it is required grammatically. | AP still proposes a comma after such terms. |
| Either/too | If either or too is at the end of the sentence, then a comma is not required | A comma is required only to provide clarity. |
Capitalizations
| Category | CMOS | AP |
| Mid-sentence, questions, or interpolated | Capitalize the question, but a quotation mark is not required | Similar to CMOS |
| Bullet Points | Items, which are not a full sentence may or may not be capitalized | Capitalize the first word in every sentence |
| Unusual capitalization of brand, trademark, or company name | Maintain the organization’s chosen capitalization form | Capitalize brand’s name when it is required |
Numbers
| Category | CMOS | AP |
| General numbers | Spell out numbers from zero to one hundred | Spell numbers from zero to nine and then write in numeral form from 10 and above. |
| US phone numbers | Use 1-800-444-9561 or (1-800) 444-9561 | Only use 1-800-444-9561 |
| Hours time | Use a colon for clarity | – |
Abbreviations
| Category | CMOS | AP |
| US | Don not use the period between the letters | Except headlines use period |
| Months | The months will be written as: Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. | The months will be written as: Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. |
Spelling and Other Precise Words
| Category | CMOS | AP |
| A hyphen is not required | Write email | |
| Decision-making | Add hyphen for both noun and adjective | Always add a hyphen |
| Their/they | In formal writing do not use a singular pronoun | In limited cases the use of the singular pronoun is acceptable |
| versus / vs. / v. | In most of the writing, spell the full word versus. In headlines, use vs. and in court cases use v | Similar to CMOS |
Formatting
| Category | CMOS | AP |
| Foreign phrases and words | Use italics unless the word or phrase appear in a standard English dictionary. Remember not to use italics for foreign proper noun. | Special treatment is not required for standard English dictionary. |
| Emphasizing the text | Italics are required in print of formal prose. | Use roman type in news stories. |
Both CMOS and AP are different from each other. These are two of the most popular style guides for professional writers. They both serve a different role and from the above paper you’ll learn about some crucial updates to Chicago and see comparisons of its instructions with AP style. It is advised to read and understand all the differences between them before starting writing so that you can prepare a well formatted content and acquire good grades at your university level. We hope that this article will help you in acquiring all the required information regarding CMOS and AP.
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