Double-digit numbers (both cardinal and ordinal) are presented in digit form, unless an exception is listed below in the Style Dictionary.
Single-digit numbers (both cardinal and ordinal) are spelled out, unless an exception is listed below in the Style Dictionary
Percent symbol (%) is spelled out as “percent,” unless an exception is listed below in the Style Dictionary.
Quotation marks are double (“), unless appearing in a title or quotation, in which case single (‘) should be used.
Em-dashes (—) should be used rather than en-dashes (-) or double hyphens (–). Text should surround em-dashes with no space on either side (A—B) rather than with spaces (A — B)
Quotations should be introduced with both hyperlinks to the original source material and attribution. They should be formatted as in-line quotations unless more than three lines of text long, in which case they should be formatted as a block quote.
Style Dictionary
Dates
Calendar dates should be used rather than the day of the week to promote article longevity.
Format dates using the entire name of the month rather than an abbreviation.
Decimals
All decimals should be presented in digit form (i.e. “7.3”).
Numbers do not need to include “.0” unless presented in a list with other numbers including decimal places (i.e. “8.0 points and 3.4 rebounds”).
Double-digit number exceptions
First words in a sentence (i.e. “Thirteen players are on the active roster” rather than “13 players are on the active roster”)
This rule is superseded by the need to have all numbers in headlines in digit form
Fractions
All fractions should be spelled out and hyphenated (i.e. “four-fifths of the time”)
Names
Write out full names of players and teams upon first reference.
Subsequent references may refer to players by only the last name, but never by only the first name.
Subsequent references may refer to teams by either the city name or the nickname.
Negative numbers
Indicate the negativity by attaching “minus” and a hyphen to the front of the number (i.e. “minus-7.3 TPA”)
Oxford/serial comma
Do not use the oxford comma to offset the final item of a list from the penultimate one (i.e. “X, Y and Z” rather than “X, Y, and Z”)
Rankings
Rankings should be presented as “No. X”.
References to multiple rankings should be presented as “Nos. X and Y”.
Single-digit number exceptions:
All numbers in headlines should be in digit form
All percentages (i.e. “7 percent” rather than “seven percent”)
Height designations (i.e. “7-footer” rather than “seven-footer” and “6’7″” rather than “six foot seven”)
Jersey numbers (i.e. “No. 7”)
Monetary sums (i.e. “$7 million”)
Playoff seeding (i.e. “They earned the No. 1 seed”)
Positional numbers (i.e. “He lines up at the 3”)
Descriptors stemming from these positional numbers also apply (i.e. “stretch-4” or “1-guard”)
Ranked items (i.e. “No. 1” rather than “number one”)
Ratios (i.e. “His 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio”)
Recruiting rankings (i.e. “2-star recruit)
Shooting statistics (i.e. “He went 2-of-6 from the field”)
Specific games (i.e. “Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals”)
Team records: (i.e. “The team is 4-2”)
Statistical Names
Spell out the full name of the statistic upon first reference and provide the abbreviation (if one exists) parenthetically (i.e. “He had a 54.4 true shooting percentage (TS%) in 2016-17”).
Subsequent references may use the abbreviation.
Times
References to specific times should be present in digit form with a colon separating the hour and minutes and either “a.m.” or “p.m.” following.
All times should have a time zone presented, and Eastern Time should be the default.
If “:00” would follow the hour, that may be omitted.
“Noon” and “midnight” are acceptable alternatives.
Military time should not be used.
Years
Years are always presented with digits, even when appearing at the beginning of a sentence.
Abbreviated years or decades should begin with an apostrophe (i.e. “the ’80s”)
Individual seasons should include the four digits representing the year in which the season began, followed by a hyphen and the last two digits of the subsequent year (i.e. “2016-17”).
This may also be abbreviated using an apostrophe (i.e. “the ’16-17 season”).
Decades should not use an apostrophe when indicating plurality (i.e. “the 1980s” rather than “the 1980’s”).
