Updates to the University of Minnesota Editorial Style Guide

As you are likely aware, the breadth of the University of Minnesota’s reach can make it challenging to communicate in a unified voice to our audiences both within and outside of the University of Minnesota. That’s why a central Editorial Style Guide is so important, to serve as a guiding resource for marketing and communications professionals across the University. 

Informed by a committee of communicators from across the University of Minnesota, the Editorial Style Guide underwent a major update in 2025 to help unify our collective voice.

New change for 2026

For many years, the University of Minnesota Editorial Style Guide has recommended use of Chicago Style for editorial writing and AP Style for media writing. 

Moving forward, we're shifting that recommendation to use AP Style for all marketing and communications writing. 

Why AP Style?

• Clarity and consistency: AP Style is best for writing news, magazine articles and public relations materials where clarity, consistency and brevity are essential. It is the standard for journalism in the United States and is also used by many businesses for general communications and marketing. 
• Alignment between marketing and communications: AP Style is currently the recommended style when writing for the media. By transitioning to AP Style across all writing sources, we are able to more seamlessly translate between media writing and marketing communications. This also ensures our writing supports journalists who adapt our marketing stories for publication.
  
  

This change has been applied to our Editorial Style Guide as of today. Moving forward, we request that communicators make this shift in the content you develop for marketing and communications purposes. We have compiled a spreadsheet that outlines key differences between Chicago and AP Style to help you make this shift. 

What about academic writing?

Faculty and staff who engage in academic writing (research papers, preprints, summaries, classroom content) should continue to follow the appropriate style guides required by their academic subject areas. This shift to AP Style only applies to marketing and communications content engaging a broader audience beyond academic use. 

Questions? Please reach out to Susan Hagen ([email protected]) with any questions regarding these updates.