Listed here are exceptions to AP Stylebook or Merriam-Webster online and house style for new and sometimes confusing terms
Updated May 2024
A
Alzheimer’s disease
African American, Asian American (no hyphens)
American Indian or Native American (conform to usage in cited research or source preference)
amid, among preferred (amidst, amongst in M-W as less common)
anesthesia, not anaesthesia (except in faculty titles or British spelling)
anti- close up in most cases; look in M-W and AP for exceptions and consider clarity for the reader
anticancer
Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders (AAPI second reference)
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
B
B cell (noun); B-cell (adjective)
Black, but white, brown
brainstem
C
CAR T-cell therapy, but CAR T cells
cesarean section, but C-section
COVID-19; COVID (all caps)
COVID terms: Default to long COVID. Other terms: post-COVID conditions, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), long-term effects of COVID, chronic COVID, post-COVID conditions (PCC)
CRISPR/Cas9
D
dataset
decision-making (in all uses)
Democratic senator, not Democrat senator
dengue, but Zika
DACA recipients; use Dreamers sparingly
dox, doxed, doxing
E
eastern equine encephalitis (EEE); eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE virus)
email, online, website
extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (not extremely)
F
fundraising
G
germline
google (verb); Google (company name)
H
health care, but childcare, eldercare
herpesvirus
house officer
Huntington’s disease
I
ID as abbreviated form of identify/identified/identifies in heads and decks
ID'd, but IDs
Immigrate to the U.S. [or other country]; emigrate from [country] to the U.S. [or other country]
L
LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning, plus); plus = other gender/sexual identities, such as intersex, asexual. OK to use a variant if a source requests it, in quoted material, or when writing about research that uses a different initialism
lifespan; health span; time span
Listserv (trademark of L-Soft International); use email list unless the software being used is Listserv
livestream; livestreaming
long-term; in the long term
Lyme disease
M
machine learning (n.); machine-learning (adj.)
Mother's Day (AP)
mpox (monkeypox)
N
non- close up in most cases; look in M-W and AP for exceptions and consider clarity for the reader: nonprofit
O
OB-GYN (obstetrician-gynecologist)
obesity/overweight (conform to usage in cited research or source preference)
older adult, older person/people; do not use elderly, senior citizen
opioid addiction, opioid use (not abuse), opioid crisis
organs-on-a-chip; [cervix]-on-a-chip
orthopedics, not orthopaedics (except in academic titles or British usage)
P
Patriots’ Day; Presidents Day (AP)
pediatrics, not paediatrics (except in academic titles, journal titles, or British English usage)
percent, not % (there may be exceptions for charts and the like)
phase 1, 2, 3 clinical trial (lowercase, Arabic numeral)
postdoctoral
preclerkship
pregnant woman/women; pregnant person/people; people who may become pregnant (conform to usage in cited research or source preference)
pre-pandemic
R
rainforest
reaccredit
rhabdovirus
RNA sequencing, but RNA-sequencing technique
S
sickle cell disease
standalone
State of the School Address
stem cell gene
subspecialist
suicide: do not use committed suicide; instead: died by suicide/took their own life
T
T cell (noun); T-cell (adjective)
television, not TV
they (singular, plural pronoun)
timeline
trans fat (no italics)
type 1/2 diabetes (lowercase, Arabic numeral)
U
underresourced
URiM (underrepresented in medicine)
U.S. for United States when preceding what it modifies: U.S. economy, but economy of the United States
V
versus; vs. in short expressions (guns vs. butter )
Veterans Day (AP)
vice chair, vice president
W
webpage
white, but Black
X
X-ray (adjective, noun, verb)
Z
zebrafish