This style guide contains a set of standards to help us consistently express the AmerisourceBergen brand in written materials.

To that end, this guide will both lay the groundwork for our brand voice and establish “house style” for AmerisourceBergen as an enterprise.

Please note that some style guides do exist for individual business units; materials developed specifically for those business units should follow BU style guides. However, enterprise content should be developed in accordance with this guide.

Please contact Jennifer Kemper (jkemper@amerisourcebergen.com) with any questions, concerns, or additions to this guide.

Grammar and style guidelines

AmerisourceBergen uses The Associated Press Stylebook (AP Stylebook) in the development of written materials. Highlighted within this guide are the exceptions to AP Style and guidance for the usage of industry- and business-specific terms, as well as common errors.

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340B

Capitalize the “B.” Do not use 340b.

 

& (the ampersand)

Do not use an ampersand to replace the word “and” unless part of an official title, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

 

A

academic degrees and credentials

• Do not use periods with abbreviations such as PharmD, PhD, RPh, MD, BPharm. 
• Set off with commas when credentials follow a person’s name.
  Example: John A. Baxter, PharmD, PhD

 

accountable care organization

• Not a proper noun. Use lowercase. (See acronyms entry.)

 

acronyms, abbreviations

• Spell out acronyms on first reference; follow with the acronym in parenthesis.
  Example:
  [First reference] Please contact the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). 
  [Second reference] CMS can be reached at 555.555.5555.
  
  
• Do not introduce an acronym in a heading or subheading; instead, spell it out in the heading or subheading, and follow the first reference rule within the text (see above). 
  
  
• Unless it is a proper name, do not capitalize the words from which an acronym is derived.
  Example: pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)
  
  
• Making acronyms plural: Add an “s,” no apostrophe (e.g: PBMs). The same rule applies for abbreviations ending in “s” (e.g: ICSs).
  
  
• Starting a sentence with an acronym: AmerisourceBergen style allows for a previously defined acronym to begin a sentence. Once an acronym is established, it should be viewed the same as any other “word” that would start a sentence. This avoids the disruption that readers experience when multi-word acronyms are spelled out multiple times.
  
  
• Do not use acronyms or abbreviations for AmerisourceBergen or its business units.
  Example: AmerisourceBergen, not ABC.

 

AmerisourceBergen

• One word, no spaces with a capital “B.”
  
  
• The first time the AmerisourceBergen signature is referenced in printed materials it must include the registered trademark(®) symbol, superscripted. It is notnecessary to usethe registered markin any subsequent references to AmerisourceBergen within the same material. Refer to organizations and entities as “it.”
  Example: AmerisourceBergen® does great work because it employs dedicated associates.

 

B

biologic/biological

• Use biologic for nouns; use biological as an adjective.
  Example: Biological products are a growing industry. The FDA published guidance regarding biologics.

 

brand and trade names

• Good Neighbor Pharmacy® should always appear in italics.
  
  
• Good Neighbor Pharmacy cannot be used as a possessive (e.g. Good Neighbor Pharmacy’s).
  
  
• Do not use GNP.
  
  
• The first time Good Neighbor Pharmacy is referenced in printed materials it must include the registered mark (®) symbol, superscripted. It is not necessary to use the registered mark in any subsequent references. Include registered marks and trademarks as specified by individual entities (see trademarks entry).

 

Business Coaching, business coach

• When referring to the service offered by AmerisourceBergen, capitalize Business Coaching; however, do not capitalize business coaches when referring to associates.

 

C

cancer stage

• Lowercase “stage” and use roman numerals: stage I, stage II, stage III, stage IV.
  
  
• The term “stage 0” usually indicates carcinoma in situ.
  
  
• Use letter and numerical suffixes to subdivide individual cancer stages: stage 0a, stage IA, stage IIIE+S.

 

Challenger

• Capitalize “Challenger” when referring to the selling model.

 

city, state

• Place a comma before and after the state, even if the state is abbreviated.
  Example: Our offices are located in Valley Forge, PA, at 1300 Morris Drive.

 

Co-Pay, co-pay

• Hyphenate this term.
  
  
• Capitalize when referring to a specific service offered by AmerisourceBergen.

 

comma use

• AmerisourceBergen does not use the serial comma except in instances when not using a comma before a conjunction in a series would cause confusion.

 

Customer CARE

• When referring to this group,“Customer” should be capitalized and “CARE” should be in all caps.
  
  
  

D

dates

• When referring to decades, use “1990s” rather than “1990’s” or “’90s.”
  
  
• When a date is written by month/day/year, place commas before and after the year.
  
  
• If the day of the week is mentioned, place a comma after the day of the week. If only the month and year are written, you don’t need a comma.
  Examples:
  She was born on September 15, 1981.
  She was born on September 15, 1981, on a Tuesday.
  She was born on Tuesday, September 15, 1981.
  She was born in September 1981 on a Tuesday morning.
  
  

department names

• When referencing a department or function, use lowercase. When you’re using the department’s formal title, capitalize the name.
  Examples:
  His desk is in the finance area.
  Please contact our Finance department at 610.555.5555.

 

disease states

• Lowercase disease states (prostate cancer, chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease). If the disease state includes a proper name, capitalize only the proper name: Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Alzheimer’s disease.
  
  

drug names

• Brand Name®/™ (generic name) on first mention, then Brand Name on subsequent references—unless a manufacturer or journal specifies differently.
  
  
• Manufacturers may prefer the BRAND NAME to be treated in uppercase.
  
  
• Always defer to journals regarding submissions.
  
  
• Always defer to manufacturers on work developed in partnership with them.
  
  
• Do your homework: some drugs require ™, while others require ®.

 

E

email

• Do not spell “email” with a hyphen.

 

emphasis

• Use italics for emphasis within an article rather than bold type, which is reserved for subheads, or underlining, which indicates a hyperlink
  .
• Do not use all caps.

 

event names

• ThoughtSpot®, ThoughtLeaders™ and ThinkLive™ should appear in title case without a space between words.

 

H

healthcare

• Spell “healthcare” as one wordrather than two unless directly quoting or referring to a policy or publication such as Health Care Management Review.
  
  

The Hub

• Always capitalize both words for this site name. Do not use “Hub” without “The.”

 

hyphens, dashes

• Use hyphens (single dashes) in compound words/phrases.
  Example: The audience was mostly made up of 14- to 18-year-old students.
  
  
• Use em dashes to separate out phrases—or even just a word—in a sentence.
  Example: Europe has the right idea, using the entire month of August as a holiday—taking time to wipe the slate clean, recharge and come back refreshed in September.
  
  
• Use en dashes to connect values in a range or that are related.
  Example: Price range $19.50–$35
  
  
• Compound modifiers: A compound modifier is made up of two words that together describe the noun that follows (ex: a drug-resistant bacteria). As a rule, compound modifiers are hyphenated when a noun follows the modifier. Do not hyphenate when the modifier follows a verb.
  Example: He went on a six-day vacation. His vacation lasted six days.
  
  
• In most cases, lowercase the word after the hyphen in titles and when beginning a sentence (ex: Follow-up).

 

L

THE LINK

• This site name should appear in all caps.

 

lists, bulleted

• When bullet points contain full sentences, punctuate with periods.
  
  
• When bullet points contain sentence fragments or single words, do not punctuate with periods.
  
  
• When bullet points contain both full sentences and sentence fragments, do not punctuate; however, for consistency, try to ensure lists contain either all sentences or all fragments.
  
  

M

manufacturer

• Do not capitalize "manufacturer" when referring to title/occupation.

 

N

numerals

• Spell out numbers one through nine. 
  
  
• If the sentence begins with a numeral, always spell it out.
  
  
• Use numerals for numbers 10 and above.
  
  
• References to money, years and time are numerals.
  
  
• When using a number to identify a percentage, use a numeral unless the numeral starts the sentence, and then spell it out.
  
  

P

payer

• Spell “payer” withan “e” rather than an “o.”

 

percentages

• Spell out the word percent. Don’t use the “%” symbol. Reserve the percent sign for use in infographics, slide decks, tables or technical reports.

 

phone numbers

• Do not include parentheses on either side of the area code in a phone number.
  Example: For more information, please call 610.555.5555.
  
  

pharmacist

• Do not capitalize "pharmacist" when referring to title/occupation.

 

The Playbook

• When referring to the document, capitalize “The” and “Playbook.” Do not refer to the document as “Playbook” without “The.”
  
  

prepositions, in titles

• Prepositions with 4 or more letters should be capitalized in a title (e.g. From, That, Through, Before, After, Into, With, Without).
  
  
• Prepositions with 3 letters or fewer should be lowercase (e.g. at, of, to, in, on)

 

preventive

• Not preventative.

 

PROOF points

• Always italicize the name of this internal publication with PROOF in all caps and a space between words.

 

provider

• Do not capitalize "provider" when referring to title/occupation.

 

PRxO Generics^®

• Do not use PRxO or PRxO Gen.

 

publications

• Italicize the titles of websites, books, albums, movies and television shows when they appear in copy.
  Example: According to Pharmaceutical Commerce, AmerisourceBergen is located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  
  
• Place quotation marks around the titles of newspaper/magazine article titles and research study titles. Do not place magazine titles in quotation marks or italics. 
  Example: The Wall Street Journal article, “Technology to the Rescue,”was a great read.
  
  
• TV series episode titles and short stories also go in quotation marks.
  
  

Q

quotation marks

• Periods and commas go inside quotation marks.
  Example: To quote an old proverb, “He who hesitates is lost.” 
  Not: To quote an old proverb, “He who hesitates is lost”.
  
  
• All other punctuation goes outside the quotation marks unless the punctuation is actually part of the quote.
  Example: One old proverb advises, “He who hesitates is lost”; another, though, tells that, “Haste makes waste.”
  
  

R

real-world vs. real world

• Use a hyphen when the term functions as a compound modifier before a subject (e.g. "real-world studies"). 
  
  
• Do not hyphenate when it is an adjective/noun combination (e.g. "in the real world").

 

registered mark

• Use the registered mark on the first occurrence of any registered business unit, service offering, event or product name. The registered mark should always be superscript.
  Examples include, but are not limited to, Cubixx® and Nucleus® Solutions.
  
  

S

spacing, after a period

• Use only one space after a period, not two.

specialty pharmacy

• Lowercase unless part of a proper name (e.g. CVS Caremark Specialty Pharmacy)

Star

• When referring to CMS Star Ratings, use title case.
  
  

T

titles, job titles

• When a job describes a type of job or function, use lowercase letters.
  Example: The vice president of the company took us to lunch. The web designer called me today.
  
  
• When a title precedes or follows a person’s name to help identify them, use capitalization.
  Example: Steven H. Collis, Chief Executive Officer and President
  
  
• Titles used in external publications should be spelled out, not abbreviated.
  
  

toward, towards

• Use “toward” rather than “towards.”
  Example: Please move toward the exit.
  
  

trademarks

• Use the trademark ™ symbol on first occurrence of any trademarked business unit, service offering, event or product name. The trademark symbol should always be superscript.
  Examples include, but are not limited to, ThinkLive™ and First-to-Shelf™.

U

United States vs. U.S.

• When used as a noun, spell out United States.
  Example: The prime minister left for the United States yesterday.

• When used as an adjective, abbreviate as U.S. (no spaces).
  Example: A U.S. soldier was killed in Baghdad yesterday.
  
  
• Refer to AP Stylebook for details and additional examples.
  
  

W

website

• Spell as one word.

 

website addresses

• Omit “http:” since most consumers know there is an http: in the address name.
  
  
• Omit “www.” when the website is being used as a brand name.
  Example: Visit goodneighborpharmacy.com.
  
  
• Include the “www.” if you are giving someone directions to a website.
  Example: For more information, please visit www.goodneighborpharmacy.com.
  
  
• Write out the full web address if it doesn’t begin with "http://" or "www."