Percent or %

When to use the word percent and when to use the figure? This one is easy peasy.

Use the word percent in just two instances:

1. If it's on its own (we were looking for the percent of…)

2. If there is a number that precedes it that is the first word in a sentence (Four percent of the children liked chocolate).

Other than if the number is the first word in the sentence, percentages will always be figures. This means that, other than in the two situations above, you'll always use the symbol for percent.

Let's look at fo' real examples:

Only 1% of the population has a "genius" IQ, one of 140 or higher.

Thirteen percent of the world's population lives in deserts, which account for about one-third of the Earth's land surface.

Check out APA (sixth edition) p. 118 for the official rule.

Easy peasy!