Category: Style and Editorial

Context: This is an excerpt of a much longer general usage style guide I developed for the Australasian Podiatry Council during my time there as a sub-editor, member resources officer and communications officer. I wrote it after I identified that there was no existing, current style guide. It applied to all content produced by the APodC but particularly to the Podiatry Bulletin, of which I was sub-editor. This guide was prepared after a process of extensive consultation with all levels of management and my colleagues.

Outcome: The guide is representative of both Australian best practice and managerial/organisational requirements and was adopted enthusiastically by the organisation. It has guided the sub-editing of the Podiatry Bulletin since it was implemented.

[Note, below is an excerpt only]

ITEM	RULE	EXAMPLE/S
Acronyms	Should be written out in full in first instance, followed by the acronym in parentheses.For subsequent references the acronym only should be used.Exception: lengthy documents divided into separate chapters/sections, where one section may be read in isolation. Acronym should be introduced at beginning of each section.In a longer document a list of the acronyms should be included.Full stops should not be used in acronyms.	During the year the Australasian Podiatry Council (APodC) improved its operation.Next year the APodC will improve even more.The APodC CORRECTThe A.Pod.C. WRONG
Apostrophes	Apostrophes are frequently and unnecessarily misused.Despite some common misconceptions, correct apostrophe usage is clearly defined: In contractions (Is not becomes isn’t) To express ownership (It was Harold’s wallet) except with the gender-neutral pronoun “it” as in (the man’s dog seemed to chase its tail) With plural possessives, the apostrophe is usually placed outside the final “s” but with nouns whose plurals are formed irregularly (eg Men, Children, Women) the apostrophe is placed before the “s” (eg The Children’s Bach) Apostrophes should not be used: In plural nouns (“banana’s” and “orange’s”) In dates (“The Belle of the 90’s”) Apostrophes may be used very specifically to form exceptional plurals where the lack of apostrophe might cause ambiguity (“Mind your p’s and q’s”)	The man’s dog seemed to chase its tail CORRECT The man’s dog seemed to chase it’s tail WRONG The Girls’ Own Annual. The Children’s Bach CORRECT International Womens’ Day WRONG The greengrocer sold banana’s and orange’s for 20 cents a pop WRONG
En and em rules	There are two types of dashes, also known as rules – the en rule and em rule. The APodC prefers to use the en rule. Ensure that en rules are used and not hyphens. Except in certain instances (see Dates) the en rule is always “open” ie spaced on both sides. The en rule can be used to signify a change in the direction of a sentence, or it can replace a colon or semicolon. It may also be used in place of parentheses. The en rule is also used to separate job titles from places of work or departments. Avoid using hyphens instead of dashes. A hyphen (-) is the shortest line and should only be used for hyphenating words. An en rule (–) is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em rule. An em rule (—) is the longest dash	Regulations cover staff for specified types of transport – including qualifications and clinical accreditation. CORRECT (open en rule) Regulations cover podiatrists–including qualifications and clinical accreditation WRONG (unspaced – or closed – en rule) Regulations cover podiatrists-including qualifications and clinical accreditation. WRONG (hyphen) Regulations cover staff for specified types of transport—including qualifications and clinical accreditation. WRONG (em rule) Head of Podiatry – Royal Melbourne Hospital CORRECT from 2005 to 2006; from 5 August to 17 September CORRECT from 2005 – 2006; from 5 August – 17 September WRONG
Font (Typeface)	For all Web and some print applications (documents 10 pages or less) the APodC uses the gothic font Arial as its default. NB on Mac platforms Arial generally displays as Neue Helvetica. For longer documents (11 pages or more) the APodC uses Palatino/Palatino Linotype as its default serif font. Note Arial is APodC’s default display font, which means it is used for Titles and all Headers (excepting some sub-heads that are rendered in body text style) irrespective of document length. In effect, Palatino is a font for body text styles only. NB business letters are to be rendered in Palatino.
Language – U.S. v British English	In almost all cases, the APodC uses British English except where convention dictates Australian usage. For instance, “ize” endings are still acceptable in Oxford spelling, but Australian convention tends to prefer “ise” in all cases. U.S. spelling and conventions may be retained when directly reproducing quotes from U.S. sources. These should be appropriately referenced or indented, if appropriate.Where possible, however, longer extracts should be styled for Australian audiences.	Organisation CORRECT Organization WRONG Realise CORRECT Realize WRONG Colour CORRECT Color WRONG Programme CORRECT Program WRONG NB However, “program” is always used in relation to computer programs.
Styles and templates	Styles All but the most informal documents or personal memoranda should be styled, that is to say, text hierarchies (for instance headers, opening and body paragraphs) should be formally assigned a style within Word. This ensures, amongst other things: consistency across the whole the whole document vis-a-vis font, language etc. documents, particularly longer ones, are easier to edit and update stylistic changes can be speedily applied to existing documentation, should an organisation change. Styles are inbuilt in the APodC templates, and may be accessed by selecting the “Home” or “Format” tab, depending on the version of Word you’re using. Templates Client-facing documentation, for example business letters, internal communications (for instance memoranda to MA) requires use of the APodC templates. These ensure stylistic and visual consistency and are essential from a public relations and branding perspective.

Miscellaneous Issues

Client vs. Patient

Client must never be used in lieu of “patient” particularly when the condition under consideration is life threatening. Be mindful of using the word “client” outside of explicitly commercial settings.

Indigenous issues

According to the Australian Government Style Guide, the most precise term for Indigenous Australians is “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.The APodC uses this expression in formal contexts but in most circumstances generally abbreviates to “Indigenous” or “Aboriginal”, differentiating Torres Strait Islanders where necessary. NB Both words are always capitalised when used in this context. Torres Strait Islanders are a discrete racial and cultural group and must never be simply conflated with mainland Indigenous peoples. Aborigine, with or without the “Australian” prefix, has lost considerable ground to “Indigenous” and “Aboriginal”. It is therefore (whilst not offensive) not a favoured term.Avoid using local terms for Indigenous groups such as “Koorie” as they can be a cause of some controversy between different nations. “Black” can be a politically charged term in the context of Aboriginal issues and should generally be avoided. In the unlikely event of references to colonial history, the early colonists are to be referred to as British or where known, Irish. “European” is an imprecise term. When in doubt, consult to ensure that your discussion of historical events is accurate.

 

Context: I drafted this checklist for VicRoads when I was working for the Web Consultancy firm Bullseye. We were engaged to audit the then VicRoads Website and provide consultancy around developing more Web-friendly content. I edited their Web content extensively and provided this editorial check list to help the in-house Web writer develop better and more consistent content. 

Outcome: VicRoads and the in-house Web writer responded very well to this checklist and to my editorial recommendations, and the guide was implemented as part of the Web refresh project.

Stylistic and Structural

• Choose active constructions over passive. Passive constructions are where a sentence’s grammatical subject serves as the object, receiving the verb. Here is an example of a passive sentence: “In 1853 an Act for making and improving roads in the Colony of Victoria was passed by the colonial government.” A more active formulation reads “in 1853 Victoria’s colonial government passed an act to make and improve the roads.” Active constructions tend to be less wordy and confusing than their passive equivalents. They also emphasise the role of the verb in the sentence.
• Keep the style verb–centric. The user is interested in actions and a logical structure. The clearer and stronger the verb form and the less encumbered by noun phrases, the more effective in terms of speedily conveying meaning. Nominalisations (where the verb is turned into a noun) can burden a clear prose style with nouns and noun phrases. For example “VicRoads is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of road rules”  can be re-cast in a more verb-centric way: “VicRoads must implement and enforce road rules”
• Governmental style. Users will be unsympathetic to dry, bureaucratic prose. Where possible rewrite government PR in a more accessible and user-friendly way.
• Order ideas logically and chunk text where appropriate. For instructional writing users will tend to look for higher-level tasks and their related dependencies. For more conceptual writing users will expect like to be grouped with like. Thus, related concepts should be broken into easily-digestible chunks and grouped together. Processes should also be grouped chronologically where appropriate.
• Condense text where possible. The Web does not allow fast or extensive reading. Where possible condense large sections of text into smaller chunks. Favour shorter sentences over longer ones and pithier paragraphs over wordy ones. Use bullet lists, subheads and tables to aid this process.
• Keep summary text at the start of pages as pithy and descriptive as possible. Users are unlikely to dwell too much on summary text also too much summary information will lead to repetition.
• Use plain language. People with varying degrees of literacy and English proficiency use the web. Content needs to be cast in so that it is easily-understood by as wide a range of users as possible.
• Do not patronise readers. Information should be presented as simply and concisely as possible but not in a way that insults the reader’s intelligence. Superfluous information, self-evident statements and repetition can potentially insult and alienate the reader.
• Australian usage consistently prefers ‘our’ endings in words like ‘colour’ and ‘honour.’ Ditto ‘ise’ endings where the North American favours ‘ize’ in words like ‘digitalise’ and ‘organise.” Keep regional style consistent and refer to the Macquarie or Australian Oxford if in doubt.
• VicRoads is always used adjectivally so is rendered as ‘VicRoads’ even when it would normally take a genitive apostrophe
• ‘Licence’ is the preferred Australian usage
• Bullet lists (except full sentences) are not capitalised and only the final point takes a full stop. In the case of a full sentence punctuate as normal with an initial capital and full stop. Where possible try not to place fragments and full sentences in the same bullet list. Also ensure that if the bullet point continues a sentence that the full sentence makes sense when read as a whole.
• Do not place a comma between a subject and its verb or between a verb and its direct object.
• Always spell out acronyms first, with the acronym in parentheses. You may use an acronym as often as you like, provided the user can access the full rendering with ease.
• Hyperlinks should be coloured consistently and underlined. If the hyperlink is to a document (PDF, video file or Word file) indicate the type and size of the document.
• Keep hyperlinks descriptive, for example don’t just write “click here”
• Nouns and their verb/pronoun forms must agree. If you wish avoid gender-specific language user ‘his or her’ or re-cast so thatpronouns can be avoided altogether.Do not use constructions like “If a person wishes to change their licence details…”
• Hyphenate compound adjectives.
• Do not capitalise common nouns. Only capitalise nouns if they are proper nouns or refer very specifically to concepts or institutions, for example ‘the commonwealth vs. ‘The Commonwealth of Australia.’
• Keep editorial voice consistent, for instance use “you” or “we” or “they” consistently throughout a given page and do not shift mid-page.
• Do not split infinitives.  For added emphasis writers often wedge adverbials between infinitives. For example the infinitive “to go” could be rendered as “to ponderously, meaningfully and boldly go” [adverbials bolded for emphasis]. In practice few writers insert enough adverbials between an infinitive to compromise the clarity of a sentence but it’s a construction that tends to provoke instinctively hostile emotions.
• Do not append an ‘s’ to acronyms to form plurals, also do not use apostrophes for plurals
• Capitalise ‘Internet’ but do not capitalise ‘web,’ except in the form of ‘World-Wide Web’
• Do not use a comma before ‘and.’
• Use genitive apostrophes consistently and correctly. Genitive apostrophes or apostrophes of ownership are chronically misused. The rules are fairly simple:

Editorial

o   Add an apostrophe and an ‘s’ to the noun to form the genitive, for example ‘My aunt’s pen was on my uncle’s writing desk’

o   If the noun already ends in an ‘s’ modern usage favours simply adding an apostrophe without an additional ‘s’ at the end, for example ‘We went home by the Jones’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Jones weren’t at home.’

o   For plural nouns add an apostrophe after the final ‘s for example’ ‘It was the boys’ last chance to see their sick grandmother”

o   For nouns that form plurals in an irregular way (i.e. without simply adding an ‘s’) and an apostrophe and an ‘s’ for example: ‘The children’s holidays were spent by the sea’

• Avoid over-used Latinate expressions. Expressions derived from Latin, for instance ‘prior to’ and ‘via’ have gained currency in business writing but create an overly-corporate or legalistic tone. Where appropriate these expressions should be replaced with plainer, English equivalents.
• ‘Practice’ is the noun form and ‘practise’ is the verb.
• Do not use title case for headings and subheads. Only capitalise the first word of a heading or subhead.
• keep spacing and point size consistent
• ensure that information is current and flag potentially out-of-date data.

General

• keep spacing and point size consistent
• ensure that information is current and flag potentially out-of-date data.