Editorial Guidelines

Style Guide

A style guide is a set of content rules that covers grammar, language, formatting and tone. It helps give your audience consistency, which builds loyalty and trust. 

In general, both UW and UW Medicine follow the AP Stylebook, available through the UW Libraries.

Capitalization

In general, avoid unnecessary capitalization.

Headlines

• Capitalize the first word and any proper nouns.
• Capitalize the first word after a colon.
• Use single quote marks in headlines, never double.

Bullets

• Capitalize the first word in a bulleted or numbered list.

Academic titles

• Lowercase titles following names (Barbara Jung, chair; Barbara Jung, professor of medicine).
• Uppercase titles before names (Department Chair Barbara Jung).

Departments

• Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name.
• Capitalize formal department or division names (Department of Medicine, Division of X).

Names

• Use a person’s first and last name the first time he or she is mentioned. On second reference, use only last name with no title.

Degrees

• Use an apostrophe and spell out academic degree (e.g. master's degree).
• Use abbreviations for degrees only when including after a name (Barbara Jung, MD).

Acronyms

Try not to use acronyms

• Spell out the first time then use a generic term, e.g. "the society" or "the center."
• If necessary, spell out the first time followed by the acronym in parentheses, e.g. The Center for Teaching (CFT), and then refer to it as "the center" in references after that, instead of the acronym.

Punctuation

• Use a single space after a period.
• Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each bulleted section, whether it is a full sentence or a phrase.
• Don’t use a comma before a conjunction in a simple series.
• Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence.
• Avoid using parentheses when possible. If parentheses are required the rules are: If the parenthetical is a complete, independent sentence, place the period inside the parentheses; if not, the period goes outside.
• Quotations:
  • Single quotation marks should be used only for a quote within a quote (and headlines).
  • Do not use quotation marks for word emphasis.
  • The period and the comma always go within the quotation marks. The dash, semicolon, question mark and exclamation point go within the quotation marks when they apply to the quoted matter only. They go outside when they apply to the whole sentence.

Numbers and dates

• Write out numbers one through nine, and use numerals for 10 and higher.
• Use the percentage sign when paired with a numeral, with no space, in most cases (e.g. 5.1%). In casual uses, use words rather than figures and numbers (he has a zero percent chance of winning).
• Spell out the name of a month when it is used without a specific date. Abbreviate months with six or more letters if they are used with a specific date. Spell out months with five or fewer letters (March, April, May, June, July).
• Use March 4, not March 4th (don't use st, nd, rd or th).
• When a phrase lists only a month and year, spell out the month and do not separate month and year with commas.
• Use a.m. or p.m (with periods).

WRITING FOR THE WEB

The following guidelines are meant to help you write for the web, but the basic principles apply to all forms of communication. 

Be concise

​On average, web users read only 20 percent of the words on a page. Think "scanner" not "reader".

• Use short paragraphs with one or two ideas.
• Do not copy/paste from print items to put on a website, edit the material.

Try cutting a long page of text in half. Then try it again. 

Example:

Here is an example of editing your word count from 24 to 8:

• Volunteers at University Faculty Housing Service render a useful service to new and visiting university faculty and staff requiring short or long-term housing.  (24)
• The University Faculty Housing Service helps new and visiting faculty and staff find housing.  (14)
• We help new and visiting faculty and staff find housing.  (10)
• New to Seattle? We’ll help you find housing.  (8)

Use headers and bullets

Headings

• Break up blocks of text.
• Help readers find sections of the page that are most interesting to them.
• Make the page visually approachable.

Bullets

• Make it easier for the user to scan.
• Create white space on the page.
• Make your copy shorter.
• Keep related items together.

Use images

• Images + text increase comprehension by 400%.
• Articles with supporting images get 94% more views.

Put your most important information first

• Put the most critical information in the first sentence.
• Add supporting information.
• Add background information.

3-30-3 rule

Expect that your audience will:

• Make a 3-second scan of the titles, teaser headlines, images.
• Take 30-seconds to read sub-headings, bullets, first sentences, call-out boxes.
• Spend no more than 3-minutes reading deeper into the content.

Be clear and direct

• Use common words and plain language.
• Avoid unnecessary description.
• Avoid jargon, metaphor, hyperbole.
• Avoid the passive voice, use active words  - e.g. Dr. X gave a gift (active) vs. A gift was given by Dr. X (passive).

Back it up

• Show, don't tell.
• Use examples.
• Provide evidence to support your claims.

Proper use of link text

Use links to send readers to other pages of your site to get more information.

When you add a link to your pages, always use the natural language of your text as the link, rather than inserting “click here” or the full URL. The link text should describe the link destination.

Among the reasons to write good link text, this makes it easy for users to scan pages for information, especially users employing screen readers.

Good version, using natural language:

We offer a variety of fellowship training opportunities in our 11 subspecialty divisions.

Bad version, using “click here”:

Click here for information about our fellowship training programs.

Worst version, using the full URL:

For information about our fellowship training programs, go to this page: https://medicine.uw.edu/education/fellows/programs-by-specialty

Writing for the web about research 

The ability to write for lay audiences is becoming increasingly important for scientists.

Why write for lay audiences?

1. Commitment to public engagement
2. Help inform the public to better understand the research
3. Transparency
4. Accessibility

Jargon

Scientists often use jargon to make sure they are accurate; however, lay audiences tend to find jargon confusing and difficult to understand.

How do you know if you are using jargon?

Want to know how well you did? Use the De-Jargonizer to find out. This automated program will assign your words to one of three categories:

• High-frequency/common words
• Mid-frequency/normal words
• Jargon/rare and technical words

Plain language

Plain language means you are communicating in a way that is understandable and direct. Everyone benefits from plain language, even scientists. Your web page is not an academic paper. You can provide a link to your paper.

• Be concise/focus on what is important
• Use common, everyday words
• Use the active voice
• Keep it brief!

Readability

• You can use readable.io to test the readability of your writing. For a general audience, aim for a grade level of 8.
• Have both peers and lay audiences review your text

Think mobile

• Clear, concise language works better on small screens
  • Goal: present as much on-screen information as possible without requiring the user to swipe or tap.
• Start strong
  • A bold title and compelling first sentence are even more essential when writing for mobile users.
• Write short sentences
  • Even if your readers are interested in the research, they can quickly become fatigued with long sentences.
• Use images
  • Eye-tracking studies show that mobile users look at images more than they look at text.