Department of Human Services - Stan

Writing style guideDepartment of Human Services

Writing style guide

Department of Human Services

Published by the Corporate Communications Unit

Victorian Government Department of Human Services, Melbourne Victoria. February 2007

© Copyright State of Victoria, 2007

This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.

Authorised by the State Government of Victoria, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Also published on http://intranet_2.csv.au/communications/writing.htm

(0491206)

� Writing style guide – Department of Human Services

Writing style guide – Department of Human Services �

Introduction 4

The publishing process 5

Writing effective communications 6

Editing 8

Departmental style 9

Capitals and italics 9

Acronyms and abbreviations 10

Acts of Parliament 10

Punctuation 11

Numbers, dates and measurements 13

Graphs, tables and figures 14

Citations and references 14

Order of a document 16

References 17

Contents


Introduction

This Writing style guide was developed to ensure consistency across all departmental publications. It is the standard reference for preparing material for publication.

The guide is based on the Style manual for authors, editors and printers (sixth edition), as recommended by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

For further information on writing, editorial style, and the publishing process see the Style manual or browse the publishing and design section of the Corporate Communications intranet.


The publishing process

A comprehensive guide to producing publications is available on the Corporate Communications Intranet site. The following is a brief outline of the steps involved.

1. Identify your communication objectives, key messages and target audience.

2. Determine the type of publication.

3. If the publication is likely to cost more than $5,000, prepare a Government Communications Review Group (GCRG) submission.

4. Prepare text, photos, tables, graphs, diagrams, acknowledgements, contact and publishing details.

5. Edit text. Corporate Communications strongly recommends you engage the services of an editor.

6. Finalise content.

7. Send to a graphic designer for design and layout.

8. Receive proofs from the designer. Return with any changes marked-up on proofs.

9. Once you have checked carefully and are satisfied all changes have been correctly incorporated, approve final proof.

10. Prepare print specifications and seek print quotes. Raise a purchase order for the selected printer.

11. Check printer’s proofs.

12. Publication delivery.

13. Archive the publication artwork.

14. Lodge the publication with the library.

15. Evaluate your publication.


Writing effective communications

It is important to begin the publishing process by assessing your potential readers’ needs and expectations to ensure the document is read and understood.

Take the time to think about who you are writing for and what you want to say, and expressing it in the best possible way for your readers.

Identify the purpose of the publication

What do you want to say and why do you need to say it? Your objectives will determine the most appropriate type of publication.

Focus on your reader

Write for your audience — not for yourself. Use words that are familiar to your audience and only use enough words to get the message across clearly.

Write simply and succinctly

• Use the active voice, it uses fewer words and is easier to read than the passive voice.

passive - The contract was signed this morning by the chairperson.

active - The chairperson signed the contract this morning.

• Generally, short, simple words will have more impact on your reader.

• Be brief. Long sentences and paragraphs can lose a reader’s attention. Short paragraphs are appealing to the eye and are absorbed more readily.

• Sentences should communicate one idea or a couple of closely connected ideas.

• Use the simplest tense you can. Using present tense avoids the clutter of compound verbs and conveys the message clearly.

Try to avoid:

• bureaucratic jargon and overuse of abbreviations and acronyms

• gender-specific words and the clumsy construction ‘his/her’ or ‘he/she’

avoid - The applicant should fill in the document using his or her own handwriting.

use - Applicants should fill in the document using their own handwriting.

• ‘and/or’ by simply using either ‘and’ or ‘or’

• verbs as nouns

avoid – reach an agreement

use – agree

• strings of nouns forming complex constructions

avoid - advanced specialist training posts in rural areas program or allied health assistant/community support worker roles.


Structure

Government documents are often text heavy and difficult to read and understand. Your readers are more likely to understand what you want to convey if ideas are presented in an uncluttered style.

You will help your reader by:

• making the main points readily apparent and grouping together all related items

• replacing blocks of text with headings, tables and more white space

• using vertical lists, which are much more appealing visually, easier to read than running text, and will make your documents appear less dense and make it easier to spot main ideas.

• using emphasis techniques to draw the reader's attention to a line or two.

avoid - USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS NOT A GOOD EMPHASIS TECHNIQUE. IT MAY GET THE READER’S ATTENTION TO THE WORDS, BUT MAKES IT HARDER TO READ.

use - bold or italics to draw the reader’s attention to important points

Accuracy

Check your spelling using an English or Australian dictionary and make sure the spell-check in Microsoft Word is set to ‘English (Australian)’. The recommended dictionary for Australian government publications is The Macquarie dictionary.

Test with a reader

Where possible, test your material before it is finalised. You will communicate your message successfully if you select the appropriate medium, content, language, design and layout for your specific audience. Usability testing determines how well your target audience has understood your message. However, be prepared to rewrite, edit or redesign if necessary.


Editing

Corporate Communications strongly recommends engaging an experienced editor to edit all documents written for an external audience.

This ensures the structure and language is appropriate for the target audience and that any spelling or grammatical errors are removed.

The editor will check that:

• the meaning is easily understood and accessible

• there is a logical structure of sections, chapters, paragraphs and sentences

• there is a consistent hierarchy of headings and that styles for captioning, quotes, citations, tables are consistent

• spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct and consistent

• plain English has been applied where appropriate

• the language, terminology and references is consistent and coherent

• the document complies with the department's writing style.

Working with an editor

Corporate Communications can provide you with the contact details of editors. An editor can give an accurate quote for their work if you supply an electronic copy of the draft text.

Email the editor a final draft (in Word) once you are satisfied with the content and obtained appropriate sign-off. The editor will return the file with suggested changes or author queries, shown in tracked changes, which you can either accept or reject.

You can ask the editor to provide a style sheet with the edited document. This is a list of style decisions for that particular manuscript.

Following editing, the document can proceed to design and layout.

The editing and design stages do take time, but are essential steps to producing a quality publication that meets departmental corporate writing and style guidelines. As a general guide, you should allow six weeks for edit, design and print.


Capitals and italicsUse minimal or initial capitals for headings, sub-headings, lists of contents and table titles and descriptors. With minimal capitalisation, only the first word of the title and any proper nouns and names are capitalised. Titles of published works, when referred to in text, are written in italics.

The state of Victoria’s children report 2005

Disability action plan 2005–08

Capitalisation within textCapitalise proper nouns.

Department of Human Services

Eastern Metropolitan Region

Darebin Community Health Service

Use lower case for the defining term of such names, even though you are referring to a specific organisation.

the department

the region

the service or community health service

Capitalise a specific person’s job title

John Smith, Director Financial Services

Generic job titles are always lower case

nurse

the executive director

minister

program manager

chief executive officer

Departmental style

10 Writing style guide – Department of Human Services

Acronyms and abbreviationsTry to avoid the use of acronyms or abbreviations in published documents. If a full title is exceptionally long and used frequently throughout a document, spell out the title or phrase for the first usage, with the acronym following in parenthesis.

The department will implement Council of Australian Government (COAG) reform initiatives. The COAG reform agenda…

An integrated care centre (ICC) provides a range of health services. There are five ICCs in metropolitan Melbourne.

The exception to this rule is when referring to the Department of Human Services. ‘DHS’ is not acceptable in departmental documents. Spell out ‘Department of Human Services’ in full, or abbreviate to ‘the department’.

When writing an acronym in full, only use capitals for proper nouns.

HACC – home and community care

SRS – supported residential services

GP – general practitioner

The abbreviations ‘i.e.’,‘e.g.’ and ‘&’ are not acceptable in published documents.

avoid – i.e, e.g., &

use - that is, for example, and

Acts of ParliamentWhen an Act of Parliament is first mentioned, use the full title of the Act and the date it was passed and use italics. Subsequent references should use roman type and may omit the date.

Children and Young Persons Act 1998 (first reference)

Children and Young Persons Act (subsequent reference)

The Act (abbreviated subsequent reference if it is the only Act referred to throughout the text).

Regulations are written in roman type.

the Pool Cleaning Regulations 1999

Children’s Services Centres Regulations 1989

Writing style guide – Department of Human Services 11

Punctuation

Bullet lists

The use of capitals and punctuation in lists depends on the type of list. Lists featuring bullet points that are full sentences, start with a capital and end with a full stop.

The following changes provided additional financial assistance and relief for low-income households in 2005–06.

• Concessions for non-mains energy and carted water were increased to better reflect costs to more than 23,000 low-income households.

• $100,000 was provided for emergency relief for asylum seekers.

• An additional $100,000 helped provide food relief through Vic Relief.

Lists that contain sentence fragments use lower case to begin each point, and a full stop at the end of the last item only.

Between 2003–05, health services showed improvement across patient flow measures, including:

• improved discharge practices

• improved bed management systems

• reduced inpatient length of stay for acute care

• reduced waiting time in emergency for an inpatient bed

• improved use operating theatres.

1� Writing style guide – Department of Human Services

Hyphens

Hyphens are used to join two words together, as in compound adjectives.

non-government organisation

community-based service

Hyphens are also used to form words that have two or more components.

re-enactment

step-parent

A term is hyphenated when used as an adjective preceding a noun.

Restaurants are now smoke free.

I prefer smoke-free restaurants.

The disability action plan will be implemented across the whole of government.

The department is coordinating whole-of-government efforts to reduce family violence.

The Maternal and Child Health Line operates 24 hours a day.

The Maternal and Child Health Line provides 24-hour advice and support.

The department does not prescribe a style for hyphenation. Use should be based on readability and be applied consistently throughout the publication.

Quotation marks

The departmental style is to use single quotation marks.

En dash (–)

Use an en dash between words indicating duration, such as hours, months or years.

October–December

1995–96

pp. 57–95

2006–07 annual report

The en dash is also used to show an association between words that retain their separate identity.

Melbourne–Sydney flight

Commonwealth–State relations

Em dash (—)

The em dash is twice as long as the en dash. Use it to indicate an abrupt change in thought or where a full stop is too strong and a comma too weak.

Writing style guide – Department of Human Services 1�

Numbers, dates and measurements • Spell out numbers one to ten, except when the number is connected to a

measurement.

• Use a space between a numeral and a measurement. For example: 3 tbsb, 15 kg, 7 cm.

• Symbols for units of measurement do not use full stops. For example: 26 ha, 80 kph.

• Never start a sentence with a numeral. Spell out the number or restructure the sentence.

• Only use the % symbol in tables, graphs or where space is limited. Spell out ‘per cent’ (as two words) when used in text.

Eighty-eight per cent of patients were admitted within the recommended time of 12 hours.

Dates and time

Item Style Correct Incorrect

Time The abbreviations ‘am’ and ‘pm’ do not have full stops.

am

pm

a.m.

p.m.

Dates From smallest to largest unit. 17 August 2007 August 17 2007

17th of August 2007

Financial year When describing a financial year, use an en dash, not a slash.

2006–07 2006/07


Graphs, tables and figures All figures and graphs need titles and each axis should be labelled. The title should describe what the graph shows or measures. The title of a graph is a product, combination or relationship of the labels of the two axes.

Graphs, tables and figures need editing for the same reasons that text does.

Always keep a database of the original data, figures, sources, labels and so on. This is also useful for the designer, as they often need to redraw figures produced on desktop software like Excel.

Citations and referencesWhichever referencing system you decide to use it must be applied consistently throughout the publication. Corporate Communications recommends the Harvard (author-date) system for in-text referencing and listing of references or bibliographies.

Books

For a book, the order within citations is:

• surname and initials of author(s)

• year of publication

• title of book (in italics)

• the edition, for example, 4th edn, if not the original publication

• publisher

• place of publication.

Adam-Smythe, Q 1978, The ANZACS, Nelson Publishing, Melbourne.

Shearman, D, Sauer-Thompson, G 1997, Green or gone, Wakefield Press, Kent Town.


Journal articles

For a journal article, the order within citations is:

• surname and initials of author(s)

• year of publication

• title of article in single quotation marks

• title of journal or periodical in italics and maximal capitalisation

• volume number where applicable

• issue number or other identifier where applicable

• page number(s).

Stove, R.J 1999, ‘Xenophobia: the great local content myth’, Institute of Public Affairs Review, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 14–16.

Blaxter, M 1976, ‘Social class and health inequalities’, in C. Carter and J. Peel (Eds), Equalities and Inequalities in Health, Academic Press, London.

In-text referencing

References in the text give the author’s name and year of publication (with page number if necessary).

Eagleson (1997, p. 7) argues that ‘plain English has a big benefit for writers—it takes less time to produce’.


Order of a document

The usual sequence for the main parts of a book is outlined in the following table. Not all publications need to contain all the items listed.

Order of a document

Item Description

Title page Title only

Imprint pageIncludes copyright and publisher details, statement of authorisation, web address.

Foreword Usually from the minister or secretary.

Contents Lists major sections or chapters and page numbers.

Lists of tables and figures

Only required if the document contains several tables and figures.

PrefaceUsually written by the author and may explain rationale for the publication and include acknowledgement of contributors.

AcknowledgementsAcknowledge the help received in the preparation of the work.

SummaryA succinct summary of the main points contained in the text. Limit to one or two pages.

IntroductionBackground to the project or initiative which normally forms part of the text.

Text Main body of the work.

ConclusionSums up the content and may include outcomes of research, recommendations or direction for the future.

Appendices Additional information to support text.

AbbreviationsAlphabetical list explaining specialist or unfamilar shortened forms.

GlossaryAlphabetical list that explains technical and unfamiliar words.

Reference list, endnotes or bibliography

Documents referred to in the text or used in preparation of text or list for further reading.

IndexA comprehensive list of contents may overcome need for an index.


References

Eagleson, Robert. D 1997, Writing in plain English, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Snooks and Co., 2002, Style manual for authors, editors and printers, sixth edition, John Wiley and Sons, Australia.

Department of Premier and Cabinet 2007, Communications toolkit, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Melbourne, viewed 2 February 2007, <http://www.commstoolkit.dpc.vic.gov.au/>