Style guide

Preserving a consistent style and tone of voice across all our communications helps maintain the integrity of the NIHR and makes generating content a simpler process.

The guidance in this section of the comms site sets out our key points to follow to ensure we are consistent across our communications.

For anything not covered in this guide or the gov.uk style guide, please contact the content group: nihr-content-team@nihr.ac.uk.

Style guide contents

• The voice of the NIHR

• Applying the tone of voice

  • Plain and active English

  • We or the NIHR?

  • Get straight to the point

  • Simplifying terms and language

• Styling and grammar - key style points common in NIHR text

  • Acronyms and initialisms

  • Bullet points and lists

  • Lists with a lead-in line

  • Full sentence lists

  • Capital letters

  • Dates and times

  • Numbered lists

  • Numbers, results and percentages

  • Quotes and speech marks

  • Writing about ethnicity

  • Writing about funding

• Common terms and inconsistencies to address

• Writing about social care research

• Referencing