Disability reference articles

Writing Disability reference articles

Although A-Z Disability reference articles often deal with specialist medical content, you should write them in plain English. Guidelines for writing in plain English are explained in the chapter on Writing for our audience.

Titles

Main titles of A-Z Disability References include the title of the disability or condition. When presenting the title of the condition, note our capitalisation guidelines, in particular our preference for minimal capitalisation.

Browser titles for A-Z Disability References are determined by SEO research, which the editorial team undertakes. Browser titles often include common synonyms for the name of the health condition and/or an indication of age relevance:

Main title: Trisomy 18

Browser title: Trisomy 18 or Edwards syndrome

Main title: Neural tube defects

Browser title: Neural tube defects in babies & children

Main title: Stroke

Browser title: Stroke in children & FAST stroke signs

Short titles follow the usual rules.

Read more about Titles.

Structure

The body copy for A-Z Disability References follows a standard structure, although this might need to be adjusted for different conditions. In general, use the following as subheadings:

About [condition name]

Causes of [condition name] or [Condition name] causes

Diagnosis of [condition name] or [Condition name] diagnosis

Living with [condition name]

Support and treatment for/People who can help children with [condition name] 

The last section – Support and treatment for children with [condition name] – often includes a list of health professionals who work with children with the condition.

You won't need to use all the sections above for every Disability reference article. But the sections that you do use should usually appear in the order indicated above. Similarly, some articles will include extra sections, which should be inserted into the order in a position that makes sense.

Here are examples of articles that use the basic structure:

• Muscular dystrophy

Here are some examples of articles that add extra sections to the basic structure:

• Cystic fibrosis

• Neural tube defects.

You might also like links

Include 6 links to relevant raisingchildren.net.au content. 

External weblinks

Include links to relevant external sites, preferably no more than 6. It's often appropriate to include links to reputable and credible national support organisations or peak bodies. For example, our Acquired brain injury article includes a link to Brain Injury Australia.

Leave this field blank if there are no relevant external sites.

See our guidelines on Links and linking.

References

You must supply some relevant and recent references. Ideally, references should be no more than 3 years old. You may include older, seminal references when no recent references are available. For advice on formatting different sources, see our References chapter.

Acknowledgments

Enter any acknowledgments.

We have a standard format for writing acknowledgments. Some A-Z Disability reference articles acknowledge the contributions of organisations as reviewers, in which case follow this guideline for writing the acknowledgments copy:

Write this: raisingchildren.net.au thanks [name of organisation] for its help in reviewing this article.

Not this: raisingchildren.net.au would like to thank [name of organisation] for their help in reviewing this article.

Dates and reviewers 

Supply the Last reviewed date and Next review date. The Last updated date will be added at the time of publication.

Supply the name of the content reviewer(s).

Age range

Supply both a lower and upper age. Read more about age ranges.