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“Witnessed by [signature of witness].”
(UKHSA) The terms ‘bracket’ and ‘parenthesis’ are often used interchangeably to describe either ( ) or [ ]. The Oxford Dictionaries state that these ( ) are ‘parentheses’, and these [ ] are ‘brackets’. This terminology is also commonly used in mathematics.
(UKHSA) Use numbers in round brackets for numbered citations referring to references at the end of a document (7). If more than one, include in the same bracket (7, 9, 13). If there's a range of numbered references use 'to' rather than a hyphen (14 to 16).
Britain
See 'Great Britain'.
British citizen
One of 6 types of British nationalities. See 'British people'.
Square brackets
(UKHSA) If authors need to put brackets inside brackets - also known as 'nested parentheses' - they can be square brackets. This often happens in scientific stats.
Bottles and teats sterilised with the hypochlorite solution method had lower bacterial colony counts (281 bottles [78%] and 253 teats [70%] had 5 or fewer colonies on testing) compared with the boiling method (106 bottles [46%] and 77 teats [34%] had 5 or fewer colonies on testing).
It is preferable to avoid using them, so ideally rewrite the sentence so as to avoid them. The example above could possibly be redone as a bullet list with a colon after 'counts', thus eliminating the need for square brackets. The following sentence could be rewritten to avoid the secondary brackets by either writing 'these include' before the list or converting the methods to a bullet list.
Creagh and others examined the effectiveness of different methods of sterilisation (sodium hypochlorite solution, modified sodium hypochlorite solution [not using the recommended method], boiling, modified boiling [not using the recommended method], scalding, or other) on bacterial contamination of baby feeding bottles and teats used by 100 mothers in Ireland in 1976 (6).
Creagh and others examined the effectiveness of different methods of sterilisation on bacterial contamination of baby feeding bottles and teats used by 100 mothers in Ireland in 1976 (6). These included:
- sodium hypochlorite solution
- modified sodium hypochlorite solution (not using the recommended method)
- boiling
- modified boiling (not using the recommended method)
- scalding
- other
Britain
See 'Great Britain'.
British citizen
One of 6 types of British nationalities. See 'British people'.
British British national
See 'British people'.
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(UKHSA) Link text should be the full title the full title of the target page. 'Further guidance is available at [TITLE]'.Don’t say ‘on GOV.UK’.
If linking to a GOV.UK page and using the exact title of the page, cap up the first word. So 'Find more information on the National norovirus and rotavirus surveillance reports: 2023 to 2024 season' where National is capped up to reflect the sentence case of the target page. 'Further guidance is available at [TITLE]'.Don’t say ‘on GOV.UK’.
Some links come to us including GOV.UK or www.gov.uk at the end of the link text. Delete this 1) to avoid clutter and 2) because it is assumed our links should be to GOV.UK pages.
Do not write such and such 'is available on GOV.UK', so 'Further information about norovirus surveillance and rotavirus surveillance is available on GOV.UK' should be 'Find more information about norovirus surveillance and rotavirus surveillance'.
If possibleGiven a choice, err on the side of keeping links to GOV.UK pages i.e. err away from linking to external sites.
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One space each side of symbols: +, –, ×, ÷ and = (so: 2 + 2 = 4)4)
(UKHSA) Exception for n= and p= where the number is flush against the = sign, as per standard scientific writing.
Use the minus sign for subtraction. Use the correct symbol for the multiplication sign (×), not the letter x. To do this, on your keyboard press Alt and then, on the numeric keyboard 0125.
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Do not use a space between the numeral and abbreviated measurement: 3,500kg not 3,500 kg.
(UKHSA) Is this amendable if the unit is very long, 4 characters or more...?When units are long - 4 characters and over - you can add a space to make it easier to read: 724 kcals, 20,000 cfu/ml – This also allows them to be given hovertext, which can't be done if the unit is flush against the number.
Abbreviating kilograms to kg is fine - you do not need to spell it out.
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Use Celsius for temperature: 37°C
Measurements gap
(UKHSA) GDS style guide states that units should be flush up against numbers, 2cm. Spell out on its first appearance, so 37 degrees Celsius (37°C).
Measurements gap or space
When units are long - 4 characters and over But when units are long - over 4 characters - you can add a space to make it easier to read: 724 kcals, 20,000 cfucfu/ml
But these are exceptions. Shorter units remain as per GDS such as 2g, 3cm, 5kg.
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multi-year funding
Hyphenated.
N
(UKHSA) n=
Do not use a space, so n=6.
N/A
Separate with a slash. Only use in tables.
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(UKHSA) Refer to 'the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)' on first mention, then UKHSA (without 'the') thereafter.
P
(UKHSA) p=
Do not use a space, so p=0.0005, as per standard scientific notation.
Parliament
Upper case.
Upper case. No need to explain the acronym.
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Capitalise the first letter of the first part of the scientific name. Do not use italics..
(UKHSA) Italics permissible in PDFs.
(UKHSA) Genus names are capitalised but not related illnesses, so Salmonella has a capital if it's the genus of the organism but is salmonella if the disease (TBC)(UKHSA) Italics permissible in PDFs.
seasons
spring, summer, autumn, winter are lower case.
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With all of these words you can generally replace them by breaking the term into what you’re actually doing. Be open and specific.
Read more about plain English and words to avoid.
World War 1, World War 2
Upper case and numbers.
Y
breaking the term into what you’re actually doing. Be open and specific.
Read more about plain English and words to avoid.
World War 1, World War 2
Upper case and numbers.
Y
(UKHSA) Year ranges
When an author writes 2023/24 at the very least write the years in full, 2023/2024.
Wherever possible replace the forward slash with 'to', so 2023/2024 becomes '2023 to 2024'.
If the use of 'to' leads to clutter or confusion leave the forward slashes. See National norovirus and rotavirus surveillance reports: 2023 to 2024 season.
Where possible, define what type of year it is, for example, calendar year, academic year, financial year or, in the case of some diseases (such as norovirus) the season, such as ' the 2023/2024 season'.
School year 1, year 2
Lower case.
(UKHSA) On the same basis, reception is capped down.
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