Language Style Sheet
Utilising a consistent language style throughout a publication improves a publication’s readability. The NBA
Language Style Sheet is a guideline, for NBA staff and external agencies editing NBA publications, on the
preferred language style of the NBA. The style sheet has been adapted in part from the Australian
Government’s
Style manual for authors, editors and printers and covers the essential elements of language,
grammar, spelling and punctuation expected of NBA publications. For more comprehensive information
please refer to the Style manual.
The spelling of words in the style sheet is as per the accepted dictionary of the Australian Government and
NBA, the
Macquarie Dictionary. A hard copy of the dictionary is available from Corporate Services or
alternatively can be accessed online by NBA staff. The spelling of brand names is as stipulated by the
manufacture.
Abbreviations:
For
days:
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.
For days when space is limited:
Su M Tu W Th F Sa For
months:
May, June and July not abbreviated
Other
months:
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
For
states:
NSW Vic. Qld WA SA Tas. ACT NT
e.g.
(not
eg)
etc.
(not
etc).
Brackets:
(definitions, comments, clarifications, additional information or asides)
[editorial insertions] e.g. [sic]
<email and web addresses> e.g.<http://www.ag.gov.au/cca>
Bulleted Lists:
no ‘and’ at end of each bullet point
no semicolons between bullet points
full stops at the last bullet point only (except when the list is a series of sentences then full stops at the
end of each sentence)
initial capitals if dot-points are full sentences.
Capitals: Capitalise full titles. However when titles are abbreviated to just the generic element for subsequent
references, leave them uncapitalised:
Initial reference
Subsequent references that retain
generic elements only
the National Hepatitis C Action Plan…
…the action plan
the Department of Finance and Administration…
…the department
the Australian National University…
…the university
the National Blood Authority…
…the authority
the Australian Government…
…the government
If the title is abbreviated but retains some non-generic elements, keep the capitals:
Initial reference
Subsequent references that retain
non-generic elements
the
Department of Finance and Administration…
…a matter for Finance
the
National Gallery of Australia…
…the National Gallery
the Commonwealth of Australia…
…the Commonwealth
Capitalisation of the generic element of a title is still used in legal writing such as contracts. For example:
Initial reference
Subsequent references in legal
writing
the
Criteria for the Clinical Use of Intravenous
…the Criteria
Immunoglobulin in Australia (‘the Criteria’)…
National Blood Authority Language Style Sheet
There are some words used in connection with government and legislation that are always capitalised to
distinguish them from their generic meaning. These are:
Generic words that remain capitalised when
Generic words that remain capitalised
government context applies
when legislative context applies
- the
Cabinet
- Act
(s)
- the
Treasury
- Ordinance(s)
- the
Crown
- Regulation(s)
- the House (meaning either parliamentary
- Bill(s)
chamber)
- the Budget (but not as an adjective or when
plural –
budget provisions, the budgetary
process,
successive federal budgets)
Currency: $4, $4.40, 60c
Dates:
5 September 1996 (not
5th September 1996)
condensed form when date span in same decade (
1997–9; but
1990–2000)
En dash* not hyphen between year ranges (
1997–9 not
1997-9).
Grammar: ‘An’ versus ‘a’ rule:
‘an’ is used when the first sound of the following word is a vowel sound (whether the first letter is a
vowel or not) e.g.
an elephant,
an hour,
an honour, etc.
‘a’ is used when the first sound of the following word is a consonant sound e.g.
a helicopter,
a hotel,
a
union,
a university, etc.
Italicise: titles
of:
books and periodicals (
The Australian)
reports
(The
Initial Australian Haemovigilance Report 2008)
films, videos, and television and radio programs (
Four Corners)
legislation and legal cases (the Western Australian
Young Offenders Act 1994 – in this example only
the actual title name is italicised)
scientific names of animals and plants
technical terms and terms being defined
letters, words and phrases being cited
Numbers:
Numbers over 999:
commas if for non-European audience (
20,000)
no commas for European audience (
20 000).
Use words for one to nine (
one dog) and digits for numbers ten and above (
365 days) except:
when there is a series use digits consistently (
3 cats, 6 dogs and 14 sheep)
when the number is the first word of a sentence use words consistently (
Twenty-three people
accessed…).
En dash* not hyphen for number ranges e.g. page numbers (
p102–8 not
p102-8).
Punctuation:
Single quotation marks are recommended for all Australian Government publications.
Double quotation marks are then used only for quotes within quotes.
No full stops or spaces with initials.
Tables & Figures:
Initial capital for each item in each column.
Column headings aligned to the left.
Table titles are displayed above the table and figure titles are displayed below the figure.
Time: 6pm, 6.45pm.
* The shortcut on the keyboard for an en dash is CTRL + NUMLOCK + - (minus key)
National Blood Authority Language Style Sheet
A
Aboriginal and Torres Islander peoples (noun - collective)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (noun – individual)
aboriginal – refers to the original inhabitants of other countries (in Australia must be capitalised)
abridgement (not
abridgment)
acknowledgement (not
acknowledgment)
admitted (not
admited)
ageing (not
aging)
albumin
Albumex 4 (brand name)
Albumex 20 (brand name)
anaesthetics (not
anesthetics)
anaesthetist (not
anesthetist)
analogue (
analog only used in technical writing)
anaemia (not
anemia)
apheresis
appal (not
appall)
Appendixes (not
Appendices)
Attorney General (singular)
Attorneys General (plural)
Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS)
Australian Red Cross Society (ARCS)
autologous
B
benefited (not
benefitted)
Biostate (brand name)
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
(the) Budget (not
the budget)
budgeted (not
budgetted)
buffy coat
C
cancelled (not
canceled)
catalogue (
catalog is used only by librarians)
Ceprotin
CMV immunoglobulin
CMV immunoglobulin-VF (brand name)
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
colour (not
color)
Commonwealth (not
commonwealth)
cooperate (not
co-operate)
coordinate (not
co-ordinate)
criteria (singular)
criteria (plural – used only in scientific writing)
criterion (singular – used only in scientific writing)
cryo-depleted
cryoprecipitate
CSL Limited (CSL)
D
data (singular)
data (plural – used only in scientific writing)
datum (singular – used only in scientific writing)
(the) Deaf community – refers to people with no hearing (
see hearing impairment) Democrats (not
democrats)
(people with a) disability (not
the disabled)
dispel (not
dispell)
E
elderly (not
older)
e-book (not
ebook)
e-business (not
ebusiness)
email (not
e-mail)
encyclopedia (not
encyclopaedia)
National Blood Authority Language Style Sheet
enrol (not
enroll)
enthral (not
enthrall)
expel (not
expell)
F
federal government (capitalised in full formal titles only)
FEIBA (brand name)
Fibrogammin P (brand name)
fire-fighter (not
fireman)
foetus (not
fetus)
fresh frozen plasma (FFP)
fulfil (not
fulfill)
G
government (capitalised in full formal titles only)
Governor-General (singular)
Governors-General (plural)
granulocytes
Greens (not
greens when referring to the political party)
gynaecologist (not
gynecologist)
gynaecology (not
gynecology)
H
haemophilia (not
hemophilia or
hemophillia)
haematology (not
hematology)
haematologist (not
hematologist)
haemovigilance (not
hemovigilance)
(
people with a) hearing impairment – refers to a range of people, from those with limited hearing to those with
no hearing at all.
Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin-VF (brand name)
hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG)
hyper immune globulins
I
Independents (not
independents when referring to the political party)
Indigenous – broad term covering all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
indigenous - refers to the original inhabitants of other countries (in Australia it must be capitalised)
install (not
instal)
instil (not
instill)
Intragam P (brand name)
intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg)
IVIg (not
IVIG or
IVig)
J
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Jehovah Witness patient
judgement (not
judgment)
L
Labor (not
labor, Labour or
labour when referring to the political party)
Leucodepletion
Liberals (not
liberals when referring to the political party)
M
marketed (not
marketted)
media (singular)
MonoFIX-VF
N
nucleic acid testing (NAT)
NAT (not
NAT testing)
NEXGEN (brand name)
none (plural e.g.
none of them are prepared… not
none of them is prepared…)
normal immunoglobulin
Normal Immunoglobulin-VF (brand name)
National Blood Authority Language Style Sheet
NovoSeven
O
Octagam (brand name)
P
paediatrics (not
pediatrics)
paediatrician (not
pediatrician)
paralleled (not
parallelled)
parliament (capitalised
in full formal titles only)
Parliament House (not
parliament house)
per cent (not
percent)
plasma derived factor VII (Pd FVII)
plasma derived factor VIII (Pd FVIII)
plasma derived factor XI (Pd FXI)
police officer (not
policeman)
protein C
protein S
Prothrombinex-HT (brand name)
R
recombinant factor VII a (rVIIa)
recombinant factor VIII (rVIII)
recombinant factor IX (rIX)
Recombinate (brand name)
regretted (not
regreted)
Rh (D) (brand name)
Rh (D) immunoglobulin
Rhesus (Rh)
S
Sandoglobulin (brand name)
(the) Senate (not
the senate)
spokesperson (not
spokesman)
state government (capitalised in full formal titles only)
T
targeted (not
targetted)
tetanus immunoglobulin
Thrombotol-VF (brand name)
(the) Treasury (not
the treasury)
U
up-to-date (when describing a verb e.g. up-to-date account)
up to date (when describing a noun e.g. the document was up to date)
V
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)
venesections
von Willebrand’s disease
W
well-known (not
well known)
WinRho (brand name)
Y
young people (not
youths)
Z
zoster immunoglobulin (ZIG)
Zoster Immunoglobulin-VF (brand name)
National Blood Authority Language Style Sheet
Tips for writing in plain English
Use everyday words that readers will understand.
Be precise – avoid unnecessary words that distract from the main points.
Vary sentence length, but keep to an average of about twenty two words.
Active voice where possible:
Active voice
Passive voice
The chairman signed the contract this morning.
The contract was signed this morning
by the chairman.
Our maintenance section will investigate the
Further investigation will be required
cause of the electrical failure.
to determine the cause of the
electrical failure.
Engage with the audience by using personal pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘you’.
Use verbs instead of constructions based on nouns derived from verbs e.g. use ‘explain’ rather than
‘provide an explanation’ or ‘apply’ rather than ‘make an application’.
Avoid double negatives e.g. not unlikely.
