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Guides

NCCPE Communications House Style

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  1. Language and spelling
  2. Inclusive language
  3. Punctuation
  4. Numbers and dates​
  5. Accessible formatting
  6. Referencing
  7. Image permissions and copyright

This page outlines the written style guidelines for NCCPE Communications

updated on 21 Feb 2025
3 minutes read

Language and spelling

  • All NCCPE Communications are written in British English. For authors without English as their first language, extra support will be given where needed. 
  • Authors should consistently adopt British spelling conventions (except in quotations from other sources, where the spelling convention of the original should be retained). 
  • Avoid any jargon or acronyms without explanation, even if it is common language for the NCCPE. E.g. “National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA). NCIA is…”​ 
  • Where possible, avoid using time-bound references, e.g. ‘The 2023 Engage Conference’. ​ 
  • Define amounts where possible, to avoid using vague statements. E.g. ‘40% of participants’ instead of ‘a number of participants’. ​ 
  • Don’t use ALL CAPS. It’s shouting!​ 
  • For page titles and subheadings, use Sentence case rather than Title Case.​ 

Inclusive language

  • Pay attention to language, terms or references that might cause offence or perpetuate the exclusion of any marginalised group 
  • Be mindful of examples and references used, to ensure a diversity of organisations and engagement approaches are being included 

Punctuation

  • Use hyphens sparingly: when they are included in a title, needed to join two words, or where the hyphen helps the structure of the sentence​. Hyphenation must be used consistently throughout your text. 
  • Avoid using long sentences with several commas. Split them out into shorter, more concise sentences.​ 
  • Punctuation should consistently follow British conventions (except in quotations from other sources, where the punctuation convention of the original should be retained). British style uses single inverted commas, except for quotations within quotations (which have double inverted commas). 

Numbers and dates​

  • Spell out numbers up to but not including 10.​ 
  • Dates should be formatted as Tuesday 16th August 2017.​ 
  • Times should be formatted as 09:00 – 17:00.​  

Accessible formatting

  • The body of the content should be structured in a logical and easy to follow manner, using subheadings to create appropriate sections. 
  • Introduction text should present an overview of the content, giving a summary of the contents and major themes. It should provide non-specialists in the subject with an understanding of the topic and a background to the main focus of the content. 
  • Provide descriptive/ALT text with all images and illustration 

Referencing

  • When including a citation within the text, a refence list should also be included at the end of the content.  
  • In-text citations should write out ‘and’ in full (e.g. Smith and Smith, 1994), and use ‘et al.’ for more than two authors.  
  • The list of references should contain only those works cited in the text. Each entry on the list of references must correspond to at least one citation in the text.​ 
  • In the list of references, give the names (surname and initials) for all authors – do not use ‘et al’.​ 

Image permissions and copyright

  • Authors are responsible for determining the copyright status of images or other media items included in their content and, if necessary, obtaining permission to share it.  
  • Details of copyright and permissions status must be submitted along with content, including details of who holds the copyright; proof that the copyright holder has given permission to use the image; documentation that shows subjects have given consent for the media to be used on NCCPE channels. 
  • For stock photos or illustrations, details must be supplied that show the license or sharing conditions of the image have been met. 

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