Tone of voice and writing style guide
House style Please write in a clear, direct, and active style. We are a global organisation with an international audience, and many readers do not have English as their first language. We have a comprehensive style guide for editors. However, these are the most common rules collated from The BMJ, BMJ Learning, and BMJ Best Practice style guides.
Quotation marks Use ‘single quotes’ in UK English, “double” in US English—except when quoting within quotes. Use exact punctuation and spelling. Never use quotation marks for emphasis. Referring to BMJ Group and products Use BMJ Group first, then the organisation, then we/our/us. Never say the BMJ when describing our organisation. • For the journal, use The BMJ first, then the journal or our flagship journal • Use BMJ Best Practice first, then our clinical decision support tool, then the tool • Use BMJ Learning first, then Learning • Use BMJ Journals first, then journals, titles or our journals collection Referencing When listing references, we follow the Vancouver style. Reference to race The BMJ has used ethnic minority to describe Black, Asian and other non- white groups, while recognising ongoing discussions around terminology, race vs ethnicity, and inclusive language. Capitalisation for groups Use lowercase for all groups as standard. Capitalise Black and White only if the author or editorial team has made that choice. Indigenous is capitalised when referring to people, not flora or fauna. Match press or marketing material to the published article. Spacing Use one space after a full stop—never two. Time Use lowercase am/pm without full stops or spaces (eg, 8am, 10pm). Avoid formats like 08:00 am or 10 o’clock. Use an apostrophe for possessive time references (eg, 8 weeks’ duration). Years Use figures (eg, 5 years), not contractions (eg, yrs). Write decades in full (eg, the 1960s).
Lists Use lists to break up information clearly, with bullet points (no full stops). For numbered lists, use Arabic numerals with a right-hand bracket (1), 2), 3)) and separate items with commas or semicolons depending on complexity. Apply the Oxford comma in unnumbered lists and start each bullet point with sentence case, keeping sublists uncapitalised unless straightforward. Localise Use English spelling in the UK (localise) Likewise, Brazil, not Brasil (as spelt in Brazil) Use Americanised spelling in the US (localize) Naming Use inclusive terms like healthcare professionals, health professionals, or clinicians for a global audience. Numbers Numbers under 10 are spelt out, except for measurements with a unit (8 mmol/L) or age (6 weeks old), or when in a list with other numbers (14 dogs, 12 cats, 9 gerbils). Noun/verb agreement Ensure correct agreement—data are, none is, team has. Noun clusters Avoid awkward phrasing—write patient in the coronary care unit, not coronary care unit patient. Open access Write open access in sentence case, without hyphenation. (Not Open Access or open-access). Only in graphs and tables should the abbreviated form of OA be used. Percentages Use the % sign, not the word ‘percent’—only one % needed at the end of a range (eg, 50–60%). Prefixes In UK English, hyphenate most prefixes unless well established (eg, preoperative); in US English, generally no hyphen—check Merriam-Webster if unsure.
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