It’s important to ensure the consistent application of stylistic policy throughout submissions.
Positioning of Punctuation Relevant to Brackets
As with commas and apostrophes (covered in Part Two), if the bracketed material is a complete sentence, then the punctuation mark attaching to that sentence (e.g. full stop, question mark) should be placed inside the brackets.
“There will be occasions within the broader planning phase when this type of facilitation will be necessary. (However, we anticipate that these will be infrequent.)”
If the bracketed material is a phrase or, for example, a book/document title, the bracket closes directly after the final letter.
“The workshop series will not conclude until we have produced what we all agree will be the final version of that document (i.e. the National Business Development Strategy 2014/15).”
Numerals
In any narrative text, adhere to the journalistic treatment of numbers and figures i.e. from one to nine write the word, and above nine use the figure.
For example:
There were three blind mice, not 3.
There were 10 green bottles, not ten.
But the company’s shares had increased from 9.5 cents to 11.5 cents at close of trading yesterday.
In this latter case, there exists a rough rule:
Numbers used in an arithmetical or technical sense are treated numerically, particularly if there is a progression from single figure digits to tens and hundreds.
Another exception: If you have to start a sentence or a paragraph with a number, spell it out. “Seventeen people jumped from the building”, not “17 people”.
Where a figure qualifies or defines a measurement, the numeral should be used, even in cases where the figure is less than 10. For example: 9.5 metres, 3 degrees Celsius.
Do not add a comma before the final three noughts of a figure e.g. write “1000”, not “1,000”.
When dealing with money-based millions, write “$36 million” or “$36m”. Not “$36,000,000”, “$36 M”, or “$36M”.
Symbols in Body Copy
In general, don’t use symbols in body copy.
This is a general rule rather than a hard and fast one, because there will be isolated instances in which a symbol may be either necessary or appropriate. But, as a rule, spell it out.
For example, don’t use “%” in text; spell it out.
Hotly avoid the use of the ampersand (&) in body copy; this comes across as lazy (and it is).
However, ampersands in headings and upper-hierarchy subheadings are acceptable, and often preferable – in order to avoid a long and clunky headline or subhead.
Abbreviations
In general, avoid abbreviations unless the word is unfamiliar when spelled out in full.
However, this too is a general rule rather than a hard and fast one, because some industries’ bids (e.g. construction/engineering) contain such a lot of repetition of certain words (especially measurements) that to spell these out in full in every instance would produce clunky, visually uncomfortable writing.
One unbendable rule, though, is that the full word must be written at its first appearance.
Common Abbreviations
Million (when a monetary measure) m $36m
Kilometre km 1km
Metre m 2m
Centimetre cm 3cm
Millimetre mm 4mm
Kilogram kg 1kg
Gram g 2g
Milligram mg 3mg
Senior Snr John Jones Snr
Junior Jnr John Jones Jnr
am/pm No gaps or points 7am
Christmas No abbreviation; not Xmas
Horsepower hp 5hp
Miles per hour mph (no solidus) 50mph
Kilometres per hour kmh (no solidus) 80kmh
Dates Do not abbreviate months September 12
(Month first; no “th”, “st” or
“nd” after
Number.)
