Top 40 Editorial Recommendations
The following editorial recommendations are applicable to abstracts, manuscripts, slide and
poster presentations, and other information products intended for a public health audience.
A or an with initialisms: When a group of initials begins with b, c, d, g, j, k, p, q, t, u, v, w, y, or
z, each having a consonant sound, the indefinite article a is used. When a group of initials begins
with a, e, f, h, i, l, m, n, o, r, s, or x, each having a vowel sound, the indefinite article an is used.
Adhering to instructions to authors: Although adhering to the instructions to authors for your
abstract, manuscript, or presentation does not ensure the publisher’s acceptance of your
submission, failing to do so almost certainly ensures rejection. Referring to recently published
examples (always use the PDF version) helps ensure adherence to their style and helps expedite
publication after acceptance.
Adjectives and adverbs: Adjectives and adverbs are often ambiguous and should be avoided to
make your writing clear and concise. For example, what constitutes many, several, few, large, or
small to one person is something entirely different to another. Use specific numbers whenever
possible.
Among versus in: Use among when referring to groups or populations, and in when referring to
an individual patient.
Capitalization and formatting of titles: In titles or headings, capitalize all words except articles
(a/an or the) and prepositions of four letters or fewer. Always capitalize verbs, even when four
letters or fewer (e.g., Be, Was, Were, Buy, or Use), and capitalize the word to when it is part of
an infinitive (e.g., Strategies To Determine). When using title case, whether the text is centered
or not, format the wording so that prepositions (e.g., of or for), conjunctions (e.g., and or but), or
articles (a/an, or the) are not placed at the end of a line. Always spell out the word and instead of
using the ampersand, which is considered too casual for business or scientific writing and does
not translate well across electronic media.
Cases, patients, case-patients, and case definitions: A case is an event of illness. A patient is
the person who was affected by and presumably treated for the illness. A case-patient is the
person who was treated for the illness in a case-control study only. Because a case is an
inanimate object, it cannot perform human functions or have human characteristics (e.g., a case
cannot be female), nor can a case be defined as a person.
Child care versus day care: Day care can also mean pet or adult care. Instead, use child care
(always two words, never hyphenated), if only children are involved.
Colons: In text, only use colons after the words as follows or in the following. A colon should
never be used to separate a preposition from its object or after a verb (e.g., never after includes,
to, by, about, or are). Do not use a colon after a heading if the text begins on the next line.
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Combining form prefixes: The prefixes co, non, multi, re, de, pre, post, over, and under are
combining forms in American English, which means they are combined with the root word
without using a hyphen, unless the root word is capitalized. When in doubt, check an unabridged
American English dictionary or http://www.dictionary.com.
Compound mathematical expressions: Use a semicolon to separate compound or serial
mathematical expressions because each one constitutes an independent thought, with the
operational signs serving as the verbs (e.g., OR = 5.7; 95% CI = 3.2–8.8).
Deleting unnecessary spaces: Deleting any unnecessary spaces and other extraneous formatting
will help ensure accuracy of your word or character count, improve the appearance of your
document, and enhance the document's readability. For example, use only one space after
punctuation and no spaces at the end of a paragraph. To see where unnecessary formatting marks
are, on the Home menu of Word 2007 or 2010, click the ¶ icon. Submitting a clean manuscript
to the publisher also helps expedite publication. For additional explanation, see
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html.
Diagnosing illnesses, not persons: Illnesses are diagnosed, not persons, despite what you hear
on television commercials for prescription drugs.
Due to: Due to should not be substituted for because of, as a result of, caused by, traceable to, or
attributable to. The only correct use of due to is when to is part of an infinitive; for example,
“The train is due to arrive at 2:00.”
Em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens: Use em dashes (—) in titles or to indicate an interruption
in thought. Typically, em dashes have one space on either side (Exception: Em dashes in the
titles in a reference list are printed flush). In newspapers or works or fiction, the spaces are not
commonly used. Use an en dash (–) to replace to or through in number ranges. No spaces are
used with en dashes. Hyphens (-) are used to join compound words (e.g., state-of-the-art) or
phrasal adjectives (i.e., two or more words used to modify a noun) (e.g., self-reported risk
factors).
Ensure versus assure: Use ensure when you mean to make certain; assure means to provide
comfort to someone, typically through verbal communication.
Health care/health-care versus healthcare: Although certain publishers permit use of
healthcare (one word), any journal that adheres to AMA style uses health care as two words, no
hyphen.
High risk: Labeling persons, groups, or populations as high-risk people (as an adjective before
the noun) is considered insulting to those persons. When referring to people, always use, for
example, persons at high risk. In contrast, however, behaviors or actions can be high-risk.
In order to: In order is superfluous; only the to is needed.
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It or there as false subjects: When the pronoun it does not have an antecedent, it becomes a
false subject. There is an adverb and therefore cannot be used as a subject (as in there were three
cases). Although challenging at times, making the real subject prominent strengthens the
sentence substantially (e.g., we identified three cases through medical chart review). False
subjects often are referred to as expletives.
Male/female versus man/woman: Use male/female for persons aged <18 years; use man/woman
for persons aged >18 years. Use male/female when age groups are mixed.
May versus might versus can: May conveys permission; might conveys possibility; and can
conveys physical possibility. This distinction is especially important when granting permission is
illogical.
Numerals and symbols versus spelling out numbers: AMA now uses numerals for all specific
numbers except at the beginning of a sentence. Numerals and symbols always should be used for
numbers ≥10 or for any number used with a unit of measurement, including numbers one
through nine. If not using AMA style, spell out numbers one through nine when not used with a
unit of measurement (e.g., three or more cases). Spell out all numbers and symbols used at the
beginning of a sentence, or use a total of, in total, or approximately to avoid spelling out the
number and symbol.
Objective terms versus subjective terms: For clarity and conciseness, use concrete objective
terms (e.g., thorough or correct) as modifiers rather than subjective terms (e.g., poor, excellent,
or appropriate), or simply delete the modifier if the meaning is clear without it. Also, keep your
verbiage objective and free of judgmental words (e.g., forego using unfortunately).
Operational signs: To be mathematically correct, use one space on either side of operational
signs (+, –, ⎟, ⋅, ≥, or ≤); however, this does affect your word or character count.
Past-perfect tense: Use past-perfect verb tense when referring to an action that was completed
in the past before another past time or past action occurred (i.e., the action was begun in the past
and completed in the past) (e.g., the child had been vaccinated against measles).
Penultimate comma: Although not used in certain other types of writing (e.g., newspapers and
general-interest magazines), the penultimate comma (i.e., the comma before the conjunction) is
used in scientific writing to clearly distinguish items in a series. This comma often is called the
serial comma or the Harvard comma.
Period of time or time period: Only period is needed because a period is measured in time.
Personification of inanimate objects: Avoid ascribing human characteristics to inanimate
objects. For example, a figure or table cannot perform the human action of showing; a case
cannot be aged 10 years; and a policy cannot be informed.
P values: Style for P values varies widely by publisher, but the most common style is a
capitalized, italicized P and no zero before the decimal.
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Registered trade names: To avoid charges of trademark infringement, identify registered trade
names by using the trade name owner’s designated symbol (® or ™) at the first mention of the
product in the text, on each figure, and in each table or text box. Also, the owner’s name and
location should be included in parentheses immediately after the first mention of the product.
Serial independent clauses: Use a semicolon (;) to separate independent clauses in a series (i.e.,
three or more independent clauses). Using a comma instead of a semicolon in such a series
constitutes a serious grammatical error known as a comma splice.
Sex versus gender: When identifying males versus females, use sex; gender describes personal
traits (i.e., masculine versus feminine).
Should versus must: When we speak in our official capacity as federal, state, or local health
department employees, we use should instead of must so that we do not appear to be mandating
the actions of others, especially when funding is not directly attached to our recommendations
(i.e., ordering an unfunded mandate). However, using must is permissible when a federal law
requires certain actions. In those rare cases, the public law should be cited.
Significant: In medical literature, the word significant is reserved for use with statistics only.
Suggests versus indicates/demonstrates: Suggests weakens your message. Try indicates,
demonstrates, or reveals instead.
Unintentional versus accident: The term unintentional is preferred over accident because
accident implies that the incident could not have been avoided.
United States: Always spell out United States as a noun, but abbreviate it as an adjective.
Vaccine versus vaccination versus immunization: Vaccine is the agent that is administered;
vaccination is the act of administering the vaccine; immunization is the goal of administering the
vaccine or through exposure to another person (i.e., naturally acquired immunization). The three
words are not interchangeable.
Very: Never use very; it adds no value as a modifier in scientific writing.
While versus although or whereas: While means at the same time; use although or whereas to
convey contrast.
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