Formatting Rules & Style Guide

Formatting Rules & Style Guide

Formatting Rules

  • Client-given name on the front page
  • Use 3-letter months throughout the report.
  • Write The subject not just Subject, e.g., ‘The subject is named in an article...’ not ‘Subject is named in an article’. S should not be capitalised in the word ‘subject’.
  • Date format should be: DD MMM YYYY (21 Dec 2021)
  • Do NOT use 'seed information'; 'client-provided information' (always hyphenated) is used instead.

Font

The font should be Lato, size 11, black. By default, most templated text has this formatting, but please check if it needs correction somewhere.

To set the font as select your text → go to the toolbar at the top of the page → select font as Lato → set size as 11.

 

 

Here we can also see alignment option → choose the ‘justified’ alignment. (the highlighted box in the paragraph section in the toolbar)

Another way of setting text to justified is by using the shortcut Ctrl + J.

            

Spacing

The standard spacing in our reports must be 6pt before, 6pt after, multiple line spacing set at 1.2 For this, use the Line and Paragraph spacing option in the topmost toolbar or by right clicking your text → Line spacing options → set desired spacing in the box that appears as below:




Tables

For tables, make sure the heading is not on a different page from the sources/info boxes.

            


To do so, right click on the table header → Go to Row → select ‘Allow row to break across pages’ within options.




Alignment: The text in the table should be aligned in the centre. For this, select and right click on the text → Table properties →set alignment as Centre in the Table and Cell settings.



Can also be done via selecting text and choosing the right option from the below table.



 Splitting rows: When a subject has multiple roles/ education qualifications associated with the same organisation/institute. Add the details by splitting/adding a row in the role/course and date sections. For this, right click on the rows → Split cells → Add required number of rows.



Your end result should look like this:



Screenshots

When pasting screenshots into your report, the need to have a shadow, to add that: Paste the image → Double click on it → Picture Format → Shadow → Outer.




Format Painter

  1. To ensure all text/image looks the same, we may use the Format Painter option to apply the same formatting across texts or images. For this select text or image that has the correct formatting → On home tab select   Format Painter → The cursor will then look like the brush → Use to select target text/image.
  1. Note: Double click format painter at first instance if you want to apply formatting to multiple pieces of text or images.
  2. Can also use: Shift + Ctrl + C to copy a format and Shift + Ctrl + V to paste a format.

 

In text rules

  1.  No series comma, that is, do not insert comma before the word ‘and/or’ in a list/series: for example: This can include photographs, reviews and articles.
  2. Caveats and additional notes in grey, italic, size 10, Lato.
  3. Capitalise names, company names, months, place names, job titles, the word ‘Section’ when saying e.g., ’Further details can be found in Section 6’.
  4. Explain any abbreviations on first instance, for example:
    1. ‘The subject was a Director at The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)’
  5. Avoid informal language or abbreviations in your report, use ‘and’ not ‘&’ in sentences.
  6. Remember to update the page numbers in Section 2 by right-clicking on them, do not manually correct page numbers.
  7. 5 links for one piece of information are enough, more can be added if they relate to adverse media or a risk.
  8. A hyperlinked word must be in standard colour blue, with an underline. Carets (^) should also be in standard blue without an underline.  
  9. Prioritise hyperlinking sources that are the most credible first, such as reputed news websites over forum discussions.
  10. Social media links added to table as x.com/username not https://x.com/username.
  11. For reporting currencies, please use abbreviations like GBP, INR, AED, USD, EUR, etc., and abbreviate Million as m.
  12. Currency signs should precede the value; $5, £3,500, etc.
  13. Be mindful of thousand separators, use comma not decimals.
  14. Abbreviations for countries like UK/US can be used, however, they should be consistent across the report (that is, do not use both US and USA in the same report).
  15. Mention source name when saying subscribed sources, i.e., when information is added from a deep web source, such as SOS, MCA, etc., name the source in the writeup, instead of only leaving a direct hyperlink to the source. For LexisNexis, name the source used by Lexis (e.g. Worldbase, D&B, etc.)
    1. For example ‘According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of India, the company was incorporated on XXXXXXXX date‘.
  16. Magazine/book/journal and newspaper names should be in italics.

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