IFRC House Style and Guidelines
IFRC House Style: standard usage
Standard spelling
The standard spelling used by IFRC is the Oxford English Dictionary preferred spelling. This includes the -ize suffix, not the -ise one, e.g., organize; organization.
Alternative spellings, which appear in brackets in the Oxford English Dictionary, should only be used if they are part of a name, title or quotation, e.g.:
Capitalization
Overcapitalization is common and is often used incorrectly for emphasis. However, it slows down reading speed, is uncomfortable on the eye, and can appear pompous. When used online, the reader will feel that you’re shouting at them.
Use initial capitals for proper nouns and names:
Do not capitalize temporary committees, teams or units:
Capitalize the names of books, films and other major works in the usual way. Capitalize first words and all words apart from prepositions and conjunctions. These should also be italicized e.g. the World Disasters Report.
Always use lower case for rough descriptions or references.
Use upper case for definite geographical places, regions, areas, titles and countries.
Use lower case for points of the compass.
Use lower case for seasons of the year in running text.
Use upper case for seasons in the title of a publication.
Use capitals for titles of people. Use lower case when referring to the office or appointment.
Use capitals for established labels (-isms, -ists, -ites etc.).
Also use:
Hyphens
There are no simple rules for hyphens in English, but, as with capital letters, they should be used sparingly. However, there are some cases where hyphens must be used.
Hyphenate compounds when used attributively (before a noun). When using predicatively (after a noun), use space.
Hyphenate fractions (whether nouns or adjectives).
Hyphenate quarters of the compass.
Words with prefixes such as anti-, neo-, non- and pro- should generally be hyphenated.
Exceptions are:
Hyphenate all nouns formed from prepositional verbs. A prepositional verb is one which is extended or changed in meaning by a preposition. When such a verb is used as a noun, it is always hyphenated.
Hyphenate adjectives composed of two or more words.
Note the difference between simple adverbial use and the adjectival form.
Use hyphens with short adverbs only, for example, well, ill, most.
Omit the hyphen with adverbs ending in -ly.
English has evolved so that two words have combined to become one word, and some prefixes have merged into their noun or adjective. If in doubt, refer to the Oxford English Dictionary (see also: Annex 1 – Preferred spellings).
One-word nouns:
Some nouns with two hyphens:
The presence of a hyphen can change the meaning of some words and phrases:
| No hyphen | Hyphen |
|---|---|
represent (act as, stand for, fill the place of) | re-present (present again) |
resort to (turn to) | re-sort (sort again) |
the little used car (the small second-hand car) | the little-used car (the car is not used often) |
20 odd donations (20 donations that were odd) | 20-odd donations (about 20 donations) |
Some examples of words made up of two unhyphenated words:
Some examples of words made up of two hyphenated words:
Another important use of the hyphen is to mark word breaks at the end of lines. Avoid using too many word breaks as they slow down reading speed. When you hyphenate, break words into their constituent parts and avoid making unintentional words such as butt-ress.
Accents
Only include the accent on non-Anglophone words that have been absorbed into English if omitting the accent would change the pronunciation. Include the accent for café, cliché and façade, but not for elite. If in doubt, refer to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Accents should always be used on non-Anglophone names.
Prefixes
The normal rule is to use a hyphen to avoid a doubling of the same vowel:
The Oxford English Dictionary and The New Fowler's Modern English Usage both abandon the hyphen in cooperate, coordinate, but retain it in words such as co-opt where pronunciation is important.
Double consonants
Consonants are often doubled when a suffix is added:
All other consonants are doubled when the pronunciation stress falls on the final vowel before the suffix:
Note: beware of some words which are both nouns and verbs, and pronounced differently, for example, object, project. The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb on the second. Here the rule does not apply - the suffix form is objected, projecting.
Standard usage
Apostrophes
The apostrophe is used in English to:
indicate possession
indicate that something is omitted or contracted
Do not confuse it's (it is), with its (the possessive pronoun).
It's not a successful institution. Its staff members are demotivated, and it’s no wonder that its programmes are not well planned.
Use the normal possessive ('s) after singular words, but not after names that end in s:
Use the normal possessive ('s) after plurals that do not end in s:
Use the plural possessive (s') on plurals that end in s, including plural names that take a singular verb:
Although singular in other respects, the United States, the United Nations, the Philippines etc., have a plural possessive apostrophe.
Use an apostrophe for the meaning ‘worth of’.
Sometimes in modern English, the possessive is avoided by using the noun as an adjective. For example:
Both are common, but the first is preferred. The second form is sometimes used when there is no acceptable adjective.
Omission or contraction
The apostrophe is also used to show something is omitted. For formal writing, do not use contraction.
Do not put apostrophes in decades or abbreviations which are straight plurals.
Punctuation
Full stops, commas, brackets, en dashes and exclamation marks.
Do not use full stops in abbreviations and acronyms.
But one important exception is for post office box numbers in addresses.
Use full stops in lower case abbreviations such as e.g. and i.e.
Do not use full stops after titles such as:
For royal titles, use the following abbreviations:
| Abbreviation | Full title |
|---|---|
HH | His Highness or Her Highness |
HM | His Majesty or Her Majesty |
HIH | His Majesty or Her Majesty |
HRH | His Royal Highness or Her Royal Highness |
HSH | His Serene Highness or Her Serene Highness |
Do not abbreviate His Excellency to H.E., instead use the title in full, e.g. His Excellency Ambassador Mahmood.
For information on the correct protocol to use when writing about high-level people or when addressing IFRC correspondence to them, please consult the IFRC Protocol Handbook
The position of the comma can change the meaning of a sentence:
Use commas after expressions of time when they begin a sentence:
Do not use a comma before ‘and’ in lists (the Oxford Comma):
But the Oxford Comma should be used where appropriate to ensure what you have written makes sense:
The Oxford English Dictionary describes parenthesis as “a word, clause or sentence inserted as an explanation or afterthought into a passage which is grammatically complete without it, and usually marked off by brackets, dashes or commas”.
Use commas for a routine, weak parenthesis:
To mark a strong but unemphatic parenthesis, usually to explain rather than to comment, use round brackets:
When the parenthesis forms part of a sentence, the full stop comes after the second round bracket (as here).
(However, when the whole sentence is a parenthesis, as here, then the full stop comes before the second bracket.)
For a parenthesis that is added by the writer or editor, either to explain or to comment, use square brackets:
To mark a strong and emphatic parenthesis, to comment rather than to explain, use dashes:
Do not use exclamation marks in non-fiction writing. However, it is acceptable to do so if reporting the shock – or joy - of a community member supported by the IFRC network.
Colons
Use a colon to separate a general statement from specifics, usually putting the general statement first.
Use a colon before a whole quoted sentence, but not before a quotation that begins mid- sentence:
Use a colon for antithesis or contrasts.
Colons are also used to introduce bulleted lists and numbered lists.
Bulleted lists and numbered lists
Lists that are not whole sentences should start with lower case. Do not add full stops, semicolons or commas at the end of each bullet. Instead, use a full stop at the end of the final bullet to indicate the end of the section. Such lists should start with either all nouns or all verbs. Do not mix nouns and verbs.
In lists that include infinitive verbs, ensure ‘to’ appears before the colon (not semicolon) and is not repeated each time.
The regional conference is an opportunity to:
identify and analyse major challenges
coordinate Red Cross and Red Crescent action
involve at-risk communities
tackle social exclusion and discrimination.
Use bullet points not numbers unless the number of items is relevant, e.g.:
Such an approach constitutes three main elements:
ensuring effective, evidence-based subsidies
enhancing market access
strengthening the links between science and policy.
If lists are whole sentences, start each item with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
The study highlighted the following issues:
Strategy 2030 has encouraged greater focus on community-based responses.
A regional or sub-regional focus and support network has been successful in some areas.
There is a high degree of donor dependency and a lack of effective marketing.
Dates, time, numbers, measurements and currencies
Dates
Use the British date format, not the US one. Format dates in the following order and style: day, month, year.
Not 2nd May 2024 or 12th August 2023 or August 12, 2023
Note: 10.12.23 means 10 December 2023 in Britain and 12 October 2023 in the United States.
Do not use figures for dates.
When using a date range with a preposition, use ‘to’ and not an en dash.
Write out date ranges in full, using a hyphen to separate the years.
Use: the 2010s, a woman in her 30s, their 33rd birthday.
When writing about centuries, spell out to tenth century and use figures from 11th century onwards.
Time
Use the 24-hour clock written as 16:30 (not 16h30 or 16.30).
Numbers
Write out in full numbers up to ten.
Use figures for numbers from 11 and above.
Use figures for numbers below and above ten in the same sentence.
Use figures with percentages.
Use figures for sums of money.
Use figures for resolutions and articles.
Use figures for the results of a vote.
Use figures with the words million, billion, etc.
Never start a sentence with a figure. Write the number in words or turn the sentence around.
Write out in full numbers used figuratively.
Write million in full. Use billion to mean a thousand million. Do not use “mio” to represent “million”.
Use commas with numbers of four digits and over in general text.
Use figures for decimals, using a full stop.
Hyphenate fractions and spell out in words.
Use common fractions or percentages rather than decimals where possible.
Write per cent, percentage. In tables, use the % sign to save space.
Do not use Roman numerals. Not everyone is familiar with them and their use is unnecessary. However, there are situations where convention requires them to be used, e.g. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Measurements
Except when the specific context demands it, use metric forms in the English spelling.
When writing out measurements, the figure should be followed by a space then the unit of measurement.
When using the abbreviated form, there should be no space after the figure.
Currencies
IFRC works in Swiss francs and uses this currency in its documents and publications. Where necessary, e.g., for a particular audience, you can include a conversion of the amount in US dollars, euro, or a local currency.
Note: never use the symbol ‘$’ on its own to represent the US dollar, as this could be confused with the currencies of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand. For greater clarity, write out in full, e.g., 750,000 Canadian dollars.
Leave a space between the currency and the amount.
If using CHF in a table, add a footnote explaining CHF = Swiss francs.
For less common currencies, use the full name with the abbreviation* in round brackets at the first mention.
The abbreviation should be used thereafter, followed by the amount.
*Refer to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) list for currency names and their associated three-letter codes.
Italics and quotations
Italics
Italics are used for the titles of publications. Use sparingly if writing for the web – italicised text is read with a strong emphasis, just as text in all capitals is perceived as shouting.
Use italics for the titles of books, newspapers and publications, plays, radio and television programmes, and films. If the definite article (the) is part of the title, then this should also be italicised.
Use italics for the names of IFRC publications and documents. However, a distinction needs to be made between publications and documents, which take italics, and policies, guidelines and initiatives, which do not.
Quotations
IFRC style is to use double quotation marks.
Whether the punctuation at the break comes within the quotation marks or outside is determined by the punctuation in the original statement.
Quotations within quotations take single quotation marks.
References and bibliographies
Published works should be listed in alphabetical order. Examples of IFRC style for references and bibliographies, covering a range of different types of sources, are listed below. Follow the formatting given, depending on the type of source quoted.
For books:
For articles in journals and magazines:
For newspaper articles:
For news reports:
For official papers and reports:
Place names
Countries
Use the English form in the IFRC Directory, which includes the correct formulation in English of National Society names.
Cities and other places
Use the standard English spelling, not the original language.
Collective nouns
Some English writers use a plural verb after some nouns with a collective sense, for example, "the government are…“. Do not imitate. If the sense is a single entity, use a singular verb. This is true for all governments, companies and organizations.
For the word ‘number’ itself.
but
Titles
Because national usage varies so greatly, do not use titles if possible. On second mention, repeat the person's full name or use the personal pronoun.
IFRC departments and job titles
In general, use lower case when referring to the specific names of departments.
Use lower case when referring in general terms to the role or function of a department.
Use lower case when referring to the department in general terms.
Use capitals for job titles when writing out the person’s name, followed by their job title.
When referring to their job title in passing, use lower case.
Miscellaneous points
That or which?
Use ‘that’ in defining clauses.
Use ‘which’ in informative clauses.
As a general rule, if a clause cannot be deleted without removing information essential to the sentence, preface it with ‘that’. If the information in the clause can be omitted without rendering the main clause meaningless, then preface it with ‘which’.
Never use ‘that’ or ‘which’ to refer to a person.
Avoid the unnecessary use of ‘that’.
Forward slash
Fewer, less
For countable nouns, use ‘fewer’.
For non-countable nouns, use ‘less’.
Ampersands
Web addresses
When writing for an online audience, add a hyperlink to the text so that readers can click through.
Use a full stop after a web address when this appears at the end of a sentence.
Email addresses
A person’s name is not always apparent from their email address. When quoting an email address as a contact, use the person’s name as well as the address. Add a full stop when the email address appears at the end of a sentence. E.g.:
This applies to print as well as online. However, online, the email address can be presented as a hyperlink.
Trade marks
A trade mark is a brand, symbol or word registered and protected by law to safeguard a manufacturer’s product or intellectual property and prevent competitors and others from using it, e.g. Fibreglass, Land Rover, Scotch Tape.
Do not use trade marks unless they are important to the text. Use a generic equivalent instead.
Over, more than
Use ‘more than’ rather than ‘over’.
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