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AOAV: all our reports

AOAV Style Guide

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Here is our Style Guide to ensure consistency across AOAV’s research, reports, op-eds, and public statements.

1. Tone and Voice

  • Clear, formal and accessible: Avoid overly academic or bureaucratic language. Aim for informed but plain English.
  • Measured advocacy: Be unflinching in critique. Be grounded in evidence. Avoid sensationalism.
  • Victim-centred: When reporting violence or misconduct, make sure the experiences of those affected are heard.

2. Structure and Formatting

  • Title: Use strong, active titles with a focus on institutional failings or systemic issues
  • Subtitle: Add a one-sentence summary clarifying the scope or angle.
  • Executive summary: If over 5,000 words, do this. Write it up to 250 words. Include headline statistics, key findings, and a summary of implications.
  • Section Headings: If over 5,000 words use numbered sections for clarity (e.g. 1. Introduction; 2. Background; 3. Key Findings).
  • Use of bold or italics: Avoid excessive formatting. Use bold for section titles; use italics for publication names or emphasis.

3. Language

  • British English only (e.g. “defence”, “programme”, “authorised”).
  • Avoid Americanisms unless quoting directly.
  • Refer to organisations in the singular (e.g. “the MoD has failed…”).

4. Referencing

  • Hyperlink key source materials inline when possible (e.g. “As AOAV’s analysis shows…”).
  • Footnotes for supplementary data, legal references, and detailed citations. Use Harvard citation.
  • Avoid bibliographies; AOAV favours a readable format over academic referencing.
  • Harvard citation is a straightforward author–date referencing system used widely in British universities. It rests on two linked elements.
    • In the text, you insert a brief cue showing the author’s surname and the year of publication in brackets. If needed, you add a page number. For example: (Smith, 2021, p. 34). This allows the reader to see at a glance whose idea you are drawing on and how recent it is.
    • At the end of the work, you provide a full reference list arranged alphabetically by author. Each entry gives enough information for the reader to locate the source. For a book, that means: author, year, title in italics, place of publication and publisher. For an article: author, year, article title, journal title in italics, volume, issue and page range.

5. Data Presentation

  • Present key stats in the body of the text, use stand-alone charts or infographics as secondary to support the text.
  • Avoid too many bullet-point lists unless summarising findings in the executive summary.
  • Keep visual elements minimalistic.
  • Reference data sources directly in the text, ideally with hyperlinks to official datasets.

6. Visuals and Images

  • Avoid glamourising or dramatic war photography.
  • No image should include AOAV branding on the image itself.
  • Captions must always credit the source.

7. Names and Attribution

  • Author and editor must be clearly credited (e.g. “Report by Murray Jones, Edited by Iain Overton”).
  • If involving external collaborators (e.g. BBC), note editorial independence.
  • Quotes from survivors or whistleblowers should be contextualised with care. Avoid tokenism.

8. Recommendations

  • Use assertive language: AOAV urges, calls for, recommends.
  • Place recommendations at the end of each key section and again in a final “Conclusion and Recommendations” section.

9. Legal and Ethical Considerations

  • Include a short disclaimer where appropriate (e.g. AOAV does not claim illegality unless proved).
  • Invite clarifications or corrections from affected parties.
  • Avoid speculation. Use cautious language for unconfirmed allegations (e.g. “reportedly”, “alleged”).

10. Tags and Metadata

  • Always include when filing copy comma-separated tags for internal cataloguing and SEO (e.g. “arms trade, BAE Systems, Yemen, explosive weapons, corruption”).
  • As above, include a one-sentence summary (max 30 words) for internal use and press releases

11. AOAV policy on the use of Artificial Intelligence

  • Clearly, we live in the age of artificial intelligence. In some ways – leaps in medical research, trimming away the tyrannies of form fillings, helping with creative tasks – it is a good thing. In some ways – the rise of killer robots, the environmental impact of its over-use, and the endless AI slop we are all faced with – it’s not.  
  • We are not, however, luddites.  So, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) uses artificial intelligence as a practical research and editorial tool. We regard AI in much the same way as we might a good search engine, or a spell-check app, a translation tool or a filter on an image: it can make work better, faster and clearer.  But what it does not do and cannot do is replace our human judgement, claim original research or diminish editorial responsibility.
  • So, AOAV may use AI to assist with research, and this might include identifying sources, summarising information,  helping locate source material, testing hypotheses etc. But, to be clear, any information identified through AI is not treated with scepticism. All factual claims would be checked against original or reliable sources, often with multiple checks against at least two sources or forms of evidence where appropriate.
  • As such, our published research and investigations are based on original work undertaken by AOAV and its researchers. AI may assist that process, but it is not presented as the source of evidence, nor do we publish AI-generated claims without independent verification.
  • AI may also be used as an editorial tool.  For instance, this may include correcting grammar or spelling. It might be improving clarity and/or suggesting alternative narrative structures. It might be helping reorganise submissions that require substantial editing. 
  • But, as with all conventional editing, responsibility for the final published text rests with solely with AOAV. We will reserve the meaning, argument and voice of the author.  We do not generate material from nothing.
  • The one exception to this is in our article images. AOAV uses generative AI to create some illustrations and visual material. We use these tools creatively. AI-generated images are intended as illustrations and should not be understood as photographs or records of real events unless explicitly stated otherwise.
  • AI is, then, used as a tool within AOAV’s wider toolbox of research and publishing process.
  • Our central aims remain the same: original and compelling research, clearly verifiable evidence, sound editorial judgement, and transparency for and accountability in what we publish.
  • We expect our writers not to use AI to write their reports, but are happy if they use AI to inform their reports.