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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.