NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
The NCBI Style Guide [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Center for Biotechnology Information (US); 2004-.
Before beginning any writing project, review the guidelines for plain language. These guidelines will provide the foundation for your writing project.
Begin your writing project with a short list of topics to cover; more ideas will come to you once you've taken this small step.
The brief pointers in the bulleted list will help you now and later.
- Prepare your materials for presentation to an international audience.
- Use common words, where possible, but be precise.
- Use a combination of active and passive voice.
- Present text, tables, graphics, and other materials clearly, concisely, and consistently.
- For the Web environment in particular, divide your thoughts into manageable sections.