Formatting PATH documents

PATH’s reports use 10-point Arial font for the body text of Word documents, with 0 points before, 6 points after, and line spacing of multiple 1.2.

Bulleted and numbered lists can help emphasize and organize a series of items by setting them off from the text. Bulleted lists are for items that are presented in no particular order. This is the most common format used at PATH. Numbered lists are reserved for items that are sequential, chronological, ranked, or counted.

Introduce bulleted and numbered lists with a statement that ends in a colon, regardless of whether the introductory statement is a complete sentence. Each item in the list should be in sentence case, be grammatically parallel, and follow naturally from the introduction. Make sure each item in the list is followed by a period (full stop), unless all items are extremely short (one or two words). In PowerPoint, it is acceptable to forgo end punctuation for bulleted items, regardless of length.

PATH style is for bullets to be left-aligned with the preceding text. Here’s an example:

Our project has two main components:

• Providing women with education and information so they can make informed decisions.
• Ensuring that women who undergo treatment are satisfied with the services they receive.

Captions, legends, and keys contain explanatory information about a photograph or other graphic element (e.g., a figure, illustration, or table) and are placed below the photograph or graphic element. Standard practice is to use a font size that is smaller than the surrounding text. Captions are most commonly used to describe photographs. Legends and keys are used to define abbreviations in a figure, illustration, or table and provide further information. Captions end with a period (full stop). For legends and keys, use your best judgment regarding terminal punctuation. All abbreviations in a caption, legend, or key should be spelled out, even if they have already been defined in the text.

Credit lines, which are similar to photo credits, are adapted from or source statements for figures, illustrations, and tables. A credit line comes after a caption, if any. Format the credit line according to the guidance found in the References section, followed by a comma and the figure or table number from the original source. Here are examples:

• Adapted from World Health Organization. Control and Elimination of Plasmodium vivax Malaria: A Technical Brief. World Health Organization; 2015, Figure 1.2.
• Source: World Health Organization. Control and Elimination of Plasmodium vivax Malaria: A Technical Brief. World Health Organization; 2015, Figure 1.2.

If you obtained permission from the copyright holder (as required), begin the above statements with Adapted with permission from or Reprinted with permission from. Here are examples:

• Adapted with permission from World Health Organization. Control and Elimination of Plasmodium vivax Malaria: A Technical Brief. World Health Organization; 2015, Figure 1.2.
• Reprinted with permission from World Health Organization. Control and Elimination of Plasmodium vivax Malaria: A Technical Brief. World Health Organization; 2015, Figure 1.2.

Do not treat a credit line as a reference (i.e., do not tag it with a superscript numeral; do not repeat the information in a reference list).

Figures

Figures demonstrate trends in data (charts and graphs) or integrate data with images (maps, timelines, illustrations). In general, do not use figures to display simple relationships that can be easily described in the text. Figures should be readily understandable to a reader skimming the text; this means that, in general, abbreviations should be spelled out in the figure or in a legend below the figure.

See Captions, legends, and keys, above.

Tables

Tables can be used to present data that are too complicated or too long to describe in words. Do not use tables for unimportant information or basic lists. Keep tables as simple as possible. The more stylistic flourishes, the less effective the table; for example, bold text, if overdone, can become the norm and be overlooked.

Numbering figures and tables

Number figures and tables sequentially within a document, each starting at 1 (i.e., the first figure will be Figure 1; the first table will be Table 1). Not all documents require figures and tables to be numbered. Shorter, less technical pieces with fewer graphics may not need it.

Introducing figures and tables

Introduce figures and tables prior to their location in a document, thus orienting and alerting the reader to these elements. There are many ways to do this—for example:

• Project sites were distributed in three regions of Africa (Figure 1).
• Several potential scenarios exist (see Figure 2).
• Results for each country are displayed in Table 1.
• The figure below shows …

Formatting figure and table titles

In PATH documents, place figure and table titles above the figures and tables. Note that academic journals sometimes place figure titles below figures; consult the journal’s author guidelines.

In PATH documents, place a period (full stop) after the figure or table number, if using (e.g., Figure 1.), and at and end of the title, which should be in sentence case.

Titles should describe the contents in detail. For example, Figure 1. Results of malaria testing during antenatal care visits in Kisumu, Kenya, 2020 to 2021. is much clearer than Figure 1. Results of testing.

Do not include figure or table titles within the figure or table itself. Instead, type the title in Word above the figure or table. This allows for easy renumbering and editing of titles, and a consistent look.

Microsoft Word tip: Use the Styles function (on the Home tab) to format figure and table titles if you wish to autogenerate lists of figures and tables in the front matter of a document.

PATH’s report templates contain five heading levels: PATH section title, PATH heading 1, PATH heading 2, PATH heading 3, and PATH heading 4.

Each level has two options:

• For the PATH section title, that option is the TOC Heading. In documents using PATH section titles, this feature allows you to create a table of contents with a heading that looks the same, stylistically, as the other section titles but will not be pulled into the table of contents when it is generated. Be careful to use the TOC Heading style only for the table of contents heading. (Information on how to create a table of contents can be found on the Microsoft support website.)
• For headings 1 through 4, there are numbered versions.

The size and spacing of the five main heading levels are as follows:

• PATH section title (and TOC Heading): Arial 18-point red regular type with a section break before and a red line above it (from margin to margin), 0 points before, 18 points after, and line spacing of multiple 1.2.
• PATH heading 1 (and PATH heading 1 numbered): Arial 18-point bold type, with 24 points before, 6 points after, and line spacing of multiple 1.2.
• PATH heading 2 (and PATH heading 2 numbered): Arial 14-point bold type, with 12 points before, 6 points after, and line spacing of multiple 1.2.
• PATH heading 3 (and PATH heading 3 numbered): Arial 11-point bold type, with 12 points before, 6 points after, and line spacing of multiple 1.2.
• PATH heading 4 (and PATH heading 4 numbered): Arial 10-point bold type, with 12 points before, 6 points after, and line spacing of multiple 1.2.

When one heading directly follows another, the spacing between them should be the larger of the two options. When a page break is used before a heading, the spacing above the heading should be omitted.

PATH’s report templates also contain preset styles for body text, bulleted lists, and more. See PATH Central (Brand Resources > Guidelines & Templates) for all of PATH’s templates.

For a document that will not be accessed electronically (such as professionally printed document), remove the underline from hyperlinks.

Italics are used for contrast. They indicate emphasis and mark specialized types of text. Italics are most often used at PATH for:

• Words referred to as words—for example:
  • PATH tries to avoid using at-risk to describe people and communities.
• Non-English terms that do not appear in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.
• Genus and species names. Note, however, that only the genus name is capitalized: Haemophilus influenzae type b. And if the genus is used in the plural (e.g., streptococci instead of Streptococcus pneumoniae), neither italics nor an initial capital is used. When genus and species names are part of an italicized title, they should not be italicized.
• Titles of published works. But note: Italicized titles in the text may differ from how the same titles are handled in a reference list. See References for more information.

The formatting of punctuation adjacent to italicized text should match the predominant formatting of the surrounding text—for example:

• Lymphatic filariasis is caused by infection with three types of parasitic worms: Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, or Brugia timori. [Colon, commas, and period (full stop) are not italicized.]
• Only two Plasmodium species (P. vivax and P. ovale) form dormant hypnozoites in the liver. [Parentheses are not italicized.]
• Women’s Stories, Women’s Lives, a PATH publication, makes a powerful case for cervical cancer screening. [The comma in the title is italicized; the comma following the title is not.]

Do not italicize non-English project names (e.g., Entre Amigas).

For most documents, PATH recommends turning off the Hyphenation feature in Word. (Select the Layout tab | Hyphenation | None.) This will ensure that words with more than one syllable that do not fit at the end of a line are moved to the beginning of the next line, rather than hyphenated.

For documents using end-of-line hyphenation, editors and proofreaders should check for awkward division of words. Use Merriam-Webster’s dictionary to determine where words can be broken at the end of a line.

Whenever possible, avoid dividing:

• A word with fewer than six letters.
• A word between pages or between columns.
• A word in a way that is awkward (e.g., school-master is better than schoolmas-ter).
• Words at the end of more than two consecutive lines.

Also avoid:

• Breaking a line before the last word of a paragraph.
• Dividing items that clearly belong together (e.g., breaking between Chapter and 2 or 8:00 and a.m.).
• Dividing a person’s title and name (e.g., breaking between Dr. and Nanthalile Mugala).
• Breaking a line between a number and the item it quantifies (e.g., breaking between 25 and countries).

Microsoft Word tip: To keep two words together in a document, insert a nonbreaking space using Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar. This will keep the words on either side of the space together and is preferred over hard returns, which can cause awkward breaks if the document changes.

Pages are numbered consecutively from beginning to end. In front matter, you may use lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii). If you choose to use lowercase Roman numerals for the front matter, the main text begins with Arabic page 1.

Images must be credited with the name of the organization that holds the copyright. This is a legal requirement. If the image is PATH property, PATH should be credited. As a courtesy, the photographer may also be listed.

A photo credit comes after a caption, if any.

If an image is neither owned by nor licensed to PATH, the owner must give PATH permission to use it. (See also Trademarks and copyright.) In such cases, format the credit as specified by the copyright holder. Do not include PATH in the credit.

PATH uses three styles for photo credits, depending on placement:

• For credits directly below, adjacent to, or on an image, the format is Copyright Holder/Photographer (if including):
  • PATH
  • PATH/Mike Wang
• If the credit is separated from the image—for example, at the bottom of the page or on a subsequent page—use the following formats or variations thereof. Note that semicolons are used to separate the credits only when necessary; otherwise, use a comma:
  • Photo: PATH/Mike Wang
  • Cover photo: PATH
  • Photos from top to bottom, left to right: PATH/Mike Wang, PATH/Patrick McKern, CDC/James Gathany, PATH/Gabe Bienczycki
  • Photos, cover: PATH/Matthew Dakin; above, from left: PATH/Dave Simpson; below: PATH/Patrick McKern
• A photo credit after a caption begins with the word Photo plus a colon and ends with a period (full stop):
  • Photo: PATH/Mike Wang.

For detailed information about the types of photographs to use in PATH documents, see the “Photography” section of the Brand and Communications Guidebook on PATH Central > Brand Resources.

Use one space after commas, semicolons, colons, and periods (full stops) at the end of a sentence. Do not insert spaces around hyphens or dashes.

PATH style is to align text only along the left margin, leaving a ragged right margin. This format ensures consistent spacing between words. There are times, however, when justified text (aligned on both margins) is acceptable or even preferable—for example, in a government report.