AO editorial style guide
Updated 2013
A style guide is a tool that helps writers, editors, and authors maintain consistency within
an organization or a single publication.
Printed and online publications, distributed to internal and external audiences, are a vital
element of our image.
Although we work in a mix of clinical divisions, institutes, service units, support units,
boards, commissions, and regions we are one organization and this should be expressed
in the consistent way we present ourselves. This style guide is a tool to help translate this
into practice.
Other support documents such as writing for the web; hints and tips for writers; a list of
AO terms; social media guidelines and a URL policy document are also available in the
Guidelines section of InSite.
Table of contents
1 | Basic AO style specifications
1.1 Language
1.2 Headings, document titles, and formatting
1.3 Alphabetical order
1.4 Anatomy
1.5 Standard reference books and sources
4
4
4
4
4
4
2 | Style
2.1 Punctuation
2.2 Quotation marks
2.3 Em and en dashes
2.4 Hyphenation
2.5 Diagrams and tables
2.6 Footnotes
2.7 Forward slash
6
6
6
6
7
8
9
9
3 | Terminology
3.1 Abbreviations
3.2 Academic degrees
3.3 Titles and names
3.4 Implants and instruments
3.5 Numbers
3.6 Vertical lists
3.7 Statistics 3.8 Geography
3.9 Web writing guidelines
3.10 AO internal terms
3.11 Frequently used terms
10
10
10
11
12
12
13
13
13
14
15
16
4 | Reference style
4.1 Reference style
4.2 Example of a forthcoming article (in press)
4.3 Example of a book
17
17
18
18
5 | Addresses
5.1 Addresses
19
19
6 | Further reading and feedback
6.1 Further reading and updates
6.2 Input and questions
20
20
20
1 | Basic AO style specifications
1.1 Language
The official AO language and AO spelling is American English.
On your computer use US English as your language setting.
For quick reference on spelling use Merriam-Webster Online.

Exceptions: The British English spelling of ”orthopaedic” (with an “ae”) is only permitted
when writing the name of an association or organization
eg, American Orthopaedic Association
1.2 Headings, document titles, and formatting
In titles, headings, subtitles, etc, capitalize only the first letter of the first word.
Exception: The first letter of an official title of a course, book, publication, presentation,
document, journals etc, should be written in uppercase (excepting: of, and, for, in).
AOTrauma Principles in Fracture Management
Within a text do not use a mixture of font sizes and formatting styles (eg, bold, italic,
underline).
Exception: Titles of books, journals, publications etc, can be italicized or bolded
within a text.
Readers can refer to The AO Principles of Management for further information.
Refer to Writing for the Web, available on InSite, for web formatting requirements.
1.3 Alphabetical order
In lists of names and addresses and in indexes and alphabetical reference lists, country
listings should be presented in alphabetical order unless there is good reason to present
them in another order (eg, event listing or for statistical rankings).
1.4 Anatomy
In general, the English versions of Latin anatomical terms should be used, as found in
the standard medical dictionaries. If Latin terms are preferred in a given context, they
should not be italicized.
1.5 Standard reference books and sources
For standard reference on general style use:
American Medical Association Manual of Style (AMA), 10th edition
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), 16th edition
For reference on medical terms:
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 28th edition
Terminologia Anatomica/International Anatomical Terminology, Thieme
AO editorial style guide | 4
1 | Basic AO style specifications
For reference on general style use on the web:
American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition
For reference on citations:
www.pubmed.com
For reference on weights and measures (SI units should be used):
www.unitconversion.org
Information on structure and formatting of addresses:
Global Sourcebook of Address Data Management, 1st edition 1998
AO editorial style guide | 5
2 | Style
2.1 Punctuation
Use uppercase after colon (:) if the sentence following the colon is a complete
sentence, if not use lowercase. Use lowercase after comma (,) or semicolon (;).
Use a comma (,) before the last item in a series (known as Harvard rule, serial comma,
Harvard comma, or Oxford comma).
Even though we work in a mix of clinical divisions, service units, support units, boards,
commissions, and regions we are one organization.
E
2.2 Quotation marks
Use the curly double quotation marks, the marks that look like 66,99 (“”). The visual
appearance might differ depending on the font chosen.
Periods (.) and commas (,) are always inside the quotation mark. Semicolons (;) are
always outside the quotation mark. Exclamation points (!) can go either way depending
on whether the exclamation point is for the whole sentence or just a portion of the
sentence.
“I will go tomorrow night,” she said.
Use double quotation marks for quoted words, phrases, and sentences. Use single
quotation marks for quotations within quotations.
“During the presentation, Prof John Harvard said, ‘We need to support the AO mission
and vision,’” said the participant.
2.3 Em and en dashes
Use the em dash to set off phrases or insertions. It can also be used after introductory
clauses or before closing clauses or designations. Don’t add spaces before and after.
I will go—no matter what—tomorrow night.
The corticotomy is performed either a week after the debridement or—in low-grade
infections—simultaneously.
E
Use the en dash between numbers or to show a range. Don’t add spaces before or
after. But use “to” instead of the en dash in a “from x to y” sentence.
The range was 5–10 years.
T2–7 was instrumented.
E
Your appointment is 10 am–11 am.
But: The spine was fixed from T2 to T4
If the words “from” and “between” are used, the “en” rule is inappropriate and “to” or
“and” should be used.
You can find the em and the en dash in Word under
Insert > Symbol > Special Characters
E

AO editorial style guide | 6
2 | Style
2.4 Hyphenation
Hyphenation should be avoided in the following:
cooperation, posttraumatic, intraarticular, preoperative, postoperative, unilateral,
monocortical, prebend, contraindication, nonunion, malunion, nonprofit, healthcare,
policymakers, miniplate, craniomaxillofacial.
E
Please refer to the frequently used terms document online for other examples.
Exceptions: e-mail, e-learning, e-books, e-education, e-commerce
Hyphenate a compound that contains a noun or an adverb and a participle that together
serve as an adjective if they precede the noun (but not if they follow the noun).
E
3-D scanner, decision-making process, last-read work, life-threatening conditions,
weight-bearing instructions, soft-tissue injury, 3-hole plate
But: injured soft tissue, weight bearing is allowed
Hyphenate an adjective-noun compound when it precedes and modifies another noun:
E
upper-class values, low-quality suture, high-velocity injuries, soft-tissue envelope
Hyphenation is primarily used to avoid ambiguity.
long-bone fracture means something different than long bone-fracture, and soft-tissue
damage is something different than soft tissue-damage.
E
Compound adjectives with –ly are not hyphenated.
highly recommended, privately funded
Compound adjectives with numerals should be hyphenated.
the USD 40-million campaign
24-year-old patient
Exceptions: 3 cm long plate, 3 mm screws, 5 cm long incision
E
AO names are never hyphenated. See 3.11.
AO editorial style guide | 7
2 | Style
2.5 Diagrams and tables
2.6.2
Elements
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and rendered
tables
Tables
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the screen tint increments must be specified in such a way as to ensure that the colors
are recognizable as distinct shades of gray when printed in black and white. Text is set
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editorial style guide | 8
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2.6 Footnotes
Footnotes should be printed immediately below the table. There are of four general
kinds which should appear in the following order:
1. Explanations of abbreviations and notes on levels of statistical significance: a single
asterisk is used for the lowest level of significance, two for the next level, and so on.
2. Source and general notes: if data for a table are not the author’s own but are taken
from another source, the author should include a source note, introduced by the word
“Source(s):”.
3. Notes on specific parts of the table.
4. A
cknowledgments: if the entire table is reproduced with little or no change from
another source, this should be acknowledged in a statement. Permission must also
be obtained from the author(s) and/or publisher(s).
Every table must be anchored and cited in numerical order in the body of the text.
In text, capitalize the word “table” when referring to a specific table, but use lowercase
letters when referring to a generic table.
The data in Table 1 show the success rate
The table below presents the data
The format for the title and use of boldface and italic will depend on the style adopted
for each information product.
2.7 Forward slashes
Do not put a space before or after a forward slash.
Terminologia Anatomica/International Anatomical Terminology
AO editorial style guide | 9
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3 | Terminology
3.1 Abbreviations
Write the full term of scores, methods, implants, etc, in lowercase adding acronyms/
initialisms in parentheses if you intend to use them alone in subsequent references. In
books write the full-term acronyms/initialisms in parentheses at the beginning of every
new chapter.
A locking compression plate (LCP) with locking head screws (LHS) was used.
Exceptions: names of associations, institutions, companies, or organizations:
Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA). Tests, scales, indexes: Glasgow
Coma Scale (GCS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Visual Retention Test (VRT)
If you are using initial letters to represent words, do not include periods:
MD, FRCS, BA, BS, MA, MS, PhD, AAOS, HIV, SCUBA, DNA, MRI, MS
If an abbreviation consists of the first and last letters of a word do not include a period:
E
Mr, Mrs, Dr, St, Sr, Jr, 3rd
The following abbreviations do not include periods:
E
ie, eg, and etc,
In SI units of measures, no periods are included:
mL, L, g, y = year(s), wk = week(s), min = minute(s), s = second(s)

The word “and” cannot be replaced by an ampersand (&).
Exception: If the ampersand is part of an official title (eg, Johnson & Johnson).
3.2 Academic degrees
Academic degrees and titles are treated as follows:
E
Dr Peter Meyer or Peter Meyer, MD; Assoc Prof John Doe, MD, FRCS
Dr is written before the name, while MD follows the name, separated by a comma.
Do not use both. Do not use a period after Prof.
Academic degrees and titles can be given at the beginning of a text and, thereafter, use
the surname only.
Academic degrees should be written in lowercase, except when using the degree as a
title.
Jane Doe has a bachelor’s degree in science but John Doe has a BSc.
AO editorial style guide | 10
3 | Terminology
3.3 Titles and names
Capitalize titles only when immediately preceding personal names.
E
Editor-in-Chief Jim Kellam, President-Elect Jim Smith, Chairman Jim Knopf,
But: Jim Kellam is the editor-in-chief of…, Jim Knopf, chairman of the board…
In continuous text, do not abbreviate first names.
E
In this article David Miller stated that…
First names can be dropped in continuous text.
E
In his speech, Müller made it clear that…
People’s initials and suffixes are not followed by a period and a space.
E
J Kellam, TP Rüedi, J Doe Jr, PA Miller Sr,
Geographical names follow international forms.
Zurich not Zuerich or Zürich
Rome not Roma, Milan not Milano
Names of people follow local spelling.
E
Müller; not: Mueller, Muller
François not Francois
Company and association names are spelled out in full (including “Company,” “Corporation,” or “Association”) whenever possible, but drop Inc. or Ltd. After the first reference a
company name can be shortened: “Hewlett-Packard Company” becomes “HewlettPackard” or HP can be used (see 3.1 ).
Please see 3.11 for AO abbreviations.
When the first component of a family name is a particle, such as al-, de, Le, Van or von,
the first letter of the particle should normally be used for alphabetizing, unless established usage or another specific reason dictates otherwise.
Names beginning with the prefix “Mac” or “Mc” should be arranged as if the Letter “a”
were present in all cases.
When Chinese personal names are written in the traditional way–meaning
single-syllable family name is placed first–the family name should be used for
alphabetizing. For example, Dr Hu Ching-Li should be listed under H.
AO editorial style guide | 11
3 | Terminology
3.4 Implants and instruments
Synthes instrument and implant names follow the wording of the Synthes catalog.
However, capitalization should follow this style guide (see 3.1).
A 6-hole locking compression plate 3.5 was used.
A condylar blade plate 2.7 and a separate interfragmentary 3.5 mm screw were applied.
E
Sizes are applied according to the catalog wording. Screws indicate the length in mm
before the implant name, plates have the size indicated after the implant name without
unit of measure (because they refer to the diameter of the screws to be used).
E
A 2 mm screw.
A dynamic compression plate 3.5.
A 4-hole plate.
A plate with 5 holes.
A reconstruction plate 3.5.
3.5 Numbers
Decimal comma and thousands separator: 1,000.– (– = en dash). The minus sign is
also an en dash. For operators (+, ×, etc.) use the appropriate character.
E
25,600,000.00
–1,826
3 × 5 cm
Put a space between numbers and units.
E
3 cm, 5 mL, 22.8 m
CHF 200.00, USD 600.25
Exceptions: degrees (90° C, 90°) and percentages (25%, 33.3%)
In text, spell out zero through twelve in letters and spell out any number that begins a
sentence. However, by recasting a sentence you can avoid spelling out a number at the
beginning of a sentence. Numbers greater than 12 or descriptive ones such as 5 hole
are written in numerals.
E
Exceptions:
2 hours; 7–12 days/weeks/months/years; 2 cm (units of measure)
5, 7, 12, 15, 30 (in a number series list numerically)
Fractions are expressed as 1/2, 1/4, 4/15, 7 1/4. Ordinals are not written in superscript.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
But: middle third of the tibia
E
AO editorial style guide | 12
3 | Terminology
3.6 Vertical lists
Punctuation:In lists that are introduced by a complete sentence, followed by a colon,
the items carry no closing punctuation (example 1), unless they consist
of full sentences (example 2).
Capitalization:If any kind of bullet point or numbering of the items is used, the first
letter is capitalized (examples 2 and 3).
E
Example 1
Your application must include the following documents:
a full resume
all your diplomas
two forms of identification
E
Example 2
To purge files protected by the software, start with the following steps:
1. From the Microsoft Tools group, choose the Undelete icon.
2. To select the directory from which you want to put files, choose the Drive/Dir button.
3. In the Undelete screen, select the files you want to purge.
E
Example 3
Your application must include the following documents:
• A full resume
• All your diplomas
• Two forms of identification
For vertical lists the following rules apply: The Chicago Manual of Style 6.124–6.126.

3.7 Statistics
Terms and special abbreviations frequently used:
E
P value (P capitalized in italics)
Format: P = .004 (no zero before the period)
N = entire population under study
n = sample of the population under study
confidence interval (CI) Format: (95% CI, 0.8–1.6%)
t test (t in italics) Student t test (S is always capitalized)
Specifications and wording is covered in AMA Manual of Style, 17.0.
3.8 Geography
For abbreviated country names use the two-digit ISO code.
US, CH, DE, AT, CA
E
The list can be found at:
www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/index.html

AO editorial style guide | 13
3 | Terminology
3.9 Web writing guidelines
Please refer to the Writing for the Web Guidelines document for a short introduction to
web writing and web writing guidelines for AO online editors and AO web publishers.
The web writing guidelines include details of CSS specifications (the look and formatting) relevant for online editors.
Web addresses are written in lowercase, http:// and / at the end of URLs are omitted.
E
www.aofoundation.org, www.aotrauma.org
Spelling and capitalization of internet and technology related terms:
Internet, intranet, web, world wide web (www), web site, web browser, URL, HTML,
JPEG, home page, e-mail, e-learning, e-books, web-based training, screenshot, online,
offline
E
Most of the technical terms are covered in the glossary (21.0) of the
AMA Manual of Style.

AO editorial style guide | 14
3 | Terminology
3.10 AO internal terms
The list of AO terms is a living document of AO specific words and their correct spelling.
Please be aware of capitalization or no capitalization.
Deutsch English
AO Stiftung
Stiftungsurkunde
Non-Profit-Organisation Reglement
AO Foundation
foundation charter
nonprofit organization
bylaws
Stiftungsrat
Präsident
designierter Präsident
früherer Präsident
Stiftungsratsmitglied
Ehrenmitglied
Seniormitglied
Gründungsmitglied
Board of Trustees
President
President-Elect
Past-President
Member of the Board of Trustees
Honorary Member
Senior Member
Founding Member
Wissenschaftlicher Beirat
Verwaltungsausschuss (AOVA)
Nominationskomitee
Kontrollstelle
Vorsitzender
Academic Council (AcC)
Board of Directors
Nomination Committee
Auditors
Chairperson
Technische Kommission (TK or AOTK)
Fachgruppen der TK
AO Forschungsinstitut
AO Zentrum
Technical Commission (TK System) Expert Groups (EGs)
AO Research Institute Davos (ARI)
AO Center
Brands and publications
AOSpine/AOTrauma/AOCMF/AOVET
AO Surgery Reference
AO Dialogue
AO Foundation Annual Report
AO editorial style guide | 15
3 | Terminology
3.11 Frequently used AO terms and abbreviations
Clinical divisions, not specialties, is the term used to refer to AOTrauma, AOSpine,
AOCMF, and AOVET.
AOTrauma and AOSpine cannot be abbreviated.
AOTEU­—AOTrauma Europe
AOTNA—AOTrauma North America
AOTLA—AOTrauma Latin America
AOTAP—AOTrauma Asia Pacific
AOTME—AOTrauma Middle East
AOTIB—AOTrauma International Board
AOTEC—AOTrauma Education Commission
AOTCDC—AOTrauma Community Development Commission
AOTRC—AOTrauma Research Commission
Please note the words “clinical divisions” should not be capitalized.
Please note the following acronyms:
AOCID (AO Clinical Investigation and Documentation)
AOEI (AO Education Institute)
ARI (AO Research Institute Davos)
AO SEC (AO Socio Economic Committee)
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4 | Reference Style
4.1 Reference style
The AO reference style is adapted from the “National Library of Medicine
Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation”
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7282/#A32370).
Our adaptations:
–Number of author names is reduced to three; if more authors were involved
the term “et al” is used.
– The en dash is used to indicate the range of pages.
– The page numbers are written out completely (eg, 187—192).
Journal articles:
Volgas D, DeVries JG, Stannard JP. Short-term financial outcomes of pilon fractures.
J Foot Ankle Surg. 2010 Jan-Feb;49(1):47—51.
P
etitti DB Jr, Crooks VC, Buckwalter JG, et al. Blood pressure levels before dementia.
Arch Neurol. 2005 Jan;62(1):112—116.
P
arkinson Study Group. A randomized placebo-controlled trial of rasagiline in levodopa-treated patients with Parkinson disease and motor fluctuations: the PRESTO study.
Arch Neurol. 2005 Feb;62(2):241—248.
National Institutes of Health (US). End-of-life care. National Institutes of Health
statement on the state of the science. AWHONN Lifelines. 2005 Feb-Mar;9(1):15—22.
Example non-English journal article:
Calera Rubio AA, Roel Valdes JM, Casal Lareo A, et al. Riesgo quimico laboral:
elementos para un diagnostico en Espana [Occupational chemical risk: elements for a
diagnostic in Spain]. Rev Esp Salud Publica. 2005 Mar-Apr;79(2):283—295. Spanish.
Example of a journal supplement:
Draghici S, Khatri P, Shah A, et al. Assessing the functional bias of commercial
microarrays using the onto-compare database. Biotechniques. 2003 Mar;Suppl:55—61.
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4 | Reference Style
4.2 Example of a forthcoming article (in press):
Forthcoming material consists of journal articles or books accepted for publication but
not yet published. “Forthcoming” has replaced the former “in press” because changes in
the publishing industry make the latter term obsolete.
L aking G, Lord J, Fischer A. The economics of diagnosis. Health Econ.
Forthcoming 2006.
4.3 Example of a book:
Iverson C, Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, et al. American Medical Association Manual
of Style (please note it should not be in italics). 9th ed. Baltimore, MD: Williams &
Wilkins; 1998.
Example book chapter:
Rojko JL, Hardy WD Jr. Feline leukemia virus and other retroviruses. In: Sherding RG,
editor. The cat: diseases and clinical management. NY: Churchill Livingstone;
1989: 229—332.
References should always be checked and verified, use:
www.pubmed.org for verification.
For guidelines for citing material on the internet, see
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7277/
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5 | Addresses
5.1 Addresses
Addresses should be structured according to the addressee’s local style.
For international telephone numbers, include the country code preceded by a plus
(which indicates that additional numbers, depending on the origin of the call, are
required). For example, a French number looks like this: +331 00 00 00 00. Where
“33” is the country code for France, “1” designates the Île-de- France region (which
includes Paris), and the rest is the usual eight paired digits separated by spaces for
French telephone numbers. Don’t use any dashes or parentheses for pre- or postfixes.
Other examples:
US: +1 917 534 4500
CH: +41 81 414 28 10
DE: +49 711 8931 422
E
The official wording for contact channels is (do not capitalize in sentences):
Phone
Fax
E-mail
Mobile
Pager
Web
E
E-mail addresses are not case sensitive. Use small letters only.
john.doe@xwz.university.edu
E
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6 | Further reading and feedback
6.1 Further reading and updates
In addition to this editorial Style Guide, there are five further guideline documents:
1. Writing for the web: recommendations for web writing
2. Hints and tips for writers: how to avoid common mistakes
3. List of AO terms: alphabetical list of AO terms
4. Social media guidelines: recommendations for how to use social media
5. URL policy: recommendations on the use of domain names (coming soon)
These are all living documents with regular updates on InSite.
6.2 Input and questions
The AO Editorial Style Guide is maintained by an editorial board consisting of the
following people:
– Olga Harrington, Communications & Events
– Aradhna Sethi, Communications & Events
– Mike Konia, Communications & Events
– Vidula Bhoyroo, AO Education Institute
– Patricia Codyre, AO Education Institute
This board decides on changes and new entries. If you have questions or input, please
contact a member of the editorial board.
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