Our house style is not static but is a living thing, as is our language; it undergoes continual refinement and updating.
Please talk to us about anything you think needs to be included or amended.
For specific guidance on content elements of the Knowledge Summary article type follow this link.
Numbers and measurements
No full points are needed after measurements and weights.
Make sure there is a space between number and measurement: 25 kg, 6 cm.
Use number digits when referring to measurements and length of time: i.e. 2 weeks / 1.2 mm.
When referring to patients use spelled out numbers up to 9: i.e. one patient / 12 cases.
Numbers occurring at the beginning of a sentence should always be spelt out.
Where possible please present number of patients in study as x/y (%).
Referred to as p-value but as a formula P =.
Make sure dates are not 10/03/2009 but 10 March 2009.
Dosage of drugs: prefer / [slash] rather than per; e.g. 3 mg/day, not 3 mg per day.
Less than/more than: prefer to write in full, do not use < or > in text, except in the summary of evidence tables, where you may use symbols.
Fractions: These are spelled out in words and hyphenated: three-quarters, two-thirds.
Hyphenation
Hyphens are utilitarian, therefore usage may alter according to context and whatever seems best for clarity. There is a difference between ‘the deep-blue sea’ and ‘the deep blue sea’; and between ‘four year- old children’ and ‘four-year-old children’. Avoid over- use of hyphens. VE house style is generally to close up words where this makes sense, rather than hyphenating. Except in the following instance; follow-up, not follow up
Nouns do not need hyphenation: decision making, problem solving, health care, the local authority (although they may need a hyphen to avoid ambiguity when used in an adjectival phrase, e.g. the decision- making process).
Prefixes: generally closed up, as follows:
co…, e.g. cooperate, coordinate
intra…, e.g. intrauterine, intrapartum
multi…, e.g. multidisciplinary, multinational
post…, e.g. postsurgery, postoperative (but post-treatment, to avoid two t’s together)
pre…, e.g. preoperative, prelabour, preovulatory
peri…, e.g. perinatal, perimenopausal
There are some exceptions where two vowels or consonants come together, e.g. multi-organ, interrelationship, etc.
En dash
An en dash (en rule) is longer than a hyphen. Use an en dash to give a range; e.g. 12–15 years old. On Microsoft Word create an en dash by one of three methods 1) hold down Control and press the minus key on the numeric keypad 2) type the required words or numbers with a spaced hyphen in between (remember to delete the spaces after) 3) click on Symbol in the Insert tab. Select More Symbols, scroll down to the en dash and click insert to add it to the document.
Elide dates 1994–97 and ‘from’ and ‘to’ not from 1976–2004.
Use an en dash to indicate a minus number; e.g. –23.
Where two words are linked to indicate some form of inter-relationship, use an en-dash rather than a hyphen; e.g. Beckwith–Weidemann syndrome, Denys–Drash syndrome, Breslow–Day test, cost–benefit analysis, blood–brain barrier, dose–response. This is often found where surnames of two people (discoverers/inventors) are used as the name of something.
En dashes can be used if you need to avoid using brackets. Avoid using an en dash in a sentence where a colon will work just as well. Do not use an en dash where the word ‘and’ should be used, such as to follow ‘between’; e.g. the drug should be administered between 12 and 24 hours apart.
Confidence intervals
Separate the elements in a confidence interval with an en dash, unless there is a negative number involved, when the word ‘to’ should replace the en dash to avoid confusion; e.g. 95% CI 1.2–3.6 but 95% CI –1.2 to 1.0.
Abbreviations
Always spell the words out in full first. Include the abbreviation in brackets after the first instance of use.
There are a very few universally acknowledged abbreviations that do not need to be spelled out in full first:
Plurals of capital abbreviations take a lower-case s and need no apostrophe: MPs, HAs.
Versus: prefer in full, not vs. / vs (unless to save space in a table) and roman not italic type.
& (ampersand): should not be used in text except where part of a proper name; e.g. The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist journal.
et al.
e.g.
Lists
Use bulleted rather than numbered lists, unless there is a specific reason for needing numbers. Introduce a list with a colon.
Two styles are used:
Avoid the use of sub-bullets, as these are difficult to translate into XML format, via which your paper is indexed in PubMedCentral.
Spelling
Veterinary Evidence uses British English spelling except for names (see below), which should remain in their original form.
neutering
ovariohysterectomy
histopathology
anaesthesia, not anesthesia
caesarean, not cesarean or Caesarean
estrogen/estradiol (now official British and International Approved Names)
leucocyte, not leukocyte
fetal, not foetal (which is actually incorrect etymologically)
focused/focusing, not focussed/focussing
judgement, not judgment
regimen, not regime (for drug or treatment)
specialty, not speciality (in medical contexts)
Use -ise, not-ize: organise, organisation, realise, advise, advertise, sympathise, legalise, etc. However, the World Health Organization keeps the z, as this is its proper name.
All names should be spelled correctly and not ‘translated’ into English; e.g. American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, not American College Obstetrics of Gynaecology.
Drugs should be described by their generic name rather than their brand name wherever possible (e.g. ibuprofen not Nurofen).
Use UK generic names where possible, e.g. oxytocin.
Latin
Do not use italics for Latin words in common medical usage (et al., in vitro, in vivo, in utero, in situ, etc.) However, please use italics for Latin such as bacterium; Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (if mentioned again in text can be abbreviated to C. pseudotuberculosis)
Avoid the use of Latin words or phrases where plain English would suffice.
Avoid capital letters in the text wherever possible. Most headings should have an initial capital only. Named organisations or authorities take capitals but general references do not.
Capitalise Knowledge Summary.
Breed names should be capitalised – Poodle; German Shepherd.
Fullstops
Use a single space after a full point. Many typists have been trained to use two spaces after the end of a sentence. This was fine in the days of typewriters. However, when using MS Word, the program automatically spaces the sentence once you have used a full point. If you use two spaces, this unbalances the program’s spacing and causes problems when the text is flowed into our typesetting program.
Layout
Summary of evidence tables should be listed alphabetically.
Use single quotes throughout.
If creating author biographies (such as for a commentary article), place this section directly after the main body of the manuscript and title it ‘About the authors’.
Include a CRediT contribution section in your Author Acknowledgement form if you represent two or more authors.
References
Always use the author-date system, otherwise known as Harvard system of referencing. This relies on brief parenthetical references in the text to take the reader to the appropriate point in the reference list. The reference list only contains the references mentioned in the text. Works of related interest should be listed in a bibliography or supplementary material section.
The reference in the text should consist of just the author’s surname and date of publication. Unless, if the work is by authors of the same surname then their initials may be used to distinguish between them.
(Smith, 2021)
(Smith & Jones, 2021)
(Smith et al., 2021) – do not italicise et al. for multiple authors (more than two)
If the authors name appears in open text, it need not be repeated in parentheses, the date alone will suffice – According to Smith et al. (2021) dogs in…
Several references may be included within the same parentheses separated by a semi colon – (Smith et al., 2021; Jones & Morris, 1988; Baker, 1984)
If there is more than one work by an author in a single year they are distinguished by lower-case letters appended to the year – (Smith, 2021a), (Smith, 2021b)
Reference to a work produced by a corporate body may use the name of the body, followed by the publication date. Abbreviate the corporate body name if very long
Reference to an anonymous work may use anon. followed by the publication date
In the reference list full references are listed alphabetically. Authors initials should follow their surnames. Publication date should follow the authors names. Journal titles should be in full and italicised. Please provide a DOI number where possible.
Journals:
Last name, First initial. (Year published). Article title. Journal. Volume(Issue), Page(s). DOI identifier:
Examples –
Poole, A. (2021). ‘Don’t pee on that!’ Comparing environmental modification and medical management in cats with FIC. Veterinary Evidence. 6(1), 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v6i1.337
Belshaw, Z., Brand, C.L., O’Neill, D.G. & Packer, R.M.A. (2025). More than just one man and his dog: The many impacts of puppy acquisition on the mental health of families including children in the UK. PLOS One. 20(9), e0331179. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331179
Chapter in edited books:
Last name, First initial. (Year published). Chapter title. In: First initial. Last name, ed., Book title, 1st ed. City: Publisher, Page(s).
Example –
Bonnett, B. (1998). Evidence-based medicine: critical evaluation of new and existing therapies. In: A. Schoen,. & S. Wynn, eds., Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine: Principles and Practice. St Louis: Mosby. 15-20.
Print journal articles:
Last name, First initial. (Year published). Article title. Journal. Volume(Issue), Page(s).
Example –
Weijer, K. & Hart, A. (1983). Prognostic factors in feline mammary carcinoma. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 70(4), 709–716.
Websites:
Last name, First initial. (Year published). Article Title. Journal, [online] Volume(Issue), Page(s). Available at: URL [Accessed Day Mo. Year].
Example –
Freeman, G. & Hughes, J. (2010). Continuity of care and the patient experience, [online]. Available at: https://assets.kingsfund.org.uk/f/256914/x/c22b0594f7/gp_inquiry_continuity_care_2010.pdf [Accessed: 11 February 2026].
Example (corporate/anonymous author) –
CBVE. (2024). CBVE Competency Framework, [online]. Available at: https://cbve.org/framework [Accessed: 14 September 2024].
Phd thesis
Last name, First initial. (Year published). Article title. PhD thesis, Institution.
Example –
Mills, D. (2021). Practice, ethics and future of evidence-based veterinary medicine. PhD thesis, Royal Veterinary College.
Further reading
For examples of the style guide in use, we suggest reading the most recent issue of the journal. For go-to specific article types, please see the examples below.
Knowledge Summary: https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v11i1.731
Article: https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v11i2.752
Clinical Audit: https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v10i3.725
Commentary: https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v10i4.721