Writing for Vital Record
What We Report On
House Style
Voice
Tone
Messaging
Guidelines
Writing for Our Readers
Images
Source Standards and External Citations
Specs
Content Types
Source Approval
About Vital Record
Vital Record is the digital newsroom for Texas A&M Health that connects readers with industry experts, advocates of health, ambassadors of change, and future generations of health care providers, in the arenas of health, advocacy and scientific discovery.
Our audience is wide-ranging. We reach health care providers engrained in the industry, health policy hawks prescribing change, scientific gurus driving revolutionary breakthroughs, and even those that don’t know the difference between a femur and a tibia.
Content on Vital Record is submitted from contributors across the institution. As such, adhering to a house style to ensure consistent, clear messaging is imperative. This guide provides a general overview of our institutional voice and tone and outlines the process of writing for our newsroom.
What we report on
First things first, does your news meet the criteria for Vital Record? If you can answer “yes” to at least one of these questions, then the story may be a good candidate for inclusion in Vital Record.
- Does the issue influence people’s lives?
- Is the story about a key finding in a critical field?
- If this is a grant awarding, is it at least $1 million?
- Is the story about a newsworthy topic like cancer, human behavior or alcohol?
- Does the story or situation draw any sort of emotional reaction?
- Is the story accompanied by an exceptionally beautiful image or spectacular video?
- Is the story related to a “hot button” issue currently circulating in the news?
- Is this the first, the best, the longest, the smallest, the highest?
If the answer to these questions is no, the story might be better suited for an internal audience like in a college insider page or an internal newsletter.
House style
We generally follow Associated Press (AP) Style for grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage to ensure clarity and consistency across our content. However, because we aim to make health information more approachable and person-centered, we also adapt or depart from AP Style in a few specific ways.
Where we follow AP Style:
- Capitalization: Use sentence case for headlines and subheads. Capitalize titles only when they come before a name (e.g., Dean John Doe), not after (e.g., John Doe, dean of nursing).
- Numbers: Spell out numbers one through nine; use numerals for 10 and up.
- Dates: Abbreviate months with specific dates (e.g., Jan. 5, Oct. 22).
- States: Spell out U.S. state names in body copy (e.g., Texas, California).
- Punctuation: No Oxford commas unless required for clarity.
- Abbreviations: Avoid unfamiliar acronyms; spell them out on first reference.
- Spelling: When AP Style doesn’t offer a preferred spelling, follow Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the official dictionary of the institution.
Where we depart from AP Style:
| AP Style rule | Our reader-first approach |
| Avoid second person (“you”) | We use “you” when appropriate to speak directly to the reader (e.g., Here’s what you can do to manage stress). |
| Formal tone and structure | We favor a conversational tone that breaks down complex ideas in a warm, approachable way. |
| Limited use of contractions | We use contractions (e.g., you’re, we’re, it’s) to sound more natural and less formal where appropriate. |
| Long paragraphs | We keep paragraphs short—one to three sentences max—to help readers scan quickly. |
| Objective voice only | We acknowledge emotion and humanity when appropriate, especially in patient-facing stories. |
Bottom line: We use AP Style as our foundation, but we make thoughtful choices that prioritize the reader’s experience.
Voice
Vital Record’s voice reflects who we are—warm, expert and grounded. We speak to our readers like real people, not like textbooks or press releases.
Our voice is:
- Engaging but not aggressive
- Professional but not corporate
- Clear but not condescending
- Confident but not arrogant
Tone
While our voice remains steady, our tone changes based upon the genre of content. You might be witty when you’re writing a health tip for a general audience, and astute (but not pompous) when reporting on a scientific discovery.
Messaging
Always aim to convey—without stating verbatim—the institution’s core values, mission and vision in content.
- Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect, Selfless Service
- Mission: Improve human health and quality of life—with a special attention to the underserved—across the state, around the nation and throughout the world by achieving excellence in education, discovery, clinical care and health promotion.
- Vision: Become one of the leading research-intensive, innovation-driven health science centers in the nation, and develop individual institutes and centers that are transformative in their impact on human health.
- Brand mantra: A unified force for good, advancing the future of health.
Guidelines
When writing for Vital Record, follow the grammar and mechanics outlined within our editorial style guide. Here are some more general pointers, too:
- Be conversational. Write like you are telling a story (you are, after all)—not issuing a press release. Where it’s appropriate, say “we” and “you’—instead of falling back on something impersonal such as “the college” and “the institution.”
- Write for all readers. We write at the level of an educated 16-year-old. That’s still higher than many news media outlets (which write at a 12-year-old level of literacy). Remember, we reach a broad audience, so explain technical references or complex ideas where appropriate.
- Be concise. While details add flair, be mindful of length. Long paragraphs of information are difficult to read online. Keep paragraphs short (1–3 sentences).
- Put yourself in the readers’ shoes. Think about how you would want the information presented if you were them.
- Use active voice. The subject of a sentence using the active voice preforms an action—it makes your prose sharper and more engaging.
- Filter out the jargon. Synthesize complex issues into easy-to-digest health information.
- Write positively. Use positive language rather than negative language (avoiding “can’t” and “don’t” whenever possible).
- Don’t editorialize. Use meaningful quotes to explain points. Cite these expert opinions, not your own.
- Cite your sources. Use links back to the original (reliable) source for external statistics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and articles published in recognized peer reviewed journals are all safe bets. See “Source standards and external citations.”
Writing for our readers
Do this:
- Write like you’re answering a real question.
- Prioritize clarity and usefulness.
- Use a conversational, respectful tone.
- Focus on real-life impact.
Not this:
- Write like you’re submitting a journal article.
- Lead with background or technical details.
- Use jargon or overly formal voice.
- Focus on institutional credit.
Examples in action
Example 1: Starting with the audience
Before:
A new collaboration between Texas A&M Health and local partners is helping address childhood obesity through a community-based intervention.
After:
Fewer kids in our community are facing obesity—thanks to a hands-on program led by Texas A&M Health researchers and local partners.
Why it works: The new version starts with impact and avoids institutional jargon like “collaboration” and “intervention.”
Example 2: Explaining a medical term
Before:
Hypertension is a condition that occurs when the force of blood against artery walls is too high.
After:
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, happens when the force of blood pushing through your arteries is too strong.
Why it works: This version uses plain language and explains the term up front.
Example 3: Cutting the fluff
Before:
There is a growing body of research emerging that supports the health benefits of regular physical activity in populations of all ages.
After:
Exercise is good for everyone—and research keeps proving it.
Why it works: It’s clear, direct and sounds like something you’d actually say out loud
Images
AI-generated images
Vital Record does not allow the use of AI-generated images in editorial content. Exceptions may be made in rare, clearly justified cases where the image serves a unique editorial purpose and no suitable alternative exists. In such instances, the image must be explicitly labeled as AI-generated.
Source standards and external citations
As an academic health institution, our credibility is grounded in science, scholarship and clinical expertise. The sources we cite should reflect that authority.
Preferred sources include:
- Peer-reviewed research
- Federal and state public health agencies (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health)
- Academic medical centers and nonprofit health systems (e.g., Mayo Clinic)
- Recognized professional associations (e.g. American Medical Association, American Dental Association)
Use caution with commercial health publishers.
Commercial, ad-supported health websites (e.g., WebMD) are consumer-facing secondary sources. While often medically reviewed, they should not be cited as primary authority when higher-level institutional or peer-reviewed sources are available.
When possible, trace information back to its original research study, government guidance or professional body rather than citing a commercial summary.
Our goal is not to dismiss widely used health resources, but to ensure that our sourcing reflects the same standard of excellence and leadership that defines our institution.
Specs
Headline:
50-65 characters, including spaces. Sentence caps. Give the main point of the article as concisely as possible, and feel free to be clever if the article’s subject matter calls for it. No need to use “Texas A&M,” in the headline (as we would in a standard media release), as that will be obvious from the placement on our site. Note that when turning a Vital Record story into a media release or pitch, whoever is doing so will add “Texas A&M” to the headline at that point.
- Not good: Texas A&M researchers look into how muscles use energy
- Better: Muscles ‘ask’ for the energy they need
Subhead:
160 characters maximum, including spaces. No periods, only a question mark if needed. Here, you have a little more room to elaborate about the main point of the article. For example, what did the researchers find? Or if it’s a health tip, what’s the big takeaway for the readers?
Examples of good subheadings:
- Why underserved groups use the hospital emergency department instead of a primary care provider, and how we can fix it
- Female firefighters, but not males, have higher divorce rates than their peers in other professions
- Adrenaline fuels the hair-raising sensation that accompanies anxiety and emotion
Content Types
Research:
- Timely publications, large grant announcements
- Tone: professional, with good analogies to distill science for lay audience
- Word count: 1,000 or less
Expert Positioning (Point of View blog):
- Opportunities for thought leadership among key individuals (Fischer, Pettigrew, Waer, Gibbs, Alonzo, etc.), based upon hot-button health/medical news
- Tone: constructed like op-ed, or blog, written by thought leader themselves
- Word count: 1,500 or less
Health Consumer Content:
- Directly answer questions about health issues. Alternate between narrative “You Asked” and straightforward Q&A formats
- Tone: informative, yet digestible
- Word count: 800 or less
Human Interest:
- Focus on the person—a former or current student, faculty member or staff—to tell their story
- Tone: evoke emotion in readers, tell the person’s story
- Word count: 1,500 or less
Institutional:
- New programs, new partnerships, new hires
- Tone: news release style, with a news lede and inverted pyramid layout
- Word count: 800 or less
Responsive:
- Breaking health and medical news with faculty as experts (CDC studies, revision to vaccination schedules, etc).
- Tone: informative, digestible Q&A (five questions or less)
- Word count: 500 or less
Feature:
- Longer-form narrative about a major initiative, program or project.
- Tone: engaging storytelling that brings the subject to life to illustrate its importance or impact
- Word count: 1,500 or less
Administrative Update:
- Faculty/staff awards, honors or promotions.
- Tone: news brief style, inverted pyramid layout, focused on the individual’s accomplishment(s) and contributions
- Word count: 500 or less
Note: In no case should a story be fewer than 300 words. This is the minimum for the page to rank for a specific keyword.
Source Approval
Vital Record news stories require source approval. This means anyone who is quoted and/or has provided information to the writer for use in the article is asked to review and approve the story draft prior to publication.
Sources are asked only to verify facts and ensure they are not misquoted. Their final approval must be obtained in writing, via email, and should be archived.
All other story aspects—headlines, subheads, leads, organization, sentence construction, and grammar, spelling and punctuation—are the sole purview of writers and editors.
Writers must ensure stories are source-approved* prior to submitting content to Vital Record, at which point our editors may make style changes. If changes are substantial enough to warrant additional source review, editors will notify the submitting writer.
*If covering an event, there is no need to obtain source approval for quotes from attendees.