General guidelines
This guide contains advice and best practices for performing content review, and having your content reviewed. The default approach is to choose a reviewer from your group or team for the first review.
This is only a recommendation and the reviewer may be from a different team (aka work package, task force..). However, it is recommended to pick someone who is a domain expert. If your publication touches more than one domain (for example, PV and Batteries), ask for reviews from an expert from each domain.
Depending on the areas your publication touches, it will need to be approved by one or more European Commission (Policy) Officers.
✔️ British English
The Commission’s English style guide is clear. We shouldn’t write in Euro-English, neither in American English, yet use the — referred to as — “British usage” or “British English” in the guide “for the sake of convenience.” 10.3.1. Conventions Regarding English spelling, the standard usage of Ireland and the United Kingdom is to be followed.
✔️ Domain experts review
Domain experts are team members who have substantial experience with a specific technology, product, or area of the research. Team members are encouraged to self-identify as domain experts. We make the following assumption with regards to automatically being considered a domain expert:
Team members working and publishing in a specific area of expertise (for example Energy Communities) are considered domain experts for that area.
Team members working on a specific policy are considered domain experts for that policy.
We default to assigning reviews to team members with domain expertise. When a suitable domain expert isn’t available, you can choose any team member for the first review.
✔️ Beware of jargon
Jargon is vocabulary used by groups of insiders or specialists to communicate with each other. Make sure that any document you want outsiders to read is as jargon-free as possible. If you do have to use jargon terms, explain them when you first use them. Clear explanations of jargon can be found in:
‘EU jargon in English and some possible alternatives’
Definitions of technical and legal terms relating to EU activities can be found in the online ‘Europa Glossary’
✔️ Punctuation in figures
In English, Irish and Maltese publications, except the Official Journal, a point is used to separate whole numbers from decimals. A comma is used for this in all other languages and also in multilingual texts. A space is used to indicate thousands in whole numbers (not a comma). Decimals are grouped in a single block:
152 231.324567
In the Official Journal a comma is used to separate whole numbers from decimals for technical purposes to speed up production.
Budgetary data: million or billion
In English use billion to mean 1 000 million.
When dealing with budgetary data, it is advisable to use the following form.
Up to three decimal places, keep to the appropriate unit:
1.326 billion (not 1 326 million)
Above three decimal places, descend to the smaller unit:
1 326.1 million (not 1.3261 billion)
This makes the figures easier to read and compare.
Before you start check out the Claire’s Clear Writing Tips (europa.eu)
Responsibilities
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The responsibility of the author
Before requesting a review from European Commission Project officer, author should be confident that the publication:
• Actually solves the problem it was meant to solve.
• Does so in the most appropriate way.
• Satisfies all requirements.
• There are no remaining typos, bugs, open comments, or known vulnerabilities. -
The responsibility of the reviewer
• Approve to be a reviewer.
• @ mention the author to generate a to-do notification, and advise them that their publication has been reviewed and approved. -
The responsibility of the designer
Designer is responsible for the overall quality and consistency of the graphic design across all the chapters in the publication.
Consequently, designer reviews focus primarily on things like overall architecture, structure and organisation, legibility tests, consistency, and readability.
Designer’s job depends on their overall knowledge but not of any specific topic or domain. The designer cannot create or review content, approve nor merge comments from team.
The beginning of our publication journey
There are already many books out there. What will be yours about? How will it stand out from the others? We want to bring your personal approach to this project. Is your book going to be helpful? What should we focus on? Do we want it to solve problems? Do you want in to entertain? Tell me what is the problem or opportunity you are thinking about.
Describe what needs to be done. Let me know what problems are we solving and how do we make people care about it? What is the purpose of the project/assignment? Tell me what are our dreams and expectations at this moment. How do we imagine the end result? What has to be included in the final deliverable?
On the beginning of the journey you need to do some planning. Here are a couple of things to kick-off the process:
✔️ Kick-off/Brainstorm meeting:
what is the one single thing we want the readers to think when they remember this piece of communication/deliverable?
✔️ Planning:
What’s your ideal timeline? Include first drafts, revised concepts, execution timeframes, and when you want it to be submitted.
The first drafts.
It is now time to start putting the content together.
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Research
What’s hidden under the “problem” that’s really in the way? Going back to the beginning, keep digging. Honestly. You’re going to have to come at this from 10 different angles before you finally nail it.
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Structure
What will we say and how will we say it? What are the key messages, what are the key points you need to say? In what ways will we communicate our messages? Report? Factsheets? Social media? Podcasts? Video? Digital or print? What communication channels will you use, how will you use them? How do they build on and support each other? What are the best vehicles to reach your intended audience? What are the deliverables you have committed to?
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Drafts
How do we want people to feel about our solution? We all now know that science has proven all decisions are emotional and are rationalised after the choice has been made. This means you need to understand what feelings you want to evoke in your target audience during their decision process and after they’ve read what you wrote down.
What are those feelings and when do they feel them? What will tell us that we’ve solved the problem? How will you measure the success of what you’ve done? What metrics will show that you’ve moved the needle and achieved her goal? What’s non-negotiable? What must be included in the final deliverable?
Texts and contributions are coming together.
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Keep it short and simple (KISS)
Put everything together and read it from the beginning to the end with a critical eye. Cut out the crap.
To achieve greater clarity:
• split long sentences (and paragraphs) into two or three shorter ones;
• cut out unnecessary words – using active verbs where possible can help you do this;
• replace overly complex phrasing with simple, everyday language;
• use bullet points for lists of facts or information;
• avoid ambiguous expressions. -
Focus on the reader
Who are you writing for? Involve them by addressing them directly (‘you’ is underused).
What do they need to know? Use the ‘seven key questions’ approach.
What will really interest them? Give them only the information they actually need. Leave out as many details of EU procedures and structures as you can, unless these are essential for your reader. -
Readability test
Ask yourself:
Would your friends understand it?
Are all instructions clear?
Can it be easily and accurately translated?
Is there enough white space (e.g. short paragraphs, bullet points where possible)?
Before you start check out this report on English words misused by EU auditors, attempting to clamp down on Brussels-speak such as decommitment, intervention and planification, which veers away from standard British usage. (europa.eu)
Approval guidelines
✔️ Keep it GDPR proof
If your publication includes images, figures, photography, it must be approved by the publication graphic designer (that’s me).
Will you also remember about the copyrights information? © Agata Smok
✔️ Keep it clean: the proofreader
Remember to change language in your text editor (MC Word) to British English. Access by going to File > Options > Language. Don’t forget to run a spell check in your text editor, for MC Word: Check grammar, spelling, and more in Word.
Submit your texts to the proofreader for text and spelling review. Proofreader is not responsible for the content review and it should never be the same person. More guidance on correct spelling saved here (europa.eu).
✔️ Quality checklist
I have self-reviewed this publication page by page.
I believe that it’s correct, properly structured, footnotes are in place, and it is GDPR-proof,
If the mentioned above do not cover the functionality, I have added the necessary additional tests, footnotes, explanations, clarifications and disclaimers.
I have considered the technical aspects of this publication.
I have considered the impact of this publication on the Project, Initiative, the European Commission and European Union.
I had this publication reviewed or determined that more reviews are not needed.
Resources:
Graphics guide to the European emblem
Legal notice: Disclaimer
Copyright notice:
© European Union, 1995-2023
Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated.
Where prior permission must be obtained for the reproduction or use of textual and multimedia information (sound, images, software, etc.), such permission shall cancel the above-mentioned general permission and shall clearly indicate any restrictions on use.
The practice and presentation for publication in the European Union Publications Office
Digital accessibility
Do you remember about the alternative text (alt) text for your images?
Alt text is about accessibility basics and designing our social media posts/content for visual impairment (for example blind users).
Below a short explanation on how you can add alternative text to images for accessibility on LinkedIn:
1. After uploading an image/photo, click on Alt.text below the image to write a description of the image/photo.
2. Save.
You can read more about alt text here.
Apostrophe
An apostrophe indicates the possessive case (Jessica’s bagel).
In contractions, an apostrophe takes the place of letters or numbers that have been removed (is not becomes isn’t, Patent No. 5,269,211 becomes ’211).
Publishing an EU publication involves several structured steps to ensure the work is of high quality and meets the standards of the Smart Cites Marketplace project. Here is a comprehensive list of the steps:
Drafting an EU publication, using an example of Smart Cities Marketplace Solution Booklet (week 1)
Research and data collection: Conduct thorough research and collect all necessary data, create synergies with the existing EU-funded projects.
Writing the first draft: Draft the Solution Booklet including Introduction (What and why), City Context, Societal and user aspects, Technical specifications, Business models and finance, Governance and regulation, General lessons learnt, Useful documents, relevant examples and contacts.
References and citations: Ensure all sources are properly cited and listed in the Further reading section.
Figures and tables: Create and insert all necessary figures, tables, and graphs.
Initial review and revisions (week 2)
Internal review: Have colleagues or co-authors review the draft and provide feedback.
Revisions: Revise the Solution Booklet based on feedback from internal reviewers.
Peer-to-peer review process (week 3 and 4)
Initial editorial check: Peer performs an initial check for suitability and completeness.
Peer review: The Solution Booklet is sent to expert reviewers in the field for evaluation.
Reviewer feedback: Reviewers provide feedback and recommend acceptance, revision, or rejection.
Revisions based on Peer-to-peer review (week 5 and 6)
Address reviewer comments: Revise the Solution Booklet based on reviewers’ comments.
Response e-mail: Write a detailed response to the reviewers’ comments, explaining how each point was addressed.
Resubmission: Submit the revised text and response letter to the authors, reviewers and/or co-authors.
Final acceptance and proofreading (week 7)
Final review by editors: The revised Solution Booklet is reviewed again by the authors and possibly the reviewers.
Acceptance: If the text meets all standards, it is accepted for publication.
Proofreading: The Solution Booklet undergoes professional proofreading for grammatical, spelling and typographical errors.
Graphic design and layout (week 8)
Photography and (info)graphics: Designer ensures all images, illustrations, and photographs meet the Smart City Marketplace quality standards.
Graphical abstracts: Designer creates graphical abstracts.
Figure and table formatting: Designer ensures all figures and tables are correctly formatted and labeled.
Layout: Designer formats the text for publication, including layout and pagination.
8. Final proofs and publication (week 9)
Review proofs: Review the final proofs sent by the designer for any last corrections.
Corrections: Notify the designer of any corrections needed in the proofs.
Publication: Once the proofs are final, the Solution Booklet is sent to European Commission (by VITO) for approval.
Post-publication
Promotion: After European Commission’s green light COMMS shares the Solution Booklet online, through Smart City Marketplace networks, social media, and institutional channels.
Translation
Summary
Each step in this process is crucial for ensuring the integrity, clarity, and impact of the Solution Booklet. Collaboration, meticulous attention to detail, and adherence to Smart Cities Marketplace guidelines are key to successful publication.