Updated May 2024

At a Glance Bullets

For science news stories longer than 600 words, include at the top of the story three to four bullets listing the central findings and key implications of the research described in the story: what was found, why it matters.

There is now a tool in Drupal that automatically formats this feature.

Example:

Gut Bacteria Produce Hormone Involved in Postpartum Depression

At a glance:

  • Study shows two related kinds of gut bacteria can modify steroids differently from how human cells do and demonstrates that gas affects which ones gut bacteria produce.
  • Work suggests gut microbiota can act like an endocrine organ, producing hormones that affect human health.
  • Findings provide new evidence that doctors could one day treat certain mental health conditions by manipulating the gut microbiome.

Authorship, Funding, Disclosures

Authors: For stories based on research published in peer-reviewed journals, include ALL authors on the paper except those already mentioned in the story. For large consortium studies with many authors, list only HMS authors, add the following sentence, and link to the paper: For a complete list of authors, please reference the paper.

Although it is not otherwise HMS style, include middle initials for the sake of easier copying and pasting.

Do not list institutions unless there is a reason to do so or a source requests it.

Funding: Follow NIH requirements to include grant number(s); for consistency, do the same for other funders when listed in the journal acknowledgements. Fellowships for students/postdocs can be omitted, especially if the list becomes unwieldy. Do not include names or initials of funding recipients. Do mention if a person is an HHMI investigator.

This follows the protocol for news releases and applies to OCER-written news stories and affiliate releases based on research published in a peer-reviewed journal.

There is now a tool in Drupal that automatically formats this feature.

Example:

Resident Physicians' Exam Scores Tied to Patient Survival

Authorship, funding, disclosures

Additional authors include Jennifer Stevens, Rebecca Lipner, Furman McDonald, and Jonathan Vandergrift.

Gray, Lipner, McDonald, and Vandergrift reported that they are employees of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Landon reported receiving consulting fees from ABIM for ongoing work during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

Bulleted Lists

Create the bulleted list using the bullet style button in Drupal. This tool will produce crimson bullets with each item aligned and turn lines indented. If you create a bulleted list with Word formatting, it will not conform to style when imported into Drupal.

Example:

  • Use periods at the end of each sentence in a bulleted list.  
  • Use no punctuation at the end of a single word or single phrase in each section of a list. Do not use semicolons.

Bylines

OCER writers:By STEPHANIE DUTCHEN

Other HMS writers:By KATIE CAVENDER | HMS Center for Primary Care

Affiliate writers: By HALEY BRIDGER | Brigham and Women’s [use second reference style]

Corporate bylines: By MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM COMMUNICATIONS * BETH ISRAEL LAHEY COMMUNICATIONS * By MGH PUBLIC AFFAIRS * By DANA-FARBER COMMUNICATIONS

  • NOTE: If an OCER writer has done substantial work on an affiliate news release, such as reading the original paper and/or interviewing the PI or other authors, use the institution's corporate byline. Please note that bylines may be from an individual affiliate hospital, a partnering research institution, or a corporate entity.

Harvard Gazette writers: By COLLEEN WALSH | Harvard Gazette

Names with Mac or Mc: McINNIS; MacDONALD

Captions and Credits

All images should have a credit; some images do not require a caption.

  • Text in captions should be regular, not bold; and roman, not italic. No period following credit. Style can be adapted to accommodate different types of content.

Photo examples:

How the Body Copes With Airway Closure

Image: Alex Sholom/iStock/Getty Images Plus

How Children’s Birthdays Help Show the Best Month for Flu Shots

Colorized 3D renditions of influenza virus based on a model created by NIH 3D, originally derived using electron microscopy. Image: NIAID

Video examples:

Pursuing Three Gene Therapies for Rare Inherited Disease

Meeting a family affected by Usher syndrome type 1F has sent HMS researchers on a quest to save patients’ vision. Video: Rick Groleau and Catherine Caruso

Lessons on Human Longevity … From Rockfish

Analyses of rockfish such as Sebastes miniatus helped researchers home in on genes associated with longevity in humans. Video: CrackerClips/Creatas Video+/Getty Images Plus

Slideshow examples:

A 3D Model for Studying Human Spine Development

Images: Pourquié lab

Class of 2024 Residency Positions Revealed at Match Day

caption: MD students celebrate where they will do their clinical training.

Images and videos: Rachelle Jeanty and Steve Lipofsky. [this appeared at the bottom of the story]

  • For images created using AI tools, use this wording: Image/video: Generated by HM News with NAME OF TOOL

Example:

What Happens in the Brain While Daydreaming?

Image: Generated by HM News with AI in Adobe Firefly

Dean’s Communications

Messages from the Dean


For letters to the community:

Dear Members of the Harvard Medical School Community:

[Occasionally a letter will be sent to HMS and HSDM faculty, staff, students or one/some of those groups, with this salutation: Dear Members of the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine Community, using singular “community” in a spirit of being a united community.]

[text]

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dean's titles

HMS decanal titles

Dean, Harvard Medical School

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University

Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine

Past titles

Former investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Former Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program, Boston Children’s Hospital or Former Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

Chief resident, Mass General, 1994-95

Resigned positions

Robert A. Stranahan Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School

Samuel E. Lux, IV Chair in Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital

Half-Staff Emails

Half-Staff Memorials


The Office for Faculty Affairs will occasionally request a half-staff email from the dean to note the death of a distinguished faculty member or staff member.

For these, it is OK to use Dr. and middle initials. Enclose emeritus/a in commas. Include year of death if it's different from the current year. Text is centered.

[Subject line] Flag at half-staff for Edmond J. Yunis

Dear Members of the Harvard Medical School Community: 
 
Today we lower the HMS flag to half-staff to honor the life
of our esteemed colleague

Edmond J. Yunis

Dr. Yunis, professor of pathology, emeritus,  
at HMS and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
died on June 7, at the age of 93.
 
Please join me in offering his family, colleagues, and friends
our most heartfelt sympathy.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Heads, Subtitles, and Subheads

>>Story headlines (H1) should be limited to 70 characters. 

>>Subtitle (H2)should be limited to 80 characters. 

For headlines/subtitles:

  • Check news feed for subtitles that are truncated because of exceeding the character count.
  • Capitalize all principal words in headlines; also, capitalize conjunctions and prepositions of four letters or more.
  • Capitalize phrasal verbs in headlines: Home In On; Follow Up [verb]
  • For hyphenated terms, cap both elements: Follow-Up [noun/adjective]
  • In subtitles, capitalize the first word and proper nouns only.
  • Keep search keywords in mind as you write headlines/subtitles.

>> Insert subheads (H3) in stories 600 words or longer; 70 characters, maximum 7 words. Use sentence case (capitalize only first word and proper nouns). 

Example: 

How Does the Brain Make Decisions?

Mouse study provides insights into communication between neurons during decision-making

Example: 

High School Soccer Player Makes Huge Save: Her Coach’s Life

Harvard Medical School course played decisive role

Example: How the Body Copes With Airway Closure

Study in mice reveals novel gasping reflex triggered by cells in the lungs when the airway is restricted

NOTE: The subhead guideline is flexible: If there are other elements in the story such as related stories, video, images, audio, subheads may not be needed. 

Medical and Grad Student Identification

Medical students

Refer to medical students based on context:

  • Jane Doe, an MD student
  • John Doe, a first-year, second-year, etc.
  • MD student / an MD student in their second year

Joint degree students: an MD/PhD student, an MD/MBA student, an MD/MPP student

Societies: Use only if relevant to the story.

  • [Name] Society student, e.g., Jane Doe, a Cannon Society student
  • Society names: Cannon, Castle, Holmes, London, Peabody

Master’s students

Identify master’s students by the degree program they are enrolled in. When interviewing a student, ask them for their degree program and verify it with master’s administrative staff.

Example:

To Heal the Patient, Get to Know the Person

Doctoral students

PhD students at HMS are registered in the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and do their coursework and lab work within a program of study at HMS. Both entities must be included when identifying to one of these students.

“QUOTE,” said co-first author NAME, a Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences doctoral student in the PROGRAM NAME at Harvard Medical School, working in the lab of PI NAME in the DEPARTMENT NAME in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.

Usually PhD students are quoted/named only one time in an article. But if they are mentioned more than once, it's OK to break up the above information in two mentions for better clarity for the reader. In that case, mention the Griffin GSAS first, HMS program/lab second.

Example:

Generating Scientists and Regenerating Lungs

Newsletter Signup

After second or third paragraph in news stories, add Get more HMS news here; no period, bold, link to signup page.

News Releases

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 11 A.M. ET ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6

Media contacts:
Ekaterina Pesheva 
ekaterina_pesheva@hms.harvard.edu 

Dennis Nealon
Dennis_nealon@hms.harvard.edu

How the Body Copes with Airway Closure

Study in mice reveals new gasping reflex triggered by cells in the lungs when the airway is restricted

At a glance:

  • Researchers identify a new gasping reflex triggered in response to airway closure.
  • Sensory neurons in the lungs signal to the brain through the vagus nerve to initiate the reflex.
  • The findings shed light on how the brain and body are connected to control the respiratory system.

There is perhaps no bodily function more essential for humans and other mammals than breathing. With each breath, we suffuse our bodies with oxygen-rich air that keeps our organs and tissues healthy and working properly — and without oxygen, we can survive mere minutes.

Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a previously unknown way in which the body counteracts restricted breathing — a new reflex of the vagus nerve that initiates deep breathing. The work is published March 6 in Nature. 

[remaining text]

Authorship, funding, disclosures

Additional authors on the paper include Narendra Joshi, Rachel Greenberg, AbdulRasheed Alabi, Soohong Min, Chuchu Zhang, and Philip Brinn. 
Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (DP1 AT009497; R01 HL132255; F32 HL156583), the Food Allergy Science Initiative, a Damon Runyon Fellowship, and a John S. LaDue Fellowship. Liberles is also an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Release written by Catherine Caruso

About Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical Schoolhas more than 12,000 faculty working in the 11 basic and social science departments in the Blavatnik Institute and at the 15 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes: Baker Center for Children and Families, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Hebrew SeniorLife, Joslin Diabetes Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and VA Boston Healthcare System.

Publication Link

Link on the entire phrase: The findings are published April 7 in Science. 

The analyses, published March 30 in Nature, included ...

Please note present tense: are published, not were published.

Question & Answer

For HM News Q&As

Harvard Medicine News: This is the first question.

Kasper: This is the first answer.

HMNews: This is the second question.

Kasper: This is the second answer.

Example:

Delivering Global Health Solutions Locally in Massachusetts

For affiliate Q&As:

This is the first question.

Patel: This is the first answer.