Grammar, Punctuation, and Mechanics

Use the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) as the primary reference for grammar and punctuation questions.

Oxford comma: Use the Oxford comma in all lists of three or more items to avoid ambiguity.
Exclamation points: Use sparingly, ideally no more than one per page and never in formal findings or recommendations. Reserve them for occasional, clearly informal moments (e.g., “Kudos!” sidebars).
Contractions: Use common contractions (it’s, don’t, we’re) to keep the tone conversational and accessible, unless you are writing legal language or formal citations.
Questions: Use direct questions in body copy when they help frame a “fuzzy situation” or decision (e.g., “What problem are we actually trying to solve?”).
Citations: We follow CMOS notes-and-bibliography for structure, but always give the full citation as a footnote on the page—no shortened forms and usually no separate bibliography.
Active voice: Use active voice whenever possible so the subject clearly performs the action, making sentences more direct, engaging, and easy to understand. Reserve passive constructions for situations where the actor is unknown, irrelevant, or better left unnamed.

Headings in reports:
- Top-level report titles and section titles (e.g., in the PDF cover or TOC) use Title Case.
- In body copy, use Sentence case for subheads (“In short,” “Research questions,”).
Labels and in-text headings: Use Sentence case for labels like “In short,” “DORIS Insight,” “Consider,” “Challenges,” “Solutions.”
Client entity names: Capitalize formal names (City of Indianapolis, Saint Boniface Parish, City of Boulder) as the client uses them.
Concept tags: Capitalize named frameworks or repeated phrases when treated as labeled concepts, e.g., “Challenge Defining,” “Action Planning,” “Decision Playbook,” “Research Questions.”

Spell out whole numbers one through nine; use numerals for 10 and above.
Always use numerals with units, percentages, and statistics (5%, 10 days, 32 interviews, 51 visitors).
For ranges, use “to” in running text (10 to 20 participants), not an en dash, unless following client style.
For ages, grades, and phases, use numerals (5th grade, 4th–8th grade, Phase 1).

Hyphenate compound modifiers before a noun when needed for clarity (e.g., “participant-driven insights,” “challenge-defining meeting,” “solution-seeking session”).
Do not hyphenate familiar open compounds unless ambiguity would result (e.g., “customer service center,” “executive summary,” “research questions”).

Use italics for document titles, report names, or external publications only when needed for clarity.
Use bold for emphasis.