Guidelines for writing press releases

These guidelines describe the rules for the style and structure of a press release.

Writing style press release

• Write in plain English. Do not use jargon. Your next-door neighbour should understand what you write.
• Use short sentences and paragraphs. Avoid clauses and complex sentence structures.
• Avoid passive forms. Those are constructions with 'be' and 'become'. Therefore do not state 'The research will be carried out by a linguist', but 'The linguist will carry out the research'.
• Avoid double uncertainty. Therefore do not write 'This painting could possibly be from Rembrandt' but 'This painting could be from Rembrandt'.

Structure of a press release

A. Title
Short, preferably using a verb and a bit engaging.

B. Lead
At most 44 words. The lead is a sort of summary with answers to the questions: 'who, what, where, when, why and how'. In the lead the emphasis is on the newsworthy facts. A detailed explanation will follow later in the text of the press release.

C. Text
At most 350 words. This is where you answer the questions, 'who, what, where, when, why and how' in greater detail.

• Most important first, generalities last. This is dead opposite of what most people are used to. The background information is at the end of the press release and the news comes first. The press release must be 'rollable'. The journalist must be able to delete paragraphs starting from the bottom of the text without losing the news.
• State only the most important research finding in the press release or the most important newsworthy fact. The press release should not be a summary of a complete study but must have a clear line.
• If possible, draw attention to the societal relevance of the study or newsworthy fact.
• Give an example. For instance, you can highlight a single experiment from a study including the result. Such an example has a highly clarifying effect.

Examples

Examples of press releases:

Chinese takeaway in the Wadden Sea
Antwerp artist and brilliant market thinker
Baby booms and birth control in space
Divorce reduces chance of new, successful relationship
Perpetrators and victims work together to rebuild Mozambique

40-word public summary

In press releases about Veni, Vidi, Vici and other grants, NWO often uses a 40-word public summary'. Summaries such as these are always in Dutch, so will be disregarded here.

Please note

The above text says nothing about the time frame, revision rounds and details of sending the press release.

Contact

Within NWO, the Communications Department decides whether something is a press release or not. Please mail any questions to nwo_nieuws@nwo.nl or phone +31 70 344 07 13.