Headings
Your outline is important in helping you establish the headings and subheadings of your report. These headings will alert your readers to the content that follows. Readers should be able to skim the headings of your report—either in the report itself or by reviewing the table of contents—to get a sense of its structure. To make the most of this technique, you should ensure that each of your headings represents a single, defined grouping of content.
First-level headings are a summarized list of your main points. In some types of reports, these headings are pre-determined. Often, though, your headings will be substantive, providing your reader with a map of your report’s contents. How do you arrive at these main points? There are a number of ways, and they are all about distilling the essence of what you want to communicate.
When developing your headings, keep the following aspects in mind to make your headings as consistent as possible:
- Consistency in format. If you decide to use a particular grammatical style to form your headings, you should stick with that style. In the example, all the headings are presented in their noun form.
- Consistency in importance. The information in a certain level heading should be of equal weight or importance as the other headings in that level. In the example, reducing the risk of emerging diseases and strengthening early detection of outbreaks are given the same weight of significance.
- Consistency in hierarchy. The information in your main headings should be more general than that of your subheadings. In the example, the main headings relate to emerging diseases and detection of outbreaks in general. The subheadings refer to more specific diseases and surveillance processes.
Example
Country implementation planning
Identification of gaps in capacity to fulfil the Strategy's objectives
Implementation planning
Objective 1 - Reduce the risk of emerging diseases
ER1 Reduced risk of emerging diseases through strategic communication and community participation
ER2 Reduced risk of diseases acquired from animals
ER3 Reduced risk of acquiring infections from health care
ER4 Reduced risk of laboratory-acquired infections
ER5 Strengthened containment of antimicrobial resistance
Objective 2 - Strengthen early detection of outbreaks of emerging diseases
ER1 Strengthened early warning systems
ER2 Coordinated and integrated surveillance systems
ER3 Established and strengthened public health functions of laboratories
ER4 Strengthened local capacity for surveillance and risk assessment
ER5 Strengthened information management for early detection of emerging diseases
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