Use these guidelines to format your report document.
This will help us understand the structure of your report and prepare it for publishing.
We publish most research and evaluation reports in HTML. This means the whole report is on a webpage, instead of a downloadable document. For longer reports, we may publish an executive summary on a webpage, with a full report available to download. Your Acas contact will make this decision.
The Acas template
Use the Acas template Word document that has the correct styles already set. Please do not modify or amend the styles.
Download the Acas report template (DOTX, 30KB)
If you use a different word processing package, speak to your Acas contact for guidance on how to format your text.
Use the built-in styles
Use these styles that are built in to the Word template:
- Heading 1 – main title of the report and nothing else
- Heading 2 – chapter or section titles
- Heading 3 – subheadings
- Normal – main body text (most of the report)
- Caption – figure labels
- Caption-table – table labels (this is not a built-in Word style, but is set up in the Acas template)
Do not skip levels. For example, do not go from Heading 1 to Heading 3.
Using the built-in styles will make sure the report is in line with Acas house style. It will also make it easier for users of assistive technology to navigate.
Create lists of contents, figures and tables
In your document, create a:
- table of contents
- list of figures – if the report contains charts and diagrams
- list of tables – if the report contains tables
To do this, use the built-in tools in Word or your word processing package.
Do not embed logos
Do not embed logos in the report, for example in headers or footers.