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NCEH/ATSDR Clear Writing Hub

Clear Writing Tips

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On Wednesdays, NCEH/ATSDR’s Writer-Editor Team sends writing tips to thousands of CDC employees. Here’s a list of cleared articles that you can share within CDC or other organizations.

Formatting
  • Abbreviation Abuse
  • Bulleted Lists
  • One Space Between Sentences
Grammar
  • Ending Sentences with Prepositions
  • Follow up, Follow-up, or Followup?
  • Ordinals
  • Pronouns
Punctuation
    • Exclamation Points
    • Having Contractions
    • Hyphens Part 1
    • Hyphens Part 2
    • Stop Fighting These Three Punctuation Rules
Scientific and Public Health Writing
  • Writing for a Scientific Audience
  • Seven Deadly Sins of Scientific Writing Part 1
  • Seven Deadly Sins Part 2
  • Seven Deadly Sins Part 3
  • Seven Deadly Sins Part 4
  • Seven Deadly Sins Part 5
  • Seven Deadly Sins Part 6
  • Seven Deadly Sins Part 7
  • Seven Deadly Sins Recap
  • Another Deadly Sins Recap
  • Another Deadly Sins Recap, Part 2
  • Another Deadly Sins Recap, Part 3
Word Choice
  • Addressing the Issue
  • Composed/Comprised
  • Does Your Writing Have Impact?
  • Do You Need “That” Word?
  • Egress Only
  • Gobbledygook
  • Holiday Card Writing Tips
  • Holiday Card Writing Tips, Part 2
  • However/But
  • How I Look Like
  • Lay/Lie/Lain
  • Mnemonic Devices
  • Person-First Language
  • Pretentious Writing
  • Redundant Pairs
  • Unneeded Words: Successfully
  • Utilize vs. Use
Last Reviewed: January 15, 2026
Source: National Center for Environmental Health
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homeNCEH/ATSDR Clear Writing Hub
  • Clear Writing Training Modulesplus icon
    • Module 1
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    • Toolkit to Promote Clear Writing
  • Clear Writing Resourcesplus icon
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    • Communication Playbook
    • Fact Sheet: How to Use Empathy in Health Communication
    • Case Study Guide
  • Testing Toolsplus icon
    • Clear Communication Index
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    • Paraphrase Test
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Archive
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Contact Us
Contact Us
  • Call 800-232-4636
  • Contact CDC
About CDC
  • Pressroom
  • Organization
  • Budget & Funding
  • Careers & Jobs
  • About CDC
Policies
  • Accessibility
  • External Links
  • Privacy
  • Web Policies
  • FOIA
  • OIG
  • No Fear Act
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
Languages

Languages

  • Español

Language Assistance

  • Español
  • 繁體中文
  • Tiếng Việt
  • 한국어
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  • Русский
  • العربية
  • Kreyòl Ayisyen
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