Articles should:

• be published alongside a bulletin if they contain analysis of new data; they should not be the only release of new data
• be timely and relevant at the time of publication 
• be structured with the user in mind, presenting the most important or interesting information first
• not provide complex or detailed explanation of a method, data source, process or concept (we have separate methodology articles for this)

Articles are not bulletins

Articles should only contain analysis of new data if they are published alongside a bulletin. If your article will be the only written analysis published with the data, use a bulletin template instead.

If you are not sure if your content is an article or a bulletin, contact the content design team at content.design@ons.gov.uk.

Articles are not methodology

Articles can be used to give an explanation of any recent or planned methodology changes and how these may affect the data. They should not be used to give detailed information about a method, process, data source or concept. Instead, use a methodology article (a separate content type) and link to it from your article.

Use a methodology article if you are writing any of the following:

• Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) reports
• Quality assurance of administrative data (QAAD) reports
• methodology pages or guides
• explainer articles
• technical reports
• user guides
• glossaries

Methodology articles do not provide previous versions and the content on the page is replaced as and when changes are needed. There is only ever one version of the page.

If you need help deciding if your content is an article or a methodology article, contact the content design team at content.design@ons.gov.uk for guidance.