11/13/2022 0 Comments Look up abbreviations for words![]()
( id est) – used to represent ‘in other words’ or ‘that is’ ( et cetera) – used to show that there are many more in the list ( exempli gratia) – used for citing an example All these must be used as per convention and in lower case. Latin abbreviations are commonplace in academic writing. For instance, the abbreviation CD has several commonly known expansions such as ‘compact disk’, ‘cluster of differentiation’, ‘curative dose’, and ‘circular dichroism’. ![]() It is a good practice to spell an abbreviation that may imply more than one widely known definition. For instance, some well-known abbreviations that journals allow to use directly include DNA, RNA, ANOVA, etc. One can use these pre-defined discipline-specific abbreviations from the list directly, without defining them. Moreover, one should stick to the same format throughout the manuscript.Įvery journal has special guidelines for the use of abbreviations and acronyms. It is important to use the abbreviations consistently following their first mention. Thumb rules for using abbreviations in a manuscript Several common dictionaries list them as words, owing to their popularity and widespread use. These are field-specific, non-standard abbreviations that the author must define on their first introduction in the manuscript.Īs a special case, there are certain non-standard abbreviations such as ‘LASER’ (full form: Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation) or ‘RADAR’ (full form: Radio Detection And Ranging) that do not require a definition. Examples include measurement units (g from grams, m for meter, s for seconds, etc.) or short forms of chemical elements (Na for sodium, Ca for calcium, K for potassium, etc.) Non-standard abbreviations One may directly use these widely accepted abbreviations in the manuscript. Standard abbreviations, such as units of measurement, need not be spelled out even at their first mention. These include standard abbreviations and non-standard abbreviations. There are two types of abbreviations that are commonly used in scientific writing. #LOOK UP ABBREVIATIONS FOR WORDS SERIES#Initialisms are also a series of initial letters, but pronounced by spelling each of its letters distinctly, such as ‘DNA’ for ‘Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid’ and ‘DOI’ for ‘Digital Object Identifier’. Other examples include AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), RAM (Random Access Memory), and PIN (Personal Identification Number). For example, the acronym for ‘Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay’ is written as ‘ELISA’ and pronounced as a word. Usually, acronyms are the combination of the first letters of each word of the phrase. How is an abbreviation different from an acronym and an initialism?Īlthough both acronyms and initialisms fall under the category of abbreviations, the difference lies in the way one pronounces them. The Vancouver referencing style popularly used in biomedical sciences states that the titles of the journals should be abbreviated according to the style given in the National Library of Medicine’s Journals in NCBI Databases. For instance, the PLOS ONE journal specifies that one must not use non-standard abbreviations unless they appear for a minimum of three times in the article. Moreover, certain journals also provide a cut-off. #LOOK UP ABBREVIATIONS FOR WORDS HOW TO#Several journals also provide specific instructions on how to introduce, define, and use them. ![]() #LOOK UP ABBREVIATIONS FOR WORDS MANUAL#According to ‘The Chicago Manual of Style’ an abbreviation can be used only if it finds a mention five or more than five times in the article. ![]() It is better to use the unabbreviated form if the abbreviation is not present frequently in the manuscript. How do you decide whether to use an abbreviation or not? Let us look at some useful tips for using abbreviations correctly in scientific writing and keeping up with the journal standards. It may puzzle your readers and force them to flip pages back and forth to locate the original definition, thereby losing interest after a while. However, one must use abbreviations with caution! Its overuse may in turn reduce readability, especially for a non-technical or non-specialist reader. ![]()
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