Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened forms of word (s) or phrases (s). They assist in making manuscripts easy to read and understand. Additionally, they help in meeting the strict word-count targets, avoiding the repetition of words, thereby making the text easy to read. Many times, authors introduce new acronyms when they develop a novel technique and want to give it a catchy name. Authors believe that this increases the chances of accepting and remembering the technique! Some remarkable examples of such acronyms are NOESY (Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy) and COSY (Correlation Spectroscopy).
However, one must use abbreviations with caution! Its overuse may in turn reduce readability, especially for a non-technical or non-specialist reader. 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.
Let us look at some useful tips for using abbreviations correctly in scientific writing and keeping up with the journal standards.
How do you decide whether to use an abbreviation or not?
It is better to use the unabbreviated form if the abbreviation is not present frequently in the manuscript. 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. Several journals also provide specific instructions on how to introduce, define, and use them. Moreover, certain journals also provide a cut-off. 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. 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.
Lista de comentários
Resposta:
Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened forms of word (s) or phrases (s). They assist in making manuscripts easy to read and understand. Additionally, they help in meeting the strict word-count targets, avoiding the repetition of words, thereby making the text easy to read. Many times, authors introduce new acronyms when they develop a novel technique and want to give it a catchy name. Authors believe that this increases the chances of accepting and remembering the technique! Some remarkable examples of such acronyms are NOESY (Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy) and COSY (Correlation Spectroscopy).
However, one must use abbreviations with caution! Its overuse may in turn reduce readability, especially for a non-technical or non-specialist reader. 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.
Let us look at some useful tips for using abbreviations correctly in scientific writing and keeping up with the journal standards.
How do you decide whether to use an abbreviation or not?
It is better to use the unabbreviated form if the abbreviation is not present frequently in the manuscript. 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. Several journals also provide specific instructions on how to introduce, define, and use them. Moreover, certain journals also provide a cut-off. 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. 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.
Explicação: