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How to use abbreviations correctly in articles

Properly prepared articles command respect. In addition, they are quickly accepted for printing. To help authors prepare a high-quality publication, we will give some tips on the use of abbreviations/abbreviations.

Abbreviations/Abbreviations are simplified forms of long terms or phrases. However, there is an important difference between them.

Abbreviated words are simply shortened versions of words (for example, when "Dec" is used instead of "December"). Grammatical abbreviations join two words together to make one word. Acronyms are also abbreviations in which the first letters of each word in a phrase are used to create a new word (for example, when the World Health Organization is shortened to “WHO” (WHO)).

There are three main reasons why people use abbreviations/abbreviations:

• Abbreviations in biology , chemistry, and medicine allow for increased reading speed and, presumably, efficiency in presenting information. Indeed, abbreviations take up less space on the page.
• There is a perception that abbreviations enable shorthand, help to perceive the importance of ideas and provide a sense of cohesion for members of a professional group.

On the other hand, numerous abbreviations/abbreviations are too common in the scientific press and in most cases are not needed.

Incorrect use of abbreviations leads to curious situations. And here, non-English-speaking authors often have to blush. For example, the abbreviation "VO" in ordinary colloquial English means "bad odour" - and is associated with the concept of "spoil the air" or simply "stink". But in scientific articles, "BO" can be used to mean "Barrett's oesophagus", "bronchiolitis obliterans", "Black occlusion" or "Borage oil". As you can see in this example, it is best to avoid such abbreviations. If the same abbreviation is used to denote different concepts, then this leads to confusion and complicates the search using " key words ". Often such abbreviations are simply confusing.

When and how to use abbreviations

The main goal when using abbreviations is brevity and clarity. To make it easier to read, we abbreviate long technical terms, especially if they are used repeatedly. For example, you can and should use "MRI" instead of "Magnetic Resonance Imaging" if the term occurs more than ten times in an article. But if the term is used only once or twice, then there is no need to introduce abbreviations. It is best to avoid using too many abbreviations, as abbreviated text becomes difficult to read.

It is important to define the abbreviation at the first mention. The term must be provided in full first, followed by its abbreviated version in brackets (for example: “The causative agent of COVID-19 is the betacoronavirus that causes acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2)”). After presenting an abbreviation in this form, you must use the abbreviated version in the remainder of the document. Just don't switch from the abbreviated version back to the full one, use the abbreviation until the very end.

Don't overuse abbreviations!

Scientific literature is technical in nature and can be difficult to read and interpret even for science veterans. Why exacerbate the situation by turning meaningful words into abbreviations? For maximum clarity, use abbreviations sparingly. Individual authors often overestimate the number of readers who are at least partially familiar with their professional terminology. Do not burden the reader with deciphering the meaning of words that could be written in their entirety. As Steven Pinker said, " The few seconds an author adds" to their own life are worth the many minutes stolen from the lives of their readers.

To make your work understandable and respectful, follow these simple rules:

1. Do not abbreviate terms that appear less than three times in the text.
2. Follow the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for abbreviations for academic papers (APA style ).
3. Do not use the abbreviations we use on social media or text messages.
4. No need to abbreviate every long word. It is best to use abbreviations for complex terms or phrases. Keep in mind that having too many abbreviations can make the document difficult to read.
5. Be sure to make a list of abbreviations for your document. You must use it to define all used abbreviations. You can make a list as you write the article, and then you will not miss anything.

Using Latin Abbreviations

Quite a few common abbreviations are based on Latin terms. The most famous of them e. g. (exempli gratia; meaning "for example"), e t c. (et cetera; "etc." means that the list is not complete. All of them are written in lower case. Missing or misspelling a period here is tantamount to misspelling abbreviations. In American English, these two abbreviations are always followed by a comma, in British not required You can easily find a list of Latin abbreviations in the academic literature.

Latin abbreviation "et al." is one of the most used in scientific literature. This term stands for " and others ". The abbreviation is used only for simplified citation of authors in text citations or links. This abbreviation can be used anywhere in the text as long as it is preceded by the name of the first author. In the examples below, the name precedes the abbreviation "et al.", and additional punctuation depends on the style of presentation (the following examples use APA : Medzhitov et al., 2012 described this effect…; This effect was described (Medzhitov et al., 2012) ).

Geographical objects and directions of the world. In the text, always indicate the full name of geographical objects and countries. It is also preferable to write the cardinal directions in full in the text, but abbreviations can be used in diagrams or illustrations (N. (north), S. (south), E. (East), W. (West), SW. (southwest)).

Dates, titles, titles and measurements. There are many common abbreviations for measurements, titles, titles, and dates. Ranks are abbreviated when used before a name (Dr Smith). Simple digits are usually represented as words (one, two, three…), but in scientific and technical papers they can be written as numbers (“3 inches”). Dates can also be abbreviated in scientific papers.

Punctuation after abbreviation. In the United States, a dot is used after all abbreviations except for metric units. In the UK, dots are only used if the abbreviation contains the first part of the word (for example, “Apr.” instead of “april”). However, if the abbreviation contains the first and last letters, the period is not used.

Always follow the rules for using abbreviations in the journal:

• Depending on the focus and target audience, many magazines provide a list of abbreviations that can be used without transcription. For example, DNA, RNA, ANOVA, t - test, p value are fairly common abbreviations that most journals allow.
• Some journals ask for abbreviations only if the term is used three times or more in the text.
• Some journals do not recommend the use of any abbreviations in the title and summary.
• Make sure you use the standard abbreviations in your area. In chemistry and physics, we often use abbreviations for elements (eg Si, Cu, C, O, N) and units (eg s, h, min, m, kg, K, J). It should be noted that these abbreviated forms do not need to be defined on first use, but should always be specified in the standard form (spelling, uppercase/lowercase letters).
• Some terms may be denoted by both uppercase and lowercase letters (revolutions per minute (RPM/rpm)). Such terms are indicated by most journals in accordance with the accepted list of terms.
• Many magazines advise authors not to start a sentence with an acronym. But sometimes abbreviations are still acceptable at the beginning of a sentence, for example, if they are themselves words (laser and radar) or represent the names of organizations (WHO, WHO).
• Be careful when using alphanumeric abbreviations. Many abbreviated forms are alphanumeric, and there is usually a reasonable explanation behind these combinations (especially when using abbreviations in chemistry). The numbers before and/or after the letters simply indicate the detail associated with the parameter, and then the numbers become part of the names (2D, 3D). Always check whether the symbols you use accurately convey the meaning of the formula or phrase and whether their spelling complies with the journal's rules.