Each letter in an initialism is pronounced separately (e.g. Abbreviations. The abbreviation “i.e.” stands for the Latin phrase id est, which means “that is to say” or “in other words.” When writing, we often use these terms to emphasize a point by using examples (e.g.) What is an ‘Abbreviation’ Looking to abbreviation as a branch of Linguistics, the definition will be as follows: ‘Abbreviation is a shortening of a word or phrase to be used to report the full form’ (World English Dictionary. We use these abbreviations instead of the full terminology to save space or avoid repetition. Click on a letter to see the abbreviations beginning with that letter. For instance: AWOL = Away Without Official Leave FBI = Federal Bureau of Investigation Technically, acronyms are pronounced as a single word, whereas the letters in initialisms are pronounced separately. This is done by giving the abbrev… To maximize clarity, APA prefers that authors use abbreviations sparingly. Using abbreviations and acronyms. For example, ‘UNESCO’ is much shorter than ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’. or stating the point in a different way without a long explanation (i.e. Contractions are mostly used to simplify common pronoun/verb combinations. The key to using these in academic writing is introducing them on the first use. Acronyms are pronounced as one word (e.g. Unfortunately, the use of an abbreviation in a header is not instructed in general APA style rules. Many Latin abbreviations are part of everyday English, such as ‘e.g.’ and ‘i.e.’. For example, PLOS ONE explicitly states that abbreviations should not be employed in the title and abstract. Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the first letters of the words in a phrase or an organisation’s name: 1. This list contains the most common abbreviations used in the OED. Therefore, there are no specific recommendations. … Acronyms are defined as words formed by the first letters of words in a name or title. For example, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is most often called NATO, and ASAP is often used in place of the phrase “as soon as possible BBC). Deleted letters are replaced by an apostrophe. UNICEF). Uppercase letter abbreviations. ). People sometimes think there is no need to introduc… when used as … 2009). However, contractions are generally considered too informal for academic writing. Then you can use the acronym throughout the rest of the text. Most of the words listed are only abbreviated in certain contexts, esp. With the limited characters available on platforms like Twitter, we’re used to using acronyms and abbreviations in everyday communication. Despite this, you’ll often see the term ‘acronym’ applied to initialisms. Use abbreviations to avoid cumbersome repetition and enhance understanding, not just as a writing shortcut. Notwithstanding, it’s advised to keep a full name as a header, especially when a paper is published in a compilation of various study fields. Some of the most common abbreviations are acronyms and initialisms. Although abbreviations are sometimes useful for long, technical terms in scientific writing, communication is usually garbled rather than clarified if, for example, an abbreviation is unfamiliar to the reader. There are many rules about using abbreviations in a dissertation.. Abbreviation use in the title, abstract, and/or keyword list of a paper may be discouraged by journals to enhance clarity, especially because these features are commonly used when searching for and browsing articles. ABBREVIATIONS. Do not use periods or spaces in abbreviations composed solely of capital letters, except in the case of proper names: These are made up of the initial letters in a phrase. Helpful Tips on Using Abbreviations in Academic & Scientific Writing Abbreviations of various kinds are common features of academic and scientific papers, but the guidelines of many journals will ask authors to keep their use to a bare minimum or restrict their use to standard abbreviations for measures only. About Latin terms and abbreviations. For a complete list of common abbreviations used in academic writing, see Section 1.6 in the MLA Handbook (8th ed.). This handout will explain Latin terms and abbreviations you may see in academic writing, will demonstrate how to use the most common ones correctly in your own writing, and will present Latin abbreviations used as shortcuts in citations. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here. Using Acronyms in Academic Writing. Home How to use the OED Abbreviations. In this context, always write out the full words instead. In additions, a number of On-line dictionaries were reflected in the research. After all, “IMO ppl uz 2 mNE lng wrds” is much more concise than “In my opinion, people use too many long words.” Latin Abbreviations. Use abbreviations that have not yet been introduce in full Steps to Writing a Law Essay Throughout your law degree, you will be expected to write a range of different texts, including research essays, responses to problem questions, and case notes. Abbreviations Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. When you use acronyms —formed using the first letter of each word in a phrase— you should write the first occurrence of phrase in full, and place the abbreviation in parentheses immediately after it. Acronyms are often used in academic writing in order to avoid the repetitive use of long, cumbersome titles. 2. For example, it is usually easier to read a two-word phrase than it is to remember the meaning of a two-letter abbreviation. Always use lowercase letters for these abbreviations even if the abbreviations begin a sentence, and always punctuate abbreviations with appropriately placed periods without spaces and with commas after the second periods (i.e., see the previous examples).