Uni-edit English Writing Tip 015

When do I have to define my acronyms?

Difficulty: Intermediate

These days, it’s almost impossible to read an academic paper without
encountering acronyms. The intention is to make papers easier to read,
and to create new lingo for new concepts. However, as time goes by, more
scholars are worrying that acronyms are impeding communication, rather
than helping it.

So, when should you introduce acronyms to define a full term, when
shouldn’t you?

Use the Acronym without the Full Term

Case \#1: “Well-known” Acronyms Do you immediately understand the
technology described by “light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation”? What about "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus”?

Some terms have become so widespread, that it is unnecessary to define
them: in fact, defining them might be confusing! Which was easier to
understand: the language above, or the everyday words “laser” and
“scuba”?

A good rule of thumb is if you have heard an acronym spoken aloud by
people outside your workplace, laboratory, or classroom, you can
probably use the acronym without defining it. For example, not only
molecular biologists know what DNA is, not only mathematicians know what
3D is, and not only international relations experts know what the UN is.

Case \#2: Standard Abbreviations and Acronyms However, there’s no
absolute consensus on what constitutes a “well-known” acronym. For
example, organic chemists immediately know what DMSO is, while
mechanical engineers wouldn’t look twice at EMF. But the former rarely
need to measure or quantify electromotive force, and the latter rarely
deal with the low-toxicity solvent dimethyl sulfoxide: so, it seems
unreasonable to say either is “well known” in a universal sense.

Check if your target journal provides a “List of Standard
Abbreviations”, “List of Standard Abbreviations and Acronyms”, etc. For
example, if you were looking to publish in the Journal of

Within your field, it is also good practice to see what other authors
are doing. If you can find more than five that use an acronym without
defining the term, then it is probably safe to do so yourself. Remember,
they are also your primary audience: if you met at a conference, and
just used the acronym, you would understand each other perfectly.

Define the Term and Use the Acronym

Case \#1: Uncommon or Perhaps Unfamiliar Concepts (to your Readers) This
is the most common case in academic writing: it is so common, some
writers are (mistakenly) taught it as an absolute rule. If an acronym
isn’t in a standard list, you should probably define it the first time
you use it in your paper, especially if the acronym is the grammatical
subject of the sentence.

 The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is a commonly used measure of
psychological distress.  In an earlier paper, an acoustic wave
propagator (AWP) was proposed to describe the time-domain evolution of
mechanical waves in various media.

Even if you expect your readers to know the acronym, it can be useful
for several reasons.

 To avoid confusion. This is especially true if the meaning of the
acronym is not the main focus of the sentence.  To save space. An
acronym counts as one word for the purpose of word counts. In addition,
it is useful in Figures and Tables where space is often limited.  To
attract knowledgeable readers. Sometimes researchers will search
databases using the acronym rather than the real term: using the acronym
ensures your research will appear and rank highly in their search
results.

Case \#2: Your Own Acronyms

Sometimes you’ll want to create your own acronyms. You might do this for
an important concept to your paper, or a new one you are proposing.

It is also common in the Results section, when you want to compare
groups. (e.g. A group, C group). This is fine, especially in tables and
figures where space is limited.

You won’t find these acronyms in the literature on chemotherapy for
leukemia. However, since the Results section is devoted to comparing
these three groups, readers can more easily understand your data if you
create labels to mark the objects of comparison.

Use the Full Term Only

Case \#1: Only Used Once Even if an acronym is possible, you don’t have
to use it. If you use a term for which an acronym is possible only once
in a paper, you don’t need to provide an acronym.

This paper proposes a novel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD)
technique to solve multiphysics problems. In the past, researchers have
developed the finite-element time-domain (FETD) and boundary-element
time-domain (BETD) numerical methods to find solutions to these
equations, but these will not be discussed here.

In this case, the acronyms “FETD” and “BETD” are not used again in the
paper, so it is unnecessary to define them.

END OF TIP