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ACER Press author guidelines

Shortened forms

Abbreviations

Acronyms and initialisms

Contractions

Abbreviations

Limit the use of abbreviations, as these can sometimes hinder understanding.

Avoid using Latin shortened forms, such as e.g., i.e., etc. Instead, spell out ‘for example’, ‘that is’, ‘and so on’ in your main text. Only use the Latin forms where there is minimal space, such as in tables or in technical publications.

Acronyms and initialisms

Acronyms are terms that comprise initials and letters that can be pronounced as a word. Initialisms are terms that are pronounced as letters, rather than a word. These should be used sparingly and where people are likely to understand them.

When mentioning an acronym for the first time, spell out the unabridged version followed by the acronym in parentheses. For subsequent mentions, use the acronym alone.

Names of organisations, countries, psychological terms, and so on expressed in capital letters should be written without full stops (for example, WHO, US, ALP, VCE, CSIRO, AIDS).

Contractions

Contractions are shortened words – they occur as shortened forms of single words and as grammatical contractions with an apostrophe that joins 2 words.

Examples

Ltd for Limited

aren’t for are not

Some specialist publications (such as legal documents) use specific contractions. Use contractions only where relevant and where they are easily understood.

Avoid using grammatical contractions, unless you wish to adopt an informal tone.