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Comments on Acronyms in Technical Writing

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Acronyms in Technical Writing

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I can't find a standard, is the most common use to have the abbreviation followed by the defintion? Example

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/28861. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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+3
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Whether you put the acronym or the name first depends on how everyone refers to it. If it's almost always an acronym, but you have to explain it on first reference, write it as:

New drugs to treat HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) are promising.

If it's usually spelled out and you are introducing an acronym, or if it's referenced both ways, use the reverse:

Patrick Stewart starred as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) alongside LeVar Burton, who was arguably better-known at the time.

Using integrated marketing communications (IMC) can increase your audience response. This webinar covers IMC methodologies and how to apply them to your brand.

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Canina‭ wrote over 4 years ago

Also mind the fact that abbreviations can have very different meanings in different contexts. For example, if you say to a pilot "using IMC can increase your audience response", they'll wonder what Instrument Meteorological Conditions has to do with audience response and why they should "use" it in the first place, instead of "being in" it.