Page 190 - How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 8th Edition 8th Edition

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Good Practice
It is good practice, when writing the first draft of the manuscript, to spell out all terms. Then examine the manuscript
for repetition of long words

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or phrases that might be candidates for abbreviation. Do not abbreviate a term that is used only a few times in the
paper. If the term is used with modest frequency—let us say between three and six times—and a standard
abbreviation for that term exists, introduce and use the abbreviation. (Some journals allow some standard
abbreviations to be used without definition at first use.) If no standard abbreviation exists, do not manufacture one
unless the term is used frequently or is a very long and cumbersome term that really cries out for abbreviation.

Often you can avoid abbreviations by using the appropriate pronoun (it, they, them) if the antecedent is clear, or by
using a substitute expression such as "the inhibitor," "the substrate," "the drug," "the enzyme," or "the acid.''

Usually, you should introduce your abbreviations one by one as they first occur in the text. Alternatively, you might
consider a separate paragraph (headed "Abbreviations Used") in the Introduction or in Materials and Methods. The
latter system (required in some journals) is especially useful if the names of related reagents, such as a group of
organic chemicals, are to be used in abbreviated form later in the paper.

Units of Measurement

Units of measurement are abbreviated when used with numerical values. You would write "4 mg was added." (The
same abbreviation is used for the singular and the plural.) When used without numerals, however, units of
measurement are not abbreviated. You would write "Specific activity is expressed as micrograms of adenosine
triphosphate incorporated per milligram of protein per hour."

Careless use of the diagonal can cause confusion. This problem arises frequently in stating concentrations. If you say
that "4 mg/ml of sodium sulfide was added," what does this mean? Does it mean "per milliliter of sodium sulfide" (the
literal translation) or can we safely assume that "per milliliter of reaction mixture" is meant? It is much clearer to
write "4 mg of sodium sulfide was added per milliliter of medium."

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Special Problems

A frequent problem with abbreviations concerns use of "a" or "an." Should you write "a M.S. degree'' or "an M.S.
degree"? Recall the old rule that you use "a" with words beginning with a consonant sound and "an" with words
beginning with a vowel sound (e.g., the letter "em"). Because in science we should use only common abbreviations,
those not needing to be spelled out in the reader's mind, the proper choice of article should relate to the sound of the
first letter of the abbreviation, not the sound of the first letter of the spelled out term. Thus, although it is correct to
write, "a Master of Science degree," it is incorrect to write "a M.S. degree." Because the reader reads "M.S." as "em
ess," the proper construction is "an M.S. degree."

In biology, it is customary to abbreviate generic names of organisms after first use. At first use, you would spell out
"Streptomyces griseus. " In later usage, you can abbreviate the genus name but not the specific epithet: S. griseus.
Suppose, however, that you are writing a paper that concerns species of both Streptomyces and Staphylococcus. You
would then spell out the genus names repeatedly. Otherwise, readers might be confused as to whether a particular "S."

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