4.1 Acronyms

•For the first reference, use the full name/term, followed by the acronym in capitals in round brackets, unless the acronym follows in the very next sentence.

•For subsequent mentions, use the acronym, but if it recurs often, the editor/writer can vary the usage or use the acronym interchangeably with the spelt-out term.

•It is not necessary to use an acronym if a term/name is not used again in the document.

•If after the first (full) instance you are using the acronym many paragraphs later, the reader might get lost in the alphabets. So it is sometimes useful to repeat the full term/name, unless it is a common acronym such as WHO.

•If the names of states are used (for example, Madhya Pradesh), the acronym need not be placed in brackets. A few sentences later, it can read (for example): The MP government...

•Try to avoid repetition.

○Examples

>In two consecutive sentences:

Farm suicides have declined steeply, says the National Crime Records Bureau. The latest data released by the NCRB are startling.

>When used in various sentences in an article:

First use: However, in 2014, not a single farmer ended his life in the state, thanks to a new methodology adopted by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to calculate farming distress.

Second use: In fact, the latest NCRB data show the desert state to be an oasis of farming bliss.

Third use: The Bureau [could use bureau lower case too, in this instance] knows there is a problem with the classification methodology.

and

First use: The family, though, has received some help from the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS).

Second use: The VJAS has been working in the region since the crisis began.

Third use: A spokesperson of the Samiti said, “…….”

○Exceptions

>There are almost no exceptions for the use of acronyms. Even common ones – for example, the UN, GDP, IPR, WTO – must always be spelt out in the first instance.

>Even this: the United States or the United States of America in the first instance, and then it becomes the USA (without dots) or U.S. (with dots).

>However: in a direct quote, if someone has used an acronym (for example, “The MLA here never visits his constituency”), it might look odd to spell out MLA (or any other acronym thus occurring) in round brackets right there. In which case, let only the acronym remain. This is a matter of judgement in every such instance.

>And a long acronym, commonly-used, such as UNICEF, may become unwieldy to spell out — in which case, let it be. This too is a matter of editorial judgement in every such instance.