For publications that use many acronyms and other shortened forms, include a list of these after the contents table (at the beginning) or after the appendixes (before the index).
Items that can be included in the list are:
- acronyms and initialisms used in the text
- other shortened forms that are used in the text (eg Action Plan, short for the full name National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan)
- abbreviations for units of measurement.
If the publication contains many units of measurement, these can be listed separately.
The list does not have to include shortened forms that:
- have been spelt out in the text for reader information only (ie where the acronym is better known than the full term)
- only occur in a short section of text (eg 1 paragraph or several consecutive paragraphs)
- are used only in tables or figures and defined in the table or figure notes
- are from the reference list or reverse title page (eg abbreviated address information).
Did you know? Some journals – for example, Clinical and Vaccine Immunology – give lists of terms that do not need to be spelled out in their instructions for authors.