UniWiki:Manual of Style/Abbreviations: Difference between revisions

=={{Anchor|Acronyms and initialisms}}Acronyms==

*'''Capitalisation''': Some acronyms are written with all capital letters, some with a mixture of capitals and lower-case letters and some are written as [[common noun]]s (e.g. {{xt|laser}}). Acronyms whose letters are pronounced individually (which is what some call "initialisms", for example FBI, EU) are written in capitals. For more guidance on the capitalisation of acronyms, see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Acronyms]].

If there is an article about the subject of an acronym (e.g. [[NATO]]), then other articles referring to or using the acronym should use the same style (capitalisation and punctuation) that has been used within the main article. If no article exists for the subject acronym, then style should be resolved by considering consistent usage in source material.

{{anchor| first-use}} Unless specified in the "[[#Exceptions|Exceptions]]" section below, an acronym should be written out in full the first time it is used on a page, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, e.g. {{xt|Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)}}. Common exceptions to this rule are [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biographies#Post-nominal initials|post-nominal initials]] because writing them out in full would cause clutter. Another exception is when something is most commonly known by its acronym (i.e., its article here is at the acronym title), in which case the expansion can come in the parenthetical or be omitted, except in the lead of its own article: {{xt|according to the CIA (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency)}}.

To save space in small spaces {{see above|see=defined|short=y|Use sourceable abbreviations}}, acronyms do not need to be written out in full. When not written out in full on the first use on a page, an acronym should be [[WP:WIKILINK|linked]]. An unambiguous acronym can be linked as-is, but an ambiguous acronym should be linked to its expansion. Upon later re-use in a long article, the template {{tl|abbr}} can be used to provide a mouse-over tooltip giving the meaning of the acronym again without having to redundantly link it or spell it out again in the main text: {{tlc|abbr|CIA|U.S. Central Intelligence Agency}}, giving: {{abbr|CIA|U.S. Central Intelligence Agency}}

For partial acronyms formed using the now-rare convention of including whole short words in them, do not blindly "normalize" them to typical current style, but write each as found in the majority of modern reliable sources. Examples: "Commander-in-Chief" is generally abbreviated {{xt|CinC}} on its own, but may appear in all-caps when used in a longer acronym (especially a U.S. government one) like {{xt|CINCFLEET}} and {{xt|CINCAIR}}. The Billiard Association of America was known as {{xtn|BA of A}}; while this should not be written as unsourceable variations like {{!xt|BAofA}} or {{!xt|BAA}}, the awkwardness of the abbreviation to modern eyes can be reduced by replacing the full-width spaces with thin-space characters: <code><nowiki>BA{{thinsp}}of{{thinsp}}A</nowiki></code> or <code>BA&amp;thinsp;of&amp;thinsp;A</code> gives {{xt|BA&thinsp;of&thinsp;A}}, which better groups the letters into a unit.

| EU || [[European Union]] ||

| [[NATO]] || North Atlantic Treaty Organization ||  

| PRC || [[People's Republic of China]] ||

| UAE || [[United Arab Emirates]] ||

| US or U.S. || [[United States]] || Some American editors prefer to use "U.S." However, use a consistent style within the same article; use "US" in articles with other national abbreviations, e.g. "UK" or "UAE". {{!xt|USA}}, {{!xt|U.S.A.}} and {{!xt|U.S. of A.}} are generally not used except in quoted material ''(see [[WP:Manual of Style#US and U.S.]])''.

Abbreviations for time zones (e.g. [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] and [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]) should not be written out in full in times.

 

Acronyms in this table do not need to be written out in full upon first use, except in their own articles or where not doing so would cause ambiguity.

| AD || ''{{lang|la|[[anno Domini]]}}'' ('in the year of our Lord') || Should not be written out in full in dates and does not need to be linked. Do not use {{!xt|in the year of our lord}} or any other translation of ''Anno Domini''.

| i.e. || ''{{lang|la|[[id est]]}}'' ('that is'&nbsp;/ 'in other words') || Should not be italicised, linked, or written out in full in normal usage.

| [[laser]] || light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation ||  

| n/a or N/A || [[not applicable]] || Should not be written {{!xt|n.a.}}, {{!xt|N.A.}}, {{!xt|NA}} or {{!xt|na}}.

| [[NASA]] || National Aeronautics and Space Administration || Does not need to be written out in full on first use.

| PC || [[personal computer]] || Does not need to be written out in full on first use, nor provided on first use in parentheses after the full term if written out.

| pm || ''{{lang|la|[[post meridiem]]}}'' || Should not be written out in full in times and does not need to be linked. It should not be written {{!xt|PM}} or {{!xt|P.M.}}

| [[radar]] || radio detection and ranging ||  

| [[Scuba set|scuba]] || self-contained underwater breathing apparatus ||  

| [[sonar]] || sound navigation and ranging ||

| TV || [[television]] || Generally use "TV" in most articles except historic articles and cultural or scholarly discussions, e.g. "TV show","TV cameras", "the effects of television on speech patterns". Do not link or explain in normal usage.

| USB || [[Universal Serial Bus]] || Does not need to be written out in full on first use.