AVMA Journals Style Standard Abbreviations
Abbreviations
Overuse of abbreviations can make the text confusing, ambiguous, and frustrating to read. Therefore, we encourage authors to limit abbreviations to standard units of measure and to those abbreviations in the journal’s list of standard abbreviations that can be used without expansion.
Other abbreviations are acceptable when a long, cumbersome, or awkward word or phrase is used. However, even in these instances, a term should generally be abbreviated only if it is used at least 3 times. Also, when considering whether to use an abbreviation, remember that abbreviations commonly used in a specific field may not be well known to readers outside that field.
For abbreviations other than those included in the journal’s list of standard abbreviations, the term must be expanded at first mention, with the abbreviation given in parentheses after the expanded term, in each of the 5 following parts of the manuscript: abstract, manuscript text, figures, tables, and appendices. The abbreviation is then used without expansion throughout the remainder of that manuscript part. All abbreviations should be derived directly from the word or words that make up the expanded term.
Abbreviations that appear only in figures should be defined in the legend of the first figure in which they appear; abbreviations that appear only in tables should be defined in the title or footnotes of the first table in which they appear.
Except for the abbreviations ELISA, ACTH, EDTA, DNA, and RNA, abbreviations should generally not be used in titles.
If applicable, also refer to the Journal style for Pharmacologic and Pharmacokinetics Terminology.
Standard abbreviations that can be used without expansion
The following is a list of abbreviations that may be used without expansion in the abstract, main text, figures, tables, and appendices.
2-D | 2-dimensional or 2 dimensions | HIV | Human immunodeficiency virus |
3-D | 3-dimensional or 3 dimensions | hpf | High-power field or high-power fields |
HU | Hounsfield unit or Hounsfield units | ||
ACTH | Adrenocorticotropic hormone | ||
ADP | Adenosine diphosphate | ie* | Latin for "that is" |
AMDUCA | Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act | ||
ANCOVA | Analysis of covariance | JAVMA | Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association |
ANOVA | Analysis of variance | ||
APHIS | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service | ||
approx* | Approximately | kVp | Kilovolt peak |
ATCC | American Type Culture Collection | ||
ATP | Adenosine triphosphate | LD50 | Median lethal dose |
ATPase | Adenosine triphosphatase | ||
AVMA | American Veterinary Medical Association | MRI§ | Magnetic resonance imaging |
mRNA | Messenger ribonucleic acid | ||
BCG | Bacille Calmette-Guerin | m/z | Mass-to-charge ratio |
bp‡ | Base pairs | ||
BUN | Blood urea nitrogen | NIH | National Institutes of Health |
NSAID | Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug | ||
cAMP | Cyclic adenosine monophosphate | ||
CBC | Complete blood count | OR | Odds ratio |
CDC | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | ||
cDNA | Complementary deoxyribonucleic acid | PAGE | Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis |
CFU‡ | Colony-forming unit | PBS | Phosphate-buffered saline |
CI | Confidence interval | PBSS║ | Phosphate-buffered saline solution |
CNS | Central nervous system | PCR | Polymerase chain reaction |
CPR | Cardiopulmonary resuscitation | PCV | Packed cell volume |
CSF | Cerebrospinal fluid | ||
CT | Computed tomography or computed tomographic | RBC | Red blood cell |
RNA | Ribonucleic acid | ||
DICOM | Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine | RPMI | Roswell Park Memorial Institute |
DMSO | Dimethyl sulfoxide | rRNA | Ribosomal ribonucleic acid |
DNA | Deoxyribonucleic acid | ||
dNTP | Deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate | SD | Standard deviation |
SDS | Sodium dodecyl sulfate | ||
ECG | Electrocardiogram or electrocardiographic | SE | Standard error |
EDTA | Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid | SEM | Standard error of the mean |
eg* | Latin for “for example” | STIR | Short tau inversion recovery |
ELISA | Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay | SUN | Serum urea nitrogen |
FDA | Food and Drug Administration | TCID50 | Median tissue culture infective dose |
FeLV | Feline leukemia virus | tRNA | Transfer ribonucleic acid |
FIV | Feline immunodeficiency virus | ||
FLAIR | Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery | US† | United States |
USDA | United States Department of Agriculture | ||
H&E | Hematoxylin and eosin | UV | Ultraviolet |
Hct | Hematocrit | ||
HEPES | N-2-Hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid | WBC | White blood cell |
*Use only in parenthetical expressions.
†The abbreviation US may be used without expansion at first mention only when it is used as a modifier and only when it directly precedes the word it modifies. In other instances, United States should be used.
‡Abbreviate on first mention in AJVR only. In JAVMA, expand this term on first mention if used at least 3 times, if the authors desire.
§Although this abbreviation can be an adjective or a noun, it cannot be used to mean magnetic resonance image. The term MRI image is acceptable.
║In AJVR, PBSS may be used without expansion on first mention, or it may be expanded to PBS solution and used as such throughout the report; it is the authors’ choice. In JAVMA, PBSS should be expanded on first mention if used at least 3 times.
Divisions of time
Use the following abbreviations for divisions of time in virgule constructions, figures, and tables:
Millisecond | ms |
Second | s |
Minute | min |
Hour | h |
Day | d |
Week | wk |
Month | mo |
Year | y |
Exceptions: a division of time appearing in a table column heading should be spelled out, unless the division is in parentheses. Similarly, a division of time should be spelled out when used in a figure axis label, unless the division is in parentheses. In such parenthetical expressions, the abbreviation should be used.
Routes of administration
The following commonly used administration routes can be abbreviated on first mention:
IA | Intra-articular |
ID | Intradermal |
IM | Intramuscular |
IP | Intraperitoneal |
IV | Intravenous |
PO | Per os |
SC | Subcutaneous |