Abbreviations
Abbreviations, acronyms and contractions are shorter ways to write words. For accessibility reasons, you should be careful when and how much you use them. When writing for digital content, you should follow our guidance on tagging.
- An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase.
- A contraction is a word resulting from a word or phrase that has been shortened in the middle (I'm, can't).
- An initialism is pronounced as the individual letters (LGBTQIA+, IT)
- An acronym is a set of initials from other words but pronounced as a word (EUCLID, UCAS).
Tagging
For accessibility reasons, it's very important that you tag abbreviations where appropriate.
Tagging is where an abbreviation, contraction or acronym used on the web is marked with special code so that users know what it means.
The additional text contained in the tag is revealed when the user hovers over the tagged item with their cursor. This often shows what letters in an acronym stand for - but this is not always the case.
Tagging - full details on the Website Support wiki [login needed]
Abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations where you can. If you do use one, format it without punctuation and make sure it's appropriately tagged.
Punctuation
As a general principle, abbreviations should not use punctuation, including full stops.
Is an abbreviation appropriate?
Abbreviations can be confusing. It's often better to write the word out in full. In particular, avoid abbreviations of terms that aren't standard British English, such as 'e.g.' or 'RSVP'.
Acronyms
Acronyms which you know your audience will recognise do not need to be written out in full, but they usually need to be tagged.
Others should be written out the first time they are used (on every page), with the tagged acronym coming after in brackets. After this the tagged acronym can be used alone. Don’t put full stops between letters.
Example
- Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA)
Contractions
A contraction results from letters being missed out (an abbreviation is a shortened version). Mr is a contraction of M-iste-r.
Don’t use full stops in contractions or abbreviations.
Example
- Mr rather than Mr.
- eg and ie rather than e.g. and i.e.
Contracted words
Some types of contracted words can cause issues with usability. Simple contractions may be fine.
Example
- you’ll - for you will
- we’ll - for we will
University abbreviations
The A to Z shows what many common University abbreviations stand for.
You can use the University of Edinburgh Acronyms and Abbreviations site (often referred to as the Edinburgh Acronym Buster) to look up acronyms to find out what they mean.
University of Edinburgh Acronyms and Abbreviations site (log in required)
A level
No hyphen, lower-case l.
Hyphenate in adjectival sense: 'A-level results'
BA
Tag as Bachelor of Arts.
BEng
Tag as Bachelor of Engineering.
billion
Abbreviate to bn, not b, only if necessary. Tag as billion.
BSc
Tag as Bachelor of Science.
chemical formulae
Avoid where possible. Write ‘carbon dioxide’ instead of CO2.
Where used, chemical formulae should be written in plain text - CO2 - and do not need to be tagged.
If your web page contains reference to a number of chemical formulas and their use is unavoidable, consider creating a glossary of terms. Provide a link to this glossary on each relevant page.
Covid-19
Do not tag.
DClinPsychol
Tag as Doctor of Clinical Psychology.
degrees, degree classes
No full stops.
"MA (Hons)"
Use colons to separate 2:1, 2:2
See individual entries for tagging guidance for specific degree abbreviations.
Dr
Do not tag.
DSc
Tag as Doctor of Science.
ECA
Tag as Edinburgh College of Art.
EdD
Tag as Doctor of Education.
eg
Avoid. Use 'for example' instead.
etc
Avoid. State full list or use alternative phrases. If unavoidable, use ‘etcetera’.
‘Each month’ rather than ‘in January, February, etc’ ‘Ball games’ rather than ‘football etc’.
EUSA
The first time, write it in full as Edinburgh University Students' Association. After that, use the acronym EUSA and tag as Edinburgh University Students’ Association.
ft
Avoid. Tag as full time if unavoidable.
GP
Avoid. Use ‘doctor’ or similar instead. If it is unavoidable, tag as ‘General Practitioner’.
HTML
Do not tag unless the page’s purpose is to explain what HTML is.
ie
Avoid. Use ‘that is’ or other alternative.
LLB, LLM
Do not tag.
MA
Tag as Master of Arts.
MBA
Tag as Master of Business Administration.
MBChB
Do not tag.
MCS
Tag as Master of Chinese Studies.
MClinDent
Tag as Master of Clinical Dentistry.
metres
Avoid abbreviating. Use 'm', tagged as ‘metres’ where unavoidable.
million
Abbreviate to mn, not m, only if necessary. Tag as million.
MMus
Tag as Master of Music.
MPhil
Tag as Master of Philosophy.
Mr, Mrs, Ms
Do not tag.
MSc
Tag as Master of Science.
MSW
Tag as Master of Social Work.
MTeach
Tag as Master of Teaching.
MTh
Tag as Master of Theology.
NB
Do not use.
NHS
Tag as National Health Service or leave untagged, depending on context.
PGDE
Tag as Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (not Postgraduate Diploma).
PgDip
Tag as Postgraduate Diploma.
PhD
Do not tag.
postcodes
Do not tag. Format with a contact box if using EdWeb.
Professor
Do not abbreviate to ‘Prof’ unless absolutely necessary. If the abbreviated form is used, tag as Professor.
RSVP
Do not use. Use ‘please respond/reply’ instead.
SQA
Tag as Scottish Qualifications Authority.
UCAS
Tag as University and Colleges Admissions Service.
UK
Tag as United Kingdom.
USA
Tag as United States of America.
URL
Avoid if possible, using ‘website address’ or similar instead. If used, do not tag unless the purpose of the copy is to explain Uniform Resource Locators.