Abbreviations

[hurst07]

I have consulted the archives and a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style (I'm using Chicago for my dissertation) and have not been able to find an answer. So, as I write, write, write in anticipation of my meeting with my supervisor next week, I come to you all with a question. I'm currently writing up a section of my dissertation that focuses on a

Comments

[munchkin1616]

not sure about the rules of Chicago, but maybe you could find parts of others' papers written in the style where you could see if they mix it or just stick with one?

[twilit]

I write on the UN and get accused of making alphabet soup all the time. It's largely BECAUSE Chicago doesn't care about it. I would say for simplicities sake stick with SPGFP and spell it out whenever it is first used in a new section before continuing with the abbreviation. Or if you've gone for more than 5 pages without reminding your reader of its existence. But as it seems you're just writing one section (I have no idea how long) sticking with SPGFP should be.

[munchkin1616]

good idea... if there's no set rule, try to think in terms of what the reader would follow. (maybe spelling it out once a page or every other page or something, abbreviate the rest of the time?)

[kahlan_amnell]

That sounds like a good way of dealing with it if there is no set rule. (Which seems to be the case.)

It can be very difficult to read a article or book where the full name is only used once and the abbreviation is used for the rest of the book, especially if there are a lot of abbreviations.

[hurst07]

thank you. great advice from the trenches.

[relena_wolf]

It seems, after my brief google of them, that most of the sources refer to them as SPG or their current incarnation as USPG. They also use, as I would, "the Society," which would only work if you aren't discussing multiple Societies in your chapter. I think the rule of thumb would be "Will they still remember what I'm talking about this this acronym?".

[mokitty]

seconded

[aleph_zahir]

That was my first thought as well.

[hurst07]

that makes sense. Thanks!

[gramarye1971]

Could you simply refer to it as "the Society" every so often? Or do you refer to other societies in that section of your dissertation?

I'll sometimes vary my use based on what reads more easily to me -- as in sentence openings like 'Society members spoke at...' and 'The SPGFP's organisational structure was...' Sometimes alphabet soup is unavoidable, but I think you can mix it up a bit without spelling out a rather long title all the time.

[brittdreams]

Yea, this is what I did in my thesis, which was written using the Turabian manual (which is based on Chicago). I used the abbreviation, "the Society", and, when making particular points or starting a new chapter, used the full name.

[hurst07]

This is very good. I think that the idea of "what reads good" is helpful.

[hurst07]

or "what reads WELL" . . . very tired.

[eve_prime]

You can use acronyms and full names in any combination you please, as long as you introduce the acronym before using it, in the main text. (It's annoying when it's introduced only in a figure or table.)

[hurst07]

so freeing. thanks for the advice. appreciate it.