Contractions and abbreviations in academic writing.
Many test takers use contractions and abbreviations in academic writing however, though some raters will let them pass, it is important to note that using them in an academic writing can cause issues and thus may not be suitable.
One of the main reasons why contractions are not acceptable is that they make the writing less formal. Contractions are an informal way of writing, an academic writeup is a formal writing.
As for abbreviations, apart from being informal, they make the reading pretty hard most times and boring, especially when sundry are used. Look at the following sentences:
1- The CEO said the Ad on the TV is to cause a BSS within the company so as to a way of the HRD to make better decisions for the company.
First off, though some abbreviations are known, they can still be confusing depending on the sentence and intended meaning. For example, the abbreviation BSS basically means ‘Bachelor of Social Science’, but the writer used it to mean ‘Business Support System.’. This means it is probable the reader will not understand not only the abbreviation, but the whole sentence.
It is important to note that abbreviations, contractions and acronyms can have more than one meaning and thus can be confusing to the reader. This means:
1- The reader has to often refer back to the whole sentence or everything written before the abbreviation or contractions or;
2- Just move on with the reading hoping the meaning will be understandable within the next context.
Sundry abbreviations and contractions have more than one meaning and this can be confusing to the reader. Look at the list of contractions below and see their different meanings.
1- she’s she is, she has
2- he’s he is, he has
3- it’s it is, it has
4- I’d I had, I would
5- you’d you had, you would
6- she’d she had, she would
7- he’d he had, he would
8- it’d it had, it would
9- we’d we had, we would
10- they’d they had, they would
11- that’s that is, that has
12- who’s who is, who has
13- who’d who had, who would
14- what’s what is, what has, what does
15- where’s where is, where has
16- when’s when is, when has
17- why’s why is, why has
18- how’s how is, how has
19- there’s there is, there has
20- there’d there had, there would
21- someone’s someone is, someone has
22- somebody’s somebody is, somebody has
23- no one’s no one is, no one has
24- nobody’s nobody is, nobody has
25- something’s something is, something has
26- nothing’s nothing is, nothing has
Below are abbreviations with more than one meaning.
A – answer/ absent/ Ampere/ Argon
AA – Alcoholics Anonymous/ Automobile Association
ABC – Australian Broadcasting Corporation/ American Broadcasting Company/ airway breathing circulation
AC/ A/C – alternating current/ air conditioning
adv/ Adv – adverb/ advanced
Al/ AL – aluminium/ Alabama
AM/ AM (radio) – antemeridian (= in the morning)/ amplitude modulation (radio frequency)
Amp/ amp – Ampere/ amplifier
AR – augmented reality/ Arkansas
ASL – American Sign Language/ age sex location
ATB – all terrain bike (= mountain bike)/ All the best (email sign off)
auto/ auto (parts)– automatic/ automobile
AV – audio-visual/ adult video/ autonomous vehicle
BC – before Christ/ British Columbia
bike – bicycle/ motorbike
bio – biography/ biological
bull – bull's-eye/ bulls**t
c/ C – cent/ century
Ca/ CA/ ca – calcium/ California/ circa (meaning “about”)
(dash)cam/ CAM – (video) camera/ computer-aided manufacturing/ complementary and alternative medicine
cat/ Cat – catalytic convertor/ Catherine
cc/ CC – cubic centimetres/ carbon copy (email)
cert/ (dead) cert – certificate/ certainty
CIO – chief information officer/ chief investment officer
CO – carbon monoxide/ commissioning officer
co/ CO – company/ Colorado
coke – Coca Cola/ cocaine
comp – compilation/ comprehensive (school)
con/ Con. – convict/ confidence trick/ Conservative (Party)
cos – because/ cosine
CRT – cathode ray tube/ critical race theory/ cardiac resynchronisation therapy
CT (scan)/ CT – computed tomography/ Connecticut
d/ D – deci-/ diameter/ Democrat
DC – direct current/ (Washington) District of Columbia
deb – debutante/ Deborah
(high) def/ def./ def(o) – definition/ defender/ definitely
DJ – disc jockey/ disk jockey
DMs – direct messages/ Doctor Martens
doc/ doc(s) – document/ documentary/ doctor/ Dr Martens
DVD – digital video disc/ digital versatile disc
E/ e- – East/ ecstasy/ energy/ electronic-
Ed./ (adult/ special/ co-)ed/ Ed – edition/ education/ Edward
EFL – English Football League/ English as a foreign language
esp./ ESP – especially/ extra-sensory perception/ English for Specific Purposes/ English for Special Purposes
est./ EST – estimated/ established/ Eastern Standard Time
estate – council estate/ estate car
ET – extra terrestrial/ Eastern Time
ex/ Ex.(1) – ex-wife/ ex-husband/ ex-boyfriend/ ex-girlfriend/ example (one)/ exercise (one)
ext. – extension/ exterior/ external/ extract
F/ (3)F – (degrees) Fahrenheit/ false/ female/ Fluorine/ (third) floor
FA/ (sweet) FA – Football Association/ f*** all
FE (college)/ Fe – further education (college)/ iron
FT/ ft – full time/ Financial Times/ foot/ feet
FX/ (S)FX – foreign exchange/ (special) effects
FY – financial year/ fiscal year
g/ G – gram/ ground floor/ grand (= thousand)
GA – general average/ Georgia
GM – general manager/ General Motors
GP – general practitioner (= family doctor)/ (Formula 1) grand prix
H – heroin/ hydrogen
HMP – Her Majesty’s Prison/ His Majesty’s Prison (used in prison names)
HMS – Her Majesty’s Ship/ His Majesty’s Ship (used in ship names)
hockey – field hockey/ ice hockey
hon/ hon./ Hon. – honey/ honorary/ honourable
hood – hoodlum/ neighbourhood
HRH – Her Royal Highness/ His Royal Highness
ID – identification/ Idaho
IMHO – in my honest opinion/ in my humble opinion
imp. – imperial/ imperative/ imperfect
inc. – incorporated/ including
in/ IN – inch/ Indiana
inf. – infinitive/ informal
IP – intellectual property/ internet protocol
IPA – India Pale Ale/ international phonetic alphabet
K – kilobyte/ thousand (dollars)/ kilometre
kit/ Kit – drum kit/ sports kit/ Christopher/ Catherine
KL – Kuala Lumpur/ cool
kW/ KW – kilowatts/ Kuwait
L – litre/ left/ large
LA – Los Angeles/ Louisiana
Lib/ (women’s) lib – Liberal (Party)/ liberation
M/ M(1) – million/ medium/ motorway
MA – Master of Arts/ Massachusetts
Mac – (Apple) Macintosh (computer)/ Mackintosh (raincoat)
mason – freemason/ stonemason
MD – managing director/ medical doctor/ Maryland
med(s)/ (pre-)med – medicine/ medical
mg/ MG – milligram/ Morris Garages (sports car company)
mi/ MI – mile/ Michigan
mike (or mic)/ Mike – microphone/ Michael
mil – millimetres/ million (dollars/ pounds)
min – minimum/ minute(s)
MN/ Mn – Minnesota/ manganese
mm/ MM – millimetre(s)/ (two or more) million/ month (written as two digits)
MO/ Mo – modus operandi/ Missouri/ molybdenum
MP – member of parliament/ military police (officer)
MS – multiple sclerosis/ Microsoft/ Mississippi
Mt/ MT – mount/ Montana
MW – megawatts/ medium wave
N/ n – North/ nitrogen/ newton/ nano-/ noun
N/A – not applicable/ not available
NE/ Ne – Northeast/ Nebraska/ neon
nm/ NM – nanometre/ New Mexico
ng/ NG – nanogram/ not given (in the IELTS exam)/ no good (in electronics)
NI – Northern Ireland/ national insurance
omg – oh my goodness/ oh my god
op/ OP – operation/ original poster
OR – Oregon/ operating room
OT – overtime/ occupational therapist
p – page/ penny or pence (one hundredth of a pound, like cents are for dollars)
PA – public address (system)/ personal assistant/ per annum (= per year)/ Pennsylvania
para – paragraph/ paratrooper
Pat – Patrick/ Patricia
PC – personal computer/ politically correct (language/ expression)/ police constable
PD – private detective/ professional development
PE/ P/E – physical education/ price/earnings
pen./ pen – penalty (goal)/ penitentiary
PM – prime minister/ post meridian (= in the afternoon)
PO – post office/ purchase order
pol/ POL – politician/ Poland
pop/ pop. – popular music/ population
pp/ PP – per pro (meaning “on behalf of”, used in emails)/ pages (repeated letter to mean plural, from Latin)/ past participle
PPP – public private partnership/ presentation practice production
PR – public relations/ proportional representation/ Puerto Rico
prep – preparation/ preposition
PS/ PS(5) – post scriptum (meaning “by the way” at the end of emails)/ PlayStation (5)
PT/ pt – part time/ physical training/ point(s)/ pint(s)
QE/ QE(II) – quantitative easing/ Queen Elizabeth
R/ r – registered trademark/ Republican/ reigned (from… to…)/ radius
RA/ Ra – (member of the) Royal Academy/ research assistant/ radium
re:/ RE – regarding (meaning “concerning”/ “about” in emails)/ religious education
ref/ (my/ our/ your) ref – referee/ (my/ our/ your) reference
rep/ (sales) rep – repetition/ reputation/ (sales) representative
rev/ Rev- revolution/ reverend
RI – religious instruction/ Rhode Island
ROM/ Rom – read only memory/ Romania
S – South/ small
SAM/ Sam – surface to air missile/ Samuel/ Samantha
Sat/ sat (nav)/ SAT – Saturday/ satellite navigation/ standard assessment test
sec.(1)/ SEC – section (1)/ Securities and Exchange Commission/ section
semi – semi-final/ semi-detached house
sim/ SIM (card) – simulation/ subscriber identity module
SD (card)/ SD – Secure Digital (memory card)/ South Dakota
specs – specifications/ spectacles (= glasses)
St – street/ saint
STD/ std – sexually transmitted disease/ standard
sub – substitute (player/ teacher)/ subway (sandwich)/ substitute/ submissive
SW – Southwest/ shortwave
t/ T – ton/ true/ T-shirt
tape – Scotch tape/ Sellotape/ sticky tape/ cassette tape
TBA – to be arranged/ to be announced
temp – temporary (staff/ worker)/ temperature
trans – transgender/ transsexual/ translation
TTT – test teach test/ teacher talking time
U – you/ unit/ university/ uranium/ upper class
V/ v – voltage/ versus/ verb
VA – various artists/ Virginia
val/ Val – value/ Valerie
VC – venture capital/ Victoria Cross
VE (Day)/ ’ve – Victory in Europe/ have
vet – veterinarian (= animal doctor)/ (war/ Vietnam) veteran
VJ/ VJ (Day) – video jockey/ Victory against Japan (Day)
W/ w – West/ Watt(s)/ with
w/o – without/ word order
WA – Western Australia/ Washington
WI – Women's Institute/ Wisconsin
WY – Wyoming/ Would you?
yr – your/ year
In conclusion, try as much as possible to avoid abbreviations and contractions in your formal writing. It will help you write complete coherent sentences or better structured sentences for a good formal writing.