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The tyranny of acronyms in medical journal articles

Pediatric Research volume 95, pages 859–860 (2024)Cite this article

The practice of using abbreviations dates back to Roman times. But the frequency of their use seems to have increased over the past few decades. In 1990, Conti1 listed 18 different acronyms for clinical trials using a single intervention—thrombolytic therapy for myocardial infarction. Several authors and editors2 have discouraged the use of acronyms in general, inappropriate or coercive acronyms for naming clinical trials in particular.3 Many adjectives have been used to describe the affinity for using excessive number of acronyms, some of which include, “a malignant disease of acronymophilia,”4 “acronym diarrhea disorder,2” “acronymophobia,” “a bureaucratic infectious disease, or buropathy.4”

Below, I provide an example of this malady in a hypothetical abstract.

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References

  1. Conti, C. R. Acronyms of thrombolytic therapy in myocardial infarctions. Clin. Cardiol. 13, 1–2 (1990).

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  2. Begg, C. B. Zero tolerance for acronyms. Clin. Trials 14, 561–562 (2017).

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  3. Cheng, T. O. To use BEST as an acronym for another cardiological trial may not be the best idea. Int. J. Cardiol. 124, 227 (2008).

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  4. Isaacs, D. & Fitzgerald, D. Acronymophilia: an update. Arch. Dis. Child 83, 517–518 (2000).

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  5. Playfoot, D. & Izura, C. Imageability, age of acquisition, and frequency factors in acronym comprehension. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 66, 1131–1145 (2013).

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Funding

Funding

T.N.K.R. is an employee of the United States Federal Government, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA. The current work was carried out within the context of his official duties. His employers had no influence on the contents of the current article.

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  1. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Tonse N. K. Raju

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Correspondence to Tonse N. K. Raju.

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T.N.K.R. is the Deputy Editor for the Journal of Perinatology, a Springer/Nature publication. The Journal had no influence on the contents of this paper.

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Raju, T.N.K. The tyranny of acronyms in medical journal articles. Pediatr Res 95, 859–860 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02797-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02797-7

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