Always spell out a full term at first use on every page before you refer to it as an acronym or initialism. Use your best judgment for commonly accepted abbreviations, such as REST and API.
Add the acronym or initialism in parentheses after the full name.
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- Correct
- Use the Drucare Search Processing Language (SPL) to search your data.
- Incorrect
- Use SPL (the Drucare Search Processing Language) to search your data.
Capitalize all letters in an acronym or initialism, including specific file name extensions and file types that are used as adjectives. See “File name extensions” and “File types” in the Usage dictionary.
Don’t use periods with acronyms or initialisms when they stand alone in text.
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- Correct
- CSV file
- HTTP protocol
- JSON file
- Upload the docs.pdf attachment.
- Incorrect
- c.s.v. file
- http protocol
- json file
- Upload the docs.PDF attachment.
Don’t use an acronym if it doesn’t closely match the words it refers to.
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- Avoid
- When using a tool like Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS)…
- Use
- When using a tool like Volume Shadow Copy Services…
See Measurements for abbreviating rates of measurement.