Spell out the full name with the acronym in brackets in the first instance and just the acronym in subsequent references.
- Health Sciences First Year (HSFY) is a foundation year for the five professional programmes: Dentistry, Medical Laboratory Science, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Physiotherapy. HSFY is also an excellent way to begin a degree in biomedical science or any of the broad range of biological sciences at Otago.
There is no need to spell out the full name when the abbreviation or acronym is so familiar that it is used more often than the full form (e.g. BBC, FBI) or when the full form would provide little clarification (e.g. DNA).
Capitalise each letter of an acronym and do not include any punctuation.
- EFTS
- GST
- ITS
Plurals and possessives
Use a small 's' with no apostrophe for plurals.
- The FAQs can be found on the last page of the booklet.
- PhDs were held by every member of the veteran research group.
Follow usual punctuation rules for possessives.
- The BMS's Department of Biochemistry.
- The BBC's broadcast will begin at noon tomorrow.
Frequently used abbreviations
The following abbreviations are frequently used in everyday writing and should be punctuated as follows:
- e.g. (means: for example)
- etc.
- i.e. (means: that is, in other words)
- CV
- Dr
Common acronyms at Otago
- Certificate of Proficiency (COP)
- Information Technology Services (ITS)
- National Student Index (NSI)
- National Student Number (NSN)
- Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) – note the apostrophe
- Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
- Student Job Search (SJS)