Preferred Spellings and Usage
A
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| acetyl CoA | acetyl-CoA (with hyphen) |
| acetyl-coenzyme A | acetyl coenzyme A (no hyphen) |
| α cell | alpha cell |
| adapter | adaptor |
| African American or African-American etc. | Either hyphenated or unhyphenated is OK but make consistent (both allowed in Merriam-Webster and unhyphenated in OED) |
| Akaike information criterion | Akaike’s information criterion |
| AKT | Akt (this is treated as the protein name, rather than an abbreviation, and does not need to be written in full) |
| albumin-to-creatinine ratio (or other variations) | albumin/creatinine ratio |
| amido black | Amido Black |
| (amino acid chains) | Gly-Lys-Ala |
| amphetamine (USAN) | amfetamine (INN) |
| anti-diabetic drug | glucose-lowering drug or hypoglycaemic drug |
| anti-oxidant | antioxidant |
| apolipoproteins | If using abbreviation, format as e.g. ApoA-I, ApoB-100 (initial capital) |
| around [e.g. 3 ml urine] | about 3 ml urine |
B
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| base line | baseline |
| B-cell | B cell |
| β cell | beta cell (but β OK for chemicals, etc.) |
| beta blocker | β-blocker |
| biobreeding (BB) rats | BioBreeding (BB) rats |
| birth weight | birthweight |
| bisulfite | bisulphite |
| Black/White or black/white (race) | initial capital or lower case acceptable – make consistent |
| breast-fed, breast-feeding | breastfed, breastfeeding |
C
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| C or COOH terminal | C- or COOH-terminal (hyphen optional with terminus) |
| C3 | C-3 (third carbon atom) C3 (chain of three carbon atoms) |
| calorie | energy (e.g. low-energy diet, % of energy from fat; note that the abbreviation VLCD [very low calorie diet] is acceptable) |
| cAMP | cyclic AMP (or use cAMP as a defined abbreviation) |
| CD4+ | CD4+ |
| C peptide | C-peptide |
| caesarean | Caesarean |
| case−cohort | case-cohort (with hyphen − N-rule is not appropriate as cases fall within the cohort) |
| case-control | case−control (with N-rule) |
| Chinese Han | Han Chinese |
| chi-square test | χ2 test |
| cholecalciferol | vitamin D3 |
| cholesterol ester | cholesteryl ester |
| Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel | Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel |
| Cochran’s Q | Cochran’s Q |
| Coenzyme Q10 | Coenzyme Q10 |
| colocalise | co-localise |
| co-morbid | comorbid |
| co-ordinate | coordinate |
| Cox-Mantel | Cox–Mantel |
| coxsackie | Coxsackie (upper case C as named after the town of Coxsackie, although sometimes lower case when used as the vernacular; Coxsackie B virus and Coxsackievirus B are both acceptable) |
| credible interval | Abbreviate to CrI (not CI) |
| cross over | crossover |
| Cross-talk | crosstalk |
| C-statistic | C statistic (upper case C, non-italic, no hyphen) |
| Ct | Ct (cycle threshold: upright font) |
| cytochrome c | cytochrome c (c in italics) |
D
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| dark-grey | dark grey |
| data is | data are (plural) |
| data set | dataset |
| day time/day-time | daytime [no hyphen] |
| deuterated | 2H-labelled or similar (e.g. 2H2O) |
| df | df |
| D glucose | d-glucose (small cap) (Capital G if at the beginning of a sentence) |
| DI | DI (disposition index) |
| diabetic/diabetics | avoid referring to people as ‘diabetics’ – use ‘person with diabetes’, ‘diabetic individual’ etc. |
| diabetic pregnancy | pregnancy affected by diabetes, diabetic woman etc.(depending on context) |
| dietician | dietitian |
| disk | for computer disk |
| DM | diabetes mellitus (do not use DM in text. It may be used in the tables and figures with a written-out explanation) |
| dose | dose refers to single amount of a drug |
| dosage | dosage also includes details of the timing |
| double blinded | double-blinded |
| down-regulate | downregulate |
| drop-out | dropout |
E
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| EIF | eIF (eukaryotic initiation factor, e is generally styled as lower case) |
| electrophoretic mobility-shift assay | electrophoretic mobility shift assay |
| EMPA-REG OUTCOME | EMPA-REG OUTCOME® (confirm with authors that it is correct to add the ® symbol. No need to write in full) |
| end point | endpoint |
| end product | end-product |
| enzymic | enzymatic |
| et al. | et al (no full point) |
| etiology | aetiology |
| euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp | euglycaemic−hyperinsulinaemic clamp |
| evidenced-based | evidence-based |
F
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| first born/first-born | firstborn |
| firstly, secondly, thirdly … | first, second, third |
| FGM | flash glucose monitoring (or OK to abbreviate to FM [flash monitoring]) |
| focussed | focused |
| foetus/foetal | fetus/fetal |
| follow up | follow-up (when used as an adjective or noun rather than verb) |
| free cholesterol | non-esterified cholesterol |
| free fatty acids | non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) |
| f-test | F test |
G
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| glitazone | thiazolidinedione |
| glucose-6-phosphate | glucose 6-phosphate but glucose-6-phosphatase (note hyphenation) |
| glutathione S-tranferase | glutathione S-transferase (S in italics) |
| glycaemia | raise AQ to ask if ‘blood glucose’ or similar would be more appropriate |
| guinea-pig | guinea pig |
H
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| HbA1c | HbA1c (note styling i.e. lower case subscript c) |
| HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, etc. | HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, etc. |
| Hank’s balanced salt solution | Hanks’ balanced salt solution |
| health care | healthcare |
| high fat diet | high-fat diet |
| high fat fed | high-fat-fed (not high fat-fed, high-fat fed etc.) |
| hind limb | hindlimb |
| HSV1 | HSV-1 herpes simplex virus 1 |
| hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp | hyperinsulinaemic−euglycaemic clamp |
I
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| IDDM patient | type 1 diabetic patient |
| interleukin 2 | interleukin-2 (with hyphen) |
| IL 2 | IL-2 (with hyphen) |
| intima-media thickness | intima–media thickness (en-dash) |
J
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| JDRF | Correct name of the charity (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). No need to expand |
K
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| Kaplan-Meier | Kaplan–Meier (en-dash) |
| KD | kDa (abbreviation for kilodaltons) |
| knock-in | knockin |
| knock-out | knockout |
L
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| L-cell | L cell |
| leukemia | leukaemia |
| leukocyte | leucocyte |
| light-grey | light grey |
| Log | log (lower case l, and space, e.g. log tyiacylglycerol) |
| log rank | logrank |
| lumenal | luminal |
M
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| MAFA | MafA (a transcription factor) |
| male, female as nouns | men, women |
| Mann-Whitney U test | Mann–Whitney U test (en-dash) |
| Medline | MEDLINE |
| metabolic syndrome | the metabolic syndrome |
| methods methodology | Not interchangeable. Methodology is a system of methods used in a particular area of study |
| Mexican American, Mexican-American | Either hyphenated or unhyphenated is OK but make consistent |
| mm Hg | mmHg (closed up) |
| MTOR | mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) |
| M value | M value (insulin sensitivity) |
| Myanmar | Burma |
N
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| N or NH2 terminal | N- or NH2-terminal (hyphen optional with terminus) |
| naïve | naive (no diaeresis) |
| Neuman-Keuls | Neuman–Keuls (en-dash) |
| neurone | neuron |
| NFκB | NF-κB |
| NICE | Expansion is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (from 2013) |
| NIDDM | type 2 diabetes |
| night time | night-time [include hypen] |
| nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice | non-obese diabetic mice (note that NOD is an accepted abbreviation) |
| Northern blot | northern blot |
O
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| OD (optical density) | absorbance (the preferred technical term) |
| OD450 etc | absorbance at 450 nm |
| omega fatty acid | n-3 fatty acid (hyphen not en dash) |
| ‘omics’ | omics (this term is OK with no need for quote marks) |
| on line | online |
| out-patient | outpatient |
| over-express | overexpress |
| over-nutrition | overnutrition |
| overrepresent | over-represent |
| over-stimulate | overstimulate |
P
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| pancreata | pancreases |
| parameter | variable (note that this change is not always appropriate; parameter may be correct in a mathematical context. Always raise a standard AQ) |
| parasthesias | parasthesiae |
| penicillin streptomycin | penicillin−streptomycin |
| percent | per cent |
| periodic acid-schiff’s reagent | periodic acid–Schiff’s reagent (en-dash, capital S) |
| peroxisome proliferative-activated receptor, gamma, coactivator 1, alpha | peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, gamma, coactivator 1, alpha |
| persons | people |
| person years | person-years |
| phase 1/2 (trial) | Phase I/II (upper case P, Roman numerals) |
| phosphorylase a | phosphorylase a (a in italics) |
| post-hoc | post hoc (no hyphen) |
| post-natal | postnatal |
| post-prandial | postprandial |
| posttranscriptional | post-transcriptional |
| posttranslational | post-translational |
| preadipocytes | pre-adipocytes |
| pre-diabetic | prediabetic |
| pre-prandial | preprandial |
| prepregnancy | pre-pregnancy |
| pro-inflammatory | proinflammatory |
| pro-insulin | proinsulin |
| program | programme (but program is correct for computer program or when referring to cellular programming) |
| Pubmed | PubMed |
Q
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| quantitation, quantitate | quantification, quantify |
R
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| Ra, Rd (rate of appearance, rate of disappearance) | Ra, Rd |
| READ codes | Read codes |
| realtime | real-time (if adjective), otherwise real time |
| real-time PCR | Don’t abbreviate to RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) |
| receiver operator characteristic | receiver operating characteristic |
| red blood cell | erythrocyte |
| re-fed, re-feeding | refed, refeeding |
| regime(n) | regimen (treatment routine) regime (governmental system) |
| regular insulin | short-acting insulin |
| ROC | Precede by ‘a’ rather than ‘an’ (pronounced as ‘rock’) |
| rpm | rev/min (appropriate for shakers; convert to g for centrifuge speed) |
S
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| sacrificed | killed |
| side-effect | side effect (unless adjectival) |
| skinfold | skinfold thickness (but keep ‘sum of skinfolds’, and ‘skinfold’ can be used in tables/figures) |
| SNP | Precede by ‘a’ rather than ‘an’ (pronounced as ‘snip’) |
| socio-economic | socioeconomic |
| Sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 | Sodium−glucose cotransporter 2 |
| south Asian | South Asian |
| southern blot | Southern blot (for DNA) (invented by Prof. Southern, hence capital S) |
| Sprague-Dawley | Sprague Dawley (no hyphen or N rule) |
| St. | St (contraction, not abbreviation) |
| Student-Neuman-Keuls | Student–Neuman–Keuls (en-dash) |
| Students t-test | Student’s t test |
| sub-group | subgroup |
| sub-population | subpopulation |
| sulphonylurea | sulfonylurea |
| super family | superfamily |
| survival | survival rate |
T
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| T-cell | T cell |
| The Netherlands | the Netherlands (except at beginning of sentence) |
| T-helper | T helper |
| thin layer chromatography | thin-layer chromatography (or TLC) |
| time-course | time course |
| TNFα | TNF-α |
| transaminase | aminotransferase |
| triglyceride | triacylglycerol (except adipose triglyceride lipase [ATGL]) |
| tritiated | 3H-labelled or similar (e.g. 3H2O) |
| tumoural | tumoral |
| type 1 diabetes in the mouse | mouse model of type 1 diabetes |
| type I diabetes | type 1 diabetes |
| type II diabetes | type 2 diabetes |
U
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| under-estimate | underestimate |
| underrecord | under-record |
| underrepresent | under-represent |
| United Kingdom | UK |
| up-regulate | upregulate |
| US | OK if adjectival, otherwise USA |
V
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism | variable-number-of-tandem-repeats polymorphism |
| versus | vs |
| vitamin B12 | vitamin B12 |
| vitamin D3 | vitamin D3 |
| vitreous (as a noun) | vitreous body or vitreous humour (ask author if this can be changed) |
W
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| web site | website |
| Western blot | western blot (for protein) |
| western Europe | Western Europe (upper case W) |
| wildtype | wild-type |
| Wmax | Wmax |
| World Health Organization | WHO (standard abbreviation; -iz spelling in references) |
Z
| Non-preferred spelling / usage | Preferred spelling / usage |
| z score | z score |
| Z test | Z test |