Overview

OnStyle has a powerful function for checking the correct usage of the abbreviations (acronyms) in the document. The basis of the checks are the following rules:

• Abbreviations can be used in any part of the document.
• At their first occurrence the abbreviations must be defined, i.e. the full description must appear in the text, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis, like this:

chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)

• At all other occurrences the abbreviation can be used without the description
• The document must contain a table of abbreviations where all used abbreviations are listed among with their description. The table of abbreviations can be placed anywhere in the document; however, it is recommended to insert it either to the beginning (behind the ToC) or to the end of the document.
• Some commonly known abbreviations should not be defined in the document and they should not be listed in the table of abbreviations. They are called trivial abbreviations.

OnStyle’s Abbreviation functionality consists of the following parts:

• Search for table of abbreviation,
• Check the format of the table of abbreviation,
• Check abbreviations in the document.

Search for Table of Abbreviations

The first step of the abbreviation check is to find the table of abbreviations. OnStyle checks the table captions and header rows of all tables in the document and tries to find the table of abbreviation based on the user preferences.

If the table of abbreviations is not found that way, OnStyle checks all tables in the document if it could be a table of abbreviation.

If no table of abbreviation was found, or OnStyle cannot determine which table contains the abbreviations, an error message is displayed.

Check the Format of the Table of Abbreviations

A correctly formatted table of abbreviations:

• Contains 2 columns.
• May contain column headings. The column headings are listed in the preferences.
• Every cell of the table is filled.
• 1 table row contains 1 abbreviation.
• The rows are alphabetically sorted.

Check Abbreviations in the Document

• OnStyle checks all abbreviations found in the table of abbreviations:
  • If they are used in the document.
  • If the first (and only the first) occurrence of the abbreviation in the text contains the definition.
  • If the description used in the definition matches the description in the table.
• OnStyle checks if a trivial abbreviation is defined in the document. In this case an error message is shown.
• OnStyle searches the document and tries to find abbreviations which are not listed in the table of abbreviations.

Applying Automatic Fixes

Some of the issues found by the checks can be fixed with OnStyle’s autofix options. These options can be started by right clicking the issue in the check result pane.

Setting Parameters

OnStyle’ Abbreviation check function can be customized in the Preferences window.

Abbreviations table deviations and their fixes

Note: The check of the table format (i.e. fonts, borders, table style) is out of scope for this function.

Multiple abbreviations in one cell

 Description

OnStyle lists the occurrences of those Abbreviation table cells where multiple abbreviations and definitions are listed in one cell separated by paragraph sign. This error appears for those cells where the abbreviation cell and the description cell contain the same number of paragraphs.

How to fix it?

Use the fix of OnStyle by right clicking on the error to split the cell so that each cell in the table row contains only one abbreviation and it’s definition.

Ambiguous abbreviation and description items

Description

The check lists the occurrences of those Abbreviation table cells where multiple abbreviations and definitions are listed in one cell separated by paragraph sign. This error appears for those cells where the abbreviation cell and the description cell contain different number of paragraphs.

How to fix it?

Split the cell manually so that each cell in the table row contains only one abbreviation and it’s definition.

Duplicated Abbreviation Entries

Description

There is a duplicated entry in the abbreviation table.

How to fix it?

Delete one of the occurrences.

Not Alphabetically Sorted

 Description

Abbreviations are not sorted alphabetically in the table.

How to fix it?

You should re-order the table rows by applying the fix. Before using the fix make it sure that there aren’t multiple abbreviations in one cell detected.

Empty Abbreviation or description

 Description

The abbreviation and the description field of the List of Abbreviations should not be left empty or should contain at least 1 word. The check indicates that there is an empty abbreviation or description cell in the table of abbreviations.

How to fix it?

Fill in the empty values or delete the unnecessary rows.

Trivial Abbreviation

Description

The check lists the trivial abbreviations which should not be listed in the table of abbreviations.

How to fix it?

Delete this row from the table of abbreviations.

You may also check and modify the list of trivial abbreviations under Preferences/Check Preferences tab/Trivial Abbreviations option with the Add and Remove buttons. Do not forget to click on the Save Changes!

In case you would like to export/import the Trivial Abbreviation list please navigate to Preferences/Check Preferences tab/Import/Export lists/Trivial Abbrev. section.

To get further information about the configuration settings of OnStyle please visit the Preferences help page.

Table not found

 Description

The check informs you that the Table of abbreviations is not found in the document.

How to fix it?

You should add an abbreviation table or modify the existing one to comply the following rules:

• The abbreviation table consist of 2 or 3 columns.
• You can add title for the abbreviation table e.g.: List of Abbreviations
• You can use the first row as header. Example header names: Abbreviation, Description

You will receive this error message also if your table meets the above requirements but it is empty.

To get further information about the configuration settings of the Abbreviation Table captions and headers please visit the Preferences help page.

Not exactly one table title found

Description

There are more than one List of Abbreviations table inserted in the document. The result will show you the list of the identified tables.

How to fix it?

Check the existing List of Abbreviations tables and delete the unnecessary one.

Abbreviation not used

Description

The abbreviation is listed in the table of abbreviations but is not referenced in the document.

How to fix it?

Check the abbreviation in the document, maybe the reference is misspelled. If the abbreviation is not referenced, please delete this row manually from the table of abbreviations or by using the fix. If you use the fix the entire row will be removed.

Abbreviation deviations in the textual part of the document and their fixes

Definition is Missing

Description

The abbreviation is used in the document, but it is not defined.

How to fix it?

The abbreviation should be defined at the first occurrence in the document. Use the format <description> (<abbreviation>) e.g. Adverse Reaction (AR).

Multiple Definition

Description

The abbreviation is defined multiple times in the document.

How to fix it?

The abbreviation should be defined only at the first occurrence in the document. Use the format <description> (<abbreviation>) e.g. Adverse Event (AE). Once the abbreviation is defined use simply the abbreviation.

Used Before Defined 

Description

The definition of this abbreviation is not at the first occurrence.

How to fix it?

The abbreviation should be defined always at the first occurrence in the document. Use the format <description> (<abbreviation>) e.g. Alzheimers Dementia (AD).

Definition Mismatch

Description

The check lists all findings where the definition used in the document does not match to the one in the abbreviation table. The check will help you to locate the problematic definition.

Abbreviation used in the document:

Abbreviation listed in the Abbreviation table:

How to fix it?

Make it sure that you use the same abbreviation and definition which is referenced in the table.

Abbreviation table entry is missing

 Description

The aim of this check is to find abbreviations in the document (based on the Abbreviation Dictionary) which:

• do not exist in the table of abbreviations
• and do not exist in the table of trivial abbreviations.

Please note that the current configuration of OnStyle allows the recognition of more than 4000 abbreviations. The list of these abbreviations can be viewed by exporting it to your machine. Navigate to Preferences/Check Preferences tab/Import/export lists/Abbrv. Dictionary/Export. After clicking on the Export button, you can specify the target location where the Abbreviation Dictionary will be saved.

In case you notice that an abbreviation is not recognized by OnStyle you may export the Abbreviation list on the same way to your machine, add the missing abbreviation to the list in the proper format, save the file, in Word navigate again to Preferences/Check Preferences tab/Import/export lists and invoke the Import function. This step will load the updated Abbreviation Dictionary list and OnStyle will recognize the newly added abbreviation.

To get further information about the configuration options under Preferences please visit the Preferences help page.

How to fix it?

Add the missing abbreviation along with the description to the Abbreviation table in your document or add the abbreviation to the list of the trivial abbreviations under Preferences.

Trivial abbreviation defined

 Description

This abbreviation is listed in the trivial abbreviations list under Preferences therefore it should not be defined. Check the list of trivial abbreviations under Preferences/Check Preferences tab/Trivial Abbreviations option.

In case you would like to export/import the Trivial Abbreviation list please navigate to Preferences/Check Preferences tab/Import/Export lists/Trivial Abbrev. section.

To get further information about the configuration options under Preferences please visit the Preferences help page.

How to fix it?

Use only the abbreviation instead of the definition.

You can also modify the list of trivial abbreviations under Preferences.

You should give a definition of the abbreviation at the first occurrence in the document. The format is the following: description (abbreviation).