The Use of Abbreviations in English-Medium Astrophysics Research Paper Titles: A Problematic Issue

In this study, we carry out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of abbreviations in 300 randomly collected research paper titles published in the most prestigious European and US-based Astrophysics journals written in English. Our main results show that the process of shortening words and groups...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in language and literary studies 2015-06, Vol.6 (3), p.185
Main Authors: Méndez, David I, Alcaraz, M. Ángeles
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abbreviations
Ambiguity (Semantics)
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Bibliometrics
Content Analysis
Diachronic Linguistics
English
English language
Foreign Countries
Journals (Academic)
Language Usage
Memory
Morphology (Languages)
Periodicals
Physics
Qualitative Research
Readability
Reading Comprehension
Scholarship
Statistical Analysis
Titles
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this study, we carry out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of abbreviations in 300 randomly collected research paper titles published in the most prestigious European and US-based Astrophysics journals written in English. Our main results show that the process of shortening words and groups of words is one of the most characteristic and recurrent features in Astrophysics research paper titling construction. In spite of the convenience of abbreviations as a mechanism for word-formation, some of them may pose certain difficulties of understanding and/or misinterpretation because of their specificity, ambiguity, or overlapping. To overcome these difficulties, we propose a series of options which with no doubt would lead to a better interaction among the different branches of Astrophysics in particular and of science in general and would definitely improve how research is currently performed and communicated.
ISSN:2203-4714
2203-4714
DOI:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.3p.185