How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Abbreviations and jargon
How to prepare the title
Preparing the text

Titles should almost never contain abbreviations, chemical formulas, proprietary (rather than generic) names, jargon, and the like. In designing the title, the author should ask: “How would I look for this kind of information in an index?” If the paper concerns an effect of hydrochloric acid, should the title include the words hydrochloric acid, or should it contain the much shorter and readily recognizable HCl? The answer seems obvious. Most of us would look under hy in an index, not under hc. Furthermore, if some authors used (and journal editors permitted) HCl and others used hydrochloric acid, the user of the bibliographic services might locate only part of the published literature, not noting that additional references are listed under another, abbreviated entry. Actually, the larger secondary services have computer programs that can bring together entries such as deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, and even ADN (acide deoxyribonucleique). However, by far the best rule for authors (and editors) is to avoid abbreviations in titles. And the same rule should apply to proprietary names, jargon, and unusual or outdated terminology.