: Re: Where to put acronym/abbreviation explanation? I'm writing my thesis, and I use some acronyms in it. For example "MDBs" = "Multilateral Development Banks". Usually, I write "Multilateral Development

@Welton431

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In the ordinary text following the table I wrote "Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs)", but should I put a footnote also in the table?

You could but I don't think it is necessary and I would not; I don't expect a reader to look at the table until they read the discussion about it. I would put the expansion somewhere in that discussion (and it sounds like you already have). A table does not have to stand alone; there isn't room to explain every label in the table. Readers understand that, and will refer to the discussion text to understand. One thing you might do is force the table to appear after the discussion text, in normal reading order, so nobody should encounter "MDB" before having read what it means.

(I am a PhD, author of several journal papers, I wrote two different Master's theses and my dissertation, and I peer review scientific journal papers; I have reviewed six thus far this year.)

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