Essay Technicality

[tedrik]

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I'm finishing up my "why MD/PhD" essay for my secondaries and I have a small technical question: Do I need to give the full name of a receptor to show that I know how scientific writing is supposed to go, or can I just leave in the abbreviation and assume they know what I'm talking about. I figure that everyone knows what an AMPA receptor is, so do I really need to define it as: "alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor" the first time I use it in the essay?

I'm trying to keep the character count down, so I'm hoping that you guys agree that the long name is unnecessary.

Thanks!

 

[ImmunoANT]

If I were you, I'd write out the whole name the first time, then use abbr. subsequently. After all, not everyone is in neuroscience. 😎 Besides, most secondaries don't have word limit, so why not?

ImmunoANT

PS: " alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid " Isn't this glutamate? 🙄

 

[tedrik]

thanks for the response, i think i'll take your advice...

alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid is what AMPA stands for. You probably know all this, but glutamate is the endogenous agonist and AMPA is the chemical agonist that was used in the discovery of the AMPA-type glutamate receptor.

 

[ImmunoANT]

thanks for the clarification.

 

[zep]

I'm finishing up my "why MD/PhD" essay for my secondaries and I have a small technical question: Do I need to give the full name of a receptor to show that I know how scientific writing is supposed to go, or can I just leave in the abbreviation and assume they know what I'm talking about. I figure that everyone knows what an AMPA receptor is, so do I really need to define it as: "alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor" the first time I use it in the essay?

No. AMPA is like TTX in that it is a well accepted abbreviation. In this crowd, giving the full name of the classic agonist won't buy you anything.

It will be understood if you link it with the concept of glutamate receptor (i.e., ?the fast-gated AMPA receptor? or the ?AMPA-subtype glutamate receptor?). Good luck 👍.

 

[tedrik]

Is there anyone who can give one more opinion that can break this tie?? Zep, I know it might be kind of annoying to read the whole name of AMPA, but could it really count against me if I do spell it out? I think I would be willing to sacrifice and make my essay a little longer if that means being on the safe side.

Thanks again...

 

[zep]

Well, I'm not really sure that it would count against you tedrik. Here is what I am thinking: the chances that the people reading your application are familiar with the abbreviation AMPA are far greater than the chances that they have ever even heard of (or remember) a-amino-3-OH-5-Me-4-isoxazole propionic acid. Like I said, this is one of those abbreviations that is accepted as standard nomenclature these days; it?s been around since 1981 (I think Watkins and Evans first suggested the NMDA vs non-NMDA classification), which is a long time in this business.

But in the end it really is what you feel is appropriate, not me or anyone else here. I?m sure that no matter what you do it?s going to be OK. Post up when you decide. 👍

 

[Gfunk6]

Few people who read your essay will be familiar with an AMPA receptor and virtually nobody will be familiar with the full chemical name. Save yourself some space and simply write "AMPA." People are more interested in the results of your work and your role in study design then the technicalities of your research.

 

[tedrik]

Thanks for all of your comments. I am going to have to cite two journal articles at the bottom of my essay, so I think that I will also put a little footnote giving the full names for the AMPA and NMDA receptors. I think this will keep from interrupting the flow of the paper, but still remain scientific.

thanks again!