quick APA style question pleeez

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DrGero

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.... and I left my guide at work. Is it acceptable to use an acronym like 'CR' in a paper in place of saying "care recipient"? Honestly it's because I'm trying to shorten the word count of a paper I need to submit in a few days.

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Should be fine, just spell it out the first time you mention it
 
Yup, you spell it out the first time and then put (CR) in parentheses, afterwards you can use the abbreviation at will (with a few exceptions - I think abstracts need to stand alone, the same may apply to figures, etc. - but in the text you are good to go.

Minor writing tip, but make sure anything you abbreviate isn't already an established abbreviation for something else in an overlapping literature! Exercise researchers who use PA for "physical activity" drive me absolutely nuts, especially if they are measuring mood as well. In 99% of psychology journals, PA = Positive Affect! Probably irrelevant/old news, but had to bring that up somewhere since I've come across similar problems a few times recently.
 
Well then I'll do it - and I'll keep an eye on any other terms I can 'acronymize'....

I just spent all of yesterday chopping 2300 words out of a 5000 word paper I'm trying to shrink to fit into a 'clinical comment' format. The first 2300 words wasn't terrible, but the last 700 words are really rough.
 
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