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Recently, the tag length limit was expanded to 35 characters.

This means that some abbreviated tag names can be expanded.

This might apply to , , and .

Related: Why is the "ft-ir" tag used to tag infrared spectroscopy questions? and
Should acronyms be tags or should tags be spelled out?

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    $\begingroup$ For reference, dsc -> 33 characters, epr -> 31, and nmr -> 26. $\endgroup$
    – pentavalentcarbon
    Aug 13, 2017 at 16:58
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    $\begingroup$ As a simple, albeit possible unsatisfying solution: what if we kept the tags as they are, but defined the full names as synonyms for the current acronymical tags? $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 14, 2017 at 2:41
  • $\begingroup$ I don't feel like there is any really compelling reason for keeping the tags as acronyms. I'd personally favour expanding them, but I also don't have any compelling reason for this. // @hBy2Py no matter which way round we do it, one will be a synonym of the other; so imo the question is which do we want to be the master tag. It's at most 2 mins of work for a moderator to manage these tags, so that's not a huge problem on our part. $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 14, 2017 at 7:19
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    $\begingroup$ @orthocresol I think it depends a bit on how common the acronyms are. For example, I think NMR is written very often as an acronym. I'm not familiar enough with dsc or epr to know whether that is the case for those as well. $\endgroup$
    – wythagoras
    Aug 14, 2017 at 9:12
  • $\begingroup$ It's very common, perhaps least so for DSC because it isn't used as much, so people have less exposure to it, as you say. $\endgroup$
    – pentavalentcarbon
    Aug 14, 2017 at 13:25
  • $\begingroup$ DFT is expanded, which is even more common than EPR and DSC, so might as well at this point. $\endgroup$
    – pentavalentcarbon
    Aug 14, 2017 at 13:26

1 Answer 1

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18 August 2017 update: This has now been implemented.

TL;DR I propose the following

There is some discussion on the topic at meta.SE: see Are abbreviations or full words preferred for tag names? The points raised therein by Gilles are essentially:

  • acronyms can be ambiguous
  • the master tag should be the most readable version

I don't feel like any of these acronyms are ambiguous. However, since the acronym DSC is not particularly well-known, I would recommend expanding the tag , and also creating the relevant tag synonyms.

For , I don't believe that any chemist would search for nuclear-magnetic-resonance over nmr. I think that this is one of the rare cases where the acronym is more recognisable at first glance than the full name. However, in line with our previous change to IR spectroscopy, I'd also suggest that we expand this to .

is a borderline case, and I think going down either path is logical: therefore either or would make sense to me. Does anybody have a preference for either? Since this isn't exactly a huge, pressing issue, maybe we could just run a simple straw poll in the comments.

If you have another suggestion, please drop it in the comments or another answer!

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  • $\begingroup$ Upvote for electron-paramagnetic-resonance. (Note that comments cannot be un-upvoted after 1 minute!) $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 15, 2017 at 7:10
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    $\begingroup$ Upvote for epr-spectroscopy. $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 15, 2017 at 7:10
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    $\begingroup$ Yes to all, and keep synonyms. I think that people looking for EPR, would also search rather this than the expanded version, in any case I don't think that a synonym would hurt. $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン Mod
    Aug 15, 2017 at 10:23
  • $\begingroup$ ortho, for some reason your \longrightarrow Jax isn't rendering at all for me. In fact, all Jax isn't rendering here, or if I ask a new Meta question. Is working fine on the main site, though. $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 15, 2017 at 12:27
  • $\begingroup$ Looks like it might be something on my home computer - renders fine here at work. Weird. $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:36
  • $\begingroup$ @hBy2Py weird. I think Mathjax is rendered client side, though, so it's probably on your end? I've had occasions where Mathjax would refuse to render on previews of posts, but usually restarting the browser solved that... I'm of no use here, it would be the blind leading the blind, or maybe even the blind leading the not blind. :) $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 15, 2017 at 18:33
  • $\begingroup$ Probably is just a cache problem with the MathJax script or something. I'll figure it out. $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 15, 2017 at 20:30
  • $\begingroup$ @hBy2Py check your Jax settings. They are stored on your local browser in a site wide fashion. Maybe you switched to a different render option by accident, or playing around. If you can't fix it, open a support question with screenshots... $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン Mod
    Aug 16, 2017 at 10:21
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    $\begingroup$ Thanks @Martin-マーチン! I'd changed it to render as the source, probably from when I was reading that post discussing ways to cope with laggy Jax rendering. Didn't even occur to me that setting might be persistent, and I guess I went a long time w/o seeing Jax on Meta. $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 16, 2017 at 10:48
  • $\begingroup$ Any reason you didn't keep [epr] as a synonym for [epr-spectroscopy]? $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:38
  • $\begingroup$ @hBy2Py If one types epr, the autocomplete will suggest epr-spectroscopy. i.stack.imgur.com/Va5QG.png $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:38
  • $\begingroup$ Ah, so the thinking is that few people will intentionally be jerks and just use [epr] (or [nmr])? $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:39
  • $\begingroup$ @hBy2Py Yeah, pretty much. My assumption is that the people who have enough rep to make a tag are also savvy enough to tell that there is a system for them to work within. As usual we will catch the stray tag here and there... $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:41
  • $\begingroup$ As a mod, do you see it whenever new tags are created, on some sort of dashboard? $\endgroup$
    – hBy2Py
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:42
  • $\begingroup$ @hBy2Py Nope. Just look at the newly created tags: chemistry.stackexchange.com/tags?tab=new $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Aug 18, 2017 at 18:42

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