Abbreviations do not facilitate reading. Therefore, use only the most frequent ones, as few as possible and only those recommended by the Language Council. Write abbreviations with a full stop without a space inside the abbreviation: e.g., i.e., etc. However, the abbreviations i.e. and etc. are exceptions to the rule, as it has become so common to use only a final full stop that it is now the standard way of writing.

Be consistent throughout the manuscript when writing. Either print the whole word or abbreviate - do not mix different forms.

Do not use home-made abbreviations such as fr.a. but write above all, do not write fig. without figure, not tab. without table, not ssk. without special or nurse, and do not write pat. without patient.

Never write two abbreviations in succession and do not start a sentence with an abbreviation.

In contractions, the first and last letters are always retained, sometimes also some intermediate letters. A full stop is not used after contractions.
Example: kr, ca, jfr, nr, dr

Internationally agreed measure and unit designations are written without a full stop and are almost always used together with numerical expressions. Some are written in lower case, others in upper case. They are summarised in SIS Handbook 103: Quantities and units - SI units of measurement. 
Example: kg, dl, mm (= millimetres, do not confuse with m.m. = etc.)


Before the genitive s in acronyms, use a colon and never an apostrophe as in English. 
Example: USA:s, FN:s, OECD:s

Acronyms (abbreviations consisting of the initials of several words) that are legible are written with an initial capital letter followed by lower case letters.
Example: Unicef, Nato, Bris

Some abbreviations that were previously written in capital letters are now written in lower case.
Example: tv, cd, dvd, vd, hiv, aids