Demonstrating the ascendancy of COVID-19 research using acronyms.

ABSTRACT

"COVID" which stands for corona virus disease, has become the world's most infamous acronym. Previous analysis of acronyms in health and medical journals found a growing use of acronyms over time in titles and abstracts, with "DNA" as the most common. Here we examine acronyms in the pandemic year of 2020 to show the dramatic rise of COVID-related research. "COVID" was over five times more frequently used than "DNA" in 2020, and in just one year it has become the sixth most popular acronym of all time, surpassing "AIDS", "PCR" and "MRI".