diff --git a/doc/contributing.rst b/doc/contributing.rst
index 251f98c2d5a4db188f9bb8e4c8dd424512f60840..4e76856b7505fe98a204090b96afa0dcb6cd825a 100644
--- a/doc/contributing.rst
+++ b/doc/contributing.rst
@@ -32,17 +32,17 @@ To aid readability, all commit messages should be prefixed with one or more of
 the following labels (this convention has been inherited from `nibabel
 <https://github.com/nipy/nibabel>`_):
 
-  * *BF* : bug fix
-  * *RF* : refactoring
-  * *NF* : new feature
-  * *BW* : addresses backward-compatibility
+  * *BF*  : bug fix
+  * *RF*  : refactoring
+  * *NF*  : new feature
+  * *BW*  : addresses backward-compatibility
   * *OPT* : optimization
-  * *BK* : breaks something and/or tests fail
-  * *PL* : making pylint happier
-  * *DOC*: for all kinds of documentation related commits
+  * *BK*  : breaks something and/or tests fail
+  * *PL*  : making pylint happier
+  * *DOC* : for all kinds of documentation related commits
   * *TEST*: for adding or changing tests
-  * *MAINT*: for administrative/maintenance changes
-  * *CI*: for continuous-integration changes
+  * *MNT* : for administrative/maintenance changes
+  * *CI*  : for continuous-integration changes
 
 
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