diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 46d8f227..067e5720 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 GIT
   remote: https://github.com/ncbo/goo.git
-  revision: 911d71aefe433314d11398445e3856fca503b9c1
+  revision: 83425ba6c05d051d86c6f5775540727ce4238443
   branch: develop
   specs:
     goo (0.0.2)
@@ -53,11 +53,12 @@ GEM
       launchy (~> 2.1)
       mail (~> 2.7)
     eventmachine (1.2.7)
-    faraday (2.7.10)
+    faraday (2.7.11)
+      base64
       faraday-net_http (>= 2.0, < 3.1)
       ruby2_keywords (>= 0.0.4)
     faraday-net_http (3.0.2)
-    ffi (1.15.5)
+    ffi (1.16.3)
     hashie (5.0.0)
     htmlentities (4.3.4)
     http-accept (1.7.0)
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ GEM
     method_source (1.0.0)
     mime-types (3.5.1)
       mime-types-data (~> 3.2015)
-    mime-types-data (3.2023.0808)
+    mime-types-data (3.2023.1003)
     mini_mime (1.1.5)
     minitest (4.7.5)
     minitest-reporters (0.14.24)
@@ -92,21 +93,21 @@ GEM
       powerbar
     multi_json (1.15.0)
     net-http-persistent (2.9.4)
-    net-imap (0.3.7)
+    net-imap (0.4.2)
       date
       net-protocol
     net-pop (0.1.2)
       net-protocol
     net-protocol (0.2.1)
       timeout
-    net-smtp (0.3.3)
+    net-smtp (0.4.0)
       net-protocol
     netrc (0.11.0)
     oj (3.16.1)
     omni_logger (0.1.4)
       logger
     parallel (1.23.0)
-    parser (3.2.2.3)
+    parser (3.2.2.4)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
     pony (1.13.1)
@@ -125,11 +126,11 @@ GEM
     rake (10.5.0)
     rdf (1.0.8)
       addressable (>= 2.2)
-    redis (5.0.7)
-      redis-client (>= 0.9.0)
-    redis-client (0.17.0)
+    redis (5.0.8)
+      redis-client (>= 0.17.0)
+    redis-client (0.18.0)
       connection_pool
-    regexp_parser (2.8.1)
+    regexp_parser (2.8.2)
     rest-client (2.1.0)
       http-accept (>= 1.7.0, < 2.0)
       http-cookie (>= 1.0.2, < 2.0)
@@ -139,19 +140,18 @@ GEM
     rsolr (2.5.0)
       builder (>= 2.1.2)
       faraday (>= 0.9, < 3, != 2.0.0)
-    rubocop (1.56.2)
-      base64 (~> 0.1.1)
+    rubocop (1.57.2)
       json (~> 2.3)
       language_server-protocol (>= 3.17.0)
       parallel (~> 1.10)
-      parser (>= 3.2.2.3)
+      parser (>= 3.2.2.4)
       rainbow (>= 2.2.2, < 4.0)
       regexp_parser (>= 1.8, < 3.0)
       rexml (>= 3.2.5, < 4.0)
       rubocop-ast (>= 1.28.1, < 2.0)
       ruby-progressbar (~> 1.7)
       unicode-display_width (>= 2.4.0, < 3.0)
-    rubocop-ast (1.29.0)
+    rubocop-ast (1.30.0)
       parser (>= 3.2.1.0)
     ruby-progressbar (1.13.0)
     ruby2_keywords (0.0.5)
@@ -176,11 +176,12 @@ GEM
     unf (0.1.4)
       unf_ext
     unf_ext (0.0.8.2)
-    unicode-display_width (2.4.2)
+    unicode-display_width (2.5.0)
     uuid (2.3.9)
       macaddr (~> 1.0)
 
 PLATFORMS
+  aarch64-linux
   arm64-darwin-22
   x86_64-darwin-18
   x86_64-darwin-21
@@ -215,4 +216,4 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   thin
 
 BUNDLED WITH
-   2.3.15
+   2.4.12
diff --git a/lib/ontologies_linked_data/models/slice.rb b/lib/ontologies_linked_data/models/slice.rb
index 65748f2e..c8e8f3c6 100644
--- a/lib/ontologies_linked_data/models/slice.rb
+++ b/lib/ontologies_linked_data/models/slice.rb
@@ -13,12 +13,25 @@ class Slice < LinkedData::Models::Base
 
     def self.validate_acronym(inst, attr)
       inst.bring(attr) if inst.bring?(attr)
-      value = inst.send(attr)
-      acronym_regex = /\A[-_a-z]+\Z/
-      if (acronym_regex.match value).nil?
-        return [:acronym_value_validator,"The acronym value #{value} is invalid"]
+      acronym = inst.send(attr)
+
+      return [] if acronym.nil?
+
+      errors = []
+
+      if acronym.match(/\A[^a-z^A-Z]{1}/)
+        errors << [:start_with_letter, "`acronym` must start with a letter"]
+      end
+
+      if acronym.match(/[^-0-9a-zA-Z]/)
+        errors << [:special_characters, "`acronym` must only contain the folowing characters: -, letters, and numbers"]
+      end
+
+      if acronym.match(/.{17,}/)
+        errors << [:length, "`acronym` must be sixteen characters or less"]
       end
-      return [:acronym_value_validator, nil]
+
+      return errors.flatten
     end
 
     def self.synchronize_groups_to_slices
@@ -31,7 +44,7 @@ def self.synchronize_groups_to_slices
           slice.save if slice.valid?
         else
           slice = self.new({
-            acronym: g.acronym.downcase.gsub(" ", "_"),
+            acronym: g.acronym.downcase.gsub(" ", "-"),
             name: g.name,
             description: g.description,
             ontologies: g.ontologies
diff --git a/test/models/test_slice.rb b/test/models/test_slice.rb
index 699fb0f2..8cc243b1 100644
--- a/test/models/test_slice.rb
+++ b/test/models/test_slice.rb
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def test_slice_lifecycle
     s = LinkedData::Models::Slice.new({
       :name => "Test Slice",
       :description => "This is a test slice",
-      :acronym => "test_slice",
+      :acronym => "test-slice",
       :ontologies => @@onts[3..-1]
     })
 
@@ -70,6 +70,27 @@ def test_synchronization
     assert slices.map {|s| s.acronym}.include?(@@group_acronym)
   end
 
+  def test_slice_acronym_validity
+    s = LinkedData::Models::Slice.new({
+                                        :name => "Test Slice",
+                                        :description => "This is a test slice",
+                                        :acronym => "test_slice",
+                                        :ontologies => @@onts[3..-1]
+                                      })
+
+    refute s.valid?
+
+    s = LinkedData::Models::Slice.new({
+                                        :name => "Test Slice",
+                                        :description => "This is a test slice",
+                                        :acronym => "test-slice",
+                                        :ontologies => @@onts[3..-1]
+                                      })
+
+    assert s.valid?
+
+  end
+
   private
 
   def self._create_group