Abbreviations Kaplan University Writing Center Abbreviations are shortened words or phrases commonly used in scientific writing to express units of measurement, chemicals (Figure 1), and statistical data. There are also several uses of abbreviations in academic and professional writing that this resource will explain. Table of Contents Titles of Address and Credentials Dates and Numbers Titles of Address and Credentials Figure 1. Doodle with chemical abbreviations. Abbreviations for honorifics such as titles of address and rank come before a person s name whereas suffixes such as junior, senior, the second, and the third, etc. and degree credentials come after a person s name. Refer to Table 1 for examples and the conditions of usage. Table 1. Abbreviations for Titles and Credentials with Names Honorific Usage Word Abbreviation Examples Title of address Use before surnames or full names. Missus Mrs. Mister Mr. Mrs. O Brien Mr. David C. Graham Doctor Dr. Dr. Lopez Title of rank Use before full names only. Ranks and honorifics are spelled out when they come before the surname only. General Gen. Senator Sen. Professor Prof. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower Sen. Hillary R. Clinton Prof. John Nash Sequence, suffix abbreviations Use after full names. (In an APA reference citation, a comma separates the surname and suffix.) senior Sr. junior Jr. the second II Harry Connick Sr. James R. Smith Jr. Francis Rivera II Kaplan University Writing Center Abbreviations January 2017, Version 2 Page 1 of 5
Credentials Use after full name and a comma. Do not to use internal periods or spaces in acronyms of capital letters. Bachelor of Arts BA Master of Business Administration MBA Doctor of Philosophy PhD Melinda Merritt, BA Leah Spalding, MBA Ricardo Swans, PhD Marvin Laski, Esq. Esquire Esq. Dates and Numbers In academic and professional writing, the days of the week, months, and the words day, week, month, and year are spelled out in the text as are numbers one through nine unless they are expressing numerical values of time, dates, ages, mathematical equations, money, scores, percentages, and other data. Refer to Table 2 for examples. Table 2. Abbreviations for Dates and Numbers Types Usage Phrase Abbreviation Examples Calendar eras Use to indicate whether the event occurred in the last two thousand years. CE and AD refer to the same era, and BCE and BC refer to the same era. CE and BCE are the preferred abbreviations in academic style as they are inclusive of all religions. Common Era CE Anno Domini (in the year of the Lord AD Before the Common Era BCE Before Christ BC 2016 CE AD 1492 1178 BCE 585 BC Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, lived from 63 BCE to 14 CE. Use AD before the year and CE, BCE, or BC after the year. Units of time Use only when accompanied by the number or unit of time. hours hr minutes min milliseconds ms 1 hr 30 min 3 hr 1min 49 ms nanoseconds ns 30 ns seconds s 40 min 6 s Kaplan University Writing Center Abbreviations January 2017, Version 2 Page 2 of 5
Clock time Use only when accompanied by the time. ante meridiem (before noon or morning) a.m. post meridiem (afternoon or evening) p.m. 8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. His alarm went off at 5 in the morning. His alarm when off at 5:00 a.m. are uppercase, pronounceable abbreviations made from the first letter of each word of a name as in NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Figure 2). With the exception of acronyms treated as words, acronyms are used in a text only after the full name or title has been spelled out. Refer to Table 3 for examples. Figure 2. Map of the 28 NATO members. NATO is the acronym for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Table 3. and the Conditions of Usage Types Usage Examples Common Write out the full name the first time it is used in text and add the acronym in parentheses after it and then use just the acronym in the next uses. Do not use a period or space between the letters when the acronym is being used as a noun: I live in the USA. Use periods when US or USA is being used as an adjective: He works for the U.S. government. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) National Organization for Women (NOW) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) United States of America (USA) Kaplan University Writing Center Abbreviations January 2017, Version 2 Page 3 of 5
considered words These acronyms appear in the dictionary as words and may be treated as words in the text. Per APA (2010), these acronyms do not need to be explained; the acronym alone may be used for the first use as well as the subsequent uses in the text. IQ (intelligence quotient) REM (rapid eye movement) ESP (extrasensory perception) AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) HIV (Human Immunodeficiency virus) NADP (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic hormone) In academic and professional writing, several Latin expressions are commonly used in footnotes, references, and parenthetical material. When these expressions are used in sentences, they should be spelled out in English instead. Refer to Table 4 for examples. Table 4. Usage of Latin Abbreviations Use Latin abbreviations in parenthetical material only with the exception of v. (versus) in the context of a court case and et al. (and others), both of which may be used in the body text as well. Use the English spelling when using these terms in the body text (outside of parentheses or footnotes). The examples show standard comma use with these abbreviations. English (Latin) Abbreviation for example (exempli gratia) e.g., and others (et alii) et al., and so on (et cetera), etc. that is (id est) i.e., namely (videlicet) viz., about (circa) c. or ca. against, versus vs. Except for the abbreviations of titles, times and dates, acronyms, and some Latin terms, abbreviations are generally unacceptable in formal writing, which aims for clarity. Unless you know that an abbreviation is accepted within your discipline, spell out the words. Table 5 lists some commonly abbreviated words that should be spelled out when used in sentences in a text. Kaplan University Writing Center Abbreviations January 2017, Version 2 Page 4 of 5
Table 5. Misused Abbreviations co. lb. cm. Sun. Mar. Eng. soc. p. chap. MD Word to Use in Text company pound centimeter Sunday March England sociology page chapter Maryland Kaplan University Writing Center Abbreviations January 2017, Version 2 Page 5 of 5