Abbreviations
Standards for handling abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms.
Abbreviations
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Full Stops in Abbreviations
Full stops should only be used at the end of sentences, and never used in abbreviations.
Examples: Dr, Mr, UK
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Academic Degrees
Academic degrees are abbreviated without full stops or spaces.
Examples: MA, MSc
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Acronyms
No punctuation should be used in acronyms, which should be uppercase.
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Special Cases
Please note however etcetera should be written etc. with a full stop.
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Examples
Correct abbreviations:
- Dr Smith (not Dr. Smith)
- Mr Jones (not Mr. Jones)
- UK government (not U.K. government)
- MA degree (not M.A. degree)
- BBC news (not B.B.C. news)
- etc. (with full stop)
Incorrect:
- Dr. Smith
- U.K.
- M.A.
- B.B.C.
- etc (without full stop)
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Consistency
Be consistent throughout the document with abbreviation formatting.