U. of Calgary Press Information for Authors

Information for Authors

3.4. Abbreviations

Do not begin a sentence with an abbreviation. The first time you use an abbreviation that is likely to be unfamiliar to some readers, introduce it in parentheses following the full name of the organization being referred to, e.g., "the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)." Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used alone. In very long texts, the full name and abbreviation or acronym may be repeated on first mention in each chapter. It is often helpful to the reader to include a glossary of abbreviations used.

Regular word spaces are used between the initials in personal names, e.g., "W. B. Yeats," whereas, in other contexts, usually no space is inserted after internal periods. Most abbreviations end in or contain periods. However, do not use periods in abbreviated names of certain United Nations' and governmental agencies and corporations, broadcasting stations, and some other organizations:

AFL-CIO, ASEAN, CBC, CDC, CDIC, CN, CP, CRTC, DEA, DND, NDP, RCMP.

Acronyms formed from only the first letter of each word are printed in uppercase letters:

AIDS, CIDA, COLA, NASA, NATO, SALT, SEATO, UNCTAD, UNESCO.

Acronyms formed from initial and other letters are printed in upper- and lowercase letters:

Dofasco, Norad, Stelco.

The preferred forms of some common abbreviations are given below. Pay particular attention to the capitalization, the use of italics, small capital letters, and periods, and the presence or absence of spaces:

a.d.: anno Domini
a.h.: anno Hegirae, anno Hebraico
a.m.: anno mundi, ante meridiem
ab init.: ab initio, from the beginning
abr.: abridged; abridgment
anon.: anonymous
app.: appendix
b.c.: before Christ
b.c.e.: before the Common Era
bibliog.: bibliography
c.: chapter
ca.: circa, about, approximately
c.e.: Common Era
cf.: confer, compare
chap.: chapter
comp.: compiler; compiled by
cp.: compare
dept.: department
ed.: editor (pl. eds.); edited by
e.g.: exempli gratia, for example
Eqn.: equation
esp.: especially
et al.: et alii, and others
et seq.: et sequentes, and the following
etc.: et cetera, and so forth
ex.: example (pl. exx.)
Fig.: figure
i.e.: id est, that is
ibid.: ibidem, in the same place
Inc.: Incorporated
incl.: inclusive; including; includes
inf.: infra, below
km/h: kilometres per hour
lit.: literally
Litt.D.: Litterarum Doctor
loc. cit.: loco. citato, in the place cited
LL.B.: Legum Baccalaureus
LL.D.: Legum Doctor
Ltd.: Limited
misc.: miscellaneous
MS: (pl. MSS) manuscriptum(-a), manuscript(s)
N.B.: nota bene, note well
n.d.: no date
n.p.: no place; no publisher
no.: number
op. cit.: opere citato, in the work cited
p.: (pl. pp.) page(s)
Ph.D.: Philosophiae Doctor
p.m.: post meridiem
P.S.: post scriptum, postscript
Q.C.: Queen's counsel
Rt. Hon.: Right Honorable
s.a.: sine anno, without year
sup.: supra, above
U.K.: United Kingdom
U.S.A.: United States of America
viz.: videlicet, namely
vs.: versus, against

Move on to: 3.5. Capitalization
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