Writer's Web: Abbreviations

Abbreviations Writer's Web
(printable version here)

When do you use abbreviations? Here are some common examples:

Titles before proper names: Dr., Ms., Mr., St. (Saint), Lt.
Descriptions following names of people, places, or things: Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Ltd., Washington, D.C., Pontiac GTO, Smith Co., Inc.
Names of agencies, organizations, and nations: USA, CIA, NASA, USSR, IBM, MTV
Words accompanying dates or figures: B.C., A.D., No., A.M., P.M., Fig.
With footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies. Note: See our individual entries for different bibliographic styles, and check with your professors to verify which method of citation they prefer.
- ed. - edited by, editor, edition
- e.g. - for example
- etc. - and so forth
- et al. - and others
- ibid. - in the same place; as cited previously*
- i.e. - that is
- op. cit. - in the work cited elsewhere*
- p., pp. - page, pages
- trans. - translated by

*Ibid. and op. cit. are rarely used in documentation. See our pages on Chicago-Style documentation for details on the use of ibid.