Although abbreviations are more common in technical and business writing than in academic writing, you may sometimes want to use them to avoid repetition. Use the full word in your first reference, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Then use the abbreviation in subsequent references.

Abbreviations composed of all capital letters are generally written without periods or spaces between letters. When capital letters are separated by periods, do not include a space after the period, except for the initials of a person’s name, which should be spaced.

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M6-a Use abbreviations that your readers will recognize for names of agencies, organizations, countries, and common technical terms.

Note: Do not abbreviate geographic names in formal writing unless the areas are commonly known by their abbreviations (Washington, D.C.).

M6-b Use a.m., p.m., no., $, BC, and AD only with specific numerals or dates..

Note: AD is placed before the date, not after it.

M6-c Use commonly accepted abbreviations for titles, degrees, and Latin terms.

Use an accepted abbreviation for titles and degrees.

Avoid duplication by using a title before a person’s name or a degree after the name but not both.

Reserve Latin terms, such as those listed here, primarily for source citations or comments in parentheses rather than in the text of your essay.

M6-d Use abbreviations when appropriate, but do not use them to replace words in most writing.

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In formal writing, avoid abbreviating units of measurement or technical terms (unless your essay is technical), names of time periods, titles of courses or names of departments, names of states or countries (unless the abbreviation is the more common form), names of companies, and parts of books.