Abbreviations and Numbers

Any time you look up an address, you see an abundance of abbreviations and numbers, as in the following movie theater listing from a Google map of Berkeley, California:

Oaks Theater, 1875 Solano Ave, Berkeley, CA

Abbreviations and numbers allow writers to present detailed information in a small amount of space. In academic writing, abbreviations and numbers follow conventions that vary from field to field.

Chapter contents:

Quick Help: Editing abbreviations and numbers

Abbreviating titles and academic degrees

Abbreviating years and hours

Using acronyms and initial abbreviations

Abbreviating company names

Using Latin abbreviations

Abbreviating reference information, geographic terms, and months

Using symbols and units of measurement

Using numbers within sentences

Using numbers to begin sentences

Following conventions for figures

Talking the Talk: Abbreviations and numbers in disciplines