Familiar abbreviations for the names of organizations, companies, countries, academic degrees, and common terms, written without periods, are generally acceptable.
| CIA | FBI | MD | NAACP |
| NBA | CEO | PhD | DVD |
Talk show host Conan O’Brien is a Harvard graduate with a BA in history.
When using an unfamiliar abbreviation (such as NASW for National Association of Social Workers) or a potentially ambiguous abbreviation (such as AMA, which can refer to either the American Medical Association or the American Management Association), write the full name followed by the abbreviation in parentheses at the first mention of the name. Then use just the abbreviation throughout the rest of the paper.
note: An abbreviation that can be pronounced as a word is called an acronym: NATO, MADD, OPEC.