Abbreviating Words and Using Acronyms

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An abbreviation is the shortened form of a word or phrase.
KEY POINTS
There are rules that explain how a writer may shorten a long word or phrase
into an abbreviation or acronym.
Following abbreviation and acronym rules ensures that the reader always
understands what these abbreviations mean.
Phrases like "lol" or "brb" are considered inappropriate for formal papers.
TERMS
acronym
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial
components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual
letters (as in CEO) or parts of words (as in Benelux and Ameslan).
abbreviation
A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the
whole: Dr.
EXAMPLES
Additional examples:
Capt. Morgan
16 mph
Sylvia Humperdink, PhD
Michigan Ave.
Accounting dept.
Madison, WI
I work for the Dept. of Defense.
Deliveries arrive at 10:15 a.m. and noon.
He will meet you at the bank at 4:35 p.m.
I represent the Association of Psychic Strawberry Growers. We at the APSG
are a varied bunch.
The CIA's henchmen came here looking for you.
He scored three RBIs in last night's game.
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An abbreviation is the shortened form of a word or phrase. Most abbreviations
are formed from a letter or group of letters taken from the original word. A
subcategory of abbreviation, the acronym, is formed differently and has
different usage conventions (which will be detailed later).
Abbreviations are rarely used to stand in for major concepts or terms in a
paper. Instead, they are usually shortened forms of commonly used but
relatively minor words, such as "km" for "kilometer" or "Dr." for "doctor."
Most are common enough that a writer does not need to provide the reader
with an expanded definition. If an abbreviation is not particularly well-known,
consider whether you should use it or use the longer (but easier to
understand) word.
Style Conventions for Abbreviations
Style guides may differ somewhat on how to punctuate abbreviations. Listed
below are the most common guidelines, which cover most of the scenarios for
using abbreviations. However, this is not a completely comprehensive list. If
told to use a specific style manual, such as MLA or Turabian, be sure to check
what it says about specific usage rules. And whatever style you decide to use,
remember to be consistent with how you use and punctuate abbreviations.
Abbreviations should be capitalized just like their expanded forms would be. If
the original word or phrase is capitalized, then you should capitalize the
abbreviation. If the original is lower case, then the abbreviation should be too.
Abbreviations usually end with a period, particularly if they were formed by
dropping the end of a word (the major exception being the use of acronyms).
When a sentence ends with an abbreviation, use only one period for both the
abbreviation and the sentence.
Acronyms
Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial components of a series of
words. These components are usually individual letters, but some may use the
first syllables of words.The main purpose of acronyms is to act as shorthand for
longer terms, particularly those a writer wants to reference frequently. In the
right circumstances, acronyms can make these terms more manageable for the
writer to use and for the reader to understand.
While acronyms can be very useful, only some of them are considered
appropriate for use in scholarly writing. In general, acronyms can be used to
stand in for job titles (such as CEO), statistical categories (such as RBI) or the
name of companies and organizations (such as FBI). Other instances may
arise depending on the type of paper you are writing a scientific essay, for
example, might have acronyms for the names of chemical compounds or
scientific terms. In most cases, you will be able to judge whether or not an
acronym is appropriate based on the context of what you are writing. The only
category of acronym that you should never use is slang, especially terms
derived from texting. Phrases like "lol" and "brb" may be fine in
casual conversation, but would make a writer seem unprofessional in a serious
paper. For all acronyms you choose to use, making sure that the reader knows
what they mean is essential. The first time you use any acronym, make sure
to note its expanded form as well.
Style Conventions for Acronyms
Most acronyms are written in all-uppercase with no punctuation between
letters. This differs from abbreviations, which are normally written with
periods in order to note the deleted parts of words. A small number of
acronyms use slashes to show ellipsis, as in "w/o" for "without." Spaces are not
used between the different letters of acronyms. Apostrophes are generally not
used to pluralize abbreviations. They are, however, used to form possessives.