Abbreviations & Acronyms

Spell out etc., i.e., e.g., and other scholarly abbreviations in text (She wanted to know more; that is, how the suspects gained entrance to the house); use abbreviations in notes and bibliographical material (See Parker et al.).

Acronyms: Set most acronyms as caps without a period: NAFTA, EU, MIT, NAACP, NOW, NATO, OECD, UN, and US. Spell out the entity on first use: however, if it is a common term and the author uses the acronym within the next paragraph or two, do not put the acronym right after it: Workers in Mexico suffered after passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, the current administration believes that the benefits of NAFTA outweigh its deficits. We spell out United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and so on, when they are subjects, but use acronyms in adjective form (US imperialism, UK-led coalition, UAE influence in the Gulf).

State names should be completely spelled out (not abbreviated) when they stand alone and (with the exception of DC) when a city precedes them.

Many of our readers live abroad, where they don't see the acronym as frequently as we do, and acronyms once considered common may drop from usage (USSR). Therefore, make them clear, as in the former Soviet Union. We have stopped spelling out AFL-CIO, though. Some organizations no longer use their original names and go only by their acronyms. For instance, NARAL: Pro-Choice America started out as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, became the National Abortion Rights Action League, and later was the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. If the article refers to an earlier phase of the organization’s history, let the reader know its name at the time. Some unions were formed by mergers and had different names in earlier days. Pay attention to articles and prepositions: it’s the National Organization for Women (NOW), not National Organization of Women.