A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

Names and titles
Abbreviations
Style

24.2.1 Personal Names

In general, do not abbreviate a person’s first (Benj. Franklin) or last name. Once you have used a full name in text, use just the person’s last name in subsequent references. However, if you are referring to more than one person with that last name, use first names as necessary to avoid confusion (Alice James, William James). If you refer to these names very frequently in your paper, you may instead use abbreviations that you devise (AJ, WJ), but be sure to use these abbreviations as specified in 24.1.2.

Some individuals are known primarily by initials in place of a first and/or middle name. Such initials should be followed by a period and a space. If you abbreviate an entire name, however, omit periods and spaces.

Social titles such as Ms. and Mr. should always be abbreviated and capitalized, followed by a period. In most papers, however, you need not use such titles unless there is a possibility of confusion, such as referring to either a husband or a wife.

Write abbreviations such as Sr., Jr., III (or 3rd), and IV (or 4th) without commas before them. Normally these abbreviations are used only after a full name, although royal and religious figures may be known only by a first name. In frequent references to a father and a son, shortened versions may be used (Holmes Sr.), but only after the full name has been presented. Do not spell out the term when it is part of a name (for example, not John Smith Junior).

✵ Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

✵ William J. Kaufmann III

✵ Mary II

24.2.2 Professional Titles

Some individuals have civil, military, or religious titles such as the following along with their personal names. Many of these titles are conventionally abbreviated rather than spelled out in text when they precede and are capitalized as part of a personal name.

On first reference to an individual with such a title, use the abbreviation with the person’s full name. (If you prefer, you may spell out the titles, but do so consistently.) For subsequent references you may usually give just the person’s last name, but if you need to repeat the title (to distinguish two people with similar names, or as a disciplinary sign of respect), give the spelled-out title with the last name. Never use Honorable or Hon. except with a full name. If you spell out Honorable or Reverend before a full name, the title should be preceded by the.

✵ or

✵ the Honorable Patricia Birkholz

If you use one of these titles alone or after a personal name, it becomes a generic term and should be lowercased and spelled out.

✵ the senator from Illinois

✵ Haney served as an admiral

An exception to the general pattern is Dr. Use either the abbreviation Dr. before the name or the official abbreviation for the degree (see 24.2.3), set off with commas, after the name. Do not use both together.

Dr. Lauren Shapiro discovered the cause of the outbreak.

Lauren Shapiro, MD, discovered . . .

Dr. Shapiro discovered . . .

The doctor discovered . . .

In addition to academic degrees (24.2.3), here are a few professional titles that may be abbreviated following a personal name. Like MD in the example above, such titles should be set off with commas.

24.2.3 Academic Degrees

You may use abbreviations in text and elsewhere for the common academic degrees. Some of the more common degrees are noted in the following list. Most are initialisms (see 24.1.1), which are written in capital letters without periods or spaces. Others contain both initials and shortened terms and therefore both capital and lowercase letters, also without periods or spaces. Traditionally all these forms appeared with periods (M.A., Ph.D., LL.B.), a style still preferred by some institutions.

24.2.4 Agencies, Companies, and Other Organizations

You may use abbreviations in text and elsewhere for the names of government agencies, broadcasting companies, associations, fraternal and service organizations, unions, and other groups that are commonly known by acronyms or initialisms (see 24.1.1). Spell out the full name on first reference, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses (see 24.1.2). Such abbreviations are in full capitals with no periods. Here is a representative list of such abbreviations; other names within these categories (for example, ABA, CBS, and NEH) should be treated similarly.

✵ AAAS

✵ AFL-CIO

✵ AMA

✵ AT&T

✵ CDC

✵ CNN

✵ EU

✵ FTC

✵ HMO

✵ NAACP

✵ NAFTA

✵ NFL

✵ NIMH

✵ NSF

✵ OPEC

✵ TVA

✵ UN

✵ UNESCO

✵ WHO

✵ YMCA

If a company is not commonly known by an abbreviation, spell out and capitalize its name in the text. The names of some companies contain abbreviations and ampersands. If in doubt about the correct form, look up the company name at its corporate website or, for historical forms, in an authoritative reference. You may omit such terms as Inc. or Ltd. from the name, and do not capitalize the word the at the beginning of the name. Subsequent references can drop terms such as & Co. or Corporation.

✵ Merck & Co.

✵ RAND Corporation

✵ the University of Chicago Press

In tables, figures, and citations, you may use any of the following abbreviations in company names.

✵ Assoc.

✵ Bros.

✵ Co.

✵ Corp.

✵ Inc.

✵ LP (limited partnership)

✵ Mfg.

✵ PLC (public limited company)

✵ RR (railroad)

✵ Ry. (railway)