Abbreviations

Use only abbreviations and acronyms (abbreviations pronounced as words) on their own if they are very familiar to most readers. (See the Acronyms section.) In general, do not put a bracketed abbreviation after the name of the organization. World Health Organization (WHO).

Omit periods in all-capital abbreviations unless the abbreviation is geographical or refers to a person.

  • CBC, MHA, MP, RCMP, N.L., U.S. (except when referring to currency), $500 US

For ease of reading or variety, a general term is often preferable to an abbreviation.

  • The presentation will be made at the library.

No more than one or two abbreviations or acronyms should be used within the same text. Otherwise you get a sentence that reads like this:

  • AUCC voted that SCOTL should devote more time to publicizing SSHRC and NSERC awards in order to get CCAE’s attention.

Some common Memorial abbreviations and acronyms include:

  • CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education)
  • CCAE (Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education)
  • ITS (Information Technology Services)
  • CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees)
  • SGS (School of Graduate Studies)
  • GCSU (Grenfell Campus Students’ Union)
  • GSU (Graduate Students’ Union)
  • ISER (Institute for Social and Economic Research)
  • MUNFA (Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association)
  • MUNSU (Memorial University of Newfoundland Students’ Union)
  • NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)
  • SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada)

Abbreviations also include the shortening of items such as:

  • Inc. Incorporated
  • etc. (no comma before it) et cetera (and so on)
  • e.g. (no comma after it) exampli gratia (for example)
  • i.e. (no comma after it) id est (that is to say)

When abbreviating degrees, include punctuation only when abbreviation ends in a lower case letter, not when it ends in a capital.

  • BA, M.Sc., PhD, MA, B.Eng.(Co-op.), B.Ed.(Hons.)

Postal abbreviations should be used in addresses, but within prose, regular abbreviations or full spellings are acceptable:

  • Alta. - Alberta
  • B.C. - British Columbia
  • Man. - Manitoba
  • N.B. - New Brunswick
  • N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador
  • N.W.T. - Northwest Territories
  • N.S. - Nova Scotia
  • Nunavut (no abbreviation)
  • Ont. - Ontario
  • P.E.I. - Prince Edward Island
  • Que. - Quebec
  • Sask. - Saskatchewan
  • Yukon (no abbreviation)