Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

==Abbreviations<span class="anchor" id="Acronyms and abbreviations"></span><span class="anchor" id="Acronyms"></span><span class="anchor" id="Initialisms"></span><span class="anchor" id="Shortenings"></span>==
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations}}
{{see also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biography#Initials}}

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases. In strict analysis, they are distinct from [[Contraction (grammar)|contractions]], which use an [[apostrophe]] (e.g., ''won't'', see {{Section link||Contractions}}), and [[initialism]]s. An initialism is formed from some or all of the initial letters of words in a phrase. Below, references to abbreviations should be taken to include acronyms, and the term ''acronym'' should also apply to initialisms.

===Write first occurrences in full===
{{Shortcut|MOS:1STOCC|MOS:1STABBR}}

When an abbreviation will be used in an article, introduce it using the full expression, and the abbreviation in parentheses:
{{Block indent|{{xt|an early local area network (LAN) developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC){{nbsp}}... DEC's later LAN products were{{nbsp}}...}}}}

Do not use capitals in the full version merely because capitals are used in the abbreviation: {{!xt|an early Local Area Network (LAN)}}.

Except in special circumstances, common abbreviations (such as {{xt|PhD}}, {{xt|DNA}}, {{xt|USSR}}) need not be expanded even on first use.

===Plural forms===
Pluralize [[acronyms]] by adding ''-s'' or ''-es'': {{xt|Three CD-ROMs and two BIOSes were released}}. Do not [[Apostrophe#Abbreviations|use apostrophes to form plurals]]: {{!xt|Three CD-ROM's and two BIOS's were released}}.

===Punctuation and spacing<span class="anchor" id="Periods (full stops) and spaces"></span><span class="anchor" id="Full stops and spaces"></span><span class="anchor" id="op.cit."></span>===
An abbreviation may or may not be terminated with a full point (also called a ''period'' or ''full stop''). A consistent style should be maintained within an article. North American usage is typically to end all abbreviations with a period/point ({{xt|Dr. Smith of 42&nbsp;Drummond St.}}) but in common British and Australian usage, no period/point is used if the abbreviation (contraction) ends in the last letter of the unabbreviated form ({{xt|Dr Smith of 42&nbsp;Drummond St}}) unless confusion could result. This is also common practice in scientific writing. Regardless of punctuation, words that are abbreviated to more than one letter are spaced ({{xt|op.&nbsp;cit.}} not {{!xt|op.cit.}} or {{!xt|opcit}}). There are some exceptions: {{xt|PhD}} {{crossref|pw=y|(see above)}} for "Philosophiae Doctor"; {{xt|BVetMed}} for "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine". In most situations, Wikipedia uses no such punctuation inside acronyms and initialisms: {{xt|GDP}}, not {{!xt|G.D.P.}}

===US and U.S.<span class="anchor" id="US"></span><span class="anchor" id="U.S."></span><span class="anchor" id="USA"></span><span class="anchor" id="U.S.A."></span>===
{{Shortcut|MOS:US|MOS:USA|MOS:NOTUSA}}
{{redirect|MOS:US|the use of the word "us"|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#First-person pronouns}}
{{xt|US}} is a commonly used abbreviation for {{xt|United States}}, although {{xtn|U.S.}} – with periods and without a space – remains common in North American publications, including in news journalism. Multiple American style guides, including ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' (since 2010), now deprecate {{!xt|U.S.}} and recommend {{xt|US}}.

For [[#Opportunities for commonality|commonality]] reasons, use {{xt|US}} by default when abbreviating, but [[#Retaining existing styles|retain]] {{xtn|U.S.}} in American or Canadian English articles in which it is already established, unless there is a good reason to change it. Because use of periods for abbreviations and acronyms should be consistent within any given article, use {{xt|US}} in an article with other country abbreviations, and especially avoid constructions like {{!xt|the U.S. and the UK}}. In longer abbreviations that incorporate the country's initials ({{xt|USN}}, {{xt|USAF}}), never use periods. When the United States is mentioned with one or more other countries in the same sentence, {{xt|US}} (or {{xtn|U.S.}}) may be too informal, especially at the first mention or as a noun instead of an adjective ({{xt|France and the United States}}, not {{!xt|France and the US}}). Do not use the spaced {{!xt|U.&nbsp;S.}} or the archaic {{!xt|U.S.&nbsp;of&nbsp;A.}}, except when quoting. Do not use {{!xt|U.S.A.}} or {{!xt|USA}} except in a quotation, as part of a proper name ({{xt|Team USA}}), or in certain technical and formal uses (e.g., the [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-3]], [[FIFA country codes|FIFA]], and [[List of IOC country codes|IOC country codes]]).

===Circa===
{{Hatnote|See also: {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers|Uncertain, incomplete, or approximate dates}} for examples.}}

To indicate ''approximately'', the use of {{tlx|circa}}, showing as {{circa}}, is preferred over circa, c., ca., or approx.

===Avoid unwarranted use===
<span class="anchor" id="unwarranted abbreviations"></span>
{{Hatnote|See also: {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers|Units of measurement}} for when to abbreviate units of measurement.}}

Avoid abbreviations when they might confuse the reader, interrupt the flow, or appear informal. For example:
*Do not use {{!xt|approx.}} for {{xt|approximate(ly)}} except in an infobox or table (in which case use {{tlx|abbr|approx.|approximately}} at first occurrence: {{xt|{{abbr|approx.|approximately}}}}).
*Do not use the legalism {{!xt|Smith J}} for {{xt|Justice Smith}}. <!-- this might be better in [[WP:JARGON]] -->

===Do not invent===
Avoid devising [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary#Neologisms|new abbreviations]], especially acronyms. For example, {{xtn|World Union of Billiards}} is good as a {{em|translation}} of {{xt|[[Union Mondiale de Billard]]}}, but neither it nor the reduction {{!xt|WUB}} is used by the organization or by independent sources; use the original name and its official abbreviation, {{xt|UMB}}.

If it is necessary to abbreviate in a tight space, such as a [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables#Captions and headers|column header in a table]], use widely recognized abbreviations. For example, for {{xt|New Zealand gross national product}}, use {{xt|NZ}} and {{xt|GNP}}, with a link if the term has not already been written out in the article: {{xt|NZ&nbsp;[[Measures of national income and output|GNP]]}}. Do not make up initialisms such as {{!xt|NZGNP}}.

===HTML tags and templates===
Either {{tag|abbr|o}} or {{tlx|abbr}} can be used for abbreviations and acronyms: {{tag|abbr|params=title="World Health Organization"|content=WHO|wrap=yes}} or {{tlx|abbr|WHO|World Health Organization}} will generate {{abbr|WHO|World Health Organization}}; [[mouseover|hovering]] over the rendered text causes a [[tooltip]] of the long form to pop up.

===Ampersand===
{{Shortcut|MOS:AMP|MOS:&}}
{{redirects|WP:&|the use of "and" in titles|WP:AND}}
In normal text and headings, use ''and'' instead of the [[ampersand]] (''&''): {{xt|January 1&nbsp;and&nbsp;2}}, not {{!xt|January 1&nbsp;&&nbsp;2}}. But retain an ampersand when it is a legitimate part of the style of a proper noun, the title of a work, or a trademark, such as in ''[[Up & Down (Horace Parlan album)|Up&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Down]]'' or [[AT&T]]. Elsewhere, ampersands may be used with consistency and discretion where space is extremely limited (e.g., tables and infoboxes). Quotations [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Typographic conformity|may be cautiously modified]], especially for consistency where different editions are quoted, as modern editions of old texts routinely replace ampersands with ''and'' (just as they replace other disused [[glyph]]s, [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]], and abbreviations). Another frequent permissible but not required use is in short bibliographic references to works by multiple authors, e.g.: {{xt|<nowiki><ref>Lubbers & Scheepers (2002); Van Hiel & Mervielde (2002); Swyngedouw & Giles (2007); Van Hiel (2012).</ref></nowiki>}}.