Citation and Bibliography Abbreviations
58 abbreviations · part of Common Abbreviations
Citation and bibliography abbreviations identify the parts of a source (vol., no., p., ch.), the people responsible for it (ed., trans., comp.) and information that is missing (n.d., n.p.). The major style guides treat them differently: MLA spells out many roles ("edited by"), APA writes (Ed.) and uses p. and pp. in parenthetical citations, and Chicago keeps the traditional short forms in notes. Standard identifiers such as ISBN, ISSN and DOI, and the names of the style guides themselves, are also covered here.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| abr. | Abridged | Marks an abridged edition, a shortened version of a longer work, in citations, catalogs and book descriptions. |
| AMA | AMA Manual of Style | Names the style guide of the American Medical Association, used by JAMA, the JAMA Network journals and many medical and health-science publications. |
| anon. | Anonymous | Indicates that a work's author is unknown or unnamed, in citations, anthologies and catalogs. |
| AP | Associated Press Stylebook | Names the style guide of the Associated Press news agency, the standard for most US newspapers, broadcasters, public relations writers and many websites. |
| APA | American Psychological Association (style) | Names the citation and formatting style of the American Psychological Association, used across psychology, education, nursing, business and the social sciences. |
| app. | Appendix | Refers to an appendix, supplementary material placed after the main text of a book, report or thesis, in citations and cross-references, as in "see app. |
| ARC | Advance reader copy | Prepublication edition of a book, often uncorrected, sent to reviewers, booksellers, librarians and influencers to build buzz before release. |
| bibliog. | Bibliography | Denotes a bibliography, a list of sources or works on a subject, in book descriptions, catalog notes and citations. |
| bk. | Book | Identifies a numbered book, a major division within a long work, in citations of epics, histories and classical texts, as in "bk. 2." A book is larger than a chapter… |
| ch. | Chapter | Identifies a chapter of a book in citations, cross-references and reading assignments, as in "ch. 4." Some styles prefer the variant chap. |
| CMOS | Chicago Manual of Style | Names the style guide published by the University of Chicago Press, used widely in book publishing, history and the humanities. |
| col. | Column | Identifies a column of text on a page in citations of newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias and other works printed in multiple columns, as in "p. 4, col. 2." |
| comp. | Compiler | Follows the name of a person who gathered material from various sources into a single work, such as a bibliography, a documentary anthology or a song collection. |
| diss. | Dissertation | Identifies a doctoral dissertation or thesis in a citation, followed by the university and year, as in "PhD diss., Yale University, 2018." It distinguishes unpublished… |
| DOI | Digital Object Identifier | A permanent identifier assigned to a journal article, book chapter, dataset or other digital object, allowing it to be found even if its web address changes. |
| ed. | Edition | Identifies a particular edition of a book, such as a second, revised or anniversary edition, in a citation or catalog record. |
| eds. | Editors | Plural of ed., placed after the names of two or more people who edited a collection, handbook or anthology. |
| enl. | Enlarged | Describes an enlarged edition, one with substantial new material added, often combined as "rev. and enl. ed." It appears in citations, catalogs and title pages. |
| f. | And the following (page) | Indicates that a reference covers the page cited and the one after it, as in "p. 45f." It is the singular counterpart of ff., which covers several following pages. |
| ff. | And the following (pages) | Indicates that a reference continues on the following pages or lines, as in "pp. 45ff." It is used when a discussion begins on one page and runs on without a clear end. |
| fig. | Figure | Labels a numbered illustration, chart, diagram or photograph in books, articles and reports, and points to it from the text, as in "see fig. 3." Scientific papers use… |
| fn. | Footnote | Cites a footnote by number in citations, cross-references and editing comments, as in "see fn. 12." Lawyers and editors use it more than academic style guides do. |
| fol. | Folio | Designates a leaf of a manuscript or early printed book, numbered on one side only, in citations of manuscripts and archives. |
| illus. | Illustrator or illustrated by | Identifies the illustrator of a book in citations and catalog records, either after the name or before it ("illus. by"). |
| intro. | Introduction | Refers to the introduction of a book in citations, or to the person who wrote it, as in "intro. by Toni Morrison." Introductions to classics are often cited separately… |
| ISBN | International Standard Book Number | Unique 13-digit identifier assigned to each edition and format of a book, so the hardcover, paperback, e-book and audiobook of the same title each get their own number. |
| ISSN | International Standard Serial Number | An eight-digit code identifying a serial publication, such as a journal, magazine, newspaper or annual, rather than any single issue. |
| l. | Line | Cites a single line of a poem, play or text in citations and commentaries, as in "l. 14." It is used mainly for verse, where line numbers are standard. |
| LCCN | Library of Congress Control Number | Unique number the Library of Congress assigns to a book's catalog record, used by US libraries to find and share bibliographic data. |
| ll. | Lines | Refers to two or more lines of a poem or text, as in "ll. 10-25," in citations and literary commentary. |
| MHRA | Modern Humanities Research Association (style) | Names the style guide of a British scholarly association, used mainly in UK humanities departments, especially modern languages and literature. |
| MLA | Modern Language Association (style) | Names the citation and formatting style published by the Modern Language Association of America, widely used in high schools and in literature, language and humanities… |
| MS | Manuscript | Identifies a handwritten or typed document, or an author's unpublished draft, in citations, archives and publishing. |
| n. | Note | Refers to a footnote or endnote in a citation or index, usually combined with a page number, as in "p. 45 n. 3." Indexes use it to show that a topic is discussed only… |
| n.d. | No date | Replaces the publication date in a citation when a source gives none, common with web pages, undated pamphlets and older documents. |
| n.p. | No place (of publication) | Replaces the place of publication in a citation when a book or document does not name one. |
| N.S. | New Style | Marks a date in the Gregorian calendar, used when a historical date might otherwise be read as Julian. |
| No. | Number | Precedes a number to identify a position, rank, item or address, as in "No. 1 hit," "No. 10 Downing Street" or "Invoice No. 4471." The abbreviation comes from Latin… |
| O.S. | Old Style | Marks a date given in the Julian calendar, which was replaced by the Gregorian calendar in different countries at different times. |
| p. | Page | Points to a single page in citations, footnotes, indexes and cross-references, as in "p. 42." It is one of the most frequently used abbreviations in academic writing. |
| para. | Paragraph | Identifies a numbered paragraph in a document, typically when page numbers are unavailable, as in legal judgments, web pages and contracts. |
| pl. | Plate | Numbers a plate, a full-page illustration often printed on special paper and numbered separately from the text pages, in book descriptions and citations, as in "pl. 12." |
| POD | Print on demand | Production model in which items such as T-shirts, mugs, posters and books are printed only after a customer orders them, so the seller holds no inventory. |
| pp. | Pages | Refers to a range of pages or to several pages in citations and references, as in "pp. 45-67." Doubling the letter to mark a plural is a convention inherited from Latin… |
| pref. | Preface | Refers to a book's preface, the author's own opening statement on the work's purpose, scope or origins, in citations and cross-references. |
| pseud. | Pseudonym | Marks a pen name in citations and catalogs, often in brackets after the name used, with the real name added when known. |
| pt. | Part | Identifies a numbered part of a book, report, standard or regulation in citations, as in "pt. 3." Long works are often grouped into parts, each containing several… |
| qtd. | Quoted | Introduces an indirect source in MLA citations, showing that a quotation was taken from another author's work rather than the original, as in "(qtd. in Smith 45)." It… |
| repr. | Reprint or reprinted | Indicates that a work was reprinted, often by a different publisher or many years after first publication. |
| rev. | Revised | Marks a revised edition of a book, one updated or corrected after first publication, as in "rev. ed." It appears in citations, catalog records and title pages. |
| sc. | Scene | Identifies a scene within an act of a play in citations and stage references, as in "act 3, sc. 1." It allows a passage to be located in any edition of the play. |
| sec. | Section | Identifies a numbered section of a book, report, statute, regulation or standard in citations and cross-references. |
| ser. | Series | Identifies a book or journal series in citations, or a new series of a journal that restarted its volume numbering. |
| suppl. | Supplement | Identifies a supplement, such as an extra issue of a journal, an added volume to a reference work or a newspaper insert, in citations, as in "suppl. 2." |
| TOC | Table of contents | Refers to the list of chapters, sections and page numbers at the front of a book, report or thesis. |
| trans. | Translated by | Introduces the translator's name after a title in a citation, as in "trans. |
| UP | University Press | Abbreviates "University Press" in publisher names in MLA-style citations, as in "Oxford UP" or "Harvard UP." It saves space in works-cited lists while keeping the… |
| vol. | Volume | Identifies a numbered volume of a multivolume book, encyclopedia or journal in citations and catalogs. |
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