Abbreviations


Academic Degrees
  • Avoid abbreviations: Billy Bob, who has a doctorate in philosophy.
  • Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, a master’s, etc.
  • There is no apostrophe in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science.
  • Use abbreviations such as B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. only when the need to identify many people by degree on first reference would make the preferred method cumbersome; use the abbreviations only after a full name and set the abbreviations off with commas: Samuel Cotton, Ph.D., lectured yesterday on bioethics.

States
  • Spell out the names of the states in text when they appear alone. Example: Wildfires continued to rage through southern California yesterday.
  • Abbreviate them when they appear in conjunction with the name of a city, town, village or military base. Example: Needham, Mass., Oxnard Air Force Base, Calif.
  • Do not abbreviate Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah (the two states that are not part of the contiguous United States and the states that are five letters or fewer).
  • When abbreviating U.S. states in written text, as opposed to part of an address block, do so as follows: Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kan., Ky., La., Mass., Md., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., N.C., N.D., N.H., N.J., N.M.,N.Y., Neb., Nev., Okla., Ore., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.D., Tenn., Va., Vt., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.

United States
  • As a noun, United States. Example: The prime minister left for the United States yesterday.
  • As an adjective or abbreviation, use periods and no spaces. Example: A U.S. soldier was killed in Baghdad yesterday.

Awards
  • In award lists, such as the Crystal Radio Awards or Marconi Radio Awards, use the state abbreviations noted above – not the postal code abbreviations.

    Examples:
    News/Talk Station of the Year
    WBZ-AM Boston, Mass.

    Small Market Station of the Year
    WKDZ-FM Cadiz, Ky.