14 Abbreviations

The following academic degrees are abbreviated in bylines and in the text when used with the full name of a person. (See also , Names and Titles of Persons.) In some circumstances, however, use of the abbreviation alone is acceptable (eg, Katharine is a doctor of medicine and also holds a PhD in biochemistry). (See also , Plurals, Abbreviations.)Generally, US fellowship designations (eg, FACP, FAAN, FACS) and honorary designations (eg, PhD[Hon]) are not used in bylines. In contrast, non-US designations such as the British FRCP and the Canadian FRCPC (attained through a series of qualifying examinations) should be listed in ...Less

Many organizations (eg, academies, associations, government agencies, research institutes) are known by abbreviations or acronyms rather than by their full names. Some of these organizations have identical abbreviations (eg, AHA for both American Heart Association and American Hospital Association). Therefore, to avoid confusion, the names of all organizations should be expanded at first mention in the text and other major elements of the manuscript, with the abbreviation following immediately in parentheses, in accordance with the guidelines offered in , Clinical, Technical, and Other Common Terms.The article the is often used with abbreviated forms of agencies and organizations (eg, the UN, ...Less

In the text, use the name of a company exactly as the company uses it, but omit the period after any abbreviations used, such as Co, Inc, Corp, and Ltd. In the text, do not abbreviate these terms if the company spells them out, eg, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Note that in the text, periods are used with a company namesake’s initials.However, to conserve space in references, abbreviate Company, Corporation, Brothers, Incorporated, Limited, and and (using an ampersand [&]), without punctuation, even if the company expands them, and delete periods even with initials, in accordance with the following examples; and delete ...Less

At first mention, the name of a state, territory, possession, province, or country should be spelled out when it follows the name of a city. (Because the majority of authors and readers of JAMA and the Archives Journals are from the United States, these journals do not add “United States” after the name of a US city and state. Similar rules are followed by other journals. For example, the Lancet does not add “United Kingdom” after the name of a UK city.)Names of cities, states, counties, territories, possessions, provinces, and countries should be spelled out in full when they stand ...Less

UPDATE: In the list of abbreviations (Section 14.11, page 504 in the print), an asterisk should be added after CI to indicate that this abbreviation no longer needs to be expanded. This change was made July 27, 2011.This compilation of clinical, technical, and other common terms and their abbreviations is not intended to be all-encompassing but is provided as a short reference. There are many published listings of abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms.Many entities share the same abbreviation (eg, American Heart Association, American Hospital Association, American Historical Association, American Humanist Association, American Hyperlexia Association, American Hydrogen Association). Thus, preciseness takes precedence ...Less

Collaborative groups include study groups, multicenter trials, task forces, expert and ad hoc consensus groups, and periodic national and international health surveys. Such an entity’s full name should be provided in addition to its abbreviation, even if it appears only once in a manuscript. Because some of these groups are often better recognized by their acronyms than by their full names, the acronym may be placed first, with the expansion in parentheses, contrary to the order usually recommended.To save space in titles, however, the acronym may be used alone if its expansion is provided early in the manuscript, for example, ...Less

Generally, days of the week and months are not abbreviated.The manuscript was received at JAMA’s editorial offices in late December 2004 and accepted for publication on January 5, 2005, after expedited peer review, revision, and discussion among the editors. Because of the importance of its topic, the article was published 3 weeks later, on Wednesday, January 26, 2005, as a JAMA-EXPRESS.In tables and figures, the following 3-letter abbreviations for days of the weeks and months may be used to conserve space (see , Visual Presentation of Data, Tables; and , Visual Presentation of Data, Figures):Occasionally, scientific manuscripts may contain discussion ...Less

In general, the names of chemical elements and compounds should be expanded in the text at first mention and elsewhere in accordance with the guidelines for clinical and technical terms. (See also , Nomenclature, Drugs, Chemical Names; and , Nomenclature, Isotopes.) However, in some circumstances it may be helpful or necessary to provide the chemical symbols or formulas in addition to the expansion if the compound under discussion is new or relatively unknown or if no nonproprietary term exists. For example: 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, or dioxin) is often referred to as the most toxic synthetic chemical known. [Use TCDD or dioxin ...Less

Use the following abbreviations when complete local addresses are given: The hospital was built on Eighth Street. The hospital’s address is 319 W Eighth St.In some cases, these designators may or may not be abbreviated, by convention:Do not abbreviate non-English address terms (eg, boulevard, avenue, place, rue, via, Strasse, Platz). (Note: The translation of such terms can be derived via the Internet.) Query author for preference of English or non-English address terms.When the plural form of an address designator is used, do not abbreviate it (eg, Broadway and Spring streets). When a street number is not given, do not abbreviate ...Less