APA Style

• APA Overview
  • Ten Common APA Nuances
• In-Text Citations
  • How and When to Cite in a Paper
  • Using et al.
  • When to Include the Year When Citing in Text
  • Block Quotations
• Reference List
  • Citing Electronic Sources
  • Common Reference List Examples
• Other APA Style Issues
  • APA Heading Levels
  • Tables and Figures
  • Seriation
  • Capitalization
  • Numbers
  • Latin Abbreviations
  • Serial Comma
  • Italics
  • Appendix
• Templates for Writing

According to the APA, Latin abbreviations (e.g., i.e., etc., et al.) should only appear in parenthetical material; otherwise, English translations of these abbreviations should be used instead.  The only exception is et al., which can be used both in normal and parenthetical material.

Common Latin Abbreviations

Latin Abbreviation          English Translation

i.e.                                          that is

e.g.                                        for example

etc.                                        and so forth

vs.                                          versus

cf.                                           compare

et al.                                      and others

The handout below explains general abbreviation use in APA papers, includes a list of common Latin abbreviations and their English translations, and provides several example sentences.

Using Abbreviations