Study Advice Service
ACADEMIC ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS EXPLAINED!
A glossary of those used in the academic and literary world
The academic world is riddled with acronyms (eg NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and
abbreviations. We list here, in alphabetical order, those of particular relevance to undergraduate and
postgraduate students in HE (there’s another example!) This list aims to help by briefly defining some
of these words. Strictly speaking, all of these should have a full stop after each part of the
abbreviation or each capital letter of the acronym, but this convention is in a process of transition and
many do not now have these. All foreign expressions are, however, usually printed in italic, as in this
table.
If you think we may have omitted a relevant item, please let us know by:
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contacting us via the comments page on this website
Web: www.hull.ac.uk/studyadvice
Email: studyadvice@hull.ac.uk
Tel: 01482 466199
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Abbreviation/
Acronym
Definition
amanuensis
Someone who writes or types to dictation, often used when a candidate in a
written examination is unable to write the answers for him/herself and needs
another person to write the answers for him/her.
anon
APA
APL
APEL
anonymous
American Psychological Association
Accreditation for Prior (Experience and) Learning: a method of recognising a
(prospective) student’s previous qualifications, knowledge or experience and
giving credit for them, thus avoiding any duplication of time and effort by the
student concerned.
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Divinity
BA
BD
BDS
Bachelor of Dental Surgery
BEd
BMus
BSc
c or circa
Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Science
CD (ROM)
CPU
DD
DfES
Compact Disc (Read Only Memory)
Central Processing Unit (in a computer)
Doctor of Divinity
Department for Education and Skills: the department of government responsible
for educational policy and funding at all levels in England and Wales.
Doctor of Literature
Doctor of Philosophy
Digital Video Disc
Editor: the person responsible for editing a book or journal, ie selecting and
compiling the various parts of the publication.
Edition (of a publication).
For example: an abbreviation of the Latin exempli gratia.
An abbreviation of the Latin et alia meaning ‘and other(s)’ (people or things). This
is usually found in references to publications having several authors, where the
first one, two or three authors are named but the rest given as et al.
An abbreviation of the Latin et cetera or et ceteri (pl) meaning ‘and the rest’ or
‘and so on’. It is best to avoid using this in an academic essay; use ‘and so on’.
Further Education. Any formal education undertaken after age 16 or 18 other
than to degree level but not in a maintained state or independent school.
Fellow of the Royal Society
Graduate Teacher Programme
Higher Education. Education which is undertaken at a university or other
educational establishment which offers undergraduate or postgraduate degrees
or their equivalents.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England, the body which allocates
funds throughout the Higher Education sector on behalf of the DfES.
Higher Education Teaching Certificate
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (of education): a body of inspectors, officially
appointed by the reigning sovereign, who report on the quality of teaching and
learning in all educational establishments in the UK. They are now part of
OfSTED.
DLit or DLitt
DPhil
DVD
ed.
ed(n).
eg
et al
etc
FE
FRS
GTP
HE
HEFCE
HETC
HMI
About (from the Latin), often used with a date or year eg c1970.
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Abbreviation/
Acronym
Definition
HMSO
Her (or His) Majesty’s Stationery Office, through which all governmental
publications are produced.
ibid
An abbreviation of the Latin ibidem meaning literally ‘in the same place’ but now
used to indicate that a work listed in the references is the same work listed
immediately prior to that one.
Information and computer technology.
An abbreviation of the Latin id est meaning ‘that is’ or ‘that is to say’.
ICT
i.e.
IF
Impact factor. A method often used in scientific work to indicate the popularity
and hence theoretically the quality of authors or articles in journals, based on the
number of times these are cited in other publications. It is basically a
quantitative method but debate still rages about its validity in some cases.
IT
ITT
Information technology.
Initial Teacher Training. Any type of formal training for the teaching profession.
LHS
Left hand side
LLB
Bachelor of Laws
LLD
Doctor of Laws
LLM
Master of Laws
MA
Master of Arts
MD
Doctor of Medicine
MPhil
Master of Philosophy
MS (pl. MSS)
Manuscript (written by hand but nowadays typed or word-processed)
MSc
Master of Science
NB
nota bene = note well or please note (from the Latin)
no.
number
OED
Oxford English Dictionary
OfSTED
Office for Standards in Education, the inspectorate for schools and colleges in the
UK.
out of print
o.p.
p.
An abbreviation of the Latin opera citato meaning literally ‘in the work cited’ but
now used to indicate that the details of the work referenced have already been
given earlier. This avoids having to repeat all the bibliographic information each
time the work is referenced.
page
pa
per annum, each year (from the Latin)
PC
PDP
Personal Computer (IBM as opposed to Apple); also politically correct
Personal Development Profile, Personal Development Planning
op. cit.
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Abbreviation/
Acronym
Definition
per se
by or in itself, without reference to anything else (from the Latin).
PGCE
Post Graduate Certificate in Education. The qualification awarded on successful
completion of a one year ITT course in a university department of education
allowing the holder to teach on a standard teacher’s salary scale.
PhD
pl.
pp.
QAA
QCA
QED
Doctor of Philosophy
plural
pages
Quality Assurance Agency (for Higher Education)
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Literally ‘which was to be demonstrated’; hence. From the Latin quod erat
demonstrandum. Also means quantum electrodynamics.
An abbreviation of the Latin quod vide ‘which see’, meaning the reader may look
up the word or phrase to which it relates.
Research Assessment Exercise
Random Access Memory or Royal Academy of Music
concerning (from the Latin in re = in the matter) See also WRT.
revised edition
right hand side
Read Only Memory. A computer’s memory which can only be read but not written
to.
Science Citation Index
(from the French) Système International, the internationally recognised metric
measurement system.
When citing from a publication, the original wording, spelling etc must be
respected, even when there is an error. Sic, usually put in brackets, indicates that
the error has been noted but left uncorrected.
singular
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; software enabling statistical analysis
of data.
‘Let it stand’, where a correction has been made but it has been found that the
original is in fact correct. It corrects the correction!
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, the body which operates the
system of allocating students to HE establishments in the UK.
University Foundation Award
Uniform Resource Locator, an address on the World Wide Web.
Vice-Chancellor, the principal of a university or university college.
Visual Display Unit i.e. a TV screen or computer screen
An abbreviation of the Latin videlicet meaning ‘to wit’ or ‘namely’.
Virtual Learning Environment. A means of replacing the classroom learning and
teaching situation with IT, thus allowing distance learning for students from
anywhere on earth with access to a computer and appropriate software.
volume
With respect to, often used by mathematicians.
q.v.
(pl: qq.v.)
RAE
RAM
re.
rev.
RHS
ROM
SCI
SI (units)
sic
sing.
SPSS
stet
UCAS
UFA
URL
VC
VDU
viz.
VLE
vol.
WRT
The information in this leaflet can be made available in an alternative format on
request. Telephone 01482 466199.
© 12/2007
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