I have found conflicting advice on whether or not to italicize Latin abbreviations in journal articles, please advise. [Correction made to this question so that 'et. al.' is now 'et al.']
I think there is no need for italicizing et al., e.g. and i.e. However this is worth mentioing that there should not be put full stop after et because this is complete word. The full stop be put at "al." because this is an abbreviation. So always write et al. instead of et.al.
Yes. Be consistent. Better still, just write : "For example, ..." and "That is, ..." Say it simple :-)
I was going to guess that consistency is an important consideration, but keeping it simple is a great suggestion as well. Many thanks Dr. Kennedy. Regards, Jack Payette.
I think there is no need for italicizing et al., e.g. and i.e. However this is worth mentioing that there should not be put full stop after et because this is complete word. The full stop be put at "al." because this is an abbreviation. So always write et al. instead of et.al.
Ah, you're quite correct! Thanks for the attention to detail! Regards, Jack.
You are welcome Dear Jack. I am happy that typo has been caught in time.
No need to italicize et al., e.g. and i.e. Jack. However, most of the American (medical) journals prefer: "...and colleagues", and "for example" or "that is.." (as Ian did point out.Good luck
Good post, I learned some new insights in using "For Example..." and "that is..". Thanks to Jack Payette and others who posted answers..
No, I have found that some writers do not italicie et al. at all, but those who do they do not italicie e.g., or i.e.,. I would appreciate highly, if one cites such an example from recent works.
Actually, it all depends on journal style. Some may prefer et al. again some may ask for .. and colleagues. Italics can be used as per journal specification or the author's convenience. But it is better to be consistent. Some et al. in italics and some in normal fonts may not look good. And I do not think there is any grammatical rule suggesting that if et al. is in italics e.g. and i.e. should also be in the same. Again it depends on authors choice, and also on journal style.
Writing in full is good but some journals counts words too.
"For example" and "That is" count as two words each. E.g. and i.e. also count as two words, so you lose nothing.
Dear Dr. Kennedy, Are you referring to a word count of an article, in the statement '...so you lose nothing..." ? Many thanks, Jack P.
@Jack. Yes. Word count should work out the same. Also if you use "and colleagues" for et al., but I find that the last one makes the sentence look longer.
@Jack, I've never seen italicized 'et al.s'. May be, I just do not publish in journals demanding it. Every journal I know, though, makes a point of using 'et al.' (without a dot after 'et'). I cannot give up the habit of copy-editing. If someone noticed this in a previous post, I'd be sorry for not using the search.
Many thanks Everyone! I too can't avoid or help myself from copy editing! Cheers, Jack P.
This totally depends on the journal. Every journal is different with different guidelines and requirement.
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