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Guide to understanding journal abbreviations

The advice on this page will help you find out what the abbreviations used instead of complete journal titles stand for.

Journal abbreviations

When you refer to a reading list or a series of references, you might notice that journal titles are sometimes abbreviated. For example, the journal title, Advances in Physics might be abbreviated as Adv Phys.

There are websites that can help you find out what the abbreviations stand for. Some sites provide an alphabetical list of journal titles and journal abbreviations.

Others websites let you to search for the full title by typing the abbreviation.  If you are submitting your work to a publisher, you should contact the publisher to find out which format you are required to use when citing journals.

To find a useful website, click on the relevant Subject category below. For further assistance please contact a Subject Librarian for advice

Biosciences

Chemical Engineering

Chemistry

The above resources give limited lists of abbreviations. For a more comprehensive listing, use CASSI: Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (1907-1984) in the Level 4 reference collection at 540(03) CHE.

Economics & International Development

Education and Social & Policy Sciences

Engineering

Health, Medicine and Sport

Management

Mathematics

Pharmacy & Pharmacology

The above resources give limited lists of abbreviations. For more comprehensive listings, use the following:

  • CASSI: Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (1907-1984)  - shelved in the Level 4 Reference Collection at 540(03) CHE
  • EMBASE: list of journals indexed - shelved in Level 4 Reference Collection at 610(01) EMB

Physics

Psychology

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