Re: Looking for Journal Abbreviations

["Jerry D. Harris" <jharris@dixie.edu>]

> > This site at CalTech has a listing of most International Journal
> > abbreviations...
> >
> > http://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/

> THANK you!  Very helpful indeed -- this site should be more widely
> known.  Maybe Jerry could link to it to his Journal Links page?  (Are
> you out there, Jerry?)

   I'm here, though I only read the archives, so I don't get messages 'til 
the following day.  Anyway, as for the journal abbreviations thing, there 
are, believe it or not, _two_ sets of journal abbreviations out there.  I 
don't actually know who set each one up; I tend to call them "the short 
ones" and "the long ones."  The latter seem to be more commonly called for, 
although they're pretty pointless inasmuch as most of the abbreviations 
lose, at most, 3-4 letters from each long word in a title (e.g., 
"Palaeontology" becomes "Palaeontol."  The "short ones" would abbreviate 
this, more sensibly, as "Pal."  Note that some of the abbreviations on the 
web site Emma provided are not correct, e.g., "Palaeogeography, 
Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology" is given as "Palaeogeogr Palaeocl" [note 
misspelling!!!], but it should be " Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol." 
Also, it says "Palaeontology" is spelled out in its entirety, but it's 
not -- it's abbreviated as "the long one" above).  Although it's sadly out 
of date, the best source for these abbreviations is:

BioSciences Information Service of Biological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts 
Service, and Engineering Index, Inc. 1974. Bibliographic Guide for Editors 
and Authors. American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. 362 pp. ISBN: 
8412-0203-6

A few copies are available via AddAll for $35-$45.  Anyway, it's out of date 
inasmuch as many journals have started since 1974, but most title words also 
appear in other, older journal titles, so the appropriate abbreviations can 
be ferreted out with a bit of work.

   As for the other abbreviations you wanted, David was correct in that the 
shorter, one-word names tend to not be abbreviated, especially when they're 
uncommon words (like "Oryctos").

> Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Monograph Series 
> I

    ....would almost certainly become "Inst Vertebr Paleontol 
Paleoanthropol Monogr Ser I"

> Journal of Systematic Palaentology

    ...would become "J Syst Palaeontol"

> Mesozoic Meanderings
> Oryctos
> PaleoBios

   ...would probably not be abbreviated

> Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin

   ...would become "Mus N Ariz Bull," or, more correctly, "Bull Mus N Ariz"

> Natura Nascosta

    ...not sure about this one, but I'd guess "Nat Nasc"

> Occasional Papers of the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (Fourth Symposium 
> on
Mezozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems)

    This one would not be abbreviated because it's better off cited as a 
book, as in:

Fiorillo, A. R. 1987. Significance of juvenile dinosaurs from Careless Creek 
Quarry (Judith River Formation), Wheatland County, Montana; pp. 88-95 in P. 
J. Currie and E. H. Koster (eds.), Fourth Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial 
Ecosystems, Short Papers. Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller.

> Palaeontographica (Suppl. 7)

   "Palaeontolographica" is abbreviated as "Palaeontogr."

   I've been meaning to overhaul my journal links site and put it into a 
frames format, with each letter of the alphabet coming up in its own frame 
(thus reducing loading time for all the thumbnails!), but I simply won't 
have that kind of time for the foreseeable future, but if/when I do ever get 
'round to it, perhaps I could insert a column for journal abbreviations. 
Interesting thought...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Director of Paleontology
Dixie State College
Science Building
225 South 700 East
St. George, UT  84770
Phone: (435) 652-7758
Fax: (435) 656-4022
E-mail: jharris@dixie.edu
and     dinogami@hotmail.com
http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/

An expert is a man who has made all
the mistakes that can be made in a very
narrow field. -- Niels Bohr

After one look at this planet any visitor
from outer space would say "I want to
see the manager." -- William Burroughs