Ph.D. or PhD?

inkkognito · Jun 24, 2008

I always thought it was Ph.D. because those are two abbreviated words, but my OpenOffice spell checker says PhD is correct. Help! Which is it?

MoonWriter · Jun 24, 2008

Since I have a 50-50 shot at being right, I'm going to guess and say Ph.D.

Before the experts answer, I'd like to ask an abbreviation question too. I'm sorry if I should start a new thread to do this, but it's an easy one. How do you abbreviate peanut butter and jelly?

blacbird · Jun 24, 2008

Ph.D.

caw

Kalyke · Jun 24, 2008

Ph.D. Is a doctor (D.) of Philosophy (Ph.) It refers to most Doctor degrees when they are not "Medical" which is an M.D. (Medical Doctorate/ Doctor of Medicine).

inkkognito · Jun 24, 2008

Thanks all, I feel vindicated! Stupid OpenOffice had me questioning myself.

Deleted member 42 · Jun 24, 2008

Peanut butter and jelly = PB&J in colloquial use

Ph.D. = Piled Higher and Deeper

catethegreat · Jun 24, 2008

Ph.D. is correct, but PhD is commonly used (much like BA or MD). The reason why Ph.D. requires punctuation is that it contains a word portion. For example, M.Div. is correct while MDiv is not.

Bayley · Jun 25, 2008

Ph.D. is the more formal way, as it is an acronym. However, in casual conversation, it could be written PhD.

It should be like FBI, actually spelt F.B.I. but the media use FBI.

CID, C.I.D.

D.I. DI

Both work, just depends on how formal you want to be. On certificate it would be Ph.D. however, if I was chatting online and had a Ph.D. I would do PhD

I'm hoping this makes sense, although don't quote me on it as I'm not a grammar expert and I'm not right 100% of the time.

dawinsor · Jun 25, 2008

The Chicago Manual of Style says inserting the period is the more conservative practice but they recommend omitting them unless they're required for tradition or consistency.

Go figure.

Aglaia · Jun 25, 2008

I work for docs (both PhDs and MDs), and I consistently use PhD and MD - no periods included - for no other reason than that it annoys me to type them over and over and over again.

I agree, though, that it's a formality thing and is becoming more common to see them without the period. I think it's just important to be consistent, however you choose to abbreviate it.

June Casagrande · Jun 25, 2008

What Dorothy said.

Chicago Manual of Style prefers PhD but also allows Ph.D.

(It's a style issue. Periodicals' style guides disagree on this one. So it definitely won't make you look bad if you do it "wrong.")

Ph.D. or PhD?

inkkognito

Onlyifyouwanttowillyoufin daway-Enya

MoonWriter

practical experience, FTW

blacbird

Kalyke

inkkognito

Onlyifyouwanttowillyoufin daway-Enya

Deleted member 42

catethegreat

Lurker Extraordinaire

Bayley

Happiness is underrated

dawinsor

Dorothy A. Winsor

Aglaia

June Casagrande