Journal title abbreviations

Literature references are often written with abbreviated terms. Probably the most troublesome are abbreviated journal titles which can make finding a journal difficult.

In chemistry the journal title abbreviations used by Chemical Abstracts are often used. You can look up these abbreviations in CASSI (Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index), which is kept at the end of the printed Chemical Abstracts sequence in the Chemistry Library.  The 1907 - 1999 edition is held, so will not include new journal titles that started publication from 1999 onwards.

If you are unable to find the abbreviation you are looking for, please ask a member of the Library staff for assistance. Alternatively, these online resources may help:

• CAS Source Index (CASSI) Search Tool - a free search tool from the Chemical Abstracts Service, which includes the Journal title abbreviations used in Chemical Abstracts/SciFinder Scholar.
• Approximately 1500 of the key scientific journals are listed, with their standard journal tile abbreviation, on the CAplusSM Core Journal Coverage List.  The Royal Society of Chemistry author guidelines also recommends the use of these.

Unofficial abbreviations

Sometimes very short unofficial abbreviations are employed in reference books or journals. Here are some examples that you may encounter:

• JACS - Journal of the American Chemical Society
• JCS - Journal of the Chemical Society
• JCP - Journal of Chemical Physics
• JOC - Journal of Organic Chemistry
• AC - Analytical Chemistry

Please note: these should not be used in the references that you write, unless they are stipulated by the body or journal that you are submitting your work to.