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Ph.D. or PhD?
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Question:
Does the academic degree PhD have to be written with periods?
Answer:
In English, PhD can be written with or without periods; both are correct. However, The Canadian Style recommends that periods not be used.
In addition, The Canadian Press Stylebook states: "Mixed abbreviations that begin and end with a capital letter do not take periods."
Yet, many reputable sources recommend using periods (i.e. Ph.D.). The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, the Gregg Reference Manual and the Guide to Canadian English Usage fall into this category.
Ultimately, it is up to the writer to decide, but we suggest that you stick to The Canadian Style usage and write PhD without periods.
