What is the proper abbreviation for not applicable? (2024)

T

TheRacingLine

Member

United States

Spanish - Colombia

  • Apr 25, 2011
  • #1

I've seen n/a, N/A, NA, etc.

According to the Wikipedia article entitled "Manual of Style (abbreviations)", N/A is the only one that is proper; however, according to the Wikipedia article entitled "n/a" ("Not applicable" redirects to "n/a"), all of the other forms are also acceptable.

Thank you.

  • D

    daviesri

    Senior Member

    Houston, TX

    USA English

    • Apr 25, 2011
    • #2

    The problem here is that "Wiki" items are open source where anyone can enter whatever they want including their opinion. There is quite a bit of good and acurate information to be found there, as well as a bunch of inacurate information.

    In my daughter high school they are not allowed to use anything 'Wiki" as a valid source for research information because most things are not validated.

    Last edited:

    Miss Julie

    Senior Member

    Chicago metro area

    English-U.S.

    • Apr 25, 2011
    • #3

    I've seen all three examples of that abbreviation. They are all acceptable; I wouldn't worry too much about it.

    Myridon

    Senior Member

    Texas

    English - US

    • Apr 25, 2011
    • #4

    TheRacingLine said:

    According to the Wikipedia article entitled "Manual of Style (abbreviations)",.

    This is the manual of style specific to Wikipedia articles, i.e. it may well contain good advice that has been gathered from various places but it is by no means authoritative for any other context than authoring articles to be published in Wikipedia.

    W

    Waylink

    Senior Member

    English (British)

    • Apr 25, 2011
    • #5

    Besides the lack of consistency in the use of an abbreviation for 'not applicable', there is also an important ambiguity arising from the same abbreviations being used for 'not applicable' and for 'not available'.

    P

    Parla

    Member Emeritus

    New York City

    English - US

    • Apr 26, 2011
    • #6

    In my experience, both N.A. and N/A are widely used.

    EStjarn

    Senior Member

    Spanish

    • Apr 26, 2011
    • #7

    TheRacingLine said:

    According to the Wikipedia article entitled "Manual of Style (abbreviations)", N/A is the only one that is proper.

    I've checked the section in question but couldn't find any support for that.

    ...however, according to the Wikipedia article entitled "n/a" ("Not applicable" redirects to "n/a"), all of the other forms are also acceptable.

    The article says that "a slash is used to indicate the abbreviation of lowercase words." And that "NA is an initialism which carries the same meaning [as n/a]. A slash is not used in an initialism or acronym. However, the derivative form N/A is in common use."

    Considerations:

    A slash in "n/a" makes sense because it prevents readers from trying to read "na" as a word and interpreting it perhaps as a misspelling of "no".

    With uppercase letters, the tendency is to expect them to represent an initialism providing the table has lowercase letters for regular words. However, if regular words are written in uppercase, then I think it makes sense to use "the derivative form" - N/A - so as to avoid misinterpretation of "NA" as "NO".

    C

    CoraxN17

    New Member

    English - Southern

    • Jan 1, 2018
    • #8

    daviesri said:

    The problem here is that "Wiki" items are open source where anyone can enter whatever they want including their opinion. There is quite a bit of good and acurate information to be found there, as well as a bunch of inacurate information.

    In my daughter high school they are not allowed to use anything 'Wiki" as a valid source for research information because most things are not validated.

    This may have changed in the intervening post, but for anyone coming upon this thread through a Google search for correct usage, I'd suggest this is no longer applicable. Wikipedia has developed a rigorous system of referencing, although care should still be taken to check those references, and include them in footnotes/endnotes/bibliography where valid.

    Trochfa

    Senior Member

    UK

    English - England

    • Jan 1, 2018
    • #9

    Parla said:

    In my experience, both N.A. and N/A are widely used.

    What is the proper abbreviation for not applicable? (5)

    EStjarn said:

    A slash in "n/a" makes sense because it prevents readers from trying to read "na" as a word and interpreting it perhaps as a misspelling of "no".

    What is the proper abbreviation for not applicable? (6)

    I would never use "na" or "NA" for that reason. Both make it look as if you are possibly using the slang/casual spoken version of "no" and the one in capitals makes it look as if you are shouting it. What is the proper abbreviation for not applicable? (7)

    S

    Scrawny goat

    Senior Member

    English - Ireland

    • Jan 1, 2018
    • #10

    in terms of use in well-written texts, I’ve only seen N/A.

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