Fig. vs Figs.?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Adam Turner wondered: <<Is the word figure singular or plural in-text  
when describing alphabetically labeled divisions of a single numbered  
figure? EXAMPLES *Fig. 12 (a), (b), and (c) shows* OR Figs. 12 *(a),  
(b), and (c) show *>>

Most style guides I've seen (specifically, the author guidelines  
published online by science journals) do not allow the abbreviation  
of "Figure" outside of brackets*, and few seem to use the brackets  
for the sub-figures. So I'd right this (and write this <grin>) as  
"Figure 12 shows". Note that there's only one figure, not three.

* Nor do they permit the use of most abbreviations that require  
punctuation outside of brackets. This is for a very good reason: the  
period introduces needless punctuation and thus, creates needless  
complexity, in the sentence. Occasionally, it even makes the sentence  
significantly more difficult to parse.

If you need the three letters (i.e., they are only three of many more  
sub-figures), try: "Figure 12 (a, b, and c) shows". Better still,  
don't cite more than one sub-figure when the meaning is only present  
in one. For example: "Figure 12a shows X, [Figure] 12b shows Y, and  
[Figure] 12c shows Z." Whether to repeat the word "Figure" is a style  
decision, but my take on this is that the further apart each number,  
the more useful the repetition becomes.

Also note (as it's not a trivial point) that using the full word only  
adds two characters to the total length once you delete the period,  
so it's not like the abbreviation offers any advantage over the  
unabbreviated form. Engineers and scientists love their abbreviations  
far too well, and we sometimes fall into the trap of adopting their  
bad habits.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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