Beware of Spelling Mistakes! Here's Correct Way and Examples to Spell Titles

YOGYAKARTA - An academic title or honorary title attached to a person's name signifies their achievements in education or recognition of their contributions to society. Correctly writing a title is not only a matter of etiquette but also related to the credibility of the document, especially in formal or academic documents.

Therefore, it is important to know how to write a title correctly to maintain the document's credibility and avoid misunderstandings. The following explains the rules for writing titles according to standard Indonesian language rules.

Rules for Writing Titles Correctly

According to the General Guidelines for Indonesian Spelling (PUEBI), academic degrees are written with specific abbreviations followed by a period at the end of each letter. Furthermore, degrees are not written in italics unless specific publication rules require it.

Examples: Bachelor of Education (S.Pd.), Master of Engineering (M.T.), or Doctorate (Dr.).

A common error is writing degrees without a period or without a period at the end. For example, Master of Engineering is written as MT or M.T. without a period at the end of the "T."

In addition to abbreviation rules, it's also important to pay attention to the placement of degrees. The general rule states that academic degrees are placed after the name and separated by a comma.

Examples:

Ahmad Santoso, S.H. (Bachelor of Law)

Dini Lestari, M.Kom. (Master of Computer Science)

For doctoral degrees other than professor, they are written before the name, without a comma.

Examples:

Dr. Budi Raharjo

Dr. Siti Aminah

If someone holds the title of professor, the title is written before their name and other academic titles are usually omitted, except in official documents that require a complete statement.

Example:

Prof. Andi Wijaya

Prof. Dr. Rina Kusuma (if listing both doctoral and professor titles in an academic context).

The question then becomes, what if someone holds multiple degrees? Which title should come first? In fact, many people hold more than one degree, both academic and professional. The order of their titles follows their educational level from lowest to highest.

Example:

Rudi Saputra, S.Sos., M.Si. (Bachelor of Social Sciences, Master of Science)

Rani Putri, S.T., M.T., Ph.D.

If someone also holds a professional title, such as a medical doctor (dr.) or engineer (Ir.), the professional title is written before the name, followed by the academic title.

Example:

dr. Andi Gunawan, Sp.PD. (internist)

Ir. Bima Pratama, M.T.

Furthermore, a common mistake is mixing up the spelling "Dr." for doctor (academic title) with "dr." for medical doctor (professional title).

"Dr." is used for graduates of doctoral programs (S3) in any field, for example: Dr. Rudi Hartono (S3 graduate in Language Education). Meanwhile, "dr." is used for doctors who graduated from medical schools, for example: Dr. Rina Andayani (general practitioner). The two have different functions and should not be interchanged.

In addition to academic and professional titles, there are also honorary titles, such as H.C. (Honoris Causa), which are awarded by universities as awards. They are written after the title awarded.

For example: Dr. (H.C.) Susanto.

Besides linguistic rules, writing titles is also related to etiquette. In formal situations, such as formal invitations, writing the full title is important to show respect to the recipient. However, in casual situations or on social media, many people choose to simply write the name without the title.

While there are no direct legal penalties for misspelling a title, this omission can impact credibility, especially in academic or professional settings. In some cases, misspelling a title on official documents can be considered administrative negligence and require revision.