The two forms and their logic

Cont. is an abbreviation formed by truncation: take the first part of the word and add a period. This is the method used for most standard English abbreviations (Jan. for January, vol. for volume, dept. for department).

Cont’d is an abbreviation formed by contraction: take the first part, omit the middle, and mark the omission with an apostrophe. This method is common for verb contractions in English (don’t, haven’t) and is applied here to signal that the middle of the word (inue) has been dropped.

Both methods are legitimate, which is why both forms exist and neither is universally dominant.

What style guides say

Most major style guides either do not address this abbreviation specifically (it rarely appears in formal running prose, so most guides don’t treat it) or default to one form within their typographic conventions.

AP style: The Associated Press does not recommend abbreviating continued in body text at all. When a table or caption must indicate that content continues on another page, cont. is the simpler and more conventional form.

Chicago Manual of Style: Similarly, continued is generally spelled out in formal prose. In tables and captions, cont. (no apostrophe) is the more commonly used form.

General editorial practice: Cont’d is frequently seen in informal documents, slideshows, presentation notes, and older publishing formats. Cont. is slightly more common in formal publishing.

Where these abbreviations actually appear

Both forms are primarily used in tables, figures, captions, slide decks, and multi-page documents where space is limited and continued needs to be abbreviated to indicate that the content continues from a previous page or column. In running prose, continued should be spelled out.

When indicating that a table or figure continues on the next page, the standard formats are:

Table 1 (cont.) or Table 1 (continued)

Figure 3—continued or Figure 3 (cont.)

The practical recommendation

In formal published work: spell out continued wherever space allows. In tables and captions where abbreviation is necessary: use cont. as it is cleaner and avoids the slightly informal look of the apostrophe in a technical document. In informal documents, slides, and notes: either form is acceptable.

Whichever you choose, be consistent throughout the document.

Trinka’s grammar checker is designed for academic and professional documents and can help maintain stylistic consistency in abbreviations and typographic conventions.

References

Garner, B. A. (2016). Garner’s Modern English Usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

The Chicago Manual of Style Online. (2017). University of Chicago Press.

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/