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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/36854
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm writing a thesis in English (I'm not a native speaker) and I suddenly wondered:

- should I use 'for example' or 'e.g.'?

- should try to completely avoid both?

There are no university specific recommendations for it afaik and other thesis in my department differ greatly from each other (don't get me wrong - this makes total sense to me as it is probably one of the least significant things :D).  
I saw theses with only _for example_ / mostly _e.g._ / neither of those terms.

I like the example of the usage from [here](https://m.eliteediting.com.au/how-to-use-the-abbreviations-i-e-and-e-g/), especially this part:

> Please note that when submitting essays or theses to universities in Australia, it is preferred that you only use e.g. within parentheses, such as in the following examples:  
> ‘Many people thought that John had a large collection of classic cars, (e.g., a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Phaeton and an MG), which he kept in a large warehouse.’  
> ‘Joan had errors in her essay (e.g., no commas).’

And then they add:

> Otherwise, it is preferable for you to use ‘for example’ rather than ‘e.g.’

But that's where new questions arise:

- How to exactly use 'for example' then? 
- Based on what can I decide if I should choose one or the other?
- Is this only specific for Australian- or other English universities too?

And here a few actual sentences from my thesis:

- 

> Other XML tags for visual components, collision objects and more configurations can also be defined. For example: using the `<visual>` tag the model can be graphically displayed.

- 

> Including other files, which enables model files to be created as reusable modules, e.g., for loading different robot models into the same environment.

- 

> It can display model files and data from topics, e.g., camera data.

Original score: 7