Q. After reading your rule about not putting two periods one after the other, I wonder about a parenthesis as serving to break up this rule. How would you punctuate the following?
Option 1: Contact all departments (Finance, Compliance, Information Management, etc.)
Option 2: Contact all departments (Finance, Compliance, Information Management, etc.).
Or is there a third option?
A. Option 2 is correct; two periods are definitely required in the case of an abbreviation within a parenthetical like this that closes a sentence. Two periods one after the other—never.