How to abbreviate “compare”, “see”, “refer to”

Solution 1:

In formal, and mostly older, academic texts in English you may sometimes see cf (compare) and vid (see), but they are not used elsewhere.

Solution 2:

In formal legal citation in the US, cf. is always used for compare when it means support by analogy. See this article, Section 6-300(a).

However, there is no short form for see in legal cites.

Solution 3:

It appears that you are asking in the context of technical/ scientific literature. In such a case there are some standard ways of referencing. Depending on the publication and other factors, you may be required to follow a certain style guide such as CMoS, please check with the publishers.

APA Style Guide recommends cf: compare (inside parentheses only) (pdf 20kB)