Purpose

Acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms are used in scientific and technical reports to save time and space; some are used also in correspondence and in speaking.

This document should be of particular use to secretaries, authors, and editors. For guidance on the use of AAIs in correspondence, consult the Chicago Manual of Style or another style or usage manual. Although many AAIs are well known, not all can be remembered by authors and editors. Thus, the alphabetical lists in this document are intended as a time-saving, single-source reference to replace many existing general and specialized lists.

Some published lists still may be required (but less frequently) because not all AAIs used in our work are included in this listing (some have not yet been used, some have not been provided for this compilation, and short deadlines sometimes prevent adding newly encountered AAIs). Because new terminology is required by — and consequent new AAIs are created for — each new and ongoing project, authors and editors are encouraged to provide updates to this document. An email form is included at the end of this section and each alphabetical list for the reader's convenience.

Authors and editors must take care in correctly defining those AAIs that have more than one definition. Multiple definitions of a single entry are arranged alphabetically and are also numbered to stress that more than one definition is included. Cross-references are provided when more than one AAI is used for the same definition, and the form recommended for use in Y-12 correspondence and documents is indicated.

Some AAIs should not be used in text but can be used in bibliographies, lists, figures, tables, footnotes, and references.

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