Abbreviations

Determine the use of an abbreviation on a case-by-case basis. Always consider the audience first. Abbreviations can confuse people who are not familiar with the content topic or who are not native English speakers. They also can cause problems if the writing is to be translated into another language.

So, unless a term and its abbreviation are so ubiquitously well-known and interchangeable (for example, JPEG), spell out the complete term the first time it is used and include the abbreviation in parentheses.

Common technical abbreviations: