leafleafleafMan illustrationFlower illustration
Updated on 2023-10-25
Use of initialisms and acronyms

General

Estimated reading: 2 minutes

An acronym is first used at the end of an explanation in brackets. It can then be used without the brackets to refer subsequently to the explanation

Examples1

final draft international standard (FDIS)
renewable energy source (RES)
certification body (CB)
International Energy Agency (IEA)

Exception

IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)
IECEE (IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components)
IECEx (IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Explosive Atmospheres)
IECQ (IEC Quality Assessment System)
IECRE (IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Applications)

With a few exceptions, an acronym is in capital letters, with no full stop or space between the letters

 

The explanation of an acronym can be either in lowercase letter [common words, general concept] or in capital letters [organization, company]

Examples1

technical specification (TS)
systems committee (SyC)
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)

The plural [s] is in lower case

It applies to the whole acronym

Examples1

working groups (WGs)
distributed energy resources (DERs)
technical committees/subcommittees (TC/SCs)

Do not use the possessive [‘s] with IEC or any other abbreviation

Examples1

Please read the annual report on IEC activities.
IEC work looks at aspects such as saftey, interoperability, or performance.

Share

General

Or copy link