Chemistry Abbreviations

[Chris Clemens]

I have a question concerning abbreviations in Chemistry Books. Do the general rules (single capitalization and punctuation) for abbreviations in Section 9 of the Braille Code for Chemical Notation, 1997 apply to abbreviations and acronyms like:
ISBN
VSPER (Valence Shell election-pair repulsion)
IUPAC (International Union of Pure and applied Chemistry)
GPS
HIV
CD

or are these the type of abbreviations and acronyms the section is referring to:

CTP
ATP
DNA
RNA
HCI

I'm just a little confused.

[Lindy Walton]

Regarding Section 9.1, General Rules ... If the abbreviation/acronym has chemical meaning (such as DNA) then follow the rule stated in the Chemistry Code. If the abbreviation/acronym does not have to do with chemistry (such as ISBN), follow Nemeth Code rules. If in doubt, I would recommend following Chemistry Code. Your list makes sense to me -- the first half can be double-capped and punctuated in the literary mode; the second list should be individually capitalized and punctuated mathematically. Keep track of your decisions so your transcription is consistent.
For new readers: be sure to read further in Section 9 to see how the Chemistry Code differs from the Nemeth Code regarding physical states (9.2), SI units of measurement (9.3), chemical groups (9.4), and concentration of solutions (9.5).

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