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IEEE Computer Society

Style Guide

2013

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

 Mission statement

 General information

 Resolving differences with authors

 Acknowledgments

Abbreviations 3

Acronyms and Abbreviated Terms 4

Authors and Affiliations 5

Best Practices 6

Biographical Sketches 9

Capitalization 10

 Internal capitals

 Titles

 Department names

Copyrights, Trademarks, US Government Work, and Image

Permissions 11

File Extensions and Their Meanings 12

Lists 13

Locations 15

 Standard and postal abbreviations: US states and Canadian provinces

 Postal code placement

Mathematical Expressions 19

 Miscellaneous math style issues

 Equation formatting guidelines

 Math guidelines

Non-English Words and Phrases 24

Numbers and Symbols 25

 Dates

 Numerals

 Symbols and signs

 Telephone and fax numbers

Program Code 27

 Punctuation

 Capitalization

 Tokens in text

Punctuation 29

References 30

 Sample formats

 General style

 Abbreviations in references

Transactions Department References 40

Alphabetical Listing 41

Usages not identified or adequately defined in accepted external sources

Style Guide version November 2013 1

Introduction

Mission statement

The IEEE Computer Society Style Guide Committee’s mission is to clarify the editorial styles

and standards that the Society’s publications use. We maintain and periodically update a style

guide to clarify those usages not adequately defined in accepted external sources. Our purpose is

to promote coherence, consistency, and identity of style, making it easier for CS editors and our

authors to produce quality submissions and publications that communicate clearly to all our

readers.

General information

This revised (November 2013) edition of the IEEE Computer Society Style Guide complements

these primary references:

 Preferred dictionary: Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., 2003.

 General style guide: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., 2010 (called CMS in this style

guide).

The CS style guide defines and explains unique IEEE Computer Society usages, particularly

where they differ from other usages. It also defines specialized terms to help editors determine

proper usage and phraseology.

Entries in the alphabetical listing include commonly used acronyms, definitions, and brief

remarks on points of style. Entries for terms are listed with their initial letter in lowercase, unless

the term is a proper name or conventionally appears with an initial capital letter. A keyword given

in italics denotes entries for remarks on style. Where topics cannot be covered by short

explanations, they are presented in the special sections listed in the Table of Contents.

An * denotes entries in the alphabetical listing that can be used as acronyms on first

reference. An individual magazine’s editorial staff can make determinations about applying this

designation to other acronyms on the list. Because some terms look like acronyms and some

acronyms look like terms, the style guide provides overlapping entries to make it easier to use.

Likewise, the listings include cross-references where necessary.

This style guide will be updated as required. An electronic version is available at

www.computer.org/portal/web/publications/styleguide.

The Style Guide Committee is a permanent body with a mandate to rule on questions of style and

to provide guidelines where none exist. If you have a question to pose, or you find an entry that

needs to be added or changed, please send your request by e-mail to style@computer.org. The

committee will endeavor to reply within 30 days.

Style Guide version November 2013 2

Resolving differences with authors

The Style Guide Committee’s goal is to direct editors to published works and offer guidelines that

they should consider and follow, except in cases where they have good reasons to do otherwise.

We recognize that each CS publication has its own minor style variations. Moreover, a good

editor knows when to bend a good rule in order to maintain clarity of meaning within a written

passage.

Authors provide the technical content for Computer Society publications and, together with

referees, bear the major responsibility for ensuring technical accuracy. The editor’s job is to

present the material in the most effective manner possible, consistent with established CS

publishing practices.

Computer Society style is not intended to alienate authors, universities, or corporations; its goal is

to achieve professionalism and consistency while treating all firms, organizations, and individuals

equally. This house style is generally supported by US trademark law.

Occasional author-editor disagreements can be expected, and compromises are often necessary.

Each party should recognize that the other has a stake in the outcome: The author’s name appears

on the book or article for all the world (and numerous colleagues) to see, and the editor must

follow guidelines established by senior editors, managers, the publisher, and accepted CS editing

practices.

Authors frequently feel that a particular usage is correct because it has appeared in a variety of

printed communications. However, if these communications are conference proceedings, in-house

technical reports, or unpublished papers that have not been professionally edited, no one has yet

applied standard publishing rules. Once in a while, though, CS style may indeed be out of step,

and questionable cases should be referred to the Style Guide Committee. Willingness to view a

situation from another’s vantage point is a big step toward resolving differences.

Editors should be flexible enough to compromise when firm publishing and editing principles are

not being violated. If an author’s preference violates strict grammar rules or firm CS guidelines,

the editor should make clear what that violation is, explain why it is not good practice, and

suggest an alternative.

An editor’s decisions should not be, or appear to be, arbitrary. Explaining that the Style Guide

Committee has given considerable thought to CS policies and has established guidelines intended

to enhance the authority, effectiveness, and prestige of CS publications is usually the best way to

enlist an author’s cooperation in the search for a solution. Unresolved disputes between an

equally adamant author and editor should be referred to the department manager.

Acknowledgments

The participation of the following IEEE Computer Society staff members in revising this manual

is gratefully acknowledged: Camber Agrelius, Mark Gallaher, Chris Nelson, Lisa O’Conner,

Kimberly Sperka, Dennis Taylor, and Carrie Walsh.

Style Guide version November 2013 3

Abbreviations

Styles differ on whether or not periods should be used with particular abbreviations. The Society

discourages the use of periods in certain abbreviations, such as those for academic degrees, names

of countries, and other abbreviations that are in all capitals. When periods are removed from

abbreviations, the internal space should also be removed (for example, MIT, PhD, US). The

internal space is also removed from other abbreviations with internal periods, as with author

initials. Note that if an abbreviation also spells a word, removing the following period could

cause confusion in some contexts (for example: in., no.).

Although many style manuals decry the use of abbreviations, some words are seldom spelled out.

Among these are abbreviations for affiliations or scholarly degrees after a name (BA, PhD), and

abbreviations such as AD, CPA, and Ltd. A symbol or figure beginning a sentence, on the other

hand, is usually spelled out; if it cannot be, the sentence is rewritten (Two hundred miles, not 200

miles).

Other abbreviation style tips:

The abbreviations Jr., Sr., II and so forth do not require a comma because they are part of the

person’s name (John Smith Jr.).

Mr., Mrs., and Dr. are dropped if another title is also used (not Dr. John Smith Jr., PhD).

The preferred format avoids using a descriptor unless the company name might not be clear

without it, for example, Data Co. However, if it is necessary to use Limited, Incorporated,

Corporation, or Company, they are abbreviated to Ltd., Inc., Corp., or Co., respectively, and the

abbreviation is not preceded by a comma.

The abbreviations Nat'l and Int'l (for national and international) do not take a period.

The standard abbreviations for most of the degrees we encounter in our authors’ biographies are

BS, MS, MSc, and PhD. For additional rules on abbreviating academic degrees, see the entry

under academic degrees in the alphabetical section.

Centuries use the ordinal symbol, for example, 21st century.

Also see the References section; for a more complete discussion of abbreviations, see CMS,

Chapter 10.

Style Guide version November 2013 4

Acronyms and Abbreviated Terms

A true acronym is formed by using the first letter from two or more separate words, for example,

DEC for Digital Equipment Corporation. Articles or prepositions falling in between (for example,

and, of, in, the) are generally not used as part of the acronym. Use all capitals only for true

acronyms.

Many acronyms/abbreviated terms used for measurements are traditionally all lowercase, for

example, cpi (characters per inch) and dpi (dots per inch). A few are mixed, such as kHz

(kilohertz). Capitalization also can differ depending on meaning, for example, MW (megawatt)

and mW (milliwatt). See the alphabetical section when in doubt.

As a general rule, spell out all acronyms on first use, but don’t use initial capitals just because the

letters form the acronym. There must be another reason for the caps; for example, the words

constitute a proper noun. In other words, CAD is computer-aided design, not Computer-Aided

Design.

Exceptions to the spell-out-on-first-use rule are acronyms so well known to a particular magazine

or publication’s readers that spelling them out would be insulting. In the alphabetical section, the

Style Guide Committee has determined that acronyms marked with an asterisk are so familiar to

all our readers that they don’t need to be spelled out on first use. Examples include RAM, ROM,

and CD-ROM.

Put the acronym in parentheses immediately after the spelled-out term. In long articles with

unfamiliar acronyms, it helps to spell out the words occasionally throughout to refresh readers’

memories and aid those who browse. If an article includes many unfamiliar acronyms, consider

creating a glossary or sidebar.

Use judgment before allowing a short common term to be reduced to an acronym (for example,

operating system to OS). Readers have difficulty with articles that read like alphabet soup.

Provided that an acronym isn't visually distracting (use your judgment), capitalize it as the author

submitted it, so long as the CS Style Guide doesn’t already prescribe a style for it and its

formatting agrees with the official version. (For example, the www.flossproject.org provides the

project’s preferred capitalization: FLOSS.) When deciding whether to revise acronym

capitalization, first consider clarity, followed by author preference.

The alphabetical section of the Style Guide includes combinations of words and acronyms, such

as MiniDIP, which generally follow both capitalization and acronym rules.

For units of measurement, you don’t need to spell out common abbreviations (such as s, min., and

ms). For unfamiliar units of measurement, spell them out on first use.

Style Guide version November 2013 5

Authors and Affiliations

For the optional magazines, on an article’s first page, list the authors in the order in which they

appeared on the original accepted paper’s first page. (If no names appeared there, use the order of

the author bios, if there are any. Otherwise, contact the authors.) If authors listed next to each

other share an affiliation, group them together. If authors share an affiliation but aren’t listed next

to each other, don’t group them together. For example, note the first and third lines of this list:

Khairi Reda and Alessandro Febretti, University of Illinois at Chicago

Aaron Knoll, University of Texas at Austin

Jillian Aurisano, Jason Leigh, and Andrew Johnson, University of Illinois at Chicago

Michael E. Papka and Mark Hereld, Argonne National Laboratory

The author order on the first page and in the bios should be the same.

Normally, each author should have only one affiliation on the article’s first page—usually, the

affiliation at which the research occurred. (You can list other affiliations in the bio.) If the

affiliation is an institute or organization associated primarily with a university, use just the

university name as the affiliation. However, in IEEE Software, you can list Software Engineering

Institute as the affiliation without listing Carnegie Mellon University.

The author’s name on the first page takes the “AUTHOR” tag; the name in the author bio takes

the “vita name” tag. The affiliation on the first page takes the “AUTHOR AFFILIATION” tag (a

paragraph tag) if it’s on a separate line from the author name or the “author affiliation” tag (a

character tag) if it’s on the same line. The affiliation in the bio takes the “vita affiliation” tag. The

tagged affiliation in the bio should match the tagged affiliation on the first page. However,

after an affiliation first appears in a bio, you can abbreviate subsequent instances of that

affiliation (in that or any following bio) to save space. In this case, the abbreviation should appear

in parentheses after the first instance of the affiliation.

If an author must have more than one affiliation on the first page or if the tagged text on the first

page and in the bio must differ, inform Monette Velasco or Jennie Zhu-Mai before the issue

ships.

Style Guide version November 2013 6

Best Practices

Here are a variety of guidelines for editing articles conforming to CS style. Some guidelines are

specific to particular magazines.

Abstracts

Print abstracts (the short abstracts that appear at the article’s beginning) should be 50 words max

for Computer Graphics and Applications, 80 to 100 words for Internet Computing (50 words for

department articles), 25 words max for Intelligent Systems and Software, 35 words max for

Pervasive Computing, and 35 to 40 words max for Security & Privacy.

Article titles

Capitalize both parts of a hyphenated compound unless the first part is a prefix; in that case,

capitalize only the prefix.

Figures

For figure callouts, use “(see Figure X)” if the sentence doesn’t already mention the figure. The

callout normally shouldn’t give the page number.

For figure captions, the preferred style is to use a phrase to describe the figure and a sentence (or

more) to describe the figure’s significance. For example, “Figure 1. Blue marshmallows. The

campers mix blue dye with sugar and the mucilaginous root of the marshmallow, thus turning a

pink-flowered European perennial herb into a tasty campfire treat.”

For abbreviations in captions, spell them out in the first caption in which they appear (with the

abbreviation in parentheses immediately following the related term). Later captions can use just

the abbreviation.

To acknowledge outside sources of figures, use this style: “(Source: NameOfSource; used with

permission.)”

For program code examples that are part of a figure, input the code into the Word file (and tag it

properly) if at all possible. Don’t send the code to the layout artist for input.

File and folder conventions—optional mags

Here are examples of the optional magazines’ file name format, using the May/June Computer

Graphics and Applications Harel article as an example:

 g3har.org.pdf (original file that the author sent)

 g3har.tag.doc (original tagged but unedited file)

 g3har.dt.doc (1st edit by Dennis Taylor)

 g3har.dt-bb.doc (2nd read by Brian Brannon. This version usually replaces the previous one.)

Style Guide version November 2013 7

 g3har.gal.doc (version sent to author)

 g3har.au.doc (version with author corrections)

 g3har.fin.doc (version ready for layout)

Here are the guidelines for naming electronic folders, with examples.

 First theme: a1-Harel

 Second theme: a2-Jones

 Third theme: a3-Smith

 Nontheme: b-Harris

 Column: c-Opinions

 Department: d-Projects

 Track: t-Virtualization

The electronic folder should contain the current version of the article, figures, and author photos

(when necessary), and a Versions folder that holds all the other files. When the layout is ready,

move the most recent MS Word file to the Versions folder. You don’t need to clean out the

folders before they’re archived.

For the hard-copy folders, you don’t need to keep the materials in any specific order (although

some kind of order would be nice), and you don’t need to remove anything before the folders are

archived.

Main text

Introductions should be three paragraphs, although a little longer is okay if necessary.

In the optional magazines, use title caps on first- and second-level headings. In Computer, first-

level headings use all caps, and second-level headings use just an initial cap.

On multiline headings, try to make the lower lines the longer ones.

Don’t indent the paragraph immediately following a first- or second-level heading.

When first referring to a group of more than two authors, use this style: “Jane Doe and her

colleagues.” For two authors, give their first and last names.

When referring to a specific table or figure in the text, use capitalization: Figure 3, Table 2, and

so on.

Avoid having a line with a drop cap on the last line of a column.

Use the appropriate punctuation at the end of a display equation.

Style Guide version November 2013 8

When referring to a numbered and displayed item in an article, use an initial capital letter (Figure

1, Table 2, Equation 3, Algorithm 4, …). Otherwise, for nouns accompanied by numbers or

letters, don’t capitalize the noun (level 5, participant B, step 1, and so on) unless it’s a proper

noun or it’s from a specification or standard.

For names of software patterns, use an initial capital letter and no special formatting.

Use a drop cap, not a heading, to start the conclusion.

Sidebars

For sidebar titles, use normal title capitalization.

For titles of related-work sidebars, use “Related Work in …,” not “Related Work on ….”

Tables

We no longer use the TABLE ROWz tag.

When referring to table columns or rows in the main text, normally use quotation marks and no

capital letters (“In the ‘total characters’ column, …”).

URLs

If you have to put a URL in parentheses after an acronym, use a semicolon to separate the two.

Don’t use “http://” in URLs that start with www (unless the author is Tim Berners-Lee and he

complains).

Style Guide version November 2013 9

Biographical Sketches

Except for transactions, the preferred format for biographical sketches can vary depending on the

publication. But full articles should generally follow this format:

//Author Name// is a //position// at //name of institution or company, with department name if

applicable//. //His/Her// research interests include //list three or four topics//. //Last name//

received a //highest academic degree [use an abbreviation if possible]// in //name of discipline

[use lowercase]// from //name of degree-granting institution//. //He/She// has received //names of

awards//. //He/She// is in on the editorial board of //name of publication// and has been //name of

volunteer position// at //name of conference//. //He/She// is a member of //list up to three relevant

professional organizations [okay to use an acronym or initialism for organizations]//. Contact

//him/her// at //email address//.

Note: If there are space issues—for example, an unusually large number of authors—the

professional organizations and research interests can be deleted (in that order).

For columns and departments, Computing in Science and Engineering, Internet Computing, IT

Pro, and Security & Privacy use the same format as for regular articles. Computer Graphics and

Applications, Intelligent Systems, Pervasive Computing, and Software follow this format:

//Author Name// is a //position// at //name of institution or company, with department name if

applicable//. Contact //him/her// at //email//.

Transactions biographies follow this format:

//First name/last name// received the //first to latest sequential degrees in respective disciplines

and institutions//. He is a //academic title, institution, or business title, company//. His research

interests include //list three or four topics//. He has authored //number of papers or the name of

relevant texts//. He is a member of //relevant professional organizations//.

For abbreviations in magazine bios, spell them out in each bio in which they appear. If an

abbreviation appears more than once in a bio, place it in parentheses after the first instance of the

related term and then use just the abbreviation later in the bio.

Style Guide version November 2013 10

Capitalization

The Computer Society style is conservative in the use of capital letters. A company’s or public

relations firm’s wishes about capitalization rarely carry any weight.

For company, product, system, and language names, use an initial capital only. Editors should

determine whether the term is really a proper noun or merely descriptive or generic.

Internal capitals

For many years, Computer Society style prohibited the use of internal capitals in words, insisting

on an initial capital only for product names, system names, and so forth. Words such as MiniDIP

and AutoCAD were accepted as combinations of words and acronyms. This strict approach has

not been sustainable in the real world. We now permit one internal capital when it is the first

letter of another word, as in PostScript, MacDraw, or dBase. Only a few exceptions exist, for

example, NeXT and LaTeX. If in doubt, see the alphabetical section of this style guide.

Titles

In the titles of articles, books, and so forth, capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs,

and first and last words. Function words (articles, coordinate conjunctions, and prepositions) are

not capitalized, regardless of their length: “Better Health through Psychotherapy,” “Keeping the

Peace without Creating Conflict.” The exception is following a colon—for example, “Along a

Different Path: A Case Study.” For hyphenated words in titles, see CMS 8.159.

In references, use standard capitalization for titles but don’t lowercase internal capitals or

improper acronyms that appear as part of a product or system name, even if it conflicts with the

style guidelines.

Department names

Names of departments, divisions, laboratories, and so forth are capitalized when used as part of

an organization’s proper name: the University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer Science;

the university’s computer science department; the IBM Almaden Research Center; Hewlett-

Packard’s advertising department.

Style Guide version November 2013 11

Copyrights

The IEEE owns the copyright for material published by the IEEE Computer Society. Authors

must sign the IEEE copyright form, available online along with detailed information about IEEE

intellectual property rights at www.ieee.org/copyright.

Authors should not include a copyright notice of their own in published articles or department

submissions. Authors transfer copyright to the IEEE as part of the publication agreement. Staff

members do not need to complete a copyright agreement because its terms are part of the general

conditions of their employment.

Each feature article carries a notice of IEEE ownership of copyright at the bottom of the first

page. The two acceptable versions (with the symbol and with text) of the standard format are

Address questions regarding copyright issues to:

IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office

IEEE Service Center

445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854-1331

Phone: +1 732 562 3966; Fax: +1 732 981 8062

e-mail: copyrights@ieee.org

Trademarks

We do not include the trademark symbol in articles published in IEEE Computer Society

periodicals and proceedings. Trademark law does not apply to the press because using a product

name in the headline or text of an article does not constitute an attempt to capitalize on the

reputation of the company or the product.

US Government Work

When an author is (or all authors are) employed by the US government, the following wording is

used instead of the IEEE copyright line: “US Government Work Not Protected by US

be found at the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights website: www.ieee.org/copyright.

Image Permissions

If an image has been published elsewhere, the author must obtain permission from the

publisher or the creator of the image for the IEEE Computer Society to reproduce it in the

publication's print and electronic versions. Obtaining permission and paying any fees the

publisher requires are the author’s responsibility. If permission isn’t obtained, the figure

should not be used in the article.

Style Guide version November 2013 12

File Extensions and Their Meanings

.arj relatively uncommon archive file

.bak backup file

.bin binhex file—Macintosh

.bmp bitmap file

.cca cc:Mail archive file

.cdr Corel Draw data file

.cfg configuration file

.cnt MS Office file

.com command file

.cpl current privilege level file for WWW

.dat data file

.dbf database file

.dir directory

.dll dynamic link library—Windows file system

.doc MS Word document

.dos DOS file

.dot MS Word template

.drv printer driver file

.eps encapsulated PostScript file

.exe executable file—a program

.fon font file

.ftg MS Office file

.gid MS Access file

.gif graphics interchange format—an art file

.gz G-zipped file—Unix-based compressed file

.hgx Harvard Graphics file

.hlp help file

.hqx BinHex compressed file

.htm or .html hypertext file—WWW page file

.ico icon file

.inf information file

.ini initialization file—Windows file

.jpg JPEG image file

.kbd keyboard layout file

.lan local area network file—a Novell system file

.lha relatively uncommon archive file

.lo QuarkXPress document—Macintosh

.log log file

.lst list file

.lzh relatively uncommon archive file

.mim mime-encoded file

.mpl MS Project data file

.mpg MPEG image file

.msg message file

.nlm NetWare Loadable Module—Novell

.nls NetWare License Server—Novell

.pcd photo CD file

.pct PICT graphic

.pcx PC Paintbrush graphic

.pdf portable document format file—Adobe Acrobat

.pdr printer description file—Macintosh

.pfb Adobe printer font—binary

.pfm Adobe printer font—metric

.pif program information file—Windows shortcut file

.png portable network graphics—image file format

.ppa PowerPoint presentation file

.ppd PostScript printer definition file

.ppt PowerPoint document

.prn MS Word print file—PostScript format

.ps PostScript file

.psd Adobe Photoshop native format file

.pub MS Publisher document

.qxp QuarkXPress document

.reg registry file—Windows file systems

.rtf rich text format—a form of text formatting

.rul cc:Mail rule file

.sam AmiPro file

.smi system management interrupt—Intel

.sty LaTeX style file

.swp Windows swap file

.sys DOS/Windows system file

.tar tape archive file—Unix-based compressed file

.taz .tar file that has been .z compressed

.tbl Adobe table editor file

.tex LaTeX file—a form of text formatting

.tif tagged information format file—an image file

.tlb MS Office executable file

.tmp temporary file—Windows applications

.ttf TrueType font file

.txt text file, usually plain ASCII

.vbx Visual Basic file

.vxd virtual driver file—Windows

.wav wave sound file

.wk1 Lotus 123 spreadsheet file

.wks MS Works file

.wmf Windows metafile—a graphics file

.wpd WordPerfect document

.wpg WordPerfect graphic

.wq1 Quattro Pro spreadsheet

.wri MS Write document

.ws2 WordStart 2 document

.xls Excel spreadsheet file

.xtg QuarkXPress document—PC

.z compressed file from a Unix-based system

.zip compressed file from WinZip

.zoo relatively uncommon archive file

Style Guide version November 2013 13

Lists

How to use punctuation in a list depends on whether the introductory phrase is a dependent clause

(it is not a complete sentence) or an independent clause (it is a complete sentence).

If the introductory phrase is a dependent clause, there is no colon.

In the past few months, I’ve been

• dressing more casually;

• finding unusual combinations of styles, colors, and textures; and

• looking for bargains.

If the introductory phrase is an independent clause, there is a colon.

People describe my wardrobe in many ways:

• sporty,

• colorful, and

• distinctive.

Here’s what I think:

• My wardrobe is distinctive.

• I can decide what to wear depending on my mood.

• I need some new clothes.

My wardrobe has many distinct characteristics:

• Unusual. Most people would not be comfortable making the same choices.

• Versatile. I can dress comfortably for a business meeting or casual Friday.

• Color-coordinated. I can mix and match garments to achieve a new look.

The following are examples of formatting alternatives for more complicated lists.

The major architectural components include

• a thin client terminal hosting a Web browser—the client terminals periodically send location

updates to the network;

• an application server that delivers Web content prioritized according to user preferences—the

application server formats the generated information content and adapts it for display on the

client terminal; and

• a context and profile manager (CPM) that tracks the user’s dynamic context—the CPM also

queries Web services and filters Web content data according to user profile context.

The architecture has three major components:

• A thin client terminal hosts a Web browser. The client terminals periodically send location

updates to the network.

• An application server delivers Web content prioritized according to user preferences. The

application server formats the generated information content and adapts it for display on the

client terminal.

• A context and profile manager (CPM) tracks the user’s dynamic context. The CPM also

queries Web services and filters Web content data according to user profile context.

Style Guide version November 2013 14

The architecture has three major components:

• a thin client terminal,

• an application server, and

• a context and profile manager (CPM).

The client terminal hosts a Web browser and periodically sends location updates to the network.

The application server delivers Web content prioritized according to user preferences; it formats

the generated information content and adapts it for display on the client terminal. The CPM tracks

the user’s dynamic context and also queries Web services and filters Web content data according

to user profile context.

Style Guide version November 2013 15

Note: With the exception of running text—where the state name is spelled out—use

of the postal abbreviation is preferred (CMS 10.28).

Locations

United States

State

Standard abbreviation

Postal abbreviation

Alabama

Ala.

Alaska

Arizona

Ariz.

Arkansas

Ark.

California

Calif.

Colorado

Colo.

Connecticut

Conn.

Delaware

Del.

District of Columbia

D.C.

Florida

Fla.

Georgia

Ga.

Guam

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Ill.

Indiana

Ind.

Iowa

Kansas

Kan.

Kentucky

Ky.

Louisiana

La.

Maine

Maryland

Md.

Massachusetts

Mass.

Michigan

Mich.

Minnesota

Minn.

Mississippi

Miss.

Missouri

Mo.

Montana

Mont.

Nebraska

Neb.

Nevada

Nev.

New Hampshire

N.H.

New Jersey

N.J.

New Mexico

N.M.

New York

N.Y.

Style Guide version November 2013 16

North Carolina

N.C.

North Dakota

N.D.

Ohio

Oklahoma

Okla.

Oregon

Ore.

Pennsylvania

Pa.

Puerto Rico

Rhode Island

R.I.

South Carolina

S.C.

South Dakota

S.D.

Tennessee

Tenn.

Texas

Trust Territories of the Pacific

Trust Territories

Utah

Vermont

Vt.

Virginia

Va.

Virgin Islands

Washington

Wash.

West Virginia

W.Va.

Wisconsin

Wis.

Wyoming

Wyo.

Note: States names with five letters or fewer are never abbreviated. The names of states and

territories outside the 48 contiguous US states are abbreviated only when used with a postal code.

Postal code placement: ZIP (Zone Improvement Program) codes follow the state code and are

separated by a space: Los Alamitos, CA 90720. The Postal Service has expanded the original

five-digit code to nine digits, known as ZIP+4. The added digits follow a hyphen appended to the

original code: Los Alamitos, CA 90720-1314.

Style Guide version November 2013 17

Canada

Province

Standard abbreviation

Postal abbreviation

Alberta

Alta.

British Columbia

B.C.

Manitoba

Man.

New Brunswick

N.B.

Newfoundland and Labrador

N.L.

Northwest Territories

N.W.T.

Nova Scotia

N.S.

Nunavut

Ontario

Ont.

Prince Edward Island

P.E.I.

Quebec

Que.

Saskatchewan

Sask.

Yukon Territory

Yukon

Note: Quebec used to be abbreviated P.Q. for Province du Québec, but this is now obsolete.

Francophones in Québec often use the postal abbreviation Qc.

Postal code placement: Canada’s postal code system is similar to the US ZIP code system. Postal

codes are placed after the province code. The six-character codes are broken into two groups of

three characters separated by a space. The format is letter, number, letter, space, number, letter,

number—for example, Kingston, ON K1A 0S2.

United Kingdom

UK postal codes are placed after the country (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales)

and are separated by a space. Add the nation (UK) after the postal code. The six-character codes

are usually broken into two groups of three characters separated by a space. The usual format is

letter, letter, number, space, number, letter, letter—for example, Stirling, Scotland FK9 4LA, UK.

However, some cities use variations on this format.

Europe

Postal codes are placed before the city name: D-4054 Nettetal, Germany. The number of digits

varies among countries. The European postal union includes country prefixes with the postal

codes. These prefixes, which are separated from the postal code by a hyphen, include

Belgium

Switzerland

Germany

Denmark

Spain

France

Italy

Norway

Netherlands

Sweden

United Kingdom

Style Guide version November 2013 18

Include the state for all US cities except the following: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago,

Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans,

New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San

Francisco, and Seattle.

Do not list state name or province for cities outside the US and Canada. For most cities

located outside the US, list the nation after the city. However, do not include the nation

for the following locations:

Amsterdam

Athens

Bangkok

Barcelona

Beijing

Berlin

Brussels

Budapest

Cairo

Copenhagen

Edinburgh

Geneva

Helsinki

Hong Kong

Istanbul

Jerusalem

Rome

Kyoto

Seoul

London

Shanghai

Madrid

Singapore

Melbourne

Stockholm

Mexico City

Sydney

Montreal

Taipei

Moscow

Taiwan

Munich

Tokyo

Oslo

Toronto

Ottawa

Vienna

Paris

Warsaw

Prague

Zurich

Reykjavik

Rio de Janeiro

Style Guide version November 2013 19

Mathematical Expressions

Most style manuals do not cover mathematical style well. CMS has some good suggestions in

Chapter 12, but is insufficient. Another reference source is N.J. Higham, The Handbook of

Writing for the Mathematical Sciences, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1998.

Although this book is largely about how to write mathematics clearly, it also has some

suggestions about math typography and other stylistic matters.

Miscellaneous math style issues

If authors use punctuation after mathematical expressions, including displayed equations, leave it

in (or revise as necessary).

 Include a space on either side of multiplication signs, equals signs, and other operators when

they are at full size, for example, 100  100 matrix, and a + b = c. MathType automatically

inserts thin spaces around these symbols. In subscripts and superscripts, omit these thin

spaces unless the formula becomes confusing without them. Also, when < or > precedes a

number in text (that isn’t a formula), there should be no space after the symbol.

 If line breaks are needed in equations that appear in a paragraph, they should come after a

plus sign, equals sign, or similar character.

 Characters with overbars must be set in MathType. If an article has many symbols with

overbars or other symbols that make typesetting difficult, consider asking the author if there

is an easier alternative.

 Equation numbers are put in parentheses to the right of displayed formulas. They should not

be boldface. Generally speaking, only formulas called out in the text need to be numbered.

 Use italic type for lowercase Greek variables; do not use italic type for uppercase Greek

variables.

 Variables that denote vectors are set boldface, not italic. Do not use the small arrows above

the variable to denote vectors.

 Set the label that denotes a matrix in italic, for example, A.

 If the vectors are simply mathematical and do not represent physical quantities and direction

(that is, they do not need to be clearly differentiated from scalars), boldfacing is less

important, and you can use lightface italic type if the author has styled them that way.

If the author consistently uses another scheme, consider going along with it.

Style Guide version November 2013 20

Equation formatting guidelines

Display equations can be broken down a number of ways to fit within a column. First, note that

each line of an equation must be aligned to either a relation symbol or a binary operator in the

first line of the equation (if one exists). These symbols work in a hierarchy: Relation symbols are

aligned with other relation symbols, binary operators are aligned with other binary operators, and

binary operators are indented from relation symbols. For example:

 

1 1 1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2

( , ) ( , ) ( , )

( , ) ,

p w z p w v p v z

p w v p v z

p w z





   

 



 

, , log

log , !

( , )log

, log

b b b

l s w s x y N

s x y

s x y N

















 

   

 

     

 

     

s r s

dr s

s r s ds

d r s

s r s ds





  

If there is only one relation symbol or binary operator in an equation, break the equation after the

relation symbol or binary operator and indent the second line slightly:

 

     

 

   

 

,1 2

; , ,

syn

obs B

K B A p

EH K A B p









   



   







   

If there is room, align the equation like this:

   

 

  

112

l n n

x M d z x y



   

  

If a display equation can’t be centered, the first line can be made flush left to the column to allow

more room for the following lines of the equation to fit. If an equation number won’t fit to the

right of an equation, it is acceptable to have the equation number fall one line below the equation

and to keep it right-justified to the column.

Style Guide version November 2013 21

Math guidelines

When should you italicize, when should you use bold, and when should you do neither? If you

edit Computer Society articles, you need to have a good handle on the answers to these questions.

The detailed answers below are meant to help you see the logic behind these answers, so that you

will be able to consistently make the right decisions when confronted with a math-heavy article.

Constants

A constant is a letter that represents one distinct value that never changes, no matter what. Don’t

italicize constants. For example, the letter k is often used to represent Boltzmann’s constant,

which is always equal to 1.380622  10–23 Joules/Kelvin. We use the letter k to avoid having to

write out this long number in our equations, but it’s not a variable, because its value can never

change; it remains constant. In most cases, the author will identify the letter as a constant. If he or

she doesn’t, you can probably assume it’s not a constant. The only exception I can think of is the

speed of light (2.997925  108 m/s), a constant typically represented by the letter c. Authors

probably wouldn’t explicitly refer to it as “a constant,” but it is, and you should not italicize it. By

the way, this is the same c that appears in Einstein’s most famous equation, E = mc2. Written

properly, the E (energy) and m (mass) should be italicized (because they’re variables), but the c

(the speed of light) should not be italicized.

Variables

A variable, unlike a constant, is a letter that can represent more than one possible value. Italicize

all such letters (except uppercase Greek). For example, we could represent time by the letter t, a

variable. Time can be 3, 4, 5, … seconds. Time is a variable. Even when we are referring to one

instance (for example, t = 4), or even if the author says something like “we are keeping the time

constant,” we should still italicize t because it is possible in another situation that t would not be

kept constant at 4 ms or whatever. Time is not a constant that is universally always equal to 4.

The speed of light, on the other hand, never changes, no matter what. Boltzmann’s constant never

changes either. That is, it is impossible for a constant to be anything except the value it equals. If

you can’t make this statement, then you’re not looking at a constant.

Matrices

Matrices represent an array of numbers (columns and rows), like the desks in a classroom. Make

them italic. In addition, the individual elements should be italic (not bold), because they are

actually variables. For example, imagine you are in classroom A, a matrix. The person in the 1st

row, 1st column is element a11. Second row, first column is element a21. If you sit in the 2nd row

from the front, 3rd column from the left, you are element a23. Note that rows go across the

classroom (side to side), while columns go from front to back (even though, for some reason, in

school people call “rows” what are actually columns). Now, the person behind you (3rd row, 3rd

column) is element a33. The person to your right (second row, fourth column) is element a24, and

so on.

Vectors

Vectors are, in a way, special variables that also have a direction associated with them. However,

do not italicize vectors. Instead, make vectors bold—for example, the vector v. We typically

represent vectors by lowercase letters, whereas we represent matrices by uppercase letters.

However, we often represent the elements in a matrix by lowercase letters (but I think I’ve seen

capital letters used for matrix elements as well).

Style Guide version November 2013 22

Units

Units are letters that actually stand for words, not numbers. Do not italicize them. For example,

when s means second, we should not italicize it. The same goes for Greek letters. We italicize

lowercase Greek variables, but we do not italicize lowercase Greek units, such as the  in s

(meaning microseconds).

Acronyms disguised as variables

Beware of acronyms disguised as variables! Don’t italicize them. Innocent editors can fall prey to

mistakenly italicizing a subscript or superscript that looks like a variable but actually isn’t. For

example, in VDD, the letter V is a variable and should be italicized, but DD are neither variables

nor constants. They are more akin to acronyms. They don’t stand for numbers; they stand for

words. That’s the test. If you can’t put a number in for a letter, then don’t italicize it, because

it’s not a variable. In this case, the DD tells us that this is the drain voltage in a transistor. Now,

let’s consider VT. This T probably refers to “temperature,” and so is not a variable. You’ll have to

look at the context surrounding it. However, usually these subscripts are not variables. A common

exception is n or i (or even t), when indicating a series of numbers such as V1, V2, …, Vn. In this

case, a number can indeed be inserted in place of n, so we should italicize it. Another example of

an acronym in disguise, but one that is not a subscript, is in the following sentence from an article

I edited by Sachdev: “The NMOS transistor’s source (n+), bulk (p–), and drain (n+) terminals

form an npn bipolar transistor.” In this case, the n and p are neither variables nor constants. They

are, once again, more akin to acronyms but typically appear in lowercase. You cannot substitute a

number for either of these.

Control-flow diagrams

Letters in control-flow diagrams represent steps, not numbers. Don’t italicize them. Once again, a

variable is a letter that represents a number. If you can’t substitute a number for a letter, then that

letter is not a variable and thus should not be italicized. For an example of a control-flow

diagram, see Figures 1 and 2 in “Intra-Task Voltage Scheduling for Low-Energy, Hard, Real-

Time Applications” (Dongkun Shin, Jihong Kim, and Seongsoo Lee, IEEE Design & Test, Mar.-

Apr. 2001, pp. 20-21).

Coding math

Always code math from your keyboard or the insert/symbol/Symbol font menu rather than from

other menus (such as normal type, Euclid Math, and so on). Hard-coding the symbols using the

numeric keypad is also acceptable (for example, you can use Alt 0150 to insert a minus sign); but

don’t forget to turn NumLock on.

When to use or not use MathType

The general rule of thumb is to resist using MathType. MathType is difficult to set when it is

inline—embedded in the text—because the artist must make a small picture box sit inline with the

text. Stand-alone display—when a MathType equation sits on a line of its own—also takes more

processing by the production artist.

Style Guide version November 2013 23

Unavoidable MathType

A few situations always require the use of MathType. If you really think you need to use Math

Type but the situation isn’t listed here, you might consider getting a second opinion from

someone familiar with math.

Stacked equations. In these equations, one string of mathematical operations sits above another:

PP-

Always consider whether these can be converted to a single line (using a slash to represent the

fraction bar instead of a horizontal line).

Equations that use the square root symbol. An example is

be x

TT=

. Try instead (if the

author doesn’t object) raising the number to the 1/2 power (Tbe = Tx1/2), which is the same as

taking the square root.

Characters with overbars. If possible, consider whether the author can make some substitution.

Some production artists actually throws out our carefully coded Math Type overbar characters

and draw a bar over the letter in Quark. But you still may need to code MathType for SGML.

An exponent of an exponent. An example of this would be

1/ 3

. Unfortunately, there’s not

much we can do to change this one.

A superscript of a superscript

or a subscript of a subscript:

For the latter case,

consider asking the author to use, for example, at4, which can be coded without MathType. For

the former (a super of a sub), use MathType.

Common ways to avoid MathType

A character that has both a superscript and a subscript—for example, GPA—does not require

MathType. Simply code the p as a subscript and code the A as a superscript.

Change a stacked equation, such as

TPP

into a single-line equation: Tbe = To/(Pw – Ps). Note the necessary use of parentheses in this case.

Style Guide version November 2013 24

Non-English Words and Phrases

The IEEE Computer Society is a worldwide organization, but its publications are produced in the

United States in English. The way Society publications deal with non-English terms and phrases

depends on several factors, namely

 the true “foreignness” of the expression—many non-English expressions have

entered mainstream English,

 the availability of appropriate accented fonts,

 the staff’s familiarity with languages other than English, and

 the extent of the non-English readership of the publication(s) and the degree to which

the Society desires to appeal to that audience.

Here are some guidelines for using non-English terms:

 Use accents in anglicized foreign terms when they affect pronunciation or when they

will prevent confusion between English words that are spelled the same.

 Italicize terms not commonly accepted in English, but generally use such terms in

text only when there is no suitable English equivalent. The way to determine whether

a term is commonly accepted in English is to see whether it is in the main body of

Webster’s dictionary—if it is, don’t italicize.

 Transliterate non-Roman languages into the Roman alphabet. Use the transliterated

phrase, an English translation, or both.

 For non-English institutional names, use the original name for spellings using the

Roman alphabet, providing a translation if the reader might not understand. This

approach works well with organizations whose acronyms are well known, such as

CCITT (Comité Consultatif International de Télégraphique et Téléphonique),

because using a translation (International Consultative Committee for Telegraphy and

Telephony) followed by the acronym could confuse some readers. This same

guideline applies to university names in bylines and references. In some cases, the

non-English acronym is well known and always associated with the English

translation. An example is the European Center for Nuclear Research, which is

widely known by its French acronym, CERN.

 For non-English references, provide the original title first, but follow it with the

English translation in brackets so that English-only readers can understand it. Follow

English capitalization rules in the translated title. If you don’t have a translation or

can’t translate the title, query the author of the article (who presumably has read the

work and can translate the title). If the author cannot provide a translation, propose

deleting the reference.

 For author names, always follow the author’s preference. However, if the accents

required are not readily available in the Society font list, ask the author for English

equivalents.

Style Guide version November 2013 25

Numbers and Symbols

Dates

The IEEE Policies and Procedures (Jan. 2000) specify the following formats for dates:

 E-mail and formal correspondence: day, month, year—for example, 6 January 2004.

 Software applications: four-digit year, two-digit month, two-digit day—for example, 2004-

01-06.

 Centuries: Use the symbol for ordinal numbers—for example, 20th century. Note: CMS

spells out the century—for example, twentieth century.

 Decades: The abbreviation is ’90s, not ‘90s. Transactions use the four-digit format: 1990s.

Numerals

Spell out integers one through nine and use numerals for 10 on, except in the following cases:

As a general rule, numerals should be used even for one through nine when the integer is coupled

with a symbol or unit of measurement (2°, 3 V). By the same token, numerals should be used

with percentages even for one through nine (a 5 percent drop; 3 percent responded; 3 to 6

percent). However, in nontechnical passages, numbers less than 10 used with common units,

especially time units, may look better spelled out, as do numbers used with approximate

measurements:

the program ran in 8 minutes [exact measurement]

but

a report from eight years ago said [nontechnical]

he lives eight miles down the road [nontechnical]

about eight or nine centimeters [approximate]

Spell out a number at the beginning of a sentence or recast the sentence.

In general, for units of measure, spell out on first use and abbreviate thereafter.

When a sentence includes both an integer less than nine and an integer greater than nine to

describe something in the same category, use numerals for consistency—for example, The

network can have 4, 8, or 16 nodes.

A compound adjective consisting of a number and an abbreviation is hyphenated. For example,

24-Kbyte memory.

Numbers with four digits or more have commas: 1,000, 10,000. Exceptions include page numbers

and dates (CMS 9.55). Precede decimal fractions with values of less than one with a zero to

prevent the reader from overlooking the period: 0.1 (however, observe the exceptions listed in

CMS 3.70 and 9.19). And remember, they’re singular: 0.1 inch, not 0.1 inches.

Use an s to create plurals of numerals:

 the early 1920s

 in twos, threes, and zeros

 he had a collection of 386s and 486s

Style Guide version November 2013 26

Fonts and computers are inconsistent in the treatment and availability of fraction symbols. For in-

text fractions, therefore, full-size numerals with a slash are usually preferred: 1/2, not ½. In more

complicated mathematical expressions set in MathType, built-up fractions are generally used:

numerator over denominator, separated by a horizontal line. In mixed numerals, put a hyphen

between the integer and the fraction:

 8-1/2 inches wide

 24-5/8-mile track

For further reference see CMS Chapter 9, especially the parts on scientific and technical usage.

Symbols and signs

Use symbols in text only when you are certain that readers are familiar with them.

Multiplication symbol: Use the multiplication sign “” instead of “by” when numerals refer to

dimensions: 3  5 cm box; 3 in.  5 ft. board.

Spacing of characters for units of measurement and symbols: Abbreviations for units of

measurement, even if one letter, are separated from the numeral by a space (3 V, 5 m, 14 mm).

Actual symbols, as opposed to abbreviations for units, can be closed up, for example, 42°30' for

42 degrees, 30 minutes latitude.

Use sq. ft., not “ft2.”

Do not use abbreviations when the reference is indefinite or casual—say “several gigahertz” not

“several GHz.” However, where brevity is a key factor—for example, in new product write-ups

and tables—use symbols liberally.

When defining variables in run-in text, use “is” rather than “=”; for example, “where t is the

temperature,” not “where t = the temperature.”

Use the word “percent” in text; use the % symbol only in figures and tables.

Telephone and fax numbers

The IEEE Policies and Procedures specify the following format for phone and fax

numbers:

In North America: +1 area code xxx xxxx; for example, +1 714 821 8380

Outside North America: +country code city code xxx xxxx; for example, in

Belgium, +32 3 770 2242

Style Guide version November 2013 27

Program Code

Most Computer Society publications use a special font called “Program” to set program code—a

sequence of coded instructions—whether in text or broken out. (The Transactions Department

uses the Courier font for program code.) This monospace type allows consistent vertical

alignment of characters. It also makes program code stand out from text (saying “this is not real

English, so you’re not supposed to understand it as natural language”), and it is easily

recognizable as program code by most of our readers.

In text, set program code in a standard column width, using an indent to further set it off from

narrative text. The width of the indent should be specified in your publication’s style. The

justification should always be ragged right.

If the lines of code are longer than a column width, box the code and put it across two or more

columns. Magazines with 13-pica columns (three columns per page) often require boxed code.

Code presented in this manner should be identified as a figure, and numbered as such, with a

caption.

If a program line doesn’t fit on a single printed line, break and indent it to indicate the

continuation. Never add extra punctuation. Authors will often request continuation lines to be

right-justified or will otherwise express strong preferences on this issue.

In general, try to duplicate the spacing, indentation, punctuation, and capitalization in the author’s

manuscript. Programming languages do not normally recognize boldface or italics, but these may

be used by the author simply for emphasis.

Spacing is very important because omitting a space will often prevent a computer from

recognizing a command or variable.

Indentations often indicate subsets of the program; although they are not necessary to the

computer, indentations make a program easier to understand.

Punctuation

 Do not substitute two single typesetting quotation marks (‘ ’) or normal double typesetting

quotation marks (“ ”) for typewriter quotation marks (").

 Do not substitute a hyphen (-) for a minus sign ().

 Do not substitute a raised asterisk (*) for a multiplication asterisk ().

 Do not substitute an em dash (—) for two hyphens (--), which is a comment symbol in some

languages.

Capitalization

Words or letters in programming languages generally represent commands (tokens) or variables.

In Fortran and Basic, the general convention is to capitalize commands (such as IF, PRINT,

FORMAT, GOTO) and variables (often I, N, X(N)). In C, Algol, and PostScript, these words and

letters are lowercase.

Style Guide version November 2013 28

Tokens in text

Set program commands or tokens in Program font type to distinguish them in text. Resist using

boldface, italics, underlines, or super- and subscripting. If the language is case-sensitive (where a

compiler does not see “do,” “Do,” “dO,” and “DO” as equivalent), follow the language’s rules.

Most popular languages are not case-sensitive.

Case-insensitive

Ada, Algol, Anna, APL, assembly, Basic, Clu, Cobol, Fortran, job-control languages, Lisp

(including Common Lisp), Logo, MS-DOS and other operating-system-level command

interpreters (micro and mainframe), Occam, Pascal, PL/I, Prolog, SISAL, Snobol, and SQL.

Case-sensitive

ABC, C, C++, Eiffel, Interlisp, Loops (including the Common Loops and Concurrent Loops

dialects), Modula-2, Prolog, and Smalltalk. Most case-sensitive languages are object oriented,

although some are not (ABC, for example, is not object oriented). Some newer dialects of these

languages may not be case-sensitive; check with the author.

Style Guide version November 2013 29

Punctuation

In general, punctuation is such a complex topic that referring to the appropriate sections in CMS

is the preferred option. However, here we present some specific guidelines.

Colons

When a colon introduces text within a sentence, the following word starts with a lowercase letter.

Otherwise, the following word has an initial cap.

Ellipses

Because the correct use of an ellipsis is sometimes mysterious, the following guidelines are

provided:

 For omissions within a sentence when using Word, insert a space, the ellipsis symbol

(Insert/Symbol/Symbol), and a space.

 For omissions between sentences, use closing punctuation before an ellipsis if the preceding

sentence is grammatically complete. If the preceding sentence is not grammatically complete,

do not use closing punctuation. Place a space directly before and after the ellipsis.

For more complete information about using an ellipsis, see CMS 13.48–13.56.

Em dashes

In Internet Computing, place a space before and after an em dash, owing to font issues.

En dashes

Use en dashes for page ranges and other cases where the CMS calls for them; see CMS 6.78–681.

Quotation marks

Use double quotation marks for quoted text inside block quotations, decks, headings, and

interviews. Don’t put quotation marks around the entire quotation, deck, and so on.

Slashes (virgules)

Use your judgment regarding the use of slashes. Normally, there should be no space on either side

of the slash. For an exception, see CMS 6.104.

Style Guide version November 2013 30

References

This special section consists of two subsections: sample formats and general style. The first

presents examples of most of the reference types that arise in Computer Society publications. The

second delineates the policies and style principles underlying the formats. For Transactions, see

“Transactions Department References” (compiled November 2011).

To save time, ask the authors for any missing reference information. If they don’t provide it, then

search for it if possible.

Sample formats

Article in a collection

A.J. Albrecht, “Measuring Application-Development Productivity,” Programmer Productivity

Issues for the Eighties, 2nd ed., C. Jones, ed., IEEE CS, 1981, pp. 34–43.

Article in a conference proceedings

In general, delete prepositions in conference titles where the meaning is clear without them (see

the Abbreviations section). Use the ordinal symbol (2nd, 14th, 23rd) for annual conferences. If

available, include the conference initialism in parentheses—for example, (ICDE 98)—following

the abbreviated name of the conference. Include the sponsor’s name if it’s part of the official

proceedings title. The publisher’s name is unnecessary. Use the page numbers, article number, or

DOI.

H. Yuan et al., “Sparse Representation Using Contextual Information for Hyperspectral

Image Classification,” Proc. 2013 IEEE Conf. Cybernetics (CYBCONF 13), 2013, pp. 138–

143.

N. Zhong, “Toward Web Intelligence,” Advances in Web Intelligence: 1st Int’l Atlantic Web

Intelligence Conf. (AWIC 03), LNCS 2663, 2003, pp. 1–14.

Article in a journal or magazine

Use lowercase for vol. and no. The default is to use the volume and issue number, but for popular

publications, you can use the publication date instead. Page numbers through 9999 do not require

a comma.

I.E. Sutherland, R.F. Sproull, and R.A. Schumaker, “A Characterization of Ten Hidden-Surface

Algorithms,” ACM Computing Surveys, vol. 6, no. 1, 1974, pp. 1–55.

Blog

To cite the blog itself:

The Official Google Blog, Google; http://googleblog.blogspot.com. (Google is listed as the

publisher here.)

M. Watson, Artificial Intelligence Blog; http://markwatson.com/aiblog.

Style Guide version November 2013 31

Artificial Intelligence and Robots, blog; http://smart-machines.blogspot.com. (no named author or

publisher)

Entries in a blog:

M. Sahami, “About the Google Education Summit,” blog, 26 Oct. 2007;

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/about-google-education-summit.html.

M. Watson, “Using the PowerLoom Reasoning System with JRuby,” blog, 2 Oct. 2007;

http://markwatson.com/aiblog.

“Reinforcement Learning Is Cool,” blog; 24 Oct. 2007; http://smart-

machines.blogspot.com/2007/10/reinforcement-learning-is-cool.html. (no named author)

Book

W.M. Newman and R.F. Sproull, Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics, McGraw-Hill,

1979, p. 402.

M.A. Arbib, ed., The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks, MIT Press, 1998.

Book series

Y. Yao et al., “Web Intelligence (WI): Research Challenges and Trends in the New Information

Age,” Web Intelligence: Research and Development, LNAI 2198, N. Zhong et al., eds., Springer,

2001, pp. 1-17.

R. Focardi and R. Gorrieri, eds., Foundations of Security Analysis and Design, LNCS 2171,

Springer, 2001.

Note: According to CMS 14.128, if the book can be located without it, the series title can be

omitted to save space.

CD-ROM

Place the term “CD-ROM” following the publication’s title and preceding the publisher’s name.

Note: Some CD-ROMs will have page numbers.

The format for a book that is available on CD-ROM is:

W.M. Newman and R.F. Sproull, Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics, CD-ROM,

McGraw-Hill, 1979.

When a proceedings is published on CD-ROM, follow the accepted format for a proceedings, but

add CD-ROM:

William Song, “A Semantic Approach to Internal Structure Formation in the Semantic Grid,”

Proc. Third Int'l Conf. Semantics, Knowledge, and Grid (SKG 2007), CD-ROM, IEEE CS, 2007,

pp. 248-253.

Style Guide version November 2013 32

Dissertation or thesis

B. Fagin, “A Parallel Execution Model for Prolog,” PhD dissertation, Dept. Computer Sciences,

Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1987.

M. Nichols, “The Graphical Kernel System in Prolog,” master’s thesis, Dept. Computer Science

and Eng., Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., 1985.

Electronic publication

DOIs

Note: If the volume/issue number, date, and page numbers are available, it is not necessary to

include the DOI.

Article in a journal

D. Kornack and P. Rakic, “Cell Proliferation without Neurogenesis in Adult Primate Neocortex,”

Science; doi:10.1126/science.1065467.

Article in a conference proceedings

H. Goto, Y. Hasegawa, and M. Tanaka, “Efficient Scheduling Focusing on the Duality of MPL

Representation,” Proc. IEEE Symp. Computational Intelligence in Scheduling (SCIS 07), IEEE,

2007; doi:10.1109/SCIS.2007.367670.

Online-only publication

F. Kaplan, “From Baghdad to Manila: Another Lousy Analogy for the Occupation of Iraq,” Slate,

21 Oct. 2003; http://slate.msn.com/id/2090114.

Website

R. Bartle, “Early MUD History,” Nov. 1990; www.ludd.luth.se/aber/mud-history.html.

URL formatting and punctuation

Verify URLs by copying and pasting them into your browser. Some addresses don’t start with

http://—other protocols are also legitimate, for example, ftp:—and some addresses don’t need or

even won’t work with www. Omit the http:// if the URL starts with www.

Be sure to include all punctuation exactly as supplied (hyphens and tildes, in particular, are very

common in Web addresses).

If a URL must run across more than one line, follow these guidelines:

 Break only after a forward slash or before a “dot” (period).

 Do not split the double slash.

 Do not introduce hyphens to break words (be very careful about this as Word may try to

hyphenate automatically).

 Separating the extension (for example, the html at the end) is discouraged.

Style Guide version November 2013 33

Some URL examples using www.web-pac.com/mall/pacific/start.html:

Acceptable:

www.web-pac.com/mall/pacific/start.html

www.web-pac.

com/mall/pacific/start.html

www.web

-pac.com/mall/pacific/start.html

www.web-pac.com/mall/

pacific/start.html

www.web-pac.com/mall/pacific/start

.html

Not acceptable:

www.web-

pac.com/mall/pacific/start.html

www.web-pac.com/mall/paci-

fic/start.html

www.web-pac.com/mall/pacific/start.

html

Legal citations

Note: In text, italicize the names of court cases.

US Supreme Court decisions

 Olmstead v. United States, US Reports, vol. 277, 1928, p. 438.

 Olmstead v. United States, US Reports, vol. 277, 1928, p. 478 (Justice Brandeis, dissenting).

Lower-court decisions

 US v. Councilman, Federal Supplement, 2nd Series, vol. 245, 2003 p. 321 (US District Court

for the District of Mass.).

 US v. Councilman, Federal Reporter, 3rd Series, vol. 373, 2004, p. 204 (US Court of

Appeals for the First Circuit).

US laws

 US Code, Title 18, section 3123(a)(1),(2), 2000 and 2002 Supplement.

 Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools to Intercept and Obstruct

Terrorism, Public Law No. 107-56, section 209, US Statutes at Large, vol. 115, 2001, p. 285.

Style Guide version November 2013 34

 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Public Law No. 90-351, sections 801-

804, US Statutes at Large, vol. 82, pp. 211-223 (codified as amended in US Code, Title 18,

sections 2510-2522, 2000 and 2002 Supplement).

Newsletter

J. Butler, “CASE Outlook,” System Development Newsletter, Applied Computer Research,

Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 1987, p. 3.

Non-English source

Including original title

A.N. Zhirabok and A.E. Shumskii, Electronnoe Modelirovanie [Electronic Modeling],

Energoatomizdat, Leningrad, 1984 (in Russian).

Original title unprintable

T. Nakayama et al., “NEC Corporation Develops 32-Bit RISC Microprocessor,” Nikkei

Electronics, vol. 6, no. 12, 1995, pp. 111-121 (in Japanese).

Patent

With information about patentee

M. Hoff, S. Mazor, and F. Faggin, Memory System for Multi-Chip Digital Computer, US patent

3,821,715, to Intel Corp., Patent and Trademark Office, 1974.

Without patentee information

Digital-to-Analog Converting Unit with Improved Linearity, US patent 5,162,800, Patent and

Trademark Office, 1992.

Pending publication

For an article or paper, include the name of the publication and date if known:

R. Lee, “New-Media Processing,” to be published in IEEE Micro, Nov./Dec. 2012.

For a book, include the publisher and year of publication:

R. Lee, Writing New Programs, McMillan, to be published in 2012.

Personal communication and unpublished materials

These are usually not referenced because they are not available to the reader. Authors who insist

on attributing material obtained through personal communication should identify the source of the

information in the main text (for example, As Maria Youngblood stated during a conference

panel, ...).

Preprint

J.M.P. Martinez et al., “Integrating Data Warehouses with Web Data: A Survey,” IEEE Trans.

Knowledge and Data Eng., preprint, 21 Dec. 2007, doi:10.1109/TKDE.2007.190746.

Style Guide version November 2013 35

Special issue

Computing in Science & Eng., special issue on computing in optics, Nov./Dec. 2003;

http://csdl.computer.org/comp/mags/cs/2003/06/c6toc.htm.

Standard

Recommendation ITU-R BT.601, Encoding Parameters of Digital Television for Studios, Int’l

Telecommunication Union, 1992.

IEEE Std. 1596-1992, Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI), IEEE, 1992.

IETF working draft

L. Martini et al., “Transport of Layer 2 Frames over MPLS,” IETF Internet draft, work in

progress, Feb. 2001.

Note: Per IETF guidelines, references to working drafts should not include URLs because they

expire after six months; use “work in progress” instead.

Industry specification

C. Evans et al., Web Services Reliability (WS-Reliability), v. 1.0, joint specification by Fujitsu,

NEC, Oracle, Sonic Software, and Sun Microsystems, Jan. 2003;

www.developers.sun.com/sw/platform/technologies/ws-reliability.html.

MPEG specification

MPEG-21 Overview, ISO/MPEG N5231, MPEG Requirements Group, Oct. 2002.

RFC

C. Perkins and E. Guttman, DHCP Options for Service Location Protocol, IETF RFC 2610, June

1999; www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2610.txt.

W3C note

D. Box et al., Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 1.1, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

note, May 2000; www.w3.org/TR/SOAP.

W3C recommendation

N. Mitra, SOAP v.1.2, Part 0: Primer, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation,

June 2003; www.w3.org/TR/soap12-part0.

Supplemental material

K. Xu et al., “Spherical Piecewise Constant Basis Functions for All-Frequency Precomputed

Radiance Transfer,” IEEE Trans. Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 14, no. 2, 2008, pp.

454–467, supplemental material; http://csdl.computer.org/comp/trans/tg/2008/02/ttg2008020454s

.avi.

Style Guide version November 2013 36

Technical memo, technical report, technical or user manual

Include the department name for technical memos, technical reports, and other material that may

not be indexed in a company-wide or university-wide library or by an abstracting service.

Technical memo

“Requirements for Software-Engineering Databases,” tech. memo, Imperial Software

Technology, London, 1983.

Technical report with report number

C. Hoffman and J. Hopcroft, Quadratic Blending Surfaces, tech. report TR-85-674, Computer

Science Dept., Cornell Univ., 1985.

Technical report without report number

E. Yarwood, Toward Program Illustration, tech. report, Computer Systems Research Group,

Univ. of Toronto, 1977.

Technical or user manual

The Unix System V Interface Definition, vol. 1, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J., 1991.

White paper

Consolidating the IT Infrastructure, white paper, Oracle Corp., Dec. 2003.

Wikipedia

Avoid citing as a reference if a more standardized source is available.

Style Guide version November 2013 37

General style

Author names

Use each author’s initials and last name. Leave no space between initials, but do leave a space

between the period following the last initial and the first letter of the last name: E.F. Codd. For

hyphenated first names, use a period for each initial (for example, J.-L. Picard).

If an entry has more than three authors, use the first author’s name and follow it with “et al.”:

T.G. Lewis et al.

Dates

Include just the year of publication for books. For periodicals, normally include the volume

number, issue number, and year. However, for popular periodicals, include the month and year. If

a periodical appears more frequently than monthly, include the date with the month: 15 Mar.

2000. If a periodical appears quarterly, use the season or issue number, depending on the

periodical’s usage. For periodicals that appear irregularly, do not use the month: vol. 16, no. 5,

1997.

Spell out May, June, and July; abbreviate the other months: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept.,

Oct., Nov., and Dec. Use a slash for bimonthly issues (Aug./Sept. 2000) and an en dash for a

quarterly (July–Sept. 2000). Capitalize the names of seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Electronic references

References to electronic repositories are acceptable in IEEE Computer Society publications, but

they are not the references of choice for formal archival use. If possible, replace such references

with references to printed material. However, when this is not possible, cite the electronic address

along with as much additional information as possible. If the address itself becomes invalid in the

future, the other information might help researchers find the same document elsewhere on the

Internet. At the very least, a reference to an electronic source must include the Internet URL.

When citing an electronic reference simply to give the reader a place to go for more information,

instead of including it in a formal reference list, noting it within parentheses in the running text is

acceptable. Because such references break the flow of the text, use them sparingly and do not set

them off in italic, boldface, or typewriter font. If an article includes many electronic references,

consider placing them in a sidebar or a broken-out list.

When referring to various portions of a WWW page in text, use an initial cap for the designated

item. Do not set it off with quotes, parentheses, or italics. Thus, a sample reference could be, The

proper way to search the page is to click on the Go button, or The text can be found in the

Publications section of the company’s Web site.

When referring to hypertext links found on a Web page (the highlighted underlined words), put

the entire text of the link in quotes. For example, Click on the “go here” link to reach the table.

When referring to URLs in a string of text, don’t apply extra formatting.

Style Guide version November 2013 38

Publications

Italicize names of books (including collections), magazines, journals, newsletters, technical

reports, white papers, and manuals. Use quotation marks to enclose names of articles, papers,

theses, dissertations, technical notes, and technical memos.

When listing conference abbreviations in a reference, use the conference abbreviation and the last

two digits of the year: AAAI 07.

After the name of a book, thesis, proceedings, or other book-like material, list the publisher, year

of publication, and inclusive page numbers if applicable. Delete terms such as Co., & Co., Ltd.,

S.A., Publisher, and Publishing Co.; retain Press. Where the publisher is a university, add its

location if needed for clarity, for example, Miami Univ., Ohio.

Do not include the editor’s name for a conference proceedings unless it is an edited volume

published as a book.

References for proceedings should tell where an interested reader can find the source, not where

the conference took place. If a proceedings did not use a traditional publisher, provide the

sponsoring organization and its location.

Use an en dash to indicate multiple issue numbers, for example, vol. 5, nos. 1–4. If the name of a

column is cited in the reference, use initial caps without quotation marks, for example, Embedded

Computing.

Titles

Capitalize the first and last words, and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and

subordinating conjunctions. Lowercase articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions,

regardless of length. Example: Toward Better Real-Time Programming through Dataflow.

To make a source easy for researchers to find, use the title as it originally appears. Do not add or

remove hyphens, change words to preferred spellings, or lowercase internal capitals.

For foreign-language references, provide the original title first, followed by its English translation

(if available) in brackets: Zur experimentalen Aesthetic [Toward an Experimental Aesthetic].

For a complete treatment of titles, see CMS 8.154-8.195.

Style Guide version November 2013 39

Abbreviations in references

Use the following abbreviations in the titles of periodicals and when naming publishing

institutions:

Am.

American

Ann.

Annual

Assoc.

Association

Bull.

Bulletin

Comm.

Communications (of)

Conf.

Conference (on)

Computer Society

Dept.

Department (of)

ed.

edition, editor

Eng.

Engineering

Fed.

Federal

Govt.

Government

Inst.

Institute

Int’l

International

Journal (of)

Lab(s)

Laboratory (Laboratories)

Math.

Mathematics, Mathematical

Nat’l

National

no.

Number

Org.

Organization

Proc.

Proceedings (of)

Quarterly

Rev.

Review

Soc.

Society

Symp.

Symposium (of or on)

Trans.

Transactions (on)

Univ.

University

vol.

Volume

Use “Comm.” (for Communications) when the term refers to the type of periodical (and is part of

the periodical’s name), not when it refers to the topic of communications.

Use “Eng.” (for Engineering) in the titles of periodicals and conference proceedings and in the

names of professional organizations, not in article or book titles.

Drop the “on” from “Workshop on” constructions. When abbreviating institution names, drop

“of” except in “University of” constructions—for example, Inst. Systems Research, Univ. of

Wisconsin.

Style Guide version November 2013 40

Transactions Department References

While IEEE Computer Society journals and IEEE journals have distinct templates and

formatting styles, IEEE Computer Society journals follow the IEEE's guidelines for formatting

references within the bibliography. For further information about these guidelines, please visit

the IEEE's Style Manual at http://www.ieee.org/documents/stylemanual.pdf.

Style Guide version November 2013 41

* Denotes entries for which it is okay to use acronym or abbreviated term on first use

A: ampere, for example, 25 A (n); 25-A current (adj)

AAAI: American Association for Artificial Intelligence

AAAS: American Association for the Advancement of Science

AACP: American Association of Computing Professionals

ABET: Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

AC: alternating current

academic degrees: BS, MS, and PhD are the standard abbreviations for the bachelor’s,

master’s, and doctoral degrees that we encounter in most of our authors’ biographies.

However, if an author insists, using “BSME” or “BSEE” instead of “BS in mechanical

engineering” or “MSc” instead of “MS” is acceptable. These and other variants have the

sanction of being included in the Webster’s list of abbreviations. In general, reproduce non-

US degrees as authors submit them (except for periods), for example, BEng, BTech, and

DPhil. See also bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate.

accents: Use accents in anglicized non-English terms when important for pronunciation, to

avoid confusion with another word, or where context makes it unclear. Use accents in non-

English names, especially names of individuals. In general, lean toward the author’s

preference. See also the Non-English Words and Phrases section.

ACE: Advanced Computing Environment

ACID: atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability (a test)

ACK: acknowledgment

Acknowledgments: not Acknowledgements

ACL: Association for Computational Linguistics

ACM: Association for Computing Machinery; includes several special-interest groups

(SIGs). With the exception of Siggraph and Sigmod, use the ACM style for each SIG in

text or references. See www.acm.org/sigs for a current listing. Use “is a member of ACM”

in bios. In references, use ACM instead of ACM Press (old format).

acronyms: See the Acronyms and Abbreviated Terms section for general style guidelines.

ACS: Australian Computer Society

ActiveX: software technology from Microsoft

A/D: analog/digital

Ada: a programming language (named for Augusta Ada Lovelace) developed by the US

Defense Department

ADAPSO: Association of Data Processing Service Organizations; renamed as Information

Technology Association of America (ITAA) in 1991

ADC: analog-to-digital converter

add-in board

Addison-Wesley or Addison Wesley Longman; Addison-Wesley Professional

add-on (adj)

Style Guide version November 2013 42

address mode (n): the way the processor is addressed; includes sequential, forward, and

backward addressing, among other modes; hyphenate when used as an adjective

ADSL: asymmetric digital subscriber line (for fast Internet access)

AEA: American Electronics Association

AEC (adj): architecture-engineering-construction; no hyphens in the acronym

AES: Advanced Encryption Standard; NIST standard for symmetric key encryption

AFCET: Association Française pour la Cybernétique Économique et Technique

AFIPS: American Federation of Information Processing Societies (no longer exists)

agile: not capitalized when it refers to programming techniques

AI: artificial intelligence; acceptable on first reference if context makes it clear

AIAA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

AIChE: American Institute of Chemical Engineers

AIIM: Association for Information and Image Management

AIM: advanced instruction module

AIP: American Institute of Physics

Ajax: Asynchronous JavaScript and XML

A K Peters: Publisher (note: no periods after initials)

Algol: stands for algorithmic language

ALPG: algorithmic pattern generator (hardware and software)

Al Qaeda

ALU: arithmetic logic unit

a.m.: ante meridiem “before noon” (also includes 12:00 midnight). See also p.m.

ampersand: retain symbol in proper names when the name owner uses it that way;

otherwise avoid

Amazon.com

Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)

AMS: American Mathematical Society

AMU: Association of Minicomputer Users

analog: not analogue

and/or: avoid this construction

ANOVA: analysis of variance; a statistical test

ANSI: American National Standards Institute

Ansys: finite-element analysis software by Swanson Analysis Systems

anti-: not hyphenated as a compound modifier unless root word is a proper noun or begins

with “i,” for example, antialiasing, anti-intellectual

apa: all points addressable

APDA: Apple Programmers and Developers Association

API: application programming interface

APL: A Programming Language

appendices: not appendixes

Apple IIe, IIgs; Macintosh IIc, IIcx, IIfx, and so on

Style Guide version November 2013 43

apps: acceptable abbreviated term for applications

Arcnet: Attached Resource Computer Network; developed by Datapoint Corp.

ARO: after receipt of order; Army Research Office (preceded by US if spelled out)

ARPA: Advanced Research Projects Agency, a part of the US Defense Department;

DARPA is the preferred usage.

Arpanet: the oldest of the networks on the Internet; initial capital only

artificial intelligence: AI is acceptable on first reference if the context makes it clear. The

term loosely includes expert systems, knowledge bases, natural-language interfaces,

pattern recognition (voice, image, and signal), and neural networks.

ASC: American Society for Cybernetics

ASCI: Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative

ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ASIC: application-specific integrated circuit. Don’t spell this out in Pervasive Computing.

ASIS: American Society for Information Science and Technology

ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASP: application service provider; application-specific processor; Active Server Pages

ASPLOS: Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems; the

name of a conference

assembly language (lowercase; not assembler): a computer language that assembles the

assembly-language code, as a compiler compiles high-level code

ASTI: Association for Science, Technology, and Innovation

ATE: automatic test equipment

ATM: asynchronous transfer mode

ATPG: automatic test-pattern generation

AutoCAD: software from Autodesk Inc.; exception to normal style because of common

usage

Autoprobe

avatar: graphical image that represents a person

Awk: a language based on the authors’ names—Aho, Weinberger, and Kernighan

Style Guide version November 2013 44

B2B: business-to-business

B2C: business-to-consumer

bachelor’s degree

back end (n), back-end (adj)

backplane (n): an electronic circuit board containing circuitry and sockets into which

additional electronic devices on other circuit boards or cards can be plugged; generally

synonymous with or part of a computer motherboard

backup (n, adj): for example, the system served as a backup; a backup copy

back up (v): as in, you can back up the database

bandwidth

bar code

Basic: a programming language; allegedly stands for “beginner’s all-purpose symbolic

instruction code,” but this is etymologically suspect

BasicA: Microsoft advanced Basic; known as “GW-Basic” on non-IBM, MS-DOS

computers

baud (singular, plural): transmission speed in units per second, originally used to measure

telegraph transmission. In computing, the units are usually bits, hence the common practice

of using baud and bps interchangeably. However, this is technically inaccurate because the

unit in a baud can be any discrete element.

BCS: British Computer Society

BDI: beliefs, desires, intentions—a model of human reasoning

BEEP: Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol

Beijing: the Pinyin form used instead of “Peking”

benchmark: a standardized problem, test, or suite of tests that serves as a basis for the

repeatable, objective comparison of hardware or software; examples include Dhrystone,

Mflops, Sim, Whetstone

beta site: the secondary (hence beta) site

Beta-spline (n, adj): not the same as a B-spline

beta test (n, v)

Bezier: no accent mark on the first syllable

BFL: buffered field-effect transistor logic

BIFS: binary format for scenes

BGP: Border Gateway Protocol

“Big Blue”: informal name for IBM

BIOS: basic input/output system; operating system software that handles communications

with devices, including monitors, keyboards, disk drives, processors, and ports

Birkhaüser Boston: North American branch of the Swiss publisher, Birkhaüser Publishing

BIST: built-in self-test

bit: a binary digit, 0 or 1; the basic element making up digital data

Style Guide version November 2013 45

-bit (suffix): adjectives formed with numbers and bit are hyphenated, for example, 64-bit

processor

bitblt: Previous CS Style Guide versions defined this term as “bit block-level transfer,” but

some authors insist on “bit block transfer.”

bitline

bitmap: digital representation of an image in which bits are mapped into pixels; in color

graphics, a different bitmap is used for each red, green, and blue value

bitmapped graphics

Bitnet: communications network between universities and research centers. Although it’s

reputed to stand for “Because It’s Time Network,” the term is not a true acronym.

bit rate

bit-slice processor

bit-sliced (adj)

bitstream (n, adj)

bitwise (n): dealing with bits rather than a larger structure such as a byte; bitwise operators

are programming commands or statements that work with individual bits

black-and-white (adj)

BlackBerry

black box: a complicated electronic device whose internal mechanism is usually hidden

from or mysterious to the user

BLAS: basic linear algebra subroutines

blog: a shared online journal

Bluetooth

Blu-ray

BNF: Backus-Naur Form, a metalanguage

boldface: strictly limit use as an emphasis technique; italic type is preferred and should be

used whenever possible

Boolean: from George Boole; spelling with a capital B is preferred

bootup (n), boot up (v): more commonly just boot

botnet: jargon term for a collection of software robots, or bots, that run autonomously

bottom-up design: design that starts at the system level as opposed to top-down design,

which starts at the logic level and works down. In middle-out design, design starts at the

middle level and proceeds up or down.

boundary scan: a self-test technique; not synonymous with scan

BPEL4WS: Business Process Execution Language for Web Services

bpi: bits per inch, for example, 1,600-bpi magnetic tape unit; 1,600 bpi

BPML: Business Process Modeling Language

bps: bits per second, as in, 1,200 bps; see also baud

BPSS: Business Process Specification Schema

BRDF: bidirectional reflectance distribution function

B-rep: boundary representation

broadband (n): technique for high-speed data transmission

broadcast bus: sends a single data item to all bus destinations in a unit of time

Style Guide version November 2013 46

brute-force attack

BSA: Business Software Alliance

Bsafe: encryption software

BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution, an extended and modified version of AT&T Unix

from the University of California, Berkeley

B-spline (n, adj): not the same as a Beta-spline

Bsquare

b-trieve: random-access search technique used in databases

burn-in (adj, n); burn in (v)

bus, bused, busing, buses: The s is not doubled.

byte: an eight-bit string that a processor reads as a group; generally, one byte equals one

alphanumeric character

bytecode: one word

Style Guide version November 2013 47

C: a programming language

C++: a programming language based on C and extended to include object-oriented features

(++ is not super- or subscripted)

C3: command, control, and communications

C3I: command, control, communications, and intelligence

Cx: (x is an integer or an algebraic representation of an integer); a mathematical notation

referring to the continuity of a function and therefore its differentiability (in calculus)

because derivatives are undefined where functions are discontinuous. Less formally,

continuity refers to the “smoothness” of a function or curve. C0 means the function is

continuous but its derivatives are not. C1 means both the function and its first derivative are

continuous, but the second derivative might not be. More complicated forms, such as CK-1,

also occur. Some authors make the C calligraphic, but this is not necessary.

CAD: computer-aided design

CADAM: computer graphics augmented design and manufacturing system

CAD/CAM: computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing

CADD: computer-aided design and drafting

CAE: computer-aided engineering

CAGD: computer-aided geometric design

CAI: computer-assisted instruction or computer-aided instruction

CalArts: California Institute of the Arts; abbreviated term acceptable only on second

reference

Calcomp, Calcomp IGS-500, Calcomp 960 plotter

CALM: Common Assembly Language for Microprocessors

Caltech: California Institute of Technology

CAM: contact addressable memory

CAM-I: Computer-Aided Manufacturing International

Carnegie Mellon University: The Pittsburgh-based university removed the hyphen from

its name in 1986.

Cartesian: initial capital

CASE: computer-aided software engineering

CASA/SME: Computer and Automated Systems Association of the Society of Mechanical

Engineers

CAT: computer-aided testing (not “computerized axial tomography”); see CT

catalog (not catalogue)

CAVE: Cave Automatic Virtual Environment

CavernSoft: note internal cap

CBEMA: Computer Business Equipment Manufacturers Association

CCALI: Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction

CCD: charge-coupled device

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CCIA: Computer and Communications Industry Association

CCITT: Comité Consultatif International de Télégraphique et Téléphonique (International

Consultative Committee for Telegraphy and Telephony), a Geneva-based division of the

International Telecommunications Union, a New York-based United Nations organization;

rarely spelled out. Now ITU-T, see listing in the “I” section.

CDA: DEC’s compound document architecture

CD-I: compact disc-interactive

CDMA: code division multiple access—a wireless communications technology

CD-ROM: compact-disc read-only memory; preferred spelling is with the hyphen

Cedar: a Xerox programming language

Cedex: a French postal pickup station, used in addresses

cel: clear acetate sheet onto which animators’ drawings are traced and painted for

photographing

cell phone

century: use symbol for ordinal numbers, for example, 20th century. Note: CMS spells out

the century (twentieth century).

CerDIP: trademark name for a ceramic dual in-line package

CERN: Centre Européen des Recherches Nucléaires (European Center for Nuclear

Research)

CERT Coordination Center: CERT/CC, a center of Internet security expertise, located at

the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

CGA: color graphics adapter (or array); an IBM color-display standard allowing eight

colors

CGI: common gateway interface

CGS: Computer Graphics Society

CHI: The annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Don’t spell this

out in Pervasive Computing

child: one of several family words used to describe relationships among nodes in

databases; the terms are legitimate—don’t edit them out

chipmaker, chipset

CHMOS: Intel’s CMOS

CIDR: classless interdomain routing

CIE: International Commission on Illumination (Commission Internationale de

l’Eclairage)

CIELUV: perceptually based color space

CIM: computer-integrated manufacturing

ciphertext: no hyphen; i not y

CIPS: Canadian Information Processing Society

CISC: complex-instruction-set computing

CLB: configurable logic block

cleanroom: a software development approach aimed at producing software with the

minimum number of errors

cleanup (n, adj), clean up (v)

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cleartext (n)

client-server: use hyphen, not slash

clk: clock

clock cycle: the time it takes the CPU to fetch and execute an instruction; do not substitute

clock

closed-loop (adj)

(the) cloud; cloud computing

CLUT: color lookup table

CMM: Capability Maturity Model, Levels 1–5. Don’t spell this out in Software.

CMOS: complementary metal-oxide semiconductor

co-: Compounds formed with this prefix are generally not hyphenated. Exceptions are

compounds that result in a double o (co-op, co-official) and a compound such as co-edition

that could be confusing or suggests infelicitous reading. However, this does not apply to

words such as coincidence or cooperate where the first two letters, through long-standing

use, are viewed more as an integral part of the word than as prefixes. See Webster’s and

CMS 7.85, Table 4, for other examples.

Co.: abbreviated when used in text as part of a company name; avoid using unless a

company’s name might not be clear without it, for example, Data Co.

Cobol: Common Business-Oriented Language; Cobol on all references

CoCom: an informal abbreviation for Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Expert

Controls

Cocomo: Cost Constructive Model, a project-estimation system developed by Barry

Boehm

Codasyl: Conference on Data Systems Languages, an obsolete organization devoted to

developing a universal data system language for business; active from 1959 to about 1971

code base

codesign; hardware-software codesign

Codiac: centralized operation deterministic interface access control

colocate: locate together, as in putting two things close together to share common facilities

COM: Component Object Model

compiler: a program that translates code in a high-level language into instructions a

machine can execute

complex-instruction-set computing: also CISC

compute: resist the tendency to use as an adjective or adverb. Use computationally

intensive instead of compute-intensive and computation server instead of compute server.

Computer (magazine): not IEEE Computer

computer games: Italicize the names of computer games but not the names of other types

of games.

Computer Science Press: an imprint of W.H. Freeman; spell out the name to avoid

confusion with CS Press.

Computer Society: Use the IEEE Computer Society on first reference; Computer Society

without IEEE is acceptable on second reference. The executive staff often uses IEEE-CS in

its official communications.

Computer Society publications: use IEEE CS in references

Style Guide version November 2013 50

cooltown: A ubiquitous-computing initiative sponsored by Hewlett-Packard. Don’t call it

“CoolTown.”

copyleft: a general method for making a software program free and requiring all modified

and extended versions of the program to be free software as well

Corba: common object request broker architecture. Don’t spell this out in Software.

Corp.: abbreviated when used in text as part of a company name; spelled out when used in

a byline or biography. Generally used only if a company’s name might not be clear without

it, for example, Logic Corp.

Cosmic Cube: supercomputer at the University of Illinois

cost-effective: always hyphenated

COTS: commercial off-the-shelf

counter-: prefix, not hyphenated

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences: an institute at New York University

CPA: Computer Press Association

CP/M, CP/M-86: two of many early operating systems

cpi: characters per inch

cpl: characters per line; spell it out

cps: characters per second, as in 125-cps printer

CPU: central processing unit; plural is CPUs

Cray-1, Cray-2, Cray X-MP/24, Cray X-MP/48, Cray-MP: parallel processors from

Cray Research (now Cray Inc.)

CRM: customer relationship management

cross-assembler, cross-compiler: an assembler or compiler that assembles/ compiles code

on one machine for use on another, normally incompatible, machine

crossbar (adj)

cross-hair cursor

cross section (n), cross-section (adj)

Crosstalk: communications software

cross validation (n), cross-validation (adj)

crowdfunding

crowdsource

CRT: cathode-ray tube; acceptable on first reference; use VDT when talking about video

displays in general

CS: informal acronym for IEEE Computer Society; rarely used alone in publications

CSCW: computer-supported cooperative work

CSE: computational science and engineering; also, “computer science and engineering”

CSG: constructive solid geometry

CSI: Computer Security Institute

CSIC: customer-specific integrated circuit; pronounced “seasick”

CSMA/CA: carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance

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CSnet: Computer Science Network. A network established to connect institutions that

have Arpanet to each other and also to those that don’t. Merged with Bitnet in 1989.

CS Press: no longer used except for books as of 2011; use IEEE CS in references to

conference proceedings

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets; a style sheet language

CT: computerized tomography; a 3D-scanning technique (not CAT)

CUDA: (Compute Unified Device Architecture) Not commonly spelled out.

CURE: an algorithm

CUT: circuit under test

cyber: (adj.) relating to computers or computer networks

cyber- (prefix): cyberattack, cyberinfrastructure, cybersecurity, cyberworld

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DA: design automation

D/A: digital/analog

DAC: digital-analog converter; Design Automation Conference

DAG: directed acyclic graph; a data structure for representing computer graphics

daisy chain (n), daisy-chained (adj)

daisywheel

DAML: DARPA Agent Markup Language

DAML+OIL: DARPA Agent Markup Language + ontology inference layer; spell out on

first use

DARPA: US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

DASD: direct-access storage device

DASH: Design Aid Schematic Helpmate

data: Follow author preference for use as singular or plural, but maintain consistency

within an article (unless context clearly demands inconsistency).

database, datacenter, datapath, dataset, datatype

data-entry (adj): as in data-entry switch

dataflow (n, adj)

data mining

Data General: The Westboro, Mass.-based company’s products include Eclipse

MV/8000, Eclipse MV/1000 superminicomputer, Eclipse S130, and GW/4000 graphics

workstation.

daughter: One of several family words used in computer-based relationships. Although

preferred usage is the gender-neutral “child,” the term is legitimate; do not edit out.

Davic: Digital Audio Video Interactive Council

dB: decibels (40 dB)

dBase II, dBase III, dBase III+: database products produced by Ashton-Tate

DBMS: database management system; plural form is DBMSs

DC: direct current

DCE: Distributed Computing Environment

DCFL: direct coupled field-effect transistor logic

DCOM: Distributed Component Object Model

DCT: discrete cosine transform

DDL: document-description language

DDN: Defense Data Network

DDN PMO: Defense Data Network Program Management Office

DEC: Use Digital Equipment Corp. on first reference in text; DEC or Digital is acceptable

for subsequent references.

DEC 10: The DEC 10 is the same computer as the PDP-10. Digital Equipment Corp.

changed the name to DEC 10 around 1973.

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decimals: See the Numbers and Symbols section.

decision maker (n), decision making (n), decision-making (adj)

DECnet: A Digital Equipment Corp. facilities’ network

DECsystem-10

DECUS: Digital Equipment Corp. Users Society; absorbed into Encompass, an HP users

group

deep-submicron (adj)

degrees: spell out in text when used as a unit of measure; educational degrees: see

academic degrees; use symbol for temperatures

Denelcor: a defunct company famous for making the HEP, a parallel processor no longer

in production

denial-of-service (adj): abbreviation is DoS

depth buffer: see z-buffer

DES: Data Encryption Standard

design by contract (n)

desktop

device-independent (adj): capable of making I/O requests without regard for the

characteristics of I/O equipment

DFM: design for manufacturability

DFT: discrete Fourier transform; design for testability

DHCP: dynamic host configuration protocol

Dhrystone: a benchmark

DHTML: Dynamic HTML

dialog: as in dialog box

dialogue: a conversation. Be consistent regarding spelling if dialogue and dialog appear in

proximity.

dial-up (adj)

Diffserv: differentiated services

Digital Equipment Corp.: spell out on first reference in text; use DEC or Digital for

subsequent references

dimensions: Whether you spell out the term or use abbreviations, be consistent: 8 ft.  5

ft. or eight feet by five feet. See the Numbers and Symbols section.

DIMM: dual inline memory module

DIP: dual in-line package; also, MiniDIP with no hyphen

disk: preferred, as in floppy disk; however, disc is the standard in optics, farming, and

medical applications

display-list (adj)

Disspla: initial cap. only; product of Computer Associates Int’l

distributed computing system: A system in which storage and processing facilities are

dispersed and loosely coupled by transmission media; also a system in which many

processors perform a computation in parallel

DIVE: Distributed Interactive Virtual Environment

DLL: dynamic linked library

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DMA: direct memory access

DNS: Domain Name System

doctorate: preferred over doctor’s degree

DoD: Use Department of Defense on first reference; consider using Defense Department

instead; add US if context isn’t clear.

DoD-Std: Department of Defense standard; not the same as Mil-Std

DoE: Use Department of Energy on first reference; consider using Energy Department

instead; add US if context isn’t clear.

DOF: degrees of freedom

DOI: digital object identifier

DoJ: Use Department of Justice on first reference; consider using Justice Department

instead; add US if context isn’t clear.

DOM: document object model

DOS: disk operating system

DoS: see denial-of-service

dot-com: Internet-based business

dot matrix printer: no hyphen

double-buffer (adj): as in a double-buffer scheme

double buffering

download (v)

downtime (n)

DPA attack: differential power analysis

dpi: dots per inch

DPMA: Data Processing Management Association

DPMI: DOS protected-mode interface

DRAM: dynamic RAM (pronounced “dee-ram”)

DRAM module: a group of dynamic RAM chips packaged together

DRM: digital rights management

DSL: digital subscriber line

DSP: digital signal processor (chips); digital signal processing (applications, systems).

Don’t spell this out in Pervasive Computing.

DSS: decision support system

DSSS: direct sequence spread spectrum

DTD: document type definition; an SGML term

DTF: dielectric thin film (filters)

DTR: data terminal ready

DUT: device under test

DVD: digital video disc or digital versatile disc

DXF: data exchange file (format)

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E.: “east” in addresses

e-: prefix denoting “electronic,” as in e-commerce, e-health, e-learning, e-publishing, e-

science, but not in email. When using in an article title, capitalize the “e,” but not the word

following the hyphen, as in “E-commerce in Asia.”

on Earth (planet), of the earth (soil)

EasyLiving: A ubiquitous-computing project of the Vision Group at Microsoft Research.

Don’t call it “easy living.”

eBay

EBCDIC: extended binary-coded decimal-interchange code; compare with ASCII

ECC: error-correcting code

ECL: emitter-coupled logic

E/D: enhancement/depletion mode

EDI: electronic data interchange

editor in chief (n), editor-in-chief (adj): Editor in Chief Bill Smith; Bill Smith, the

magazine’s editor in chief; editor-in-chief position

EDSAC: Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator

EDVAC: Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer

Eeprom: electrically erasable programmable read-only memory

e.g.: exempli gratia; substitute such as or for example

EGA: extended graphics adapter or array; an IBM color-display standard allowing 16

colors

EIA: Electronic Industries Alliance

EIAJ: Electronic Industries Association of Japan

eigen-: prefix meaning “characteristic”

EISA: extended international standard architecture

Eispack: benchmark

EJB: Enterprise JavaBeans

E-JFET: n-channel enhancement mode junction field-effect transistor

electron beam (n), electron-beam (adj)

ellipsis: See the Punctuation section or CMS 13.48-13.56.

email: electronic mail; use curly brackets to list multiple persons at the same email address,

for example, {jsmith, pjones, abrown}@computer.org.

EMS: Expanded Memory Specification; a standard developed by Lotus Development,

Intel, Microsoft, and AST Research for configuring and addressing memory above the MS-

DOS direct-address 640-Kbyte limit. Also known as LIM EMS, from the companies’

names. AST became a development partner after the acronym was coined.

end-fire coupling

endpoint (n): use in a geometric context and when referring to networks; otherwise, use

two words: end point

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end user (n), end-user (adj): the ultimate user or customer. Use just user unless

distinguishing different types of users, such as testing user, support user. Consider

substituting customer.

ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer; an early-generation computer

Eprom: erasable programmable read-only memory

EPS: encapsulated PostScript

ERP: enterprise resource planning

Esprit: European Strategic Programme for Research and Development; retain the spelling

of Programme

et al.: et alia; use for more than three authors in a bibliography, including a period after al.;

okay to substitute and colleagues or and coauthors in text

etc.: et cetera; substitute and so forth or and so on

Ethernet: LAN technology; also, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet

EU: European Union, formerly the European Community

euclidean: lowercase in most uses except when referring to the Euclidean algorithm

Euler: (pronounced “oiler;” takes an as its article); adjective describing a mathematical

concept

Euler-Poincaré formula: a graphics algorithm

euro: European monetary unit

EuroASIC: European Conference on Application Specific Integrated Circuits

EuroDAC: European Design Automation Conference

European Federation of National Engineering Associations

EuroVHDL: European Conference on VHSIC Hardware Description Language

EUUG: European Unix Users Group; now known as EurOpen

Extensible Markup Language: XML; okay to use acronym on first use

Extreme Progamming (XP): not eXtreme Programming

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fail-soft-features

fan-in, fan-out (n, adj): types of logic networks

fan in, fan out (v)

FAQ

farad: unit of capacitance

Fastbus: an IEEE standard

Fast Ethernet

fast Fourier transform (FFT): (not hyphenated) decoding algorithm

father: One of several family words used to describe relationships among nodes in

databases. Although preferred usage is the gender-neutral parent, both terms are

legitimate; do not edit out.

fault tolerance (n), fault-tolerant (adj): a system’s capability to keep executing in the

presence of a limited number of faults

fax: document facsimile, document facsimile telecommunications equipment

FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interface

FDM: frequency-division multiplexing

FEA: finite-element analysis; also acronym for Fast Ethernet Alliance

Fellow: uppercase in “IEEE Fellow” and other similar titles; she’s a fellow of IEEE

FEM: finite-element method

femtosecond: one quadrillionth of a second

FET: field-effect transistor; also occurs in combinations, such as MESFET

ff: femtofarad

FF: flip-flop; spell out in text

FFT: fast Fourier transform

Fhourstone: a benchmark

FHSS: frequency hopping spread spectrum

Fibre Channel: computer communications protocol for high-performance information

transfer

fiber optic (n), fiber-optic (adj)

field testing (n); field-testing (adj, v); field-test (v)

FIFO (adj): first-in, first-out; for example, first-in, first-out accounting

filename: can be used as two words when not relevant to computers

file system

finite-element analysis

FIPA: Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents

FIPS: federal information-processing standard

FIR: finite-length impulse response

FireWire: trademarked name for IEEE 1394, an external bus standard

Style Guide version November 2013 58

fixed-bubble memory

fixed-length field

fixed point (n): notation in which the position of the point is fixed in relation to the

numerals, according to some convention

fixed-point (adj): as in fixed-point arithmetic

fJ: femtojoule

Flash: proprietary Adobe software platform

flash memory

flat-panel display

Flex/32: system from Flexible Computer Corp.

flip-flop (n): circuit or device capable of assuming one of two states at a given time,

abbreviated FF

flits: flow-control digits

floating point (n); floating-point (adj): notation in which the location of a point is not

fixed but is regularly recalculated; the location is usually expressed as a power of the base

floorplan

flops: floating-point operations per second; never flop, except when quoting the use of this

incorrect form. For example, the 1993 Branscomb Report is titled “From Desktop to

Teraflop ...” Don’t change the title, but the report talks about building a teraflops, not

teraflop, computer.

flowchart

flow control (n), flow-control (adj): the sequence of operations performed in the

execution of an algorithm

flowgraph

flowtime

FOAF: Friend-of-a-Friend Protocol

focused, focusing

follow-up (n, adj), follow up (v)

footprint: loosely defined as the amount of space a machine takes on a surface (usually a

floor or desktop) or as the system resources an application uses in a computer

foreign: Because the IEEE is an international society, “foreign” is not truly applicable in

our publications when referring to nationalities; use “non-US” or “international” instead.

Italicize terms that are not commonly accepted in English, but use such terms only when

there is no suitable English equivalent. See the Non-English Words and Phrases section

and CMS 7.49-7.53.

formulas: not formulae

Forth: a programming language

Fortran: for formula translator, a programming language; dialects include Fortran 77

FOTS: fiber-optics transmission system

FPGA: field-programmable gate array. Don’t spell this out in Pervasive Computing.

fps: frames per second. Don’t spell this out in Computer Graphics and Applications when

the context is obvious.

fractions: Use slash notation (1/1000) for a general, rounded-off measurement; use

decimals (0.001) for a specific, precise measurement. See the Numbers and Symbols

Style Guide version November 2013 59

section and appropriate sections in CMS.

frame buffer (n)

Free Software Foundation: supports GNU Linux

front end (n): usually refers to a small computer that serves as an interface between the

host system and its peripherals

front-end (adj): as in front-end processing

FSM: finite-state machine

FTAM: file transfer and management

FTP: File Transfer Protocol

full-scale (adj)

full-screen (adj)

Futurebus (n): IEEE Standard 896 bus

fuzzy set (n), fuzzy-set (adj)

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G: giga; standard prefix meaning one billion

g: gravity (6-g acceleration; passengers in a BMW are exposed to 2 g); the gravitational

notation, g, is often italicized to differentiate it from “g” for “gram” or “grams”

GaAs: gallium arsenide, a semiconducting material, like silicon, used for integrated

circuits; spell out on first use

Game Boy; Game Boy Advance; GameCube

gameplay

GB: gigabyte. Use Gbyte (instead of GB) or spell out.

Gbit: gigabit. Use Gbit or spell out.

Gbps: gigabits per second. Don’t spell this out in Internet Computing.

GBps: gigabytes per second.

Gbyte: gigabyte. Examples: 25 Gbytes, 25-Gbyte memory

GEM: Digital Research’s Graphics Environment Manager, an operating environment for

MS-DOS PCs

general-purpose processors

genlock: to superimpose computer-generated graphics over videotaped images (from a

camera, VCR, or VTR)

Georgia Tech

Gflops: gigaflops

GHz: gigahertz

GIF: graphic interchange format—an electronic file format

giga-: standard prefix meaning one billion

Gigabit Ethernet

GIGI: DEC’s General Imaging Generator and Interpreter

GIGO: garbage in, garbage out

GIPS: billion instructions per second

GIS: geographic information system

GKS: Graphical Kernel System, an international graphics standard

GlobeCom: IEEE conference

GNP: gross national product

GNU: supports GNU Linux; GNU’s not Unix

googling

GOPS: giga operations per second

GPL: General Public License

GPRS: General Packet Radio Service

GPS: Global Positioning System; a constellation of 24 satellites used for navigation and

precise geodetic position measurements

GPU: graphics processing (or processor) unit

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graftal: an image constructed using parallel graph grammars to define complex objects

grandparent, grandmother, grandfather: a group of family words used to describe

relationships among nodes in databases. The terms are legitimate—do not edit out. Use

gender-neutral grandparent when possible.

grand challenge: a difficult problem at the leading edge of a computing field

Grappa: Java graph drawing package from AT&T

gray: not grey, except in quoted material

Gray code: binary sequence in which two contiguous numbers differ in only one bit;

capitalize Gray because it is the inventor’s name

gray scale (n), gray-scale (adj): for example, displayed in gray scale, a gray-scale display

grid; grid computing

GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications. Don’t spell this out in Pervasive

Computing.

GUI: graphical user interface

GW-Basic: Microsoft version of Basic for MS-DOS computers; BasicA is the IBM

version

Style Guide version November 2013 62

hacker: an expert who explores the details of programmable systems to stretch their

capabilities

halfword: half a computer word

halftone: an image reproduced from a photo or similar original medium, comprising a

series of lines arrayed in a screen, to facilitate sharp, clear printing of images when

producing books. Also the preferred format for images in electronic text for camera-ready

and other forms. A 100- to 110-line screen is best; lines per inch is the US unit of measure.

handheld (adj, n)

handshaking: identification protocol for modems

hard copy (n), hard-copy (adj)

hardwired: describes circuits with only wire and terminal connections, with no

intervening switching (no resistors, inductors, or capacitors)

HarperBusiness, HarperCollins

HCI: human-computer interaction. Don’t spell this out in Pervasive Computing.

HD (adj): high-definition

HDL: hardware description language—any language from a class of computer

languages

HDTV: high-definition TV

head-mounted display

healthcare

help desk

hertz: see Hz

Hewlett-Packard Laboratories: either HP Labs or HP is acceptable. Always use the

hyphen when spelled out.

hexadecimal: A numbering system with a base of 16. “A” through “F” represent the

decimal numbers 10 through 15.

HID: human interface device

hidden-line removal

hidden Markov model

hidden-surface algorithm

hidden-surface removal: In computer graphics, removing from the display the surfaces

that ordinarily would be obscured by the rest of the object.

high level (n), high-level (adj)

high-performance computing

high-speed (adj): For example, high-speed computing, high-speed switch; but very high

speed switch; also, International Journal of High Speed Computing.

HiperLan2

Hippi: high-performance parallel interface; also written as HiPPI and HIPPI—be prepared

to negotiate

Style Guide version November 2013 63

hither, yon: In computer graphics, the near and far clipping planes.

HMM: hidden Markov model

homepage

hostname

HPC: high-performance computing

HPCwire: An online weekly publication about high-performance computing. Paper copy

does not exist. Italicize it as with the name of any periodical.

HPGL: Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol; in Web addresses, use lowercase—http://

HVAC: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; always spell out

hyper- (prefix): not hyphenated when used to form a compound

hypercube: a parallel computer architecture

hyphenation: If you can’t resolve a hyphenation question by consulting Webster’s, review

CMS 7.77-7.85. If you feel a word that technically doesn’t require hyphenation (for

example, reallocate) might be confusing, consider hyphenating it.

Hz: hertz; the standard term for cycles per second

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IAB: Internet Architecture Board

IAMA: Internet Assigned Members Authority

IANA: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

IAP: Internet access provider

IBE: identity-based encryption

IBM: International Business Machines Corporation; sometimes informally referred to as “Big

Blue”

IBM 3740-formatted disk, IBM 370-type controllers (note hyphenation)

IBM PC, IBM PC AT, IBM PC XT, IBM RT PC, IBM PS/2 (Models 25, 30, 50, 60, and

80): no hyphens. IBM PC AT-compatible (adj).

IBM System/360, IBM System/370: IBM mainframes

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

IC: integrated circuit; acceptable on first reference if context warrants

ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICASE: Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering, at NASA’s Langley

Research Center

ICCC: International Council for Computer Communication, Washington, D.C.

ICOT: Japan’s Institute of New Generation Computer Technology, the so-called Fifth

Generation project. The initials refer to the Japanese transliteration of the program, not the

English translation.

ICQ: an instant-messaging program

ICT: information and communications technology

ID: identification

IDC: formerly International Data Corp.

IDDQ

IDE: integrated drive electronics; also, integrated development environment. Don’t spell this

out in Software when it means the latter.

IDL: Interface Definition Language

i.e.: that is—spell out; accept in Transactions if authors insist

IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission—an international standards organization

IEE: Institution of Electrical Engineers, UK; as of May 2006, renamed as Institution of

Engineering and Technology (IET)—merged with Institution of Incorporated Engineers

IEEE 488 bus

IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; when used to refer to the publisher of

a document, it’s no longer IEEE Press—just IEEE.

IESG: Internet Engineering Steering Group

IET: Institution of Engineering and Technology, formerly IEE (see above)

IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force

IFIP: International Federation for Information Processing

Style Guide version November 2013 65

IGES: International Graphics Exchange Standard

iff: if and only if—spell out; accept in Transactions if authors use it

if-then

IIL: integrated interconnection logic

-ility, -ilities: This is a Software-related term. On its first appearance in an article, use quotes

(“-ilities”) but no italics. On subsequent appearances, drop the quotes but keep the hyphen.

Illiac IV: An early computer, retired from NASA use at Ames Research Center, Moffett

Field, Calif., in 1985

IMACS: International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation

i-mode: a wireless service

IMP: interface-message processor

implementer

Inc.: abbreviate when used in text as part of a company name, but avoid using it unless a

company’s name might not be clear without it (Lisp Inc.); no longer set off with a comma

inches: Whether you use symbols or spell them out, be consistent when describing

dimensions—for example, three inches by five inches or 3″



5″. See also the Numbers and

Symbols section.

indexes: use indices in mathematical contexts

informatics: a term often used to refer to computer science

Information Age

INFORMS: the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences; formed in

1995 when the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA) merged with the Institute of

Management Sciences (IMS)

infoserver

in-house (adj.)

ink-jet printers

inline (adj)

input/output: I/O

in queue: hyphenate when using as an adjective (an in-queue directory)

INRIA: Institut National de Récherche en Informatique et en Automatique (French National

Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control)

in-service (adj)

INSPEC: Information Services for Physics, Electronics, and Computing, an IEE (UK)

database of English-language research papers. Not a true acronym, but handle as one.

integrated circuit: IC is acceptable on first reference

Intel’s XScale processor

International standard: use ISO standard

Internet: normally “the Internet”; Internet 2

Internet Stream Protocol: ST

intranet: internal network

I/O (n, adj): input/output

IOP: Internetworking Operating System

IoT: Internet of Things

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IP: Internet Protocol; intellectual property

iPhone: acceptable at the beginning of a sentence.

iPSC: parallel processor from Intel

IPsec: Internet Protocol security

IPv6: Internet Protocol version 6

IPX: internetwork packet exchange

IR: infrared. Don’t spell this out in Pervasive Computing.

IrDA: Infrared Data Association. Don’t spell this out in Pervasive Computing.

IRDS: information-resource dictionary system, a de facto CASE standard

IRQ: interrupt request

ISAM: indexed sequential access method

iSBX bus: product of Intel

ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network, a telecommunications service

ISM band: Industry, Science, Medicine band

ISMM: International Society of Mini- and Microcomputers

ISO: International Organization for Standardization (ISO); use ISO when referring to

standards (for example, ISO 9000 or “an ISO standard”), but use the entire name with the

letters in parentheses when referring to the organization. ISO was originally a true acronym

for the International Standards Organization, but the name has been changed and the letters

are now only an identifier. Don’t spell this out in Software.

ISP: Internet service provider

italics: Use sparingly for emphasis or to introduce new terms; use also for foreign expressions

not commonly accepted in English (that is, not found in the main body of Webster’s), single-

letter variables, longer variables that might be confused with text if not in italics, book titles

(includes manuals), movie titles, and TV-series titles.

IT: information technology

ITC: International Test Conference

item set; some publications use itemset

iterator (n): a programmed action that sets up a counter to control the number of times the

action is performed

ith: note no space, no hyphen, no superscript

ITU-T: International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector;

formerly, CCITT

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J2EE: Java 2 Enterprise Edition; J2ME: Java 2 Micro Edition; J2SE: Java 2 Standard

Edition. For more information on emerging Java technologies, see http://java.sun.com.

Jabber: streaming XML protocol

Java: cross-platform programming language from Sun Microsystems

JavaOne, JavaBeans, JavaScript, JavaServer Pages (JSP)

Java RMI: Java remote method invocation

JDK: Java development kit

JEDEC: The JEDEC Solid State Technology Assoc., once known as the Joint Electron

Device Engineering Council

JEIDA: Japan Electronic Industry Development Association

JFIF: J-PEG file interchange format

jif: an electronic file format

Jini: Java wireless technology

JMS: Java Message Service

John Wiley & Sons

Josephson junction (n): an electronic switching device

Jossey-Bass: a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons

joystick

JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group; also: an electronic file format

Jr.: does not require preceding comma

JSON: JavaScript Object Notation

JTAG: Joint Test Action Group; founders of the boundary scan standard

jth

just-in-time (jit): an inventory management method; no capitals needed; it’s almost always

used as a modifier

JVM: Java virtual machine

JXTA: platform-independent peer-to-peer distributed networking protocol developed by Sun

Jython

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K: 1,024, the binary thousand (25 Kbytes, 25-Kbyte memory); also used as temperature

designator for Kelvin scale, as in 273 K. However, when used as $10K (with no space)

“K” means 1,000. The use of “K” when referring to monetary quantities is discouraged.

k: 1,000, the decimal thousand (164 km); used in metric designations; see CMS 10.57

KAoS: knowledgeable agent-oriented system (nonstandard, but accepted acronym)

KB: kilobyte; use Kbyte (25 Kbytes, 25-Kbyte memory)

Kb: kilobit; use Kbit or spell out, but use Kbps for kilobits per second

KBES: knowledge-based expert system (as opposed to rule-based)

Kbit: kilobit; use Kbit or spell out

Kbps: kilobits per second, preferred over Kb/s; spell out on first use

Kbyte: kilobyte (25 Kbytes, 25-Kbyte memory). Don’t use KB.

KEE: Knowledge Engineering Environment, product of Intellicorp

keiretsu: group of companies

kernel: central part of a program or operating system that does the bulk of the

calculations; not to be confused with the mathematical meaning

keyboard, keyframe, keyshare, keystream, keyword

Kflops: thousand floating-point operations per second; spell out or convert to Mflops

notation

Khornerstone: benchmark

kHz: kilohertz (50 kHz)

kiloWhetstone: measure of floating-point capacity; see benchmarks

KIPS: thousand instructions per second; spell out or convert to MIPS notation

KLOC: thousands of lines of code.

kludge (n), kludgy (adj): a quick fix on a computer or in code

Kluwer Academic Publishers

KM: knowledge management

km2: okay to use instead of “square kilometers”

k-means: a type of algorithm

knowledge base

KSR1: no internal hyphen; a parallel supercomputer from Kendal Square Research

kVA: kilovoltampere

kW: kilowatt

Style Guide version November 2013 69

LALR(1): left-to-right scan with one look-ahead token; compare to LL(1)

LAMP: an open source Web server software bundle

LAN: local area network

Lapack: a benchmark; see also ScaLapack

large-scale integration: see LSI

laser disk: preferred spelling over laser disc (unless the word appears as a trademark)

LaTeX (TeX, PCTeX, PCLaTeX): formatting language for typesetting math-heavy

articles; pronounced “la-tech;” do not set in small caps or shift any characters above or

below the baseline. LaTeX is a superset of TeX, the original format devised by Donald

Knuth.

LCD: liquid crystal display

LCCC: leadless ceramic-chip carriers; chip packaging

LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Lear Siegler: hardware manufacturer

least worst: an acceptable term in decision theory

LED: light-emitting diode

LiDAR: light detection and ranging (scanning technology)

life cycle (n), life-cycle (adj): the software product-development process, usually divided

into typical phases: requirements specification, design, validation, development, testing

(verification), implementation, and maintenance

LIFO (adj): last-in, first-out

light pen

LIM EMS: Lotus/Intel/Microsoft/AST Research expanded memory specification, a

standard for configuring and addressing memory above the MS-DOS direct-address 640-

Kbyte limit. AST became a development partner after the acronym was coined.

Lincages: Linkage Interactive Computer Analysis and Graphically Enhanced Synthesis

package (not a true acronym, but handle as one); a synthesis program for mechanism design

developed at the University of Minnesota

Linpack: see benchmark

Linux: open operating system based on the Unix platform

LIPS: logical inferences per second

Lisp: from list processing, a programming language used mainly in artificial intelligence

liveness: the quality of making sure that something good happens (not just ensuring

that nothing bad happens); liveness ensures, for example, that a calculation’s results are

returned for use, not just calculated; do not use this term without an explanation; compare

with safety

LL(1): left-to-right scan with one look-ahead token producing a leftmost derivation; short

for “leftmost LALR(1)”; see LALR(1)

LNAI: Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence

LNCS: Lecture Notes in Computer Science; use abbreviation in reference lists

Style Guide version November 2013 70

LOC: lines of code

LOCS: lines of code in service

LoD: learning on demand

look-ahead (adj)

lookaside

lookup (n, adj); look up (v): process of matching by computer the words of a text with

material stored in memory

LOTOS: logic of temporal ordering system

low-cost (adj)

low-end (adj)

lowercase (n, adj)

lpi: lines per inch (300-lpi resolution, 300 lpi)

lpm: lines per minute (145-lpm printer, 145 lpm)

LSI: large-scale integration, about 1,000 to 10,000 circuits per chip

LUT: lookup table, but avoid using the acronym

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µ: mu; see mu and micro- entries

M: SI prefix for million or mega (40-Mbyte hard disk, 12 Mbytes of memory)

m: one one-thousandth or milli- (18 mm)

mA: milliampere (20-mA current loop, 20 mA)

MAA: Mathematical Association of America

MAC: media access control

MacDraw, MacPaint, MacWrite

Macintosh: computer from Apple

Macro II: Digital Equipment Corp. assembly language

macro- (prefix): not hyphenated when used to form a compound (macroassembler);

exception is when a double “o” occurs, for example, macro-object

Macsyma: a symbolic manipulation program developed at MIT

mainframe: a computer housed in a large frame or cabinet, usually used for multiuser

applications, which usually requires a temperature-controlled environment and special

power supply. Examples are the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX and IBM System

370 computers; saying “mainframe computer” is redundant.

makefile

MAN: metropolitan area network

manet: mobile ad hoc network; in Transactions, MANET

man-hour, man-month, man-year (nouns): try to use a non-gender-specific term, such

as staff-hour

man-in-the-middle attack; MITM attack

MAP: Manufacturing Automation Protocol; MAP/TOP: Manufacturing Automation

Protocol/Technical Office Protocol; communications standards supported by General

Motors and Boeing; both standards follow OSI (Open Systems Interconnection)

protocols

marked up: When it’s used as an adjective, hyphenate it when it comes before the word

it modifies but not when it comes after.

market research firm

markup (adj, n)

mashup (n); mash up (v)

master’s degree

master slice (n): a nonmetalized wafer containing arrays of circuit elements

interconnected to perform different functions

matrices: preferred over matrixes in a mathematical context; in other contexts such as

structural composition, use matrixes; example: matrixes of materials

Matlab

matrix, -es: see matrices

MB: megabyte; use Mbyte (40-Mbyte hard disk, 12 Mbytes of memory)

Style Guide version November 2013 72

Mb: megabit; use Mbit or spell out

Mbit: megabit; use Mbit or spell out

Mbps: megabits per second (spell out on first use, except in Internet Computing); Mbps,

not MBPS.

Mbone: multicast backbone; Internet broadcasting technology

Mbyte: megabyte (40-Mbyte hard disk, 12 Mbytes of memory)

MCAE: mechanical computer-aided engineering

MCM: multichip module

MDA: Model Driven Architecture

MEMS: microelectromechanical systems

MEPS: millions of events per second

meta- (prefix): not hyphenated when used to form a compound (metarule) unless it looks

weird, as when the second term starts with a vowel (meta-analysis)

Mflops: megaflops; million floating-point operations per second

MHEG: Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group

MHz: megahertz (50-MHz channel, 50 MHz)

micro, micros: acceptable as nouns when referring to microcomputers

micro- (prefix): one-millionth part of a specified unit (microgram); not hyphenated when

used to form a compound (microelectronics)

micro-BGA: micro-ball-grid array

microCAD, microCADD: computer-aided design and computer-aided design and

drafting performed on a microcomputer—no longer relevant since most CAD/CADD is

performed on microcomputers

microelectromechanical: one word, no hyphens or capitals; often seen as

microelectromechanical systems, abbreviated as MEMS

micrometer (m): SI abbreviation for one-millionth part of a meter; accepted

abbreviation is 

micron: millionth part of a meter, but SI term is micrometer; usage varies, for example,

micron is used in integrated circuit production; can also be written as 

microphotograph: small photograph normally magnified for viewing (such as

microfilm). The field is called micrographics. Do not confuse with “photomicrograph,” a

magnified picture of small things.

microsecond (s): the letter “u” is not a replacement. If a Greek font is not available,

spell out as mu. In magazines, spelled-out form is preferred, at least on first reference,

except perhaps in tables.

MicroVAX, MicroVAX II, MicroVMS

mid: Check Webster’s for preferred format.

middle-out design

midframe: a computer housed in a small frame or cabinet, usually used for multiuser

applications, that does not require a temperature-controlled environment or special power

supply; saying “midframe computer” is redundant

MIDI: musical instrument digital interface

millisecond: abbreviation is ms

Style Guide version November 2013 73

Milnet: along with Arpanet, the main constituent of the Defense Data Network (DDN);

Minet is the European split-off from Milnet

Mil-Std: military standard; not the same as DoD-Std

MIMD: multiple instruction, multiple data. Pronounced “mimdee” and takes “a” as its

article; spell out on first use unless context dictates otherwise; add hyphens when used as

a modifier

MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

MIMO: multiple input, multiple output

mini- (prefix): not hyphenated when used to form a compound (minicartridges)

MiniDIP: trademark name for a dual in-line package

MINX: Multimedia Information Network Exchange

MIP mapping: multiple texture mapping technique

MIPS: million instructions per second; also, MIPS Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of

SGI; use full name when context requires it

MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; spell out on first use if context dictates

MITI: Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry

MITRE: preferred format for this company’s name

mL: millilambert

ml: milliliter (5-ml strip, 0.5 ml)

mm: millimeter (35-mm film, 0.5 mm)

MMOG: massively multiplayer online game

MMU: memory management unit

MobiCom: For 1999 and before, the conference acronym format is MobiCom 99; for

2000 and afterwards, the format is MobiCom 2000. The full conference name is, for

example, 6th Ann. Int’l Conf. Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom 2000),

2000.

mobile phone: not hyphenated, even when it’s an adjective

mockup: (n, adj)

MODFET: modulation doped field-effect transistor

molecular dynamics: hyphenated when it’s an adjective

Moore’s law: a theory predicting that the number of transistors on a chip doubles as

technology advances

MOPS: million operations per second

Morgan Kaufmann: publisher

MOS (adj): metal-oxide-semiconductor

MOSFET: metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

MOSI: Microprocessor Operating Systems Interface, IEEE Standard 855-1990

mother: one of several family words used to describe relationships among nodes in

databases; preferred usage is gender-neutral parent; however, do not change without

checking with author

motherboard: a circuit board into which various processor boards are plugged

Motorola: do not follow with “Inc.” as there is confusion in the company about whether

Style Guide version November 2013 74

“Inc.” or “Corp.” is appropriate, even though company stationery uses “Inc.” Use the MC

prefix when referring to the specific microprocessor from Motorola, for example,

MC68030. Use M68000 when referring to the family of devices that share the M68000

architecture.

Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG): family of standards for coding audio-visual

information

MP3, MP4: audio file formats

MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-3, MPEG-4

MPI: message passing interface

MPU: microprocessing unit

MPW: an Apple development environment for the Mac

MRI: magnetic resonance imaging

ms: millisecond

MS-DOS: Microsoft’s version of DOS; see also DOS

MSI: medium-scale integration

MSPS: million searches per second

MTBF: mean time between failures

MTTR: mean time to repair, mean time to restore

MTU: maximum transmission unit

mu (): Greek letter used as a symbol for micron

multi- (prefix): Do not hyphenate when used to form a compound, except with “double-

i” combinations (multimeter; multi-integral).

Multibus, Multibus II: Intel trademarks; IEEE 796 is the multibus standard

multiplexer (n)

MUT: module under test

mux: multiplexer; muxes (plural): spell out on first reference

MVP: matrix-vector product, the primary operation around which supercomputers are

designed

MVS: an IBM mainframe operating system

MW: megawatt (2 MW, 2-MW system)

mW: milliwatt (200 mW, 200-mW system)

Mycin: an expert system that can be programmed with knowledge databases for different

domains

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9/07 Xen: open source virtualization software

9/11; September 11, 2001

n: SI prefix for one billionth or nano (100 ns)

n: variable designation for an integer; italicized

N.: “north” in addresses

N/A: not applicable

NAA: formerly the National Association of Accountants; reincarnated as the Institute of

Management Accountants (IMA)

naive

namespace

nano- (prefix): one billionth; do not use hyphen (nanoseconds, 100 ns)

narrow band (n), narrow-band (adj): however, according to the IEEE Dictionary of

Electrical and Electronic Terms, narrowband or narrow band are used as adjectives in

some contexts.

NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C.

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

Dryden Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, Calif.

Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston

Kennedy Space Flight Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

NASA Massively Parallel Processor

NAT: network address translator

NBS: National Bureau of Standards, an agency of the US Commerce Dept.; obsolete, now

known as NIST

NC: numerical control

NCCCD: National Center for Computer Crime Data

NCGA: National Computer Graphics Association

n-channel; n-channel device: insulated-gate field-effect transistor where source and drain

are regions of n-type conductivity

NCSA: National Center for Supercomputing Applications

nCube: in preference to nCUBE or nCUBE

NCP: Network-Control Protocol

Net: short name for the Internet

.NET

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NetBIOS: a product that provides basic I/O services for a network; do not use as a

synonym for “network BIOS” or “LAN BIOS,” which are generic terms for a BIOS

designed for a local area network

Netherlands: use the

netlist (n, adj): a list of the pin connections (pin network) that appear on a printed circuit

board

newsfeed

Newton-Raphson: a well-known algorithm for solving equations

NeXT: logo form of the name of the computer company started by Steve Jobs

NFS: Network File System (from Sun Microsystems’ application, SunSoft)

NGSCB: Microsoft’s next-generation secure computing base

NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology; formerly NBS

nm: nanometer

NMOS: n-channel metal oxide semiconductor

no.: abbreviation for number; nos. (plural)

NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency in the US Dept. of

Commerce; although sometimes pronounced “noah,” it takes an as an article, as if each

letter were pronounced (“an NOAA study”)

NoD: news on demand

node: family words—mother, daughter, child—are used to describe relationships among

nodes in databases; the terms are legitimate—don’t try to edit them out

non- (prefix): not usually hyphenated; be flexible with words that are difficult to read, for

example, non-negligible, non-real-time mode

non–von Neumann: see von Neumann; in this case, an en-dash is recommended over a

hyphen

NP-hard; NP-complete: classes of difficult problems

n-queen’s solver

ns: nanoseconds (3,000 ns)

NSA: National Security Agency

NSERC: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; a Canadian research agency

similar to the US National Science Foundation

NSF: US National Science Foundation; NSF is acceptable on second reference or on first

reference in the acknowledgment section of a feature when used with grant number

NSFnet

NSPE: National Society of Professional Engineers

NuBus

Numbers and Symbols: see special section and CMS, Section 9

NTSC: National TV Standards Committee; note: committee and standard use same

acronym

Nurbs: nonuniform rational B-spline

Nvidia

NW: northwest in addresses, no periods

NYU/IBS Ultracomputer

Style Guide version November 2013 77

OASI: Office Automation Society International

OASIS: Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards;

www.oasis-open.org

Object Management Group: OMG

Object Modeling Technique: OMT

object orientation

object-oriented (OO): an approach to programming that stresses the creation of functions

(objects) that are linked in various relationships, usually in hierarchies, to provide the

desired functionality; compare with traditional approaches such as imperative

programming, which stresses actions to be taken rather than relationships between objects

Objective-C: a computer language

Occam: language used by Inmos for its transputer chip

OCR: optical character recognition; the machine is an OCR scanner

octree: a tree structure that describes the division of a cubic region into smaller cubes

OCX: optical cross-connect

ODBC: open database connectivity

OEM: original equipment manufacturer

OFDM: orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

off-chip (adj)

offline: all uses, as in the printer is offline, offline equipment

offload, offscreen, offsite

The Ohio State University: the Ohio State University in text

ohm (n): a unit of electrical resistance

OIL: ontology inference layer; see also DAML+OIL

okay

OLAP: online analytical processing

OLE: object linking and embedding; a Microsoft item

OLED: organic light-emitting diode

OLTP: online transaction processing

OMG: Object Management Group

Omnimax (n, adj): a stereoscopic, eggshell-shaped theater

OMT: object modeling technique

ONA: Open Network Architecture

onboard: all uses, as in onboard regulation

on-chip (adj): as in on-chip logic

on-demand: (adj.)

online: all uses, as in the printer is online, online equipment

onscreen, onsite

Style Guide version November 2013 78

ONR: US Office of Naval Research

OO: object-oriented

op amp: operation amplifier; spell out in text on first use

opcode (n): operation code

OpenGL: a graphics programming language

open-loop (adj): as in an open-loop program

open loop (n): a system in which there is no feedback mechanism for self-correction as

there is in a closed loop

open source (n, adj): don’t use as a verb (instead, consider wording such as “released X

as open source”)

order-of-magnitude (adj)

ORB: object request broker

ORSA: merged with the Institute of Management Sciences in 1995 to become the Institute

for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)

orthogonal: In linear algebra, the term describes a set of vectors that are independent, in

that no element is a linear combination of the others. In programming, the term is used

more loosely to refer to independent—although possibly related—concepts.

OS: operating system

OSI: open systems interconnection; a concept whereby different vendors’ products work

together

OSPF: Open Shortest Path First Protocol

OS X

out queue (n), out-queue (adj)

OWL: Web Ontology Language

Style Guide version November 2013 79

P2P: peer-to-peer

P3P: Platform for Privacy Preferences; a W3C standard

p: not italicized when used to indicate probability

p: SI prefix for one trillionth or pico (3 ps)

p.: abbreviation for page when referred to in text; use pp. for multiple pages

PABX: private automated branch exchange, a telephone system

packet: a packed block of data for data transmission

PAD: packet assembler/disassembler

PADL: Part and Assembly Description Language, developed at the University of Rochester

pairwise

PAL: phase alternating line—a European video standard; also the acronym for Paradox

Application Language

Palm Pilot

PAN: personal area network

PAR: project authorization request

parameterization: not parametrization; to split at the end of a line, note that parameter and

like words are split after the m, for example: param-eter; but parametric is split before the

m: para-metric; automatic hyphenation programs tend to split parameter incorrectly

PARC: Palo Alto Research Center

ParcTab: the first context-sensitive computer, developed at Xerox PARC. Note the

capitalization.

parseable (alternate spelling: parsable)

PASC: Portable Applications Standards Committee

Pascal: a programming language (named for mathematician Blaise Pascal)

parent: one of several family words used to describe relationships among nodes in

databases. The terms are legitimate; don’t try to edit them out.

pass/fail

pathname

Pbps: petabits per second

p-channel (adj)

PC: personal computer; see also, IBM PC

PC-DOS: IBM’s version of MS-DOS; use only when discussing applications that will run

on PC-DOS but not on MS-DOS (these are largely IBM programs and there are very few of

them)

PCB: printed circuit board; plural form is PCBs

PCI: peripheral component interconnect

PCM: pulse-code modulation

PCMCIA: Personal Computer Memory Card International Assoc.

PDA: personal digital assistant

Style Guide version November 2013 80

PDF: portable document format

PDL: page-description language

PDP-11, PDP-11/03, PDP-11/70: Digital Equipment Corporation computers

Pentium 4

Pentium 5 (V): Pentium

Pentium 6 (VI): Pentium II

percent: spell it out; don’t use %; don’t use without a number as a replacement for

“percentage”

Perl: Practical Extraction and Report Language

pervasive computing: when used as an adjective, no hyphen in Pervasive Computing but

hyphenated in other magazines.

PET: positron emission tomography

peta: a thousand trillion (petaflops = a thousand teraflops)

petabit

Petri net (n): a graphical model of information flow, showing static and dynamic properties

of a system; named after Karl Petri, a German mathematician

pF: picofarad; a unit of capacitance equal to one-trillionth of a farad

PhD: no periods

PHIGS: Programmer’s Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System, an ANSI and ISO

standard

photo-: no hyphen when used as a modifier (photomultiplier)

photomicrograph: magnified picture of small things; do not confuse with microphotograph

PHP: recursive acronym for Hypertext Preprocessor, a scripting language

pico- (prefix): one trillionth, no hyphen (picogram, picosecond)

Pict: an image-file format (generally produced by Apple Macintosh programs); not the

same as a .PIC graphics file, which is produced primarily by MS-DOS spreadsheet

programs

PID: proportional, integral, derivative

PIM: peripheral interface module; Protocol-Independent Multicast (SM = Sparse Mode;

SSM = Single-Source Multicast)

PIN: personal identification number. Don’t use PIN number.

pinout

Pisces: parallel implementation of scientific computing environments

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center: one of the four US national supercomputer centers

funded by the National Science Foundation

pixel (n): derived from pix (short for “picture”) and element, it is the smallest resolvable dot

in an image display

PKI: public-key infrastructure

PL/I: a programming language developed by IBM (roman “I” per textbook by developer)

PLA: programmable logic array

plaintext: the intelligible form of an encrypted text, for example, plaintext contains routing

information; use plain text when referring to unencrypted text, for example, user entries are

in italics, the computer’s response is in plain text

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PlayStation

plug-in (n, adj)

plurals: The general rule is to add an “s”: 1980s (year), 40s (temperature), HP-1000s

(name), Apple IIs (name); see CMS 7.14 and 9.54

p.m.: post meridiem, meaning “after noon” (also includes 12:00 noon); see also a.m.

PMU: processor management unit

PMOS: p-channel MOS

PNG: portable network graphics

PnP: plug and play

PO: post office; in addresses, use no periods (PO Box 33)

PocketPC: brand name; pocket PC: generic term

podcast

policymaker

POP3: Post Office Protocol, version 3

popup

Posix: IEEE standard for a portable operating systems interface. The initial standard deals

with portability standards for C programs on computers running Unix.

post-: no hyphen unless root is based on a proper noun (postprocessing, post-Victorian)

postmortem

PostScript: a graphics- and font-description language from Adobe Systems, used primarily

in desktop publishing

POTS: plain old telephone system

power down (v)

PowerPC

pp.: abbreviation for multiple pages; single-page references are denoted by p.

PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol

pre-: no hyphen unless root is based on a proper noun (preeminent, pre-Columbian)

prefixes: see CMS 7.85, Table 4

Prentice Hall

prepositions in titles: see the Capitalization section

president: capitalize only when referring to the President of a country

prettyprinting: the process of reformatting source code so that it has a consistent layout

price/performance ratio: written with a slash (“/”), not a hyphen

printed circuit board: board on which most components are connected by printed

circuitry; PCB, PCBs are acceptable on second reference

printout

Prism: parallel reduced-instruction-set multiprocessing (Apollo architecture)

programs and tokens: see Program Code section

Prolog: a logic programming language

PROM: programmable read-only memory

pronouns: he, she—try to use a gender-neutral alternative, for example, plural, “he or she,”

or “the user”

Style Guide version November 2013 82

ps: picosecond

PS/2: Personal System/2, an IBM PC family based on Intel 80286/80386 processors; unlike

the IBM PC AT, it has a proprietary Micro Channel bus; it can run OS/2 or MS-DOS

PSB: parallel system bus

pseudo- (prefix): no hyphen when used to form a compound (pseudorandom); word

processors might hyphenate after pseu, but be careful to hyphenate after pseudo

PSN: packet-switch node

PSP:

PSTN: public switched telephone network

p test

pulsewidth: not the same as pulse duration

PUMA: programmable universal mechanical assembly

p value

PWB: printed wiring board

Style Guide version November 2013 83

Q-bus: from Digital Equipment Corp.

QCD: quantum chromodynamics

QED: quantum electrodynamics; also quod erat demonstrandum, “which was to be

demonstrated,” commonly used at the end of mathematical proofs. However, in Computer

Society Transactions, this is usually replaced with a small box, known as the “tombstone”

or “halmos symbol.”

QoS: (n) quality of service; (adj) quality-of-service

QR code (n) quick response code

quadword: 48-bit or 32-bit piece of data

quasi, quasi-: hyphenated for adjectives (quasi-parenthetical), open for nouns, except for

some established closed compounds (quasi system, quasiparticle)

Quel: a relational calculus language

quicksort routine: memory sorting

QuickTime: the Macintosh movie/animation application

quotation marks: Use around direct quotations, chapter titles, episode titles, words when

referred to as words, and letters when referred to as letters. In an article that begins with a

quotation, do not use the opening quotation marks with the initial drop cap (an oversized,

boldface capital at the beginning of a paragraph), but close the quotation with quotation

marks. Block quotations do not take quotation marks. For more information, see CMS

13.20-13.22 and 13.37-13.41.

QVGA: quarter VGA

qwerty: the standard typewriter or computer keyboard, with the letters q, w, e, r, t, and y at

the upper left; no initial capital

Style Guide version November 2013 84

R8000: a 64-bit RISC microprocessor introduced in 1994 by MIPS Technologies Inc. It

was formerly code-named TFP. Other processors made by MIPS include the R4400 and

R4600.

rackmount (adj): computer equipment that is standardized to 19 inches in width

RAID: redundant array of independent disks (originally “inexpensive” disks)

RAM: random-access memory

RAND Corp.: official format for the name of the nonprofit research corporation. In

Security & Privacy, use Rand Corporation is affiliations and bios.

R&D: research and development

raster (n): the scan lines that form the graphic output on a computer display; also referred

to as bitmap

raster-op: raster operation

ray tracer (n): an algorithm for drawing computer-generated shaded or highlighted images

(also, a ray-tracing algorithm)

RC: resistance-capacitance

RCS: radar cross-section

RDBMS (plural—RDBMSs): relational database management system

RDF: Resource Description Framework

RDFS: RDF Schema

re-: no hyphenation in most cases; see Webster’s for individual examples; watch context

for words such as resign (to quit a job) or re-sign (to sign again)

readback: a way to ensure the accuracy of output by comparing the transmitted data with

the original data

readout (n): a visual display of data stored electronically; read out (v)

read/write

RealNetworks

real time (n), real-time (adj): the actual time during which something takes place

reengineer: to examine and alter a subject system to reconstitute it into a new form and to

subsequently implement the new form; contrast with reverse engineering

registered trademark (): see trademark

relational database: a database with data organized into tables

REST: Representational State Transfer, an XML protocol

reverse engineering (n), reverse-engineering (adj), reverse-engineer (v): to deduce the

plans of something already built as opposed to reengineering an entity

Rexx: IBM’s Restructured Extended Executor

RF: radio frequency

RFC: request for comments

RFID: radio frequency identification

Style Guide version November 2013 85

RFP: request for proposal; spell out on first use

RGB: red, green, blue; an additive color model used in TV and raster displays

RISC: reduced-instruction-set computing or computer

RMI: remote method invocation; see Java RMI

road map

ROI: return on investment

rollout (n), roll out (v)

ROM: read-only memory (nonerasable)

roman: a type style that is not italic or boldface; no initial capital when referring to the

type style

round-off error

royalty-free images

RPC: Remote Procedure Call; a protocol

RPF: reverse path forwarding

rpm: revolutions per minute

RS-232, RS-232C: hardware interface protocols

RS/6000: RISC System/6000, a workstation from IBM; comes in a variety of models, such

as the IBM RS/6000 Model 350

RSCS: Remote Spooling and Communications Subsystem, the spooling protocol used in

Vnet and Bitnet

RSS: Really Simple Syndication; Rich Site Summary ; RDF Site Summary—a method of

describing Web content that is available for distribution or syndication from an online

publisher to Web users

RSVP: Resource Reservation Protocol

RT: register transfer

RT-11: operating system for Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-11 computers

RTCP: Real-Time Control Protocol

RTL: register transfer level; also Register Transfer Language

RTP: Real-Time Transfer Protocol

RTSP: Real-Time Streaming Protocol

RTTP: Real-Time Transport Protocol; also seen as RTP

rubberbanding: a computer graphics technique that lets lines in an image be stretched and

moved as if elastic

rule set

runtime (n) (adj): the measure of the time expended to execute a program

Style Guide version November 2013 86

s: SI abbreviation for second (for example when part of a compound 30 s, 30 ns); see sec.

S.: “south” in addresses

SaaS: software as a service

SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers

safety: in some computing contexts, a technical term meaning the quality of making sure

that nothing bad happens. Safety, for example, ensures that a calculation is performed, but

not that the results of the calculation are actually returned to a user or program module. Do

not use this term without an explanation; compare with liveness.

SAML: Security Assertion Markup Language; an OASIS standard

SAN: storage area network; system area network

SATAN: Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks; do not lowercase the

acronym

SAX: Simple API for XML

scalable: Microsoft Word’s spell-check dictionary suggests scaleable, but we spell it

without the internal e.

ScaLapack: a benchmarking package; see also Lapack

scan-in; scan-out (n)

scan line (n): one of the lines that make up a graphics display

scatterplot

Scene: Scientific Computation Environment for Numerical Experimentation, a scientific

visualization environment developed at Rutgers

schema: term used in artificial intelligence and in modeling to represent an approach,

scheme, or relation precisely and usually diagrammatically. Ensure that the generic scheme

is inappropriate before using schema. Plural is schemas, not the Greek schemata.

Scheme: an artificial intelligence language

Schrödinger equation: spell with umlaut, not oe

SCI: scalable coherent interface

SCO Group: formerly the Santa Cruz Operation (company)

scratchpad: a fast auxiliary computer memory, usually used for temporary data storage

screen dump (n), screenshot (n), screensaver (n)

scroll bar (n)

Scrum: a framework for software development

SCSI: Small Computer System Interface; pronounced “skuzzy” and takes a as its article

SDI: serial digital interface

SDK: software developer’s kit

SDRAM: synchronous DRAM (dynamic random access memory)

SE: “southeast” in addresses

SEBoK Guide: Preferred abbreviated form when referring to the Systems Engineering Body

of Knowledge

Style Guide version November 2013 87

sec.: nontechnical abbreviation for second. Use s unless confusion could result.

second sourcing (n): in manufacturing, the practice of using an alternate company to

produce something that the original manufacturer designed and produces itself—for

example, when the original manufacturer cannot make enough to meet demand

SEI: Software Engineering Institute, a US Defense Dept. research arm (managed by the US

Navy) based at Carnegie Mellon University. In Software, SEI doesn’t need CMU with it.

Semantic Web: an extension of the current Web using standards such as RDF along with

ontologies and other mechanisms to define meaning for abstract data to facilitate machine-

machine communication

semi-: prefix; do not hyphenate

September 11, 2001 (9/11)

Serial ATA

Series 1000: but the 1000 series

servocontroller: servo by itself is not sufficient

servomechanism: an automatic feedback system that monitors an operation and makes

necessary adjustments; servo is not sufficient

set-top box: an interactive television device that sits on top of the television

setup (n), set up (v)

SGI: formerly Silicon Graphics Inc.

SGML: Standard Generalized Markup Language

SGMP: Simple Gateway-Monitoring Protocol

shar: shell archive; a file combination protocol

shrink-wrapped

SI: acronym for the French version of International System of Units, a scientific method of

expressing the magnitude or quantity of seven specific natural phenomena

SIA: Semiconductor Industry Association

SIAM: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

SID: Society for Information Display

SIG: special-interest group; see ACM

Siggraph; Sigmod

Sigma: a project to develop a software development workstation environment, staffed by a

consortium of companies working under the direction of Japan’s Ministry of International

Trade and Industry (MITI) through the Information-Processing Technology Agency (IPA)

signs: see the Numbers and Symbols section

SIIA: Software Information Industry Assoc.

Sim: benchmark

SIMD: single instruction, multiple data—the simplest form of parallel architecture;

pronounced “sim-dee” and takes a as its article. Spell out on first use if necessary for

contextual clarity. Use hyphens when written out and used as a modifier/adjective.

SIMM: single, in-line memory module

Simox: separation by implanted oxygen

single-sign-on

single-stuck-at fault model: see stuck-at

Style Guide version November 2013 88

SIP: Session Initiation Protocol

SITA: Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques

sizeable: Webster’s also uses sizable

SkinnyDIP: trademark name for thin-packaged DIP chips (DIP stands for dual in-line

package)

Slim: Software Life-Cycle Management, a project-estimation system developed by

Lawrence Putnam

SLOC: source lines of code. Don’t spell this out in Software.

SLP: Service Location Protocol

small-scale (adj)

smart card (n)

smart home (n), smart-home (adj)

smartphone (n)

SMD: surface-mount device

SME: Society of Manufacturing Engineers

SMIL: Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language; use a before acronym—

pronounced “smile”

S/MIME: secure MIME

SMS: short message service

SMT: surface-mount technology

SMTP: Simple Mail-Transfer Protocol

SNAP: scalable networks and platforms; phrase coined by Gordon Bell and Jim Gray at

University of California, Berkeley

SNMP: Simple Network-Management Protocol

SNR: signal-to-noise ratio

SOA: service-oriented architecture; pronounced “soh-uh,” as in a SOA

SOAP: a Web services messaging protocol; originally the acronym for Simple Object

Access Protocol, the term is no longer defined in common use

SOC: service-oriented computing; service-oriented collaboration

SoC: system-on-chip (adj); system on chip (n); systems on chip (n pl); abbreviated plural

noun form is SoCs.

social network

soft copy (n), soft-copy (adj)

software engineering (n, adj)

software-hardware development (n)

Softwire

soho: small office/home office

SOJ: small-outline, J-lead

solid modeling (n), solid-modeling (adj): okay to omit hyphen in graphics or visualization

publications

son: one of several family words used to describe relationships among nodes in databases;

the term is legitimate—don’t edit it out

Style Guide version November 2013 89

Sonet: Synchronous Optical Network; a Bellcore standard

Sony PlayStation

source code: no hyphen for n or adj

SPA: Software Publishers Association, now part of SIIA (see entry above); also scratchpad

area (from IEEE)

spam: junk email

Sparc: Sun Microsystems’ scalable processor architecture; a RISC-based CPU used

primarily in engineering workstations

Sparcstation: examples are Sparcstation IPX and Sparcstation 2

SPC: Software Productivity Consortium, a research group

SPEC: Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (formerly System Performance

Evaluation Cooperative); a vendor-sponsored source of the SPEC benchmarks; examples are

the SPECint92 and SPECfp92

speedup (n)

Spice: simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis

SPIE: Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers; the organization now styles

itself “the international society for optical engineering”

spreadsheet (n)

Springer: book publisher; use in all references

SQL: Structured Query Language

squash-and-stretch (n): function that enlarges and reduces, not necessarily in proportion to

all dimensions; also called rubberbanding

SRAM: static RAM

SRI: Stanford Research Institute

SSH: Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell; a security protocol

SSI: small-scale integration, typically from one to four circuits

SSL: Secure Sockets Layer; a security protocol

stand-alone (adj)

Staran

Stars: Software Technology for Adaptable, Reliable Systems; a US Defense Dept. project

Star Tap

StartTLS

start-up (n. adj)

statechart: not state chart or state-chart

state of the art (n), state-of-the-art (adj): represents the highest level of available

technology (as compared with “state of the practice,” which is the highest level in general

use). It is an overworked phrase; consider substituting “current technology.

state-transition (adj)

stereo pair (n): two pictures that produce a 3D image

stuck-at (adj), stuck-at fault (n): a type of circuit defect in which a gate can be stuck at

either 1 or 0: stuck-at-1 fault, stuck-at-0 fault; can also be abbreviated as SA1 and SA0

stuck-open fault (n): not synonymous with stuck-at fault

stylesheet (n, adj)

Style Guide version November 2013 90

Styrofoam: use foam or plastic foam when referring to generic consumer or packaging

products; capitalize when used as a trademark

subsystem (n)

Sun OS: Sun Microsystems’ version of the Unix operating system

SunSoft: division of Sun Microsystems that provides system software

Sun workstation: initial capital on “Sun”; from Sun Microsystems

Sunmos: Sandia/University of New Mexico operating system; an OS for the Intel Paragon

parallel supercomputer

super-: no hyphen when used to form a compound word (supercomputer)

supercomputer (n): no fixed processing speed definition; changes with advances in

technology

supermini: short for superminicomputer, which is the preferred usage

surface: Do not use as a transitive verb in the sense of “bringing to the top.” A whale

surfaces, but a speaker does not surface an idea. If you must give buoyancy to ideas, float

them. However, surface can be used as a transitive verb in the sense of “refining or

smoothing a physical surface,” as in surfacing lumber.

surface-mount device, surface-mount technology: board manufacturing method in which

chips are “glued” to boards

SW: “southwest” in addresses

SWEBOK Guide: Preferred abbreviated format to use when referring to the Guide to the

Software Engineering Body of Knowledge.

SWIG: simplified wrapper and interface generator

systemwide

Style Guide version November 2013 91

2D: two-dimensional, no hyphen

3D: three-dimensional, no hyphen

3DES: (say: “triple DES”)

T1: digital transmission at 1.544 Mbits per second; T3 is a faster line

tape out

tar: tape archive; file combination protocol

task ID: use the one-word form, taskid, only in program statements

task type: use the one-word form, tasktype, only in program statements

Tbyte: terabyte; one billion bytes

TC: technical committee; spell out on first use

Tcl/Tk: a computer language developed by John Ousterhout of UC Berkeley; can also be

separate—Tcl and Tk

TCP: Transmission Control Protocol

TCPA: Microsoft’s Trusted Computing Platform Architecture, formerly known as

Palladium

TCP/IP: Don’t spell this out in the optional magazines.

TDM: time-division multiplexing

TDMA: time division multiple access

telephone numbers: see the Numbers and Symbols section; also CMS 6.77

teletext: a noninteractive (broadcast) text/graphics communications system

Teletype: use only when describing Teletype Corp. equipment; generic word is

teletypewriter

teletypewriter: see above; abbreviated TTY

television: okay to abbreviate as TV

telex: acronym for teletype exchange, a service that permits the transmission of data using

commercial telecommunication facilities comprised of a network of teletypewriters

Tell-A-Graf: graphics software by Computer Associates International

Telenet (n): Terminal Emulation Protocol; US Sprint’s switching network originally

developed for Arpanet

testbed (n): an environment containing all the components necessary for testing a system

tests (statistical): F-test; t-test, chi-square test; P value; Wilcoxon rank sum test

TeX: see LaTeX; pronounced “tech”

Tflops: teraflops; one billion flops

TFT: thin-film transistor

the: When referring to an academic institution’s name that starts with the (such as the

University of Texas), lowercase “the” or delete it. Always delete “the” in a byline. This rule

stands regardless of the format on university stationery, seals, and so forth. When referring

to a corporate entity whose name begins with “the” (such as the Irvine Company),

lowercase or delete “the.”

Style Guide version November 2013 92

ThinDIP: trademark name for thin-packaged DIP chips; “DIP” stands for dual in-line

package

Thomas J. Watson Research Center, T.J. Watson Research Center: an IBM facility;

refer to as IBM T.J. Watson Research Center on first use

Thomas J. Watson: when referring to the persons, distinguish between Jr. and Sr.

three-space, three-dimensional space: a mathematical term; also 3-space; can be written

as S3 or R3

throughput

tif: an electronic file format

TIFF: tagged image-file format; graphics-file format; even though the filename extension

is .tif, the acronym is TIFF

tiling: a nonoverlapping approach to window management

time-consuming

time frame

time line: description of events during a particular historical period; timeline: a schedule of

events or procedures

time-multiplexed (adj)

time-out (n), time out (v)

time-shared (adj)

time-sharing (n): simultaneous use of a central computer by many users at remote

locations

time sheet (n)

time stamp (n)

time step (n), time-step (adj)

time to market

TI OMAP: Texas Instruments Open Multimedia Applications Platform

TIP: terminal interface processor

TLB: translation look-aside buffer

TLS: Transport Layer Security

TMS32010, TMS34010: no space between letters and numbers; processors from Texas

Instruments

toolbox (n), toolkit (n), toolset (n): one word when used in computer contexts

TOP: Technical Office Protocol; see MAP/TOP

top-down design

touch pad (n): a touch-sensitive user interface

touchscreen (n): a touch-sensitive user interface

TP0-TP4: Transport Protocol Class 0 to 4; a set of transmission protocols in the ISO

protocol suite

traceable; traceback; traceroute

trackball (n)

Style Guide version November 2013 93

trademark: The registered trademark () symbol indicates that the trademark is registered

in the US Patent and Trademark Office; () indicates that it is pending. Avoid using

trademark symbols in text. However, oblige an author who owns a trademark and insists

upon its use. In this case, use the company’s name before the product on first reference to

establish ownership, for example, Sun’s Sbus; thereafter, use the product name by itself.

tradeoff (n); trade off (v)

transition: Do not use as a verb.

transputer (n) (transister computer): a microprocessor with local memory and

communication links. It’s both an Inmos product and a generic term.

troff: text run-off; pronounce “tee-roff”; a Unix text-format front-end (coding) and output

(printing) processor; variations include nroff and ditroff (device-independent troff)

Trojan horse

TRON: The Real-Time Operating-System Nucleus, a Japanese computer project to develop

hardware and software technology to run household systems that are independent but

communicate with each other for smart homes and the like; modules include MTRON,

BTRON, ITRON, CTRON, and ITRON

TSR: terminate-and-stay-resident

TTL: transistor-transistor logic

TTS (adj): text-to-speech

t-test: a statistical test that deals with the problems associated with inference based on

small samples

-tuple: suffix for a set <<of so many>> elements

turnaround

turnkey (adj): describes a system delivered ready to run without adding any hardware or

software; synonym for off the shelf

TV: abbreviation for television

TWAIN: technology without an interesting name—programming interface that lets a

graphics application activate a scanner or other image-capturing device

Style Guide version November 2013 94

UBE: unsolicited bulk e-mail

ubicomp: abbreviation for ubiquitous computing

ubiquitous computing: when it’s an adjective, no hyphen in Pervasive Computing but

hyphenated in other magazines

UCE: unsolicited commercial e-mail

UCS: universal character set

UDDI: universal description, discovery, and integration

UDP: User Datagram Protocol

UI: unit interval; a measure of time

UIMS: user-interface management system; UIMSs (plural)

UIP: user-interface presentation

UIST: user-interface software and technology

UK: United Kingdom (no periods), comprising England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and

Wales; not synonymous with Britain. Do not use UK if the country name is sufficient.

ULSI: ultralarge-scale integration; can be used as a stand-alone noun when referring to the

concept but not to physical objects, for example: ULSI circuit, ULSI chip

Ultracomputer: IBM and New York University’s supercomputer

Ultranet

ultrawideband (adj.): See also UWB.

UML: Unified Modeling Language. Don’t spell this out in Software.

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UN: United Nations (no periods)

underway (adv.), under way (adj.)

uni-: not hyphenated as a prefix (uniprocessor)

unicode

UniForum

Univac: Universal Automatic Computer

University X at Y, or University X, Y, or University X-Y: Follow the specific institution’s

usage. Although some universities capitalize the and consider it part of the university’s

name, Computer Society style either deletes or lowercases the word. Thus, it is the Ohio

State University (not The Ohio State University) and the University of Kansas (not The

University of Kansas). See also the. It’s University of California at Santa Barbara, but all

other UC campuses use this format: University of California, Berkeley.

Unix: a multilanguage operating system developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories; various

versions are in existence

upgradable

UPnP: universal plug and play

uppercase

URI: uniform resource identifier

Style Guide version November 2013 95

URL: uniform resource locator

URN: uniform resource name

US (n, adj): United States; no periods

USB: Universal Serial Bus

Usenix: now the Advanced Computing Systems Association

user-friendly (adj): frequently overused; avoid unless appropriate to the context

username

USRA: Universities Space Research Association

UTF-8: Unicode Transformation Format-8

UUCPnet: Unix-to-Unix copy network

UWB: ultrawideband, a wireless communication technology

Style Guide version November 2013 96

V: volts. Examples: 45 V (n); 45-V (adj) power supply

v.: abbreviation for versus in a legal context (Smith v. Jones); see also vs.

Vac: volts of alternating current (25 Vac)

validation: testing a product or product specification to ensure that it meets the

requirements (that it has the specified functions); compare with verification

Vanet: vehicular ad hoc network

VAR: value-added reseller

variable-length field

VAX: a mainframe made by Digital Equipment Corp.; plural is VAXs; VAX reportedly

comes from virtual address extension (to the PDP-11)

VAX 11/725, 11/730, 11/750, 11/780, 11/782, 11/785, 8600: note slash, not hyphen

VAX/VMS: operating system for VAX computers; VMS stands for VAX Management

System

VCCS: voltage-controlled current source

VCR: videocassette recorder

Vdc: volts of direct current (25 Vdc)

VDT: video display terminal, a generic term; not interchangeable with CRT

verification: determining whether a product meets its requirements (whether it does what

it is supposed to); compare with validation

Versabus

VersaDOS

version: capitalize only when used with the name of a product (Microsoft Word Version

6.0). An acceptable informal abbreviation (except at the beginning of a sentence) is

lowercase v, closed up next to a number: “Macsyma v2.0.” The word version or its

abbreviation is not always necessary: “Word 6.0 is a major release.”

versus: see v. and vs.

vertices: plural of vertex

VGA: video graphics adapter (or array); an IBM color-display standard allowing 256

colors

VHDL: very high density logic; also VHSIC Hardware Description Language. Don’t

spell this out in Pervasive Computing when it means the latter.

VHSIC: very high speed integrated circuit

via: Use this word sparingly (It means “by way of,” “through the medium or agency of,”

or “by means of.”) Often, “through” works just as well and sounds less formal.

VIC: video interface chip

vice president: see CMS 8.21; capitalize when referring to the Vice President of the

United States

videocassette, videocassette recorder

videoconference, videoconferencing

Style Guide version November 2013 97

videodisk; video game

video on demand (n), video-on-demand (adj), VoD (abbreviation)

videotape (n, v)

videotex: interactive text/graphics communications system; also known as viewdata

video over IP

viewport

virtual memory

virtual reality (VR): In Computer Graphics and Applications don’t hyphenate this when

it’s used as a compound adjective. Also, you normally don’t need to spell this out in

Computer Graphics and Applications.

VisiCalc: a financial spreadsheet program from now-defunct Software Arts Products

VLSI: very large-scale integration. VLSI can be used as a stand-alone noun when

referring to the concept but not to physical objects—for example, VLSI circuit, VLSI chip;

VLSI also is acceptable for VLSI Technology Inc.

VM: virtual machine; also JVM or Java virtual machine

VMEbus

VMS: VAX Management System, an operating system for DEC VAX computers

Vnet: an IBM internal network

VoD: video on demand (n)

voice over IP (n), voice-over-IP (adj), VoIP (abbreviation)

von Neumann (adj): refers to the concept of storing data and the instructions that apply to

that data together; the stored-program concept (von Neumann sort; non–von Neumann

architecture); note that the second example takes an en-dash, not a hyphen

voxel: loosely speaking, a 3D pixel

VPE: visual programming environment

VPL: visual programming language

VPN: virtual private network

VRAM: video random-access memory

Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam: Free University, Amsterdam. Commonly used acronym

(VU University Amsterdam) doesn’t work—it’s redundant.

VRML: Virtual Reality Modeling Language

vs.: normal abbreviation for versus, except in legal context, see v.; spell out in text;

abbreviation is acceptable elsewhere

VT52, VT100, VT101, VT102, VT131, VT220: Digital Equipment Corp. video display

terminals

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W: watts (25-W dissipation)

W.: “west” in addresses

W3C: World Wide Web Consortium

wafer-scale integration

WAN: wide area network. Don’t spell this out in the optional magazines.

WAP: Wireless Application Protocol

Washington, DC

watts

waveform

wave front

wave function

WCGA: World Computer Graphics Association

WDM: wavelength-division multiplexing

WDP: World Data Processing

Web: short name for the World Wide Web; Net is the short name for the Internet

Web browser, Web services

webcam, webcast, weblog, webmaster, webpage, webserver, website

well: a well-defined concept; the concept is well defined (don’t hyphenate “well” words

following being verbs)

WG: see working group

Whetstone: benchmarks

whiteboard

white list, white pages

-wide (suffix): see CMS 7.85, Table 3

wideband (adj)

Wi-Fi: wireless products certified by the Wi-Alliance to be interoperable

Wii Remote

wiki: computer software for creating, editing, and linking web pages

Wikipedia: a multilingual, web-based encyclopedia project operated by the Wikimedia

Foundation.

wild cards

John Wiley & Sons

WiMax

WIMP: windows, icons, menus, pointing devices

Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me

WinZip: file compression program

wireframe (adj): refers to a line drawing of a 2D or 3D object (a wireframe image)

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wire wrap (n): a method of making an electrical connection in a circuit by wrapping

wires around terminals

wire-wrapping (adj): as in wire-wrapping techniques

WISC: writable-instruction-set computing

WLAN: wireless local area network

word: a sequence of bits that a processor can act on simultaneously. More bits per word

let the processor work on more data simultaneously. A word can be defined in terms of

bytes (a two-byte word equals a 16-bit word), but bits are the more common unit; also

Mword, Kword.

word-slice processor

workaround

working group: initial capitals if in a title, for example, “Working Group on Posix

Definitions”; lowercase if generic

workflow, workload, workplace, worksheet

workspace: the amount of memory a program requires, over and above the amount

necessary to store the program itself

workstation

worldwide

World Wide Web: abbreviated WWW; see Web, WWW

WORM: write-once, read-many (times)

WoZ

wrap-up (n), wrap up (v)

WSCI: Web service choreography interface

WSDL: Web Services Description Language; pronounced “whizdle”

WSN: wireless sensor network

WVGA: wide VGA

WWW: see World Wide Web; Web; depending on context, abbreviated form acceptable

on first reference

WYSIWYG: stands for what you see is what you get; acceptable on first reference in

departments, but spell out on first reference in feature articles

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9/07 Xen: open source virtualization software

X.25: the network layer protocol in the ISO protocol suite

X.400: an ISO mail protocol

x-axis (n, adj)

Xbox

X client (n), X-client (adj): see also X Window System

XDR: External Data Representation; a protocol

Xenix: an operating system similar to Unix from Microsoft for PCs based on the Intel

8088, 80286, and 80386 chips

Xerox PARC: now just PARC

XGA: extended graphics array; a high-resolution graphics standard introduced by IBM in

1990

XLANG

XLink: XML Linking Language

XMI: XML Metadata Interchange

Xmodem: abbreviated term for cross-modem, an error-free file-transfer protocol

XML: Extensible Markup Language

XMPP: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol

XMS: extended memory specification; used to address memory above 1 Mbyte in the

80286 and later CPUs

XMT: extensible MPEG-4 textual format

XNS: Xerox Network Services

XOR: exclusive-OR operation used in cryptography

XPath: XML Path Language

XPointer: XML Pointer Language

x-ray (n, adj, v)

XHTTP, XHTML, XML

XT: see IBM PC

XScale: an Intel processor

X Window System, X Windows (no hyphens): a graphics environment from MIT for

Unix workstations

X11 Windows

xy-plane, also yz-, xz-planes

XSL: Extensible Style Sheet Language

XSLT: Extensible Style Sheet Language Transformation

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Y2K Problem: the crisis that didn’t happen in 2000

YACC: a compiler compiler; a Unix tool

Yahoo

y-axis: (n, adj)

years: to form plural, add an “s”: 1990s; when referring to just the decade, spell out, for

example, nineties

yellow pages

Ymodem: file transfer protocol

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0-day: refers to the timing of viruses released the same day as a patch

z-axis: (n, adj)

z-buffer: storage for z-axis values for 3D images, sometimes called the “depth buffer”

Z80: a microprocessor from Zenith Data Systems

Z80-A

Zadeh, Lotfi: a pioneer in fuzzy logic; note the first name, often misspelled

ZIP: zigzag in-line package; a file-compression technique; ZIP code

Zmodem: successor to Xmodem and Ymodem

Introduction Ieee TOC Cs Style Guide

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