Company Writer's Guide SECTION 1 STYLE GUIDE This section of the Writer’s Guide is intended to establish a basic writing style that is clear, concise, and consistent in presentation of information. Technical information requires more stringent standardization than is common in general usage. Therefore, generating a deliverable to accommodate an expeditious technical review requires avoiding confusing or ambiguous statements and unnecessarily verbose descriptions. 1.
Company Writer's Guide Table 1.1-1.
Company Writer's Guide 3. Make sure that your graphics clearly support information in the text. Have you chosen the most illustrative graphics in each section? Is there a difficult passage of text that you could elucidate with a figure? Verb Tenses As a general rule, use the present tense. For example, “our design includes” (not “will include” or “included”); “our Project Team is ready” (not “will be ready”). However, use future tense when describing project activities still to be performed.
Company Writer's Guide 3. Be assertive in your writing. Examples include: • Use “will” not “may,” “plan to,” or “would.” Use “plan” only as a noun or in the strict sense of planning and scheduling. • Use “shall” only in discussing project or regulatory requirements. • Use “ensure,” not “insure.” “Assure” is not as forceful as “ensure.” However, use “assure” in quality assurance discussions. 4. Avoid a tutorial writing style. “First one must . . . then one does . . .
Company Writer's Guide In text, use the word form of common abbreviations such as percent, degree, number, equal to, plus, minus, less than, greater than, and the like. Symbols should be used in the following cases: • For temperatures given with a numerical value, use the degree symbol (32°C, etc.). • For equations, either written in-line with the text or displayed (standing alone), use symbols. • In graphics (figures and tables), use symbols if space is a problem.
Company Writer's Guide 1.3 PUNCTUATION 1 Standard rules of English (as defined by Strunk and White ) for grammar and punctuation should be used. Avoid long sentences; use semicolons (;) only in short sentences. Also, avoid using contractions because they often cause confusion. Use the final comma in a series (e.g., apples, oranges, and pears). Place periods after the following: • • Sentences Between heading digits (e.g., 1.1.1) and after lower-level step letters and numbers (e.g., a., 1.
Company Writer's Guide Capitalize all letters in each of the following: • • Main section headings Acronyms, initialisms Do not capitalize: • Generic product and component names (for example, controller, panel, switch) • Generic system names • Acronym definitions (unless they belong in the above initial-cap group) Capitalize the first letter of Government, Division, Plant, Project, etc., when referring to a specific one. Use lower case when it is only a general reference. 1.
Company Writer's Guide When a spelled-out unit of measurement is used with a quantity, use the singular or plural form of the unit of measurement based on the following criteria: • If the quantity is the unit 1 or a fraction of 1, use the singular form of the spelled-out unit of measurement. Examples: — 0.6 meter — 1/32 inch — 1 second • If the quantity is zero or more than the unit 1, use the plural form of the spelled-out unit of measurement. Examples: — 0 inches — 1.
Company Writer's Guide When listing project-specific documents, follow this example. Document number, ABC Project, “XYZ System General Requirements,” Business Unit, date. Note It is not necessary to give the revision level of project documents unless there is a specific reason to cite an earlier revision. The most recent revision at the time of issuance applies. 2. For standards and regulatory guidance, the form is number, title in quotes, revision (if applicable), issuing body, and date (if applicable).
Company Writer's Guide 5. The ordering of documents in the reference list should correspond to the sequence of references used in the document, so that Reference 1 is the first one used, 2 the second, and so on. 6. Reference callouts may be of two types. “This methodology is explained thoroughly in Reference 7…” OR “As was concluded in the Recorder Review (Ref. 2),…” 1.7 GRAPHICS Figures, tables, photos, and charts are all considered graphics. Figures, photos, and charts will be assigned figure numbers.
Company Writer's Guide AC deadman air flow deadweight Alloy 750 decision-making (um) around-the-clock (um) decision-set (um) ASME Code de-energize B.S., M.S.
Company Writer's Guide hard-copy (um) low-pressure (um) hard-face (um) makeup hard rock (um) make-or-buy (um) hard-wired man-hours heatup (um) manway high-build (um) mid-size (um) high-energy (um) mockup high-level (um) multicompany hold-down (um) multimillion holdup Navy hot-dip (um) nil-ductility human-factor (um) no-load (um) in-depth (um) non-Class 1E in-flow (um) non-conformance in-house (um) non-exempt in-leakage (um) non-process in-service (um) offeror inside diamet
Company Writer's Guide post-heat time-out post-test Title II preheat topcoat preoperational trade-off (n, um) pre-procurement two-dimensional (um) pre-service (um) Type 304 proactive Type A pushbutton U.S.
Company Writer's Guide APPENDIX A COMMONLY USED TRADEMARKS The first use of a trademark name should include “®” or “™” as appropriate. The following are the most often-used trademarks in our business as they should appear under “Acronyms and Trademarks” in the front matter. [“Adobe” and “the Adobe logo” first, if used, followed by other Adobe marks used in alphabetical order] are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Company Writer's Guide Netscape and the Netscape N and Ship's Wheel logos are registered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation in the U. S. and other countries. [List other Netscape product names used in your document] are also trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation and may be registered outside the U.S. Oracle® is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Primavera Project Planner® is a registered trademark of Primavera Systems, Incorporated.
Company Writer's Guide APPENDIX B ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS Abbreviations facilitate reading and minimize dull repetition of cumbersome names. Abbreviations should be used only when necessary and when their meanings are unquestionably clear. When in doubt, spell it out. In the text, capitalization will agree with the parent word. Rules of capitalization apply. The same abbreviation should be used for all tenses, possessive, singular, and plural.
Company Writer's Guide 4. When using unit abbreviations such as Btu, kW, Hz. . . a space should be placed between the number and the abbreviation. e.g.; 100 Btu, 3 kW, 50 Hz. 5. Refrain from using the symbols " and ' for inches and feet unless referring to a plant elevation or when it is necessary to save space (i.e., within tables, forms, etc.). However, use inches and feet in their proper forms as follows: 0.
Company Writer's Guide 3. Abbreviations with periods, lower-case letters used as nouns, and capital letters that would form another word if “s” alone were added form the plural with an apostrophe and an “s”: Ph.D.’s x’s and y’s S’s, A’s, I’s Letter Symbols for Units of Measurement The following pages are taken from Corporate Standards. These abbreviations should be the only ones used unless stated otherwise in a project-specific document.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use Unit Symbol Notes ampere A SI unit of electric current. ampere (turn) A SI unit of magnetomotive force. ampere-hour Ah Also A•h ampere per meter A/m SI unit of magnetic field strength. angstrom Δ 1 Δ = 10 m (deprecated, see ANSI Z210.1-1976) atmosphere, standard atm 1 atm = 101 325 Pa (deprecated, see ANSI Z210.11976) atmosphere, technical at 1 at = 1 kgf/cm2 (deprecated, see ANSI Z210.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes bel B becquerel Bq SI unit of activity of a radionuclide. billion electronvolts GeV The name gigaelectronvolt is preferred for this unit. bit b In information theory, the bit is a unit of information content equal to the information content of a message the a priori probability of which is one half. In computer science, the bit is a unit of storage capacity.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes centipoise cP 1 cP = 1 mPa • s. The name is deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). centistokes cSt 1 cst = 1 mm2/s. The name centistokes is deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). circular mil cmil 1 cmil = (Π/4) • 10-6 in2 coulomb C SI unit of electric charge.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit darcy Symbol D Notes 1 D = 1 cP (cm/s) (cm/atm) = 0.986 923 μm 2 A unit of permeability of a porous medium. By traditional definition, a permeability of one 3 darcy will permit a flow of 1 cm /s of fluid of 1 cP viscosity through an area of 1 cm2 under a pressure gradient of 1 atm/cm. For nonprecision work 1 D may be taken equal to 1 μm2 and 1 mD equal to 0.001 μm2. Deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976).
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes 16 exa E SI prefix for 10 . farad F SI unit of capacitance. fem to f SI prefix for 10-15. femtometer fm foot ft conventional foot of water ftH2O 1 ftH2O = 2989.1 Pa (ISO) foot per minute ft/min foot per second ft/s foot per second squared ft/s foot pound-force ft-lbf footcandle fc 1 fc = 1 lm/ft2. The name lumen per square foot is also used for this unit.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes gigaelectronvolt GeV gigahertz GHz gilbert Gb grain gr gram g gram per cubic centimeter g/cm3 gray Gy SI unit of absorbed dose in the field of radiation dosimetry. hecto h SI prefix for 102. henry H SI unit of inductance. hertz Hz SI unit of frequency. horsepower hp The horsepower is an anachronism in science and technology. Use of the SI unit of power, the watt, is preferred. hour h inch in.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes called degree kelvin and assigned it the symbol K (without the symbol °). kilo k SI prefix for 103. kilogauss kG Deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). kilogram kg SI unit of mass. kilogram-force kgf Deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). In some countries, the name kilopond (kp) has been used for this unit.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes 1 L = 10-3 m3. The letter symbol l has been adopted for liter by the CGPM, and it is recommended in a number of international standards. In 1978, the CIPM accepted L as an alternative symbol. Because of frequent confusion with the numeral 1, the letter symbol l is no longer recommended for USA use (see Federal Register notice of December 10, 1976).
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes metric ton t 1 t = 1,000 kg. The name tonne is used in some countries for this unit, but use of this name in the USA is deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). mho mho Formerly used as the name of the siemens (S). micro μ SI prefix for 10-6. microampere μA microfarad μF microgram μg microhenry μH microinch μin microliter μL micrometer μm micron μm microsecond μs microwatt μW mil mil 1 mil = 0.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes milliliter mL millimeter mm conventional millimeter of mercury mmHg 1 mmHg = 133.322 Pa (deprecated, see ANSI Z210.1-1976). millimicron nm Use of the name millimicron for the nanometer is deprecated. millipascal second mPa•s SI unit-multiple of dynamic viscosity. millisecond ms millivolt mV milliwatt mW minute (plane angle) ...
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol newton per square meter N/m nit nt 2 Notes SI unit of pressure or stress, see pascal. 1 nt = 1 cd/m2 The name nit is sometimes given to the SI unit of luminance, the candela per square meter. oersted Oe The oersted is the electromagnetic CGS unit of magnetic field strength. Deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). ohm Ω SI unit of resistance. ounce (avoirdupois) oz pascal Pa 1 Pa = 1 N/m2 SI unit of pressure or stress.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes pound-force foot lbf-ft pound-force per square foot lbf/ft2 pound-force per square inch lbf/in2 poundal pdl quart qt 1 qt (UK) = 1.136 5 L 1 qt (US dry) = 1.101 2 L 1 qt (US liquid) = 0.946 35 L rad rd A unit of absorbed dose in the field of radiation dosimetry. Use of the SI unit, the gray, is preferred. 1 rd = 0.01 Gy. radian rad SI unit of plane angle.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes 2 square foot ft square inch in2 square meter m2 square meter per second m2/s SI unit of kinematic viscosity. square millimeter per second mm2/s SI unit-multiple of kinematic viscosity. square yard yd steradian sr SI unit of solid angle. stilb sb 1 sb = 1 cd/cm2 2 A CGS unit of luminance. Deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). stokes St Deprecated (see ANSI Z210.1-1976). tera T SI prefix for 1012.
Company Writer's Guide Symbols for Units in General Use (Cont’d) Unit Symbol Notes voltampere VA IEC name and symbol for the SI unit of apparent power. watt W SI unit of power. watt per meter kelvin W/(m•K) SI unit of thermal conductivity. watt per steradian W/sr SI unit of radiant intensity. watt per steradian square meter W/(sr•m ) watthour Wh weber Wb 2 SI unit of radiance. Wb = V•s SI unit of magnetic flux.
