Project:AIC Style Guide (Grammar and Technical Terms)

Introduction

This page contains the Grammar and Technical Terms content from the Project:AIC Style Guide includes all style conventions that authors will use to guide word use and grammar. Please refer to this resource to guide your use of capitalization, hyphenation, spelling, italics, and the use of specific technical terms.

Capitalization, Hyphenation, Spelling, Italics

Capitalize words such as brand names, trademarked products, specific materials, and polymer acronyms (spell out in first mention). The items in this list are often particularly relevant to the cultural heritage preservation field or are listed when format, punctuation, or spelling can be confusing.

A

academic degrees, no periods, as MA, PhD
AD (no longer used, replace with CE)
ad hoc
a.m.
absorbency, absorbent
acc. no. (accession number abbreviation)
Acryloid: outdated term; use Paraloid
aesthetic
acknowledgment, acknowledgments
aging
airbrush (adj., n., v.)
air-dry (v.)
albumen: related to egg white, photographic prints
albumin: proteins in blood plasma or serum
alizarin, but Alizarin Blue, Alizarin Red
America (n.), American (adj.): avoid using as synonymous with United States;
American permitted as a noun to describe citizens
analog
annual meeting, but AIC Annual Meeting
appendix, appendices: lower case in text citations; abbreviate as app. in references
archaeology
art-historical (adj.)
article: preferred to the term “paper” but use “essay” except for contributions to symposium proceedings
audiovisual (no hyphenation)

B

BA, BS, BSc (academic degrees, no periods)
bandwidth
baroque period
BCE (Before Common Era)
beamline
Benday (instead of Ben-Day)
beta-radiograph
bioplastic
black-and-white (adj.)
block-print (v.)
bronze disease
brushstroke (n.)
brushwork

C

c. or ca. (both acceptable for circa)
Cab-O-Sil
carbon-14, also 14C with 14 in superscript, or C-14
cast iron (n.); cast-iron (adj.)
catalogue raisonné
CE (Common Era, formerly AD)
cf. (abbreviation meaning “compare,” permitted in parentheses with in-text reference)
chair (not chairman)
CIELAB (no longer use L*A*B)
codex, codices
cold-flow (v.)
cold-paint (v.)
computed tomography; CT; CT scan
contractions: avoid
COVID-19
craftsperson, craftspeople

D

data: takes plural verb
drier (when used as an additive)
dryer (when used as an apparatus supplying heat)
dry-clean (v.)
dry-surface-clean (v.)

E

e.g.: permitted in text, confine to parentheses and follow with a comma
ensure: means “to make sure of” (insure refers to insurance)
Eq. (Eqs. for plural): abbreviation for equations
et al.: permitted in text
etc.: permitted in text

F

First Nations
foreign language terms: use italics, with roman “s” for Anglicized plurals

G

gap-fill (v.)
-grade: hyphenate as adj.
grass roots (n.)
grassroots (adj.)
gray, not grey
gum arabic

H

half-: hyphenate compounds
halo, haloes
heat-age
heat-set (adj., v.)
High-tech
horsehair (adj., n.)
hot-air (adj.)
hot-melt (adj.)

I

i.e.: permitted in text
in situ
in vivo
imprimatura
Inc.: does not require preceding comma
index, indices
infill (n., v.)
infrared
inpaint

J

Jr.: does not require commas

K

K: degrees Kelvin (e.g., 5000 K); do not use to express thousands
keV: kiloelectronvolt

L

laboratory: not lab
labor-intensive
leaf-cast (v.)
leaf-casting (n.)
lead white (n.), lead-white (adj.)
legal cases: in italics, as Whistler v. Ruskin
life-size (adj.)
lightfastness
light-age (v.)
light-bleach (v.)
liquefy
locus, locuses
low-temperature (adj.)

M

M: molar
mA: milliamp
macro-environment
mass-produce
mat board
matrix, matrices
memorandum, memorandums (not memo)
Microfading Tester (not micro fade tester) - this is the instrument
microfadeometry or microfading (used to describe overall practice)
Micro-mesh
Micron(s), micrometer(s): µm
micro-organism
microscopic; preferred to microscopical
mid-: hyphenate compounds
middleground
ml: milliliter
Mlux
mM: millimolar
mold-making
ms: millisecond
multi: close up compounds

N

N.d. : no date (when a source does not have a date of publication).
naïve
Native American (adj., n.), Native (adj.)
Neoclassical
nm: nanometer
no.: avoid the number symbol #
newton, newtons (N)

O

off-gas (v.)
off-white
off-site
oven-age (v.)
oven-dry (v.)
oversize: not oversized

P

Pa: Pascal
paper: permitted in reviews of conference proceedings; otherwise avoid and use the preferred term “article”
paperboard
paper-splitting (adj., n.)
papier-mâché
Paraloid B-72
patents: U.S. patent [no.]
patina, patinas
pendant: not pendent
photo-aging
photo-image
photo-inert
photo-oxidation
photo-stability
photograph: not photo as noun (photo as adjective is permitted)
photoactivity
photodegradation
photodocumentation
photomacrograph
photoreactivity
phototechnology
plain-weave (adj.)
plaster of paris
policy maker
poly (vinyl chloride), or polyvinyl chloride
polyvinyl acetate
portland cement
pre-aged
pressure-sensitive tape
-proof: hyphenate compounds in all positions

R

re-: as a prefix, rarely requires hyphenation, see Webster’s New Third
Renaissance (when referring to the historical period)
repaint (n., v.)
roller-print (v.)

S

Salon, the
sand-cast (v.)
selvage
series: takes singular verb
silk-screen (v.)
-size: in compounds, not –sized (except in references to sized paper)
spectrum, spectra
spot-check (v.)
spot-test (v.)
squeeze-out (n.)
stele, stelae
stepwise
still life, still lifes (n.)
still-life (adj.)
Stoddard solvent
styles and schools of art: initial capital, as Impressionism, Impressionist
supp.: abbreviation for supplement

T

tetracetic
text block
the: lowercase in names for institutions in text; can be capitalized in photo credits
thin section (n.); thin-section (adj.)
tide line
trade names: initial capitals; do not use ® or ™
trompe l’oeil

U

ultraviolet (UV)
ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence (UVIVF) photography
underpainting
US (use USA for postal addresses)
Urushi

V

vermilion
vice-: hyphenate compounds
viz.
vs.: abbreviation of versus; except in legal cases (e.g., Whistler v. Ruskin)

W

wash-fastness
water-clear (adj.)
water-glass
wave-band
wavelength
wavenumber
water-saturated: hyphenate in all positions
water-soluble
Weather-o-meter
white lead/lead white: be consistent within article; hyphenate as adj.
words as words: in quotation marks
wt%: for weight percent (not w/w%)
w/v: weight/volume

X

xeroradiography
x-ray (always lower case unless it starts a sentence or is part of a title)
x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF)
x-ray radiography (better than x-radiography)
x-ray powder diffraction (XRD)