General Rules
¡¡¡¡The indefinite article a is used before a consonant and an aspirated h; an is used before silent h and all vowel sounds. Note that u pronounced as in usual and a pronounced as in one have an initial consonant sound. (A historical review, an honor, a eutectic.)¡¡An is used before initials or symbols having an initial vowel sound (an SiC ceramic).

¡¡¡¡Trade names should be capitalized but not enclosed in quotation marks. Substitute generic terms whenever possible.

¡¡¡¡Use zero before a decimal (0.5 not .5).
¡¡¡¡
¡¡¡¡There should be no space before and after mathematical symbols such as ¡À¡£

¡¡¡¡In a series, use a comma before the conjunction (cobalt, magnesium, and copper).

¡¡¡¡In word combinations, use hyphen when ambiguous without it (silver-activated phosphors, the steel-and-copper tubes (tubes of the combined metals), but the steel and copper tubes (some of steel and some of copper)).

¡¡¡¡Do not hyphenate compound modifiers consisting of an adverb ending in "-ly" and an adjective or past participle (accurately measured values).

¡¡¡¡Words such as "alpha alumina" and "gamma radiation" are not hyphenated unless the Greek letter is used (¦Á-alumina,¦Ã-radiation).

¡¡¡¡Hyphenate elements of a fraction exept where the numerator or denominator is hyphenated (one-thousandth, but two one-thousandths).

¡¡¡¡Words with the following prefixes are not hyphenated except when second part is capitalized (pre-Cambrian):
After; alumino; anti; bi; chemico; co; counter; electro; ferro; inter; kilo; micro; mono; multi; non; ortho; over; perta; photo; physico; post; pre; psedo; semi; silico; sub; super; tetra; thermo; tri; ultra; under; visco

¡¡¡¡In joining a prefix to an already hyphenated compound use two hyphens (non-acid-resistant).

¡¡¡¡The em dash is used to mark abrupt change in thought or structure of a sentence or to make parenthetic, appositional, or explanatory matter stand out. The en dash is used as equivalent of ª«to and includingª« between numbers or dates (pages 40-98). The en dash may also be used in compounding two-word terms (high-pressure-high-temperature polymorphism).

¡¡¡¡Use center point for chemical compounds (MgO¡¤Fe2O3, not MgO. Fe2O3).

¡¡¡¡Do not use commas with four figures except when tabulating them with larger numbers:
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡1 600 but 16,000
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡1,600

¡¡¡¡June 1961 (no comma) but June 10,1961£¬¡­

¡¡¡¡Mass number, atomic number, number of atoms, and ionic charge of an element may be indicated by four indices placed around the symbol:
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡left upper index-mass number
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡left lower index-atomic number
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡1632S2+2 right lower index-number of atoms
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡right upper index-ionic charge (2+ not +2)

¡¡¡¡In equations, designate states as liquid(l), solid(s),gas(g),crystal(c),vapor(v), and solid solution(ss).

Plurals
¡¡¡¡abscissa, abscissas; alkali, alkalis; apparatus, apparatus; brick (sing. and pl., also bricks, pl.); datum, data; formula, formulas; helix, helices; index, indexes(indices, scientific); lamella, lamellas; locus, loci; matrix, matrices; medium, media; memorandum, memorandums; micelle, micelles; modulus£¬moduli; radius, radii; symposium, symposiums.

References
1¡¡Sato T, Haryu K, Endo T, et al(after three persons, use "et al").
¡¡ High temperature
¡¡ oxidation of hot-pressed aluminum nitride by water vapour. J Mater
¡¡ Sci, 1987£¬22(6):2635¡«2639

2¡¡JANAF Thermochemical Tables. 3rd ed. USA, OH: American Chemical
¡¡ Society and American Institute of Physics for NBS, 1986(P.25)

3¡¡Spiegler J. High Strength Resistor. U S Patent 3 437 974,1969-4-11

4¡¡Magdic T J. Material selection for compacting tools. In Mangels J A,
¡¡ Messing G L, eds. Advances in Ceramics Vol 9, Forming of Ceramics.
¡¡ Columbus, Ohio: The American Ceramic Society, Inc, 1983.1-3(Pages)

5¡¡Beall M W, Fish J, Shephard M S, et al. Computer-aided modeling tools
¡¡ for composite materials. Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings
¡¡ of the American Ceramic Society, 18th Annual Meeting and Exposition, ¡¡ Cocoa, Beach, FL, January 9-19,1994

6¡¡Beall M W, Belsky V, Fish J, et al. Automated Multiple Scale Fracture ¡¡ Analysis, SCOREC Report 4-1996. Troy, NY: Rensselaer Polytechnic ¡¡¡¡¡¡ Institute,1996