Use lower case for all terms except proper nouns. Give the full name of the method the first time it is used (after which the acronym can be used):
capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE)
electrokinetic capillary chromatography (ECC) [Note: do not abbreviate to EKCC]
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
gas chromatography (GC)
gas–liquid chromatography (GLC) [Note: Use an en dash]
high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS)
reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) [Note: The same acronym is often used for a different method called real-time PCR, so take great care with these terms. Real-time PCR is also called quantitative PCR (abbreviated as qPCR).]
solid-phase extraction (SPE)
Suzuki coupling
Some names include an acronym rather than the full name:
RAFT polymerisation [an Australian technology]
For compound chromatographic methods, the full term is joined with an en dash or with, but the acronym is joined with a hyphen:
gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
gas chromatography with atomic emission detection (GC-AED)
inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
Some journals assume reader knowledge of these types of terms, which therefore do not have to be spelt out at first use (see Very well known acronyms and initialisms).
