Acronyms are abbreviations that can be pronounced as words: OPEC, for example, is the acronym for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Initial abbreviations, on the other hand, are pronounced as separate initials: NRA for National Rifle Association, for instance. Many of these abbreviations come from business, government, and science: NASA, PBS, DNA, GE, UNICEF, AIDS, SAT.

As long as you are sure your readers will understand them, use such abbreviations in your formal college writing. If the abbreviation may be unfamiliar to your readers, however, spell out the term the first time you use it, and give the abbreviation in parentheses. After that, you can use the abbreviation by itself.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the central intergovernmental forum for cooperation in the nuclear arena.