Many organizations or terms are familiarly known by their acronyms. On first reference, use the full name followed by the acronym in brackets. In the rest of the copy, use the acronym only. There is no need to supply the acronym if the organization is never mentioned more than once.
Example: Western Society of Graduate Students (SOGS); initial public offering (IPO).
Avoid using acronyms in headlines.
Acronyms that have become common words are not capitalized.
Example: scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
Do not use periods in acronyms.
Do not use an apostrophe to form the plural of an acronym.
Example: URLs, not URL’s.