Biotechnology in the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology — Standardizing the Vocabulary

The ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY (ECT), a significant reference work for the chemical industry, serves as an instructional aid for scientists and engineers who are generally not specialists in the particular area where they are seeking information. The ENCYCLOPEDIA provides an introduction of a wide range of topics to a diverse readership. Because ECT is both a teaching tool and regarded as an authoritative source, the vocabulary within it must be standardized. Chemical and biotechnological terminology, nomenclature, symbols, units, etc. must be both consistent and accurate.Biotechnology is not new to ECT. Coverage began with such entries as ENZYMES AND ENZYMOLOGY and FERMENTATION in the first edition and continues through the newest work, ECT-4, which is in preparation for the 1990’s. Constructing ECT-4 means choosing the 1180 article titles, identifying authors, and arranging for peer review, in addition to editing the material and keeping to schedule. This process, together with the requirements for standardizing the scientific vocabulary, will be discussed.