How to use abbreviations in your writing?

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abbreviations
Unless an abbreviation (or acronym) is so familiar that it is used
more often than the full form:
aids bbc cia eu fbi hiv imf nato ngo oecd unesco
or unless the full form would provide little illumination – awacs,
dna – write the words in full on fi rst appearance: thus, Trades
Union Congress (not tuc). If in doubt about its familiarity, explain
what the organisation is or does. After the fi rst mention, try not to
repeat the abbreviation too often; so write the agency rather than
the iaea, the party rather than the kmt, to avoid spattering the
page with capital letters. There is no need to give the initials of an
organisation if it is not referred to again.
Do not use spatterings of abbreviations and acronyms simply
in order to cram more words in; you will end up irritating readers
rather than informing them. An article in a recent issue of The
Economist contained the following:
cia dci dni dod dvd fbi nctc nsa
The article immediately following had:
ctac cx dis fco gchq it jic jtac mi5 mi6 mp scope
wmd
Some of these are well known to most readers and can readily
be held in the mind. But unfamiliar abbreviations may oblige
the reader to be constantly referring back to the fi rst use. Better to
repeat some names in full, or to write the agency, the committee, the
party, etc, than to allow an undisciplined proliferation. And prefer
chief executive or boss to ceo.