Citation of AOAC (Official Methods
of Analysis of AOAC International)
Ranjan
Kumar Mohanta
ICAR-National
Rice Research Institute, Cuttack-753006, India
Corresponding
author: e-mail: mohanta.ranjan@gmail.com
Abstract
Background
AOAC International, more
particularly the Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International has an
important contribution to the field of animal nutrition, analytical chemistry
and microbiology. Most of the current citations still refer to AOAC as Association
of Official Analytical Chemists as its broad name. This communication aims to
clarify its correct citation.
AOAC
Citation
AOAC International, the AOAC, is a
non-profit scientific association with Headquarter in Gaithersburg, Maryland,
USA. The organization known as AOAC changed its name in 1991 from its previous
name Association of Official Analytical Chemists or Association of Official
Agricultural Chemists, emphasizing the importance on Association of Analytical
Communities due to its expanded scope in analytical sciences. However, the
legal name still refers it to AOAC or AOAC International.
Conclusion
The right form of citation therefore should be ‘AOAC.
2012. Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC international. 19th ed. Gaithersburg;
AOAC International; 2012’.
Keywords:
AOAC; AOAC International; Official Methods of Analysis; Correct citation
Background
The professionals of discipline animal
nutrition, microbiologists and analytical chemists rigorously follow various
methodologies described by AOAC International. As an animal nutritionist, I,
feel there is a need to notify the correct citation of the Official Methods of
Analysis of AOAC International, which we can notice in almost every paper of
Animal Nutrition related journals. AOAC International known as AOAC changed its
name in 1991 from its previous name Association of Official Analytical Chemists
or Association of Official Agricultural Chemists.
AOAC International, the AOAC, is a
non-profit scientific association with Headquarter in Gaithersburg, Maryland,
USA. The AOAC is comprised of chemists, microbiologists, laboratory managers,
and statisticians with nearly 3200 members from more than 90 countries
involving scientists from both government institutes and industries. The Association’s
primary programs focus on the validation of chemical and microbiological
analytical methods. AOAC validated methods are used by government, industry,
and academia throughout the world for analysis of a variety of
commodities—particularly those related to food, agriculture, public health and
safety, and the environment.
Brief History of AOAC
The United States Department of
Agriculture established the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists on
September 8, 1884 for providing methods for uniform chemical analysis of
fertilizers. In 1965, the AOAC's name changed to Association of Official
Analytical Chemists to reflect its scope beyond agriculture. However,
subsequently, as per AOAC website, the attention of the analytical
community—particularly the segment focused on foods—had changed dramatically
from chemical to microbiological food contaminants and there was increasing
demand for quality control of laboratories and international laboratory
accreditation. Consequently, in 1991, the name of the Association was changed
to AOAC International. The website further states that “the new name retained
its past initials, while eliminating reference to a specific scientific
discipline or profession, and reflecting the expanding international membership
and focus of AOAC as the "Association
of Analytical Communities", but emphasized that the latter is not the
legal name as the legal name is AOAC
International. As the organization wants to retain the term AOAC over AOAC
International or Association of Analytical Communities International it still
advocates for use of AOAC over other names.
Correct Citation
The compendium of methods adopted
by AOAC International, which contains over 3000 methods is revised every 3-5
years interval. In 2013, because of the concern for correctness of citation I
had corresponded with Tien Milor of AOAC International, according to whom the
correct citation is “Official Methods of Analysis
of AOAC INTERNATIONAL. 2012. 19th ed. Gaithersburg; AOAC INTERNATIONAL, www.eoma.aoac.org”.
However, in terms of the reference
format we use, we may adopt that version or it can better be cited as ‘AOAC. 2012. Official Methods of Analysis of
AOAC international. 19th ed. Gaithersburg; AOAC International; 2012’. As
the name was changed in 1991, for the editions after 1991, the old name should
not be written and emphasis should be given on AOAC or AOAC International.
