IUPAC

Chemical methods are developed to fit particular business, regulatory and research purposes. In general, published methods relate to the testing of particular products or classes of material against specifications. Proper application of such standardized tests requires that they be available and accessible. Further, in selecting methods for new tasks, it is common to adapt published methods to suit different fields of application. In either case, rapid selection of the most appropriate methods requires both a knowledge of the requirements of the work and clear and unambiguous specification of the characteristics of the method available. Selection of appropriate methods is therefore assisted by a consistent approach to the description of methods and their characteristics. This ensures that: a) all important parameters are included in the description, b) quantities are expressed in comparable units to allow direct comparison of methods and c) indexing is comprehensive and subsequent searching is effective. The objective of this project is to set out principles which should be followed when documenting methods of chemical testing.

- project abandoned