When writing a research paper, you may need to mention a brand or a proprietary building material, machine, medicine, or any other commercial product. Should you use trademark symbols in scientific writing every time you mention the name of a trademark?
In product documentation, trademarks usually appear together with the ® or ™ symbol. But this doesn’t mean you have to use either of these symbols every time you write the name of a trademark. In fact, there’s no legal requirement to use trademark symbols in academic writing.
So, if you’re wondering if you should use trademark symbols in the research methodology, abstract, or introduction of your paper, the short answer is no. The following is a more detailed explanation of the use of trademark symbols in scholarly publications.
Trademark symbols (®, ™, and ℠)
Trademarks (spelled trade marks in British English) are “signs used in trade to identify products”, according to the EU Intellectual Property Office. Trademarks can be letters, numerals, images, sounds, or any combination of them.
Brand names that are trademarks are either registered or unregistered—for example, in the EU, with the European Union Intellectual Property Office; in the United States, with the US Patent and Trademark Office; in Australia, with IP Australia.
The registered trademark symbol (letter R in a circle, ®) indicates that a mark is registered.
An unregistered trademark is denoted by the symbol ™ or ℠. The trademark symbol (™) is used for goods, and the service mark (℠), for services. Trademark owners use these symbols to deter others from using the same or similar marks for their products or services.
This means companies’ marketing materials, technical documentation, and business documents are often sprinkled with trademark symbols and copyright (©) symbols. Also, some businesses have guidelines on how their trademarks should and shouldn’t be used. They recommend how their trademarks should be spelled, capitalized, and whether they should be written with trademark symbols.
What trademark holders don’t tell you is that there’s no legal requirement to use these symbols in text. This might come as a surprise if you’re more used to marketing materials than you are to scientific writing. So, let’s take a look at two academic style guides’ take on trademark symbols in writing.
What do style guides say about trademark symbols?
Two of the most popular style guides in academia are the American Psychological Association Style (APA Style) and The Chicago Manual of Style.
In the 6th edition of the APA Style, trademark symbols aren’t mentioned. However, according to the APA Style Blog, trademark symbols are unnecessary in academic writing.
The Chicago Manual of Style trademark symbol guidelines are covered in Section 8.153 in the 17th edition: “there is no legal requirement to use these symbols [® and ™], and they should be omitted whenever possible.”
So, both APA and Chicago styles recommend not using trademark symbols in writing.
Using trademark symbols in manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals
If you’re preparing a paper for a peer-reviewed journal, follow the journal’s guidelines for authors. If this document, or the journal’s style guide, doesn’t specify how trademarks should be written, and you have no preference, omit the symbols.
But what if your employer, or the sponsor of your research, wants trademark symbols to appear in your paper despite the journal’s recommendations? In that case, you may want to contact the journal editor to expressly request that trademark symbols be used in your paper.
If your trademark appears many times throughout your paper, you may need to compromise. One solution can be mentioning the trademark in the abstract and introduction only and adding a footnote saying you acknowledge the name in question is a trademark, but the ® symbol will be omitted for the remainder of the paper.
Some journals allow or require the use of trademark symbols. Here are some examples:
- Journal of the Medical Library Association: “Use the symbol no more than four times in one article for each trade name: the first mention in the article’s title, the first mention in the running head, the first mention in the abstract, and the first mention in the article’s text.”
- Journal of Business Economics and Management: “When using a word which is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark, authors must use the symbol ® or ™.”
- Radiocarbon, published by Cambridge University Press: “Quote the exact product name, with model number, if applicable, followed by a trademark (™) or registered trademark (®) symbol. Use the appropriate symbol at the first occurrence in the text, including titles, tables and figures.”
Many other journals recommend not using trademark and service mark symbols. These journals include the following:
- JAMA Network: “Do not include trademark symbols.”
- The Audio Engineering Society Journal: “Trademarks are generally inappropriate because they serve a commercial purpose, not an engineering purpose… Trademark symbols are not permitted.”
Using ® and ™ symbols in theses, dissertations, reports, and essays
When citing a registered trademark in research papers, dissertations, and the like, capitalize the brand name but omit the trademark symbols.
If your advisor or sponsor wants you to use these symbols, use them sparingly—for example, the first time the name appears in the abstract, main text, and chapter title.
Finally, if mentioning a brand name is not essential, replace it with the equivalent generic term if there is one (for example, instead of Post-it, write sticky note).
Trademark symbol usage guidelines in scientific papers
Although the symbols ® and ™ appear next to product names in promotional material and on packaging, it’s not mandatory to include them in scientific papers.
If you use these symbols in your manuscript, keep in mind that your publisher may need to remove them. Trademark symbols interfere with both readability and line spacing.
This is why copyeditors delete them unless the publisher’s style guide recommends otherwise or the author prefers to include them. So, unless you feel strongly about using trademark symbols when you mention a brand name in your research paper, consider leaving them out.
Do you need a freelance editor for your academic manuscript? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.
Related posts:
- Number formatting in Europe vs. the U.S.
- Academic editing tips for research scientists
- Why does it take so long to write a journal paper?
Last revised on 15 July 2022
