In a technical role at work we use many three letter acronyms to describe 'things' that we work with or processes that we follow. When writing these up, I'm unclear if capitals should be used or not. There's some discussion about whether these 'things' should be considered as proper nouns or not.
For example we carry out an impact assessment. There is a specific document or artifact which is the 'Impact Assessment' document, which has a commonly understood meaning and which is often abbreviated as IA.
As such, when writing a process document describing this should I refer to the impact assessment document, or the Impact Assessment document? I think the former, as it is not a proper noun, but would appreciate guidance. I'm in the UK, if that makes any difference.
So far, two answers with different advice, with same upvotes. I'm tempted to go with capitalisation, as it does seem to help people draw a distinction between names of documents and the surrounding text, even though it feels incorrect to me.
Best Answer
If it's not a proper noun, don't capitalise (unless in a title, or the first word at the start of a sentence.)
For example, the Wikipedia impact assessment entry begins:
Further, their acronym and initialism entry says: