This revision of Z39.18-1987 brings the standard on report writing into the electronic age by including de facto document type definitions (DTDs) to describe the structure of reports so the document can be electronically processed using document imaging, OCR, compression/decompression, and optical media storage of full text. Z39.18 also provides explicit guidance on the preparation of reports in the traditional print environment. Included are directions on the bibliographic data elements that should appear on the cover and title page of a report, a description of the scope of each section of a report and instruction on the most effective communication of textual and visual information and tabular materials. Recommendations on publication formats, the use of figures and tables, the presentation of numbers and units, formulas and equations, and symbols, abbreviations and acronyms are also given. Z39.18 supersedes MIL-STD-847B and is approved for use by the Department of Defense (DoD).