3. English Language Punctuation - Brackets The nonmathematical function of brackets is to enclose editorial insertions, corrections, and comments in quoted material and in reference citations: "These instruments [the radiometer and scatterometer] have been used successfully aboard satellites as well as aircraft." Boeing Commercial Airplane Co.: Integrated Application of Active Controls Technology. NASA CR-000000, [1977]. Although some authorities (Chicago Press 1982; Skillin et al. 1974; and Ebbitt and Ebbitt 1982) recommend brackets to enclose material within parentheses, particularly in legal and scholarly works, we have not found the nonmathematical use of parentheses within parentheses to be misleading in Langley reports. Thus, we do not recommend that brackets be used.
