Editing Science fiction (section)

===Alternative terms===
{{Further|Skiffy}}
[[Forrest J Ackerman]] has been credited with first using the term "sci-fi" (analogous to the then-trendy "[[hi-fi]]") in about 1954.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 December 2008 |title=Forrest J Ackerman, 92; Coined the Term 'Sci-Fi' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/06/AR2008120602021.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022130847/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/06/AR2008120602021.html |archive-date=22 October 2017 |access-date=17 December 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> The first known use in print was a [[description]] of ''[[Donovan's Brain (film)|Donovan's Brain]]'' by movie critic Jesse Zunser in January 1954.<ref>{{cite web |title=sci-fi n. |url=https://sfdictionary.com/view/210/sci-fi |website=Historical [[Dictionary]] of Science Fiction |access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref> As science [[fiction]] entered [[popular culture]], writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech "[[B movie|B-movies]]" and with low-quality [[Pulp magazine|pulp science fiction]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Neo-Fan's Guidebook |year=1987 |last=Whittier |first=Terry }}{{full citation needed|date=December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/003672.html|last=Scalzi|first=John|title=The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies|year=2005|isbn=978-1-84353-520-1|publisher=Rough Guides|access-date=17 January 2007|archive-date=2 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402140935/http://scalzi.com/whatever/003672.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Ellison | first = Harlan | year = 1998 | url = http://harlanellison.com/text/parcon.txt | title = Harlan Ellison's responses to online fan questions at ParCon | access-date = 26 April 2006 | archive-date = 22 May 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150522223829/http://harlanellison.com/text/parcon.txt | url-status = live }}</ref> By the 1970s, [[critics]] within the field, such as [[Damon Knight]] and [[Terry Carr]], were using "sci fi" to [[distinguish]] hack-work from serious science fiction.<ref name="wood skiffy"/> 

[[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]] writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred [[abbreviation]] within the community of sf writers and readers."<ref name="nicholls sf"/> 

[[Robert Heinlein]] found even "[[science]] fiction" insufficient for certain types of works in this ''genre'', and [[suggested]] the term [[speculative fiction]] to be used instead for those that are more "serious" or "thoughtful".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openculture.com/2016/09/sci-fi-icon-robert-heinlein-lists-5-essential-rules-for-making-a-living-as-a-writer.html|title=Sci-Fi Icon Robert Heinlein Lists 5 Essential Rules for Making a Living as a Writer|date=29 September 2016|website=Open Culture|language=en-US|access-date=30 March 2019|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330082035/http://www.openculture.com/2016/09/sci-fi-icon-robert-heinlein-lists-5-essential-rules-for-making-a-living-as-a-writer.html|url-status=live}}</ref>