Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

From SkepticWiki

When the organization was formed in 1976, the original name proposed was "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and Other Phenomena" which was shortened to "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal." The initial acronym, "CSICP" was difficult to pronounce and so was changed to "CSICOP." According to James Alcock it was never intended to be "Psi Cop" (Kurtz 2001:42), a nickname that has been taken up and used frequently by the group's detractors.

On November 30, 2006 the organization further shortened its name to "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry" ("CSI", pronounced C-S-I.). Reasons for the change were to create a shorter, more media friendly name, to remove "paranormal" from the name and to reflect more accurately the actual scope of the organization with its broader focus on critical thinking, science and rationality in general.