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What citation style to use for science [Updated 2023]

Top citation styles used in science

What citation style should you use for a science paper? In this post, we explore the most frequently used citation styles for science. We cover APA, IEEE, ACS, and others and provide examples of each style.

APA is the number one citation style used in science

APA (American Psychological Association) style is a citation format used in the social sciences, education, and engineering, as well as in the sciences. APA consists of two elements: in-text citations and a reference list.

It uses an author-date system, in which the author’s last name and year of publication are put in parentheses (e.g. Smith 2003). These parenthetical citations refer the reader to a list at the end of the paper, which includes information about each source.

APA style resources

🌐 Official APA style guidelines

🗂 APA style guide

📝 APA citation generator

APA style examples

Here is an example of an in-text citation in APA style:

In recent years, much debate has been stirred regarding volcanic soil (Avşar et al., 2018) .

Here is a bibliography entry in APA style:

Avşar, E., Ulusay, R., Aydan, Ö., & Mutlutürk, M . ( 2015 ). On the Difficulties of Geotechnical Sampling and practical Estimates of the Strength of a weakly bonded Volcanic Soil . Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment , 74 ( 4 ), 1375–1394 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-014-0710-9

Chicago is the number two citation style used in science

Chicago style is another form of citation used for science papers and journals. It has two formats: a notes and bibliography system and an author-date system.

The notes and bibliography system is mostly used for the humanities, whereas the author-date system is used in science and business. The latter uses in-text citations formed by the author's last name and date of publication. A bibliography at the end of the paper lists the full information for all references.

Chicago style resources

🌐 Official Chicago style guidelines

🗂 Chicago style guide

📝 Chicago citation generator

Chicago style examples

Here is an in-text citation in Chicago style:

However, a research proved this theory right (Hofman and Rick 2018, 65-115) .

Here is a bibliography entry in Chicago style:

Hofman, Courtney A., and Torben C. Rick . “ Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems: Tracking Translocations of Wild Plants and Animals .” Journal of Archaeological Research 26 , no. 1 ( 2018 ): 65–115 . doi.org/10.1007/s10814-017-9105-3 .

CSE is the number three citation style used in science

CSE style is the standard format used in the physical and life sciences. This style features three types of citation systems: citation-sequence, name-year, and citation-name.

• Name-Year : In-text citations of this type feature the author’s last name and the year of publication in brackets. A bibliography at the end lists all references in full.

• Citation-Sequence : Every source is assigned a superscript number that is used as an in-text reference. The bibliography at the end lists all numbers with their references in the order in which they appeared in the text.

• Citation-Name : The reference list is organized alphabetically by authors’ last names; each name is assigned a number which can be placed in superscript as an in-text reference.

CSE style resources

🌐 Official CSE style guidelines

📝 CSE citation generator

CSE style examples

Here is an example of an in-text citation in CSE name-year style:

Therefore, the translocation of wild plants was tracked (Hofman and Rick 2018) .

Here is a bibliography entry in CSE name-year style:

Hofman CA, Rick TC. 2018. Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems: Tracking Translocations of Wild Plants and Animals. J. Archaeol. [accessed 2019 Mar 11]; 26(1): 65–11. doi.org/10.1007/s10814-017-9105-3.

AIP is the number four citation style used in science

AIP style, as its title suggests, is commonly applied in physics and astronomy papers. This style has a numbered citation system , which uses superscript numbers to show in-text citations. These numbers correspond to a list of sources at the end of the paper.

AIP style resources

🌐 Official AIP style guidelines

🗂 AIP style guide

📝 AIP citation generator

AIP style examples

Here is an in-text citation in AIP style:

A similar study was carried out in 2015 ¹ .

Here is a bibliography entry in AIP style:

¹ H.D. Young and R.A. Freedman, Sears & Zemansky's University Physics (Addison-Wesley, San Francisco, CA, 2015) p. 160

ACS is the number five citation style used in science

ACS style is the standard citation style for chemistry. This style uses both numeric and author-date citations systems. The numbered in-text citations can have either a superscript number or a number in italics. Full references for each source are listed at the end of the paper.

ACS style resources

🌐 Official ACS style guidelines

🗂 ACS style guide

📝 ACS citation generator

ACS style examples

Here is an in-text citation in ACS author-date style:

The opposing side was given first (Brown et al., 2017) .

Here is a bibliography entry in ACS author-date style:

Brown, T.E.; LeMay H.E.; Bursten, B.E.; Murphy, C.; Woodward, P.; Stoltzfus M.E. Chemistry: The Central Science in SI Units . Pearson: New York, 2017.

IEEE is the number six citation style used in science

IEEE style is used for engineering and science papers. This style uses a numeric, in-text citation format, with a number in square brackets. This number corresponds to a reference list entry at the end of the paper.

IEEE style resources

🌐 Official IEEE style guidelines

🗂 IEEE style guide

📝 IEEE citation generator

IEEE style examples

Here is an example of an in-text citation in IEEE style:

As seen in a multi-camera study [1] ...

Here is a bibliography entry in IEEE style:

[1] E. Nuger and B. Benhabib, “Multi-Camera Active-Vision for Markerless Shape Recovery of Unknown Deforming Objects,” J. Intell. Rob. Syst. , vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 223–264, Oct. 2018.

Frequently Asked Questions about citation styles used in science

The most frequently used citation style in the sciences is APA (American Psychological Association) style.

There are two major types of citation systems you can use: author-date or numeric. Numeric citation styles tend to be preferred for science disciplines.

Yes, you have to add a bibliography or reference list citing all sources mentioned in your scientific paper.

Some of the most popular scientific journals are: Science Magazine , Nature , and The Lancet .

Title pages for science papers must follow the format of the citation style that you’re using. For example, in APA style you need to include a title, running head, a name, and other details. Visit our guide on title pages to learn more.

What citation style to use for computer science

Make your life easier with our productivity and writing resources.

For students and teachers.

The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers

  • MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
  • MANUSCRIPT AND PROOF MARKUP
  • SAMPLE CORRESPONDENCE
  • EDITORIAL OFFICE PRACTICES (PDF)
  • PROMOTING INTEGRITY IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
  • SCIENTIFIC STYLE AND FORMAT CITATION QUICK GUIDE

Scientific Style and Format Citation Quick Guide

Scientific Style and Format presents three systems for referring to references (also known as citations) within the text of a journal article, book, or other scientific publication: 1) citation–sequence; 2) name–year; and 3) citation–name. These abbreviated references are called in-text references. They refer to a list of references at the end of the document.

The system of in-text references that you use will determine the order of references at the end of your document. These end references have essentially the same format in all three systems, except for the placement of the date of publication in the name–year system.

Though Scientific Style and Format now uses citation–sequence for its own references, each system is widely used in scientific publishing. Consult your publisher to determine which system you will need to follow.

Click on the tabs below for more information and to see some common examples of materials cited in each style, including examples of electronic sources. For numerous specific examples, see Chapter 29 of the 8th edition of Scientific Style and Format .

Citation–Sequence and Citation–Name

The following examples illustrate the citation–sequence and citation–name systems. The two systems are identical except for the order of references. In both systems, numbers within the text refer to the end references.

In citation–sequence, the end references are listed in the sequence in which they first appear within the text. For example, if a reference by Smith is the first one mentioned in the text, then the complete reference to the Smith work will be number 1 in the end references. The same number is used for subsequent in-text references to the same document.

In citation–name, the end references are listed alphabetically by author. Multiple works by the same author are listed alphabetically by title. The references are numbered in that sequence, such that a work authored by Adam is number 1, Brown is number 2, and so on. Numbers assigned to the end references are used for the in-text references regardless of the sequence in which they appear in the text of the work. For example, if a work by Zielinski is number 56 in the reference list, each in-text reference to Zielinski will be number 56 also.

List authors in the order in which they appear in the original text, followed by a period. Periods also follow article and journal title and volume or issue information. Separate the date from volume and issue by a semicolon. The location (usually the page range for the article) is preceded by a colon.

Author(s). Article title. Journal title. Date;volume(issue):location.

Journal titles are generally abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations maintained by the ISSN International Centre. See Appendix 29.1 in Scientific Style and Format for more information.

For articles with more than 1 author, names are separated by a comma.

Smart N, Fang ZY, Marwick TH. A practical guide to exercise training for heart failure patients. J Card Fail. 2003;9(1):49–58.

For articles with more than 10 authors, list the first 10 followed by “et al.”

Pizzi C, Caraglia M, Cianciulli M, Fabbrocini A, Libroia A, Matano E, Contegiacomo A, Del Prete S, Abbruzzese A, Martignetti A, et al. Low-dose recombinant IL-2 induces psychological changes: monitoring by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Anticancer Res. 2002;22(2A):727–732.

Volume with no issue or other subdivision

Laskowski DA. Physical and chemical properties of pyrethroids. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2002;174:49–170.

Volume with issue and supplement

Gardos G, Cole JO, Haskell D, Marby D, Paine SS, Moore P. The natural history of tardive dyskinesia. J Clin Pharmacol. 1988;8(4 Suppl):31S–37S

Volume with supplement but no issue

Heemskerk J, Tobin AJ, Ravina B. From chemical to drug: neurodegeneration drug screening and the ethics of clinical trials. Nat Neurosci. 2002;5 Suppl:1027–1029.

Multiple issue numbers

Ramstrom O, Bunyapaiboonsri T, Lohmann S, Lehn JM. Chemical biology of dynamic combinatorial libraries. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2002;1572(2–3):178–186.

Issue with no volume

Sabatier R. Reorienting health and social services. AIDS STD Health Promot Exch. 1995;(4):1–3.

Separate information about author(s), title, edition, and publication by periods. The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). Title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; date. Extent. Notes.

Extent can include information about pagination or number of volumes and is considered optional. Notes can include information of interest to the reader, such as language of publication other than English; such notes are optional.

Essential notes provide information about location, such as a URL for online works. See Chapter 29 for more information.

For books with more than 1 author, names are separated by a comma.

Ferrozzi F, Garlaschi G, Bova D. CT of metastases. New York (NY): Springer; 2000.

For books with more than 10 authors, list the first 10 followed by “et al.”

Wenger NK, Sivarajan Froelicher E, Smith LK, Ades PA, Berra K, Blumenthal JA, Certo CME, Dattilo AM, Davis D, DeBusk RF, et al. Cardiac rehabilitation. Rockville (MD): Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US); 1995.

Organization as author

Advanced Life Support Group. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London (England): BMJ Books; 2001.

Author(s) plus editor(s) or translator(s)

Klarsfeld A, Revah F. The biology of death: origins of mortality. Brady L, translator. Ithaca (NY): Cornell University Press; 2003.

Luzikov VN. Mitochondrial biogenesis and breakdown. Galkin AV, translator; Roodyn DB, editor. New York (NY): Consultants Bureau; 1985.

Chapter or other part of a book, same author(s)

Gawande A. The checklist manifesto: how to get things right. New York (NY): Metropolitan Books; 2010. Chapter 3, The end of the master builder; p. 48–71.

Chapter or other part of a book, different authors

Rapley R. Recombinant DNA and genetic analysis. In: Wilson K, Walker J, editors. Principles and techniques of biochemistry and molecular biology. 7th ed. New York (NY): Cambridge University Press; 2010. p. 195–262.

Multivolume work as a whole

Alkire LG, editor. Periodical title abbreviations. 16th ed. Detroit (MI): Thompson Gale; 2006. 2 vol. Vol. 1, By abbreviation; vol. 2, By title.

Dissertations and Theses

Lutz M. 1903: American nervousness and the economy of cultural change [dissertation]. [Stanford (CA)]: Stanford University; 1989.

Blanco EE, Meade JC, Richards WD, inventors; Ophthalmic Ventures, assignee. Surgical stapling system. United States patent US 4,969,591. 1990 Nov 13.

Weiss R. Study shows problems in cloning people: researchers find replicating primates will be harder than other mammals. Washington Post (Home Ed.). 2003 Apr 11;Sect. A:12 (col. 1).

Indicate a copyright date with a lowercase “c”.

Johnson D, editor. Surgical techniques in orthopaedics: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction [DVD]. Rosemont (IL): American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; c2002. 1 DVD.

Websites and Other Online Formats

References to websites and other online formats follow the same general principles as for printed references, with the addition of a date of update/revision (if available) along with an access date and a URL.

Title of Homepage. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; date of publication [date updated; date accessed]. Notes.

If no date of publication can be determined, use a copyright date (if available), preceded by “c”. Include the URL in the notes.

APSnet: plant pathology. St Paul (MN): American Phytopathological Association; c1994–2005 [accessed 2005 Jun 20]. http://www.apsnet.org/.

Online journal article

Author(s) of article. Title of article. Title of journal (edition). Date of publication [date updated; date accessed];volume(issue):location. Notes.

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) may be included in the notes in addition to a URL, if available:

Savage E, Ramsay M, White J, Beard S, Lawson H, Hunjan R, Brown D. Mumps outbreaks across England and Wales in 2004: observational study. BMJ. 2005 [accessed 2005 May 31];330(7500):1119–1120. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/330/7500/1119. doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1119.

Author(s). Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; date of publication [date updated; date accessed]. Notes.

Brogden KA, Guthmille JM, editors. Polymicrobial diseases. Washington (DC): ASM Press; 2002 [accessed February 28, 2014]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2475/.

Author’s name. Title of post [descriptive word]. Title of blog. Date of publication. [accessed date]. URL.

Fogarty M. Formatting titles on Twitter and Facebook [blog]. Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. 2012 Aug 14. [accessed 2012 Oct 19]. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/formatting-titles-on-twitter-and-facebook.aspx.

Forthcoming or Unpublished Material

Not all forthcoming or unpublished sources are suitable for inclusion in reference lists. Check with your publisher if in doubt.

Forthcoming journal article or book

Journal article:

Farley T, Galves A, Dickinson LM, Perez MJ. Stress, coping, and health: a comparison of Mexican immigrants, Mexican-Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. J Immigr Health. Forthcoming 2005 Jul.

Goldstein DS. Adrenaline and the inner world: an introduction to scientific integrative medicine. Baltimore (MD): Johns Hopkins University Press. Forthcoming 2006.

Paper or poster presented at meeting

Unpublished presentations are cited as follows:

Antani S, Long LR, Thoma GR, Lee DJ. Anatomical shape representation in spine x-ray images. Paper presented at: VIIP 2003. Proceedings of the 3rd IASTED International Conference on Visualization, Imaging and Image Processing; 2003 Sep 8–10; Benalmadena, Spain.

Charles L, Gordner R. Analysis of MedlinePlus en Español customer service requests. Poster session presented at: Futuro magnifico! Celebrating our diversity. MLA ’05: Medical Library Association Annual Meeting; 2005 May 14–19; San Antonio, TX.

References to published presentations are cited much like contributions to books, with the addition of information about the date and place of the conference. See Chapter 29 for more information.

Personal communication

References to personal communication are placed in running text rather than as formal end references.

Permission is usually required and should be acknowledged in an “Acknowledgment” or “Notes” section at the end of the document.

. . . and most of these meningiomas proved to be inoperable (2003 letter from RS Grant to me; unreferenced, see “Notes”) while a few were not.

Name–Year

The following examples illustrate the name–year system. In this system (sometimes called the Harvard system), in-text references consist of the surname of the author or authors and the year of publication of the document. End references are unnumbered and appear in alphabetical order by author and year of publication, with multiple works by the same author listed in chronological order.

Each example of an end reference is accompanied here by an example of a corresponding in-text reference. For more details and many more examples, see Chapter 29 of Scientific Style and Format .

For the end reference, list authors in the order in which they appear in the original text. The year of publication follows the author list. Use periods to separate each element, including author(s), date of publication, article and journal title, and volume or issue information. Location (usually the page range for the article) is preceded by a colon.

Author(s). Date. Article title. Journal title. Volume(issue):location.

For the in-text reference, use parentheses and list author(s) by surname followed by year of publication.

(Author(s) Year)

For articles with 2 authors, names are separated by a comma in the end reference but by “and” in the in-text reference.

Mazan MR, Hoffman AM. 2001. Effects of aerosolized albuterol on physiologic responses to exercise in standardbreds. Am J Vet Res. 62(11):1812–1817.

(Mazan and Hoffman 2001)

For articles with 3 to 10 authors, list all authors in the end reference; in the in-text reference, list only the first, followed by “et al.”

Smart N, Fang ZY, Marwick TH. 2003. A practical guide to exercise training for heart failure patients. J Card Fail. 9(1):49–58.

(Smart et al. 2003)

For articles with more than 10 authors, list the first 10 in the end reference, followed by “et al.”

Pizzi C, Caraglia M, Cianciulli M, Fabbrocini A, Libroia A, Matano E, Contegiacomo A, Del Prete S, Abbruzzese A, Martignetti A, et al. 2002. Low-dose recombinant IL-2 induces psychological changes: monitoring by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Anticancer Res. 22(2A):727–732.

(Pizzi et al. 2002)

Laskowski DA. 2002. Physical and chemical properties of pyrethroids. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 174:49–170.

(Laskowski 2002)

Gardos G, Cole JO, Haskell D, Marby D, Paine SS, Moore P. 1988. The natural history of tardive dyskinesia. J Clin Pharmacol. 8(4 Suppl):31S–37S.

(Gardos et al. 1988)

Heemskerk J, Tobin AJ, Ravina B. 2002. From chemical to drug: neurodegeneration drug screening and the ethics of clinical trials. Nat Neurosci. 5 Suppl:1027–1029.

(Heemskerk et al. 2002)

Ramstrom O, Bunyapaiboonsri T, Lohmann S, Lehn JM. 2002. Chemical biology of dynamic combinatorial libraries. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1572(2–3):178–186.

(Ramstrom et al. 2002)

Sabatier R. 1995. Reorienting health and social services. AIDS STD Health Promot Exch. (4):1–3.

(Sabatier 1995)

In the end reference, separate information about author(s), date, title, edition, and publication by periods. The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). Date. Title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher. Extent. Notes.

Extent can include information about pagination or number of volumes and is considered optional. Notes can include information of interest to the reader, such as language of publication other than English; such notes are optional. Essential notes provide information about location, such as a URL for online works. See Chapter 29 for more information.

For books with 2 authors, names are separated by a comma in the end reference but by “and” in the in-text reference.

Leboffe MJ, Pierce BE. 2010. Microbiology: laboratory theory and application. Englewood (CO): Morton Publishing Company.

(Leboffe and Pierce 2010)

For books with 3 to 10 authors, list all authors in the end reference; in the in-text reference, list only the first, followed by “et al.”

Ferrozzi F, Garlaschi G, Bova D. 2000. CT of metastases. New York (NY): Springer.

(Ferrozzi et al. 2000)

For books with more than 10 authors, list the first 10 in the end reference, followed by “et al.”

Wenger NK, Sivarajan Froelicher E, Smith LK, Ades PA, Berra K, Blumenthal JA, Certo CME, Dattilo AM, Davis D, DeBusk RF, et al. 1995. Cardiac rehabilitation. Rockville (MD): Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US).

(Wenger et al. 1995)

[ALSG] Advanced Life Support Group. 2001. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London (England): BMJ Books.

(ALSG 2001)

Klarsfeld A, Revah F. 2003. The biology of death: origins of mortality. Brady L, translator. Ithaca (NY): Cornell University Press.

Luzikov VN. 1985. Mitochondrial biogenesis and breakdown. Galkin AV, translator; Roodyn DB, editor. New York (NY): Consultants Bureau.

(Klarsfeld and Revah 2003)

(Luzikov 1985)

Gawande A. 2010. The checklist manifesto: how to get things right. New York (NY): Metropolitan Books. Chapter 3, The end of the master builder; p. 48–71.

(Gawande 2010)

Rapley R. 2010. Recombinant DNA and genetic analysis. In: Wilson K, Walker J, editors. Principles and techniques of biochemistry and molecular biology. 7th ed. New York (NY): Cambridge University Press. p. 195–262.

(Rapley 2010)

Alkire LG, editor. 2006. Periodical title abbreviations. 16th ed. Detroit (MI): Thompson Gale. 2 vol. Vol. 1, By abbreviation; vol. 2, By title.

(Alkire 2006)

Lutz M. 1989. 1903: American nervousness and the economy of cultural change [dissertation]. [Stanford (CA)]: Stanford University.

(Lutz 1989)

Blanco EE, Meade JC, Richards WD, inventors; Ophthalmic Ventures, assignee. 1990 Nov 13. Surgical stapling system. United States patent US 4,969,591.

(Blanco et al. 1990)

Weiss R. 2003 Apr 11. Study shows problems in cloning people: researchers find replicating primates will be harder than other mammals. Washington Post (Home Ed.). Sect. A:12 (col. 1).

(Weiss 2003)

Johnson D, editor. c2002. Surgical techniques in orthopaedics: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction [DVD]. Rosemont (IL): American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. 1 DVD.

(Johnson c2002)

Format for end reference:

Title of Homepage. Date of publication. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; [date updated; date accessed]. Notes.

APSnet: plant pathology online. c1994–2005. St Paul (MN): American Phytopathological Association; [accessed 2005 Jun 20]. http://www.apsnet.org/.

For the in-text reference, include only the first word or two of the title (enough to distinguish it from other titles in the reference list), followed by an ellipsis.

(APSnet . . . c1994–2005)

Author(s) of article. Date of publication. Title of article. Title of journal (edition). [date updated; date accessed];Volume(issue):location. Notes.

Savage E, Ramsay M, White J, Beard S, Lawson H, Hunjan R, Brown D. 2005. Mumps outbreaks across England and Wales in 2004: observational study. BMJ. [accessed 2005 May 31];330(7500):1119–1120. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/330/7500/1119. doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1119.

(Savage et al. 2005)

Author(s). Date of publication. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; [date updated; date accessed]. Notes.

Brogden KA, Guthmille JM, editors. 2002. Polymicrobial diseases. Washington (DC): ASM Press; [accessed February 28, 2014]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2475/.

(Brogden and Guthmille 2002)

Author’s name. Date of publication. Title of post [descriptive word]. Title of blog. [accessed date]. URL.

Fogarty M. 2012 Aug 14. Formatting titles on Twitter and Facebook [blog]. Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. [accessed 2012 Oct 19]. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/formatting-titles-on-twitter-and-facebook.aspx.

(Fogarty 2012)

Farley T, Galves A, Dickinson LM, Perez MJ. Forthcoming 2005 Jul. Stress, coping, and health: a comparison of Mexican immigrants, Mexican-Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. J Immigr Health.

(Farley et al. 2005)

Goldstein DS. Forthcoming 2006. Adrenaline and the inner world: an introduction to scientific integrative medicine. Baltimore (MD): Johns Hopkins University Press.

(Goldstein 2006)

Antani S, Long LR, Thoma GR, Lee DJ. 2003. Anatomical shape representation in spine x-ray images. Paper presented at: VIIP 2003. Proceedings of the 3rd IASTED International Conference on Visualization, Imaging and Image Processing; Benalmadena, Spain.

Charles L, Gordner R. 2005. Analysis of MedlinePlus en Español customer service requests. Poster session presented at: Futuro magnifico! Celebrating our diversity. MLA ’05: Medical Library Association Annual Meeting; San Antonio, TX.

(Atani et al. 2003)

(Charles and Gordner 2005)

References to personal communication are placed in running text rather than as formal end references. Permission is usually required and should be acknowledged in an “Acknowledgment” or “Notes” section at the end of the document.

Scientific Style and Format, 8th Edition text © 2014 by the Council of Science Editors. Scientific Style and Format Online © 2014 by the Council of Science Editors.

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Citation Styles

  • Chicago Style

What is ACS?

Citing your sources in acs style, reference list citation examples for common source types, acs style manual in the library.

  • Annotated Bibliographies
  • Literature Reviews
  • Zotero (Citation Management)

book cover for ACS style guide

  • A documentation style for writing and formatting scientific research papers including citing sources
  • Includes information about reviewing and submitting scientific manuscripts  
  • Created by the American Chemical Society
  • The ACS Style Guide contains comprehensive and explanations for proper scientific communication and style guidelines
  • ACS Quick Guide From Oregon State
  • ZoteroBib ZoteroBib is a free service that helps you quickly create a bibliography in any citation style.

How to cite in ACS style

1. In-Text Citations

  • Use an in-text citation to acknowledge that you are quoting or paraphrasing another author's words, ideas or data in the text of your research paper.
  • Add a superscript number at the end of the text being cited
  • Use an italic number in parentheses at the end of the text being cited
  • ​Put author’s name and resource publication date in parentheses at the end of the text being cited
  • For numerical in-text citations, assign one number to each source, in the order they are referenced in your paper.

2. References List

  • Include a reference list at the end of your paper. The list should begin on a new page and contain a full citation for each in-text citation referenced within your paper.
  • Each full citation should include the specific publication information required by the American Chemical Society rules. This allows your reader to find the sources, if desired.
  • If you used superscript or italic numbers for your in-text citations, arrange your reference list in numerical order.
  • If you used author's name and date for your in-text citations, arrange your reference list alphabetically by the last name of the author.

Basic Format:

Author 1; Author 2; etc. Title of Book , Edition Number; Publisher: Location, Year; Volume number, pp Pages Used.

Le Couteur, P.; Burreson, J.  Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History ; Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam: New York, 2003; pp 32-47.

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Book Title [Online]; Series Information; Publisher: Place of Publication, Year; Volume Number, Pages Used.      URL (accessed Month Day, Year).

Lo, K. K. Luminescent and Photoactive Transition Metal Complexes as Biomolecular Probes and Cellular Reagents [Online]; Springer:      Berlin, 2015. https://librarysearch.williams.edu/permalink/f/s1eqoc/01WIL_ALMA51121331050002786 (accessed Jan 19, 2020).

Magazine or Newspaper Articles

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Title of Article.  Title of Periodical,  Complete Date, Pages.

Manning, R. Super Organics.  Wired,  May 2004, pp 176-181.

  • For newspapers, include "p." or "pp." before the page numbers. If the article appears on discontinuous pages, give all page numbers separated by a comma.
  • If retrieved online, include "Retrieved from" and the URL.

Scholarly Journal Article (Accessed Online via Open Web)

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Title of Article. Journal Abbreviation [Online] Year, Issue, Pages. Complete URL (accessed Date).

Peacock-Lopez, E. Exact Solutions of the Quantum Double Square-Well Potential.  Chem. Ed.  [Online]  2007 ,  11 , 383-393.      http://chemeducator.org/bibs/0011006/11060383ep.htm (accessed Dec 6, 2018).

Scholarly Journal Article (Accessed via Library Database)

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Title of Article. Journal Abbreviation [Online], Date, Pages. Database Name. Complete URL of database      (accessed Date).

Begley, S. When Does Your Brain Stop Making New Neurons? Newsweek [Online] July 2, 2007, p 62. Expanded Academic Index.      http:/galegroup.com (accessed Aug 23, 2007).

Scholarly Journal Article (Accessed in Print)

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Title of Article.  Journal Abbreviation   Year ,  Volume , Pages.

Evans, D. A.; Fitch, D. M.; Smith, T. E.; Cee, V. J. Application of Complex Aldol Reactions to the Total Synthesis of Phorboxazole B.       J. Am. Chem. Soc.   2000,   122 , 10033-10046.

Author, X (if any). Title of Site. URL (accessed Month Day, Year), other identifying information (if any).

National Library of Medicine. Environmental Health & Toxicology. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/index.html (accessed Feb 04, 2020).

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Formatting guide

This guide describes how to prepare contributions for submission. We recommend you read this in full if you have not previously submitted a contribution to Nature . We also recommend that, before submission, you familiarize yourself with Nature ’s style and content by reading the journal, either in print or online, particularly if you have not submitted to the journal recently.

Formats for Nature contributions

Articles are the main format for original research contributions to Nature . In addition, Nature publishes other submitted material as detailed below.

Articles are original reports whose conclusions represent a substantial advance in understanding of an important problem and have immediate, far-reaching implications. In print, physical sciences papers do not normally exceed 6 pages on average, and biological, clinical and social-sciences papers do not normally exceed 8 pages on average. However, the final print length is at the editor’s discretion.

Articles start with a fully referenced summary paragraph, ideally of no more than 200 words, which is separate from the main text and avoids numbers, abbreviations, acronyms or measurements unless essential. It is aimed at readers outside the discipline. This summary paragraph should be structured as follows: 2-3 sentences of basic-level introduction to the field; a brief account of the background and rationale of the work; a statement of the main conclusions (introduced by the phrase 'Here we show' or its equivalent); and finally, 2-3 sentences putting the main findings into general context so it is clear how the results described in the paper have moved the field forwards. Please refer to our annotated example   to see how the summary paragraph should be constructed.

The typical length of a 6-page article with 4 modest display items (figures and tables) is 2500 words (summary paragraph plus body text). The typical length of an 8-page article with 5-6 modest display items is 4300 words. A ‘modest’ display item is one that, with its legend, occupies about a quarter of a page (equivalent to ~270 words). If a composite figure (with several panels) needs to occupy at least half a page in order for all the elements to be visible, the text length may need to be reduced accordingly to accommodate such figures. Keep in mind that essential but technical details can be moved into the Methods or Supplementary Information.

As a guideline, articles typically have no more than 50 references. (There is no such constraint on any additional references associated with Methods or Supplementary Information.)

Sections are separated with subheadings to aid navigation. Subheadings may be up to 40 characters (including spaces).

Word counts refer to the text of the paper. Title, author list, acknowledgements and references are not included in total word counts.

Matters Arising and Corrections

Matters Arising are exceptionally interesting or important comments and clarifications on original research papers or other peer-reviewed material published within the past 18 months in Nature . They are published online but not in print.

For further details of and instructions for how to submit such comments on peer-reviewed material published in Nature — or to notify editors of the potential need for a correction — please consult our Matters Arising page.

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Please access the other submitted material pages for further details on any of the contribution types below:

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The editorial process

See this section for an explanation of Nature 's editorial criteria for publication, refereeing policy and how editors handle papers after submission. Submission to a Nature journal is taken by the journal to mean that all the listed authors have agreed to all of the contents. See authorship policy for more details.

Presubmission enquiries

If you wish to enquire whether your Article might be suitable for consideration by Nature , please use our online presubmission enquiry service . All presubmission enquiries must include a cover paragraph to the editor stating the interest to a broad scientific readership, a fully referenced summary paragraph, and a reference list.

Readability

Nature is an international journal covering all the sciences. Contributions should therefore be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language. Thus, technical jargon should be avoided as far as possible and clearly explained where its use is unavoidable. Abbreviations, particularly those that are not standard, should also be kept to a minimum. The background, rationale and main conclusions of the study should be clearly explained. Titles and abstracts in particular should be written in language that will be readily intelligible to any scientist. Essential but specialized terms should be explained concisely but not didactically.

For gene, protein and other specialized names authors can use their preferred terminology so long as it is in current use by the community, but they must give all known names for the entity at first use in the paper. Nature prefers authors to use internationally agreed nomenclature. Papers containing new or revised formal taxonomic nomenclature for animals, whether living or extinct, are accepted conditional on the provision of LSIDs (Life Science Identifiers) by means of registration of such nomenclature with ZooBank, the proposed online registration system for the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

Even though no paper will be rejected because of poor language, non–native English speakers occasionally receive feedback from editors and reviewers regarding language and grammar usage in their manuscripts. You may wish to consider asking colleagues to read your manuscript and/or to use a professional editing service such as those provided by our affiliates Nature Research Editing Service or American Journal Experts . You can also get a fast, free grammar check of your manuscript that takes into account all aspects of readability in English. Please note that the use of a language editing service is not a requirement for publication in Nature .

Nature 's editors provide detailed advice about the expected print length when asking for the final version of the manuscript. Nature 's editors often suggest revised titles and rewrite the summary paragraphs of Articles so the conclusions are clear to a broad readership.

After acceptance, Nature 's subeditors (copyeditors) ensure that the text and figures are readable and clear to those outside the field, and edit papers into Nature 's house style. They pay particular attention to summary paragraphs, overall clarity, figures, figure legends and titles.

Proofs are sent before publication; authors are welcome to discuss proposed changes with Nature 's subeditors, but Nature reserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of figures.

A useful set of articles providing general advice about writing and submitting scientific papers can be found on the SciDev.Net website.

Format of Articles

Contributions should be double-spaced and written in English (spellings as in the Oxford English Dictionary ).

Contributions should be organized in the sequence: title, authors, affiliations (plus present addresses), bold first paragraph, main text, main references, tables, figure legends, methods (including separate data and code availability statements), methods references, acknowledgements, author contributions, competing interest declaration, additional information (containing supplementary information line (if any) and corresponding author line), extended data figure/table legends. In order to facilitate the review process, for initial submissions we encourage authors to present the manuscript text and figures together in a single file (Microsoft Word or PDF, up to 30 MB in size). The figures may be inserted within the text at the appropriate positions or grouped at the end, and each figure legend should be presented together with its figure. Also, please include line numbers within the text.

Titles do not exceed two lines in print. This equates to 75 characters (including spaces). Titles do not normally include numbers, acronyms, abbreviations or punctuation. They should include sufficient detail for indexing purposes but be general enough for readers outside the field to appreciate what the paper is about.

An uninterrupted page of text contains about 1250 words.

A typical 6-page Article contains about 2,500 words of text and, additionally, 4 modest display items (figures and/or tables) with brief legends, reference list and online-only methods section if applicable. A composite figure (with several panels) usually needs to take about half a page, equivalent to about 600 words, in order for all the elements to be visible (see section 5.9 for instructions on sizing figures).

A typical 8-page Article contains about 4300 words of text and, additionally, 5-6 modest display items (figures and/or tables) with brief legends, reference list and online-only methods section if applicable. A composite figure (with several panels) usually needs to take about half a page, equivalent to about 600 words, in order for all the elements to be visible (see section 5.9 for instructions on sizing figures).

Authors of contributions that significantly exceed the limits stated here (or as specified by the editor) will have to shorten their papers before acceptance, inevitably delaying publication.

Nature requires authors to specify the contribution made by their co-authors in the end notes of the paper (see section 5.5). If authors regard it as essential to indicate that two or more co-authors are equal in status, they may be identified by an asterisk symbol with the caption ‘These authors contributed equally to this work’ immediately under the address list. If more than three co-authors are equal in status, this should be indicated in the author contributions statement. Present addresses appear immediately below the author list (below the footnote rule at the bottom of the first page) and may be identified by a dagger symbol; all other essential author-related explanation is placed in the acknowledgements.

Our preferred format for text is Microsoft Word, with the style tags removed.

TeX/LaTeX: If you have prepared your paper using TeX/LaTeX, we will need to convert this to Word after acceptance, before your paper can be typeset. All textual material of the paper (including references, tables, figure captions, online methods, etc.) should be included as a single .tex file.

We prefer the use of a ‘standard’ font, preferably 12-point Times New Roman. For mathematical symbols, Greek letters and other special characters, use normal text or Symbol font. Word Equation Editor/MathType should be used only for formulae that cannot be produced using normal text or Symbol font.

The ‘Methods’ section is in the main text file, following the figure legends. This Methods section will appear in the PDF and in the full-text (HTML) version of the paper online, but will not appear in the printed issue. The Methods section should be written as concisely as possible but should contain all elements necessary to allow interpretation and replication of the results. As a guideline, the Methods section does not typically exceed 3,000 words. To increase reproducibility, authors are encouraged to deposit a detailed description of protocols used in their study in a protocol sharing platform of their choice. Nature Portfolio’s Protocol Exchange is a free and open service designed to help researchers share experimental know-how. Protocols deposited by the authors in Protocol Exchange will be linked to the online Methods section upon publication.

Detailed descriptions of methods already published should be avoided; a reference number can be provided to save space, with any new addition or variation stated.

The Methods section should be subdivided by short bold headings referring to methods used and we encourage the inclusion of specific subsections for statistics, reagents and animal models. If further references are included in this section their numbering should continue from the end of the last reference number in the rest of the paper and they are listed after the Methods section.

Please provide separate Data Availability and Code Availability statements after the main text statements and before the Extended Data legends; detailed guidance can be found in our data availability and data citations policy . Certain data types must be deposited in an appropriate public structured data depository (details are available here ), and the accession number(s) provided in the manuscript. Full access is required at the time of publication. Should full access to data be required for peer review, authors must provide it.

The Methods section cannot contain figures or tables (essential display items should be included in the Extended Data or exceptionally in the Supplementary Information).

References are each numbered, ordered sequentially as they appear in the text, tables, boxes, figure legends, Methods, Extended Data tables and Extended Data figure legends.

When cited in the text, reference numbers are superscript, not in brackets unless they are likely to be confused with a superscript number.

Do not use linked fields (produced by EndNote and similar programs). Please use the one-click button provided by EndNote to remove EndNote codes before saving your file.

As a guideline, Articles allow up to 50 references in the main text if needed and within the average page budget. Only one publication can be listed for each number. Additional references for Methods or Supplementary Information are not included in this count.

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Published conference abstracts, numbered patents, preprints on recognized servers, papers in press, and research datasets that have been assigned a digital object identifier may be included in reference lists, but text, grant details and acknowledgements may not. (An exception is the highlighted references which we ask authors of Reviews, Perspectives and Insights articles to provide.)

All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than five, in which case only the first author should be given, followed by ‘et al.’.

Please follow the style below in the published edition of Nature in preparing reference lists.

Authors should be listed surname first, followed by a comma and initials of given names.

Titles of all cited articles are required. Titles of articles cited in reference lists should be in upright, not italic text; the first word of the title is capitalized, the title written exactly as it appears in the work cited, ending with a full stop. Book titles are italic with all main words capitalized. Journal titles are italic and abbreviated according to common usage. Volume numbers are bold. The publisher and city of publication are required for books cited. (Refer to published papers in Nature for details.)

Research datasets may be cited in the reference list if they have been assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs) and include authors, title, publisher (repository name), identifier (DOI expressed as a URL). Example: Hao, Z., AghaKouchak, A., Nakhjiri, N. & Farahmand, A. Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS) data sets. figshare http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.853801 (2014).

Recognized preprints may be cited in the reference list. Example: Babichev, S. A., Ries, J. & Lvovsky, A. I. Quantum scissors: teleportation of single-mode optical states by means of a nonlocal single photon. Preprint at http://arXiv.org/quant-ph/0208066 (2002).

References to web-only journals should give authors, article title and journal name as above, followed by URL in full - or DOI if known - and the year of publication in parentheses.

References to websites should give authors if known, title of cited page, URL in full, and year of posting in parentheses.

End notes are brief and follow the Methods (or Methods References, if any).

Acknowledgements should be brief, and should not include thanks to anonymous referees and editors, inessential words, or effusive comments. A person can be thanked for assistance, not “excellent” assistance, or for comments, not “insightful” comments, for example. Acknowledgements can contain grant and contribution numbers.

Author Contributions: Authors are required to include a statement to specify the contributions of each co-author. The statement can be up to several sentences long, describing the tasks of individual authors referred to by their initials. See the authorship policy page for further explanation and examples.

Competing interests  statement.

Additional Information: Authors should include a set of statements at the end of the paper, in the following order:

Papers containing Supplementary Information contain the statement: “Supplementary Information is available for this paper.”

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Life sciences and behavioural & social sciences reporting guidelines

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For initial submissions, we encourage authors to present the manuscript text and figures together in a single Word doc or PDF file, and for each figure legend to be presented together with its figure. However, when preparing the final paper to be accepted, we require figure legends to be listed one after the other, as part of the text document, separate from the figure files, and after the main reference list.

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Figure quality

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  • v.53(3); May-Jun 2019

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Formatting References for Scientific Manuscripts

Srinivas b s kambhampati.

Sri Dhaatri Orthopaedic, Maternity and Gynaecology Center, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India

Lalit Maini

1 Department of Orthopaedics, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

While references are an essential and integral part of a scientific manuscript, format and style of references are as varied as the number of journals currently present. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in their latest recommendations for publication, 1 advice authors to quote original references whenever possible. We would recommend the readers to go through these guidelines as they are given in sufficient detail to submit a good set of references including styling. Other resources for citing references include the PubMed section 2 which gives samples of formatting of different reference types and the eBook: Citing Medicine, 3 published by the U. S. National Library of Medicine, which gives assistance and rules to authors, editors, publishers and librarians for formatting of references for different reference types.

References are formatted in two basic styles – the Vancouver style which is numeric (more commonly used in medical journals) and Harvard which uses author-date style (more commonly used in natural and Social sciences journals). 4 Parts and order of the parts cited differ on what the author is citing (reference type) and the journal that is being submitted to. The most common types of references include journal article, book, book section or chapter, dissertation, monograph, and webpage. As an example, for a journal article, the parts of a reference in the sequence include authors, article title, journal title, date of publication, volume, issue, and location/pagination. Each journal has its own modification of the format for each part and the punctuation marks, or their lack of, between the parts. Formatting style in each part of a reference could involve placement of selected punctuation marks, bold and italics enhancements, alphabetical order or sequential ordering of references and style of citing in the text, making the combination of variations that create a unique reference style as large in number as the number of journals currently published. It is not clear why such a system has evolved, but it requires considerable attention to detail to get the formatting correct and is time-consuming for the author. The tradition of the journal has been thought as one of the reasons. 4 In manuscripts submitted for the Indian Journal of Orthopaedics (IJO), the reference section carries the most formatting errors committed by authors.

The advantage of having a constant style within a journal is two-fold, apart from an esthetic appearance of references across all articles published by the journal. Ease of reading the references at the end of each article and ease of finding reference part by the reader if he/she is used to the format and plans to look up the reference. As a student/professional in the medical field, one would require attention to finer details of his/her research work as well as in their clinical practice and hence exercising attention to the references would help improve those skills. Such a wide variation in the styles of references has also benefitted some software companies who deal with reference managers (RMs). Some RMs are free for use, and the authors are advised to use different RMs to see which one suits their needs best. While some RMs are cloud based, others are computer based and do not require an internet connection while some others are cloud and computer based. The variation in the style of references across journals appears unlikely to be standardized to a single universal format in the near future.

The Citation Style Language (CSL) is an XML-based computer language developed to standardize formatting of citations and references in manuscripts submitting to journals. They are text application editable files which are imported into RMs. An increasing number of RMs use CSL to help users format their list of references according to individual journal guidelines. However, not all journals are supported by CSL files.

There are two main repositories for access to CSL files – One by GitHub 5 and the other by Zotero 6 developed by Corporation for Digital Scholarship and Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. These contain more than 8500 styles of references. Authors using Zotero, Mendeley, RefWorks, Papers, CrossRef, Bibliography, and some 42 other RMs can use these CSL files to manage references within them. IJO did not have a CSL file until now in both the repositories. In this scenario, there are a few options for the authors preparing references for a manuscript. First, to type and style references manually which would take a long time and prone to human errors. Second, a CSL file similar to IJO may be selected from the repository and used and later manually edited, if any needed. However, this involves searching for an exact match of style for a journal registered in the repository of CSL files. Third, there are RMs with inbuilt options to format references while citing in the text. This option is independent of CSL. The disadvantage here is that the author is bound by the list of reference styles already loaded within the software. They may not be able to add new formats. Fourth, some RMs allow authors to prepare a style, but this would take some time to prepare if the style is not already inbuilt. As a fifth option, a CSL file that is close to IJO may be chosen, and the code of this file tweaked with minor editing to convert it for use with IJO. To do that, the author must be familiar with programming or editing of HTML/XML files since HTML is a language that is closer to XML.

Zotero's repository 7 website has a user-friendly interface in which such searches are easier to perform. It has 9357 styles stored in the repository at the time of writing this article on March 17, 2019. There are 1924 unique styles through which one can search if their required journal is listed. Zotero draws CSL files from GitHub into their repository. Hence, if a file is created in GitHub, it is drawn into Zotero by default. CSL Project 8 is a website sponsored by four well known RMs. These are Zotero, Mendeley, 9 Papers, 10 and RefWorks. 11 This website gives detailed specifications and documentation of CSL language if one is interested in coding these files. If one is proficient with XML, they can create a style and submit it to the GitHub website for others to benefit. Editing is easier if one uses the Zotero RM as it has an inbuilt option to edit style. It can be done even in other managers or with the use of a standard text editing application in Windows or Mac operating systems. Once a new CSL file is developed, in order to publish it, it has to be validated by CSL validator website 12 and submitted at the GitHub site for accepting into the repository. Even finer details like number of author names before et al. while formatting reference, punctuation marks and their placement, style of each part of the reference and each style of the reference, etc., can be edited accurately.

Once developed, the output of references and citations is remarkably consistent, and too much time need not be directed to editing the punctuation marks and styling of the references and citations while preparing the manuscript. The only hurdle after this would be to get full details of the references reliably and accurately into the RM database while importing the references. The author needs to check that the references were properly imported into the database. If verified, they may be used any number of times with precision. With appropriate selection, the citing as well as the list of references can be formatted according to the journal that is being considered, for submission. Those who are already using RMs may be well aware of the advantages and the time such CSL files can save while preparing a manuscript.

We are happy to inform that a CSL file for IJO has now been created in the GitHub repository 1 and Zotero Styles repository 3 and it can be used by authors using the RMs listed in the CSL website and benefit from its use. The direct link of the file in the repository is given 13 [ Figure 1 ]. Basic users of RMs may download it through their RMs by selecting Indian Journal of Orthopaedics option. Advanced users who know where to place this file may access using the weblink given. Examples of reference style and citation for IJO are given in Figure 2 .

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is IJOrtho-53-381-g001.jpg

Screenshot of browser shows the web address and search words used to retrieve Citation Style Language file for Indian Journal of Orthopaedics

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is IJOrtho-53-381-g002.jpg

Examples of format of references and their citation in text for the Indian Journal of Orthopaedics

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Citing Sources: Which citation style should I use?

The citation style you choose will largely be dictated by the discipline in which you're writing. For many assignments your instructor will suggest or require a certain style. If you're not sure which one to use, it's always best to check with your instructor or, if you are submitting a manuscript, the publisher to see if they require a certain style. In many cases, you may not be required to use any particular style as long as you pick one and use it consistently. If you have some flexibility, use the guide below to help you decide.

Disciplinary Citation Styles

  • Social Sciences
  • Sciences & Medicine
  • Engineering

When in doubt, try: Chicago Notes

  • Architecture & Landscape Architecture → try Chicago Notes or Chicago Author-Date
  • Art → try Chicago Notes
  • Art History → use  Chicago Notes
  • Dance → try Chicago Notes or MLA
  • Drama → try Chicago Notes or MLA
  • Ethnomusicology → try Chicago Notes
  • Music → try Chicago Notes
  • Music History → use  Chicago Notes
  • Urban Design & Planning → try Chicago Notes or Chicago Author-Date

When in doubt, try: MLA

  • Cinema Studies → try MLA
  • Classics → try Chicago Notes
  • English → use  MLA
  • History → use   Chicago Notes
  • Linguistics → try MLA
  • Languages → try MLA
  • Literatures → use  MLA
  • Philosophy → try MLA
  • Religion → try Chicago Notes

When in doubt, try: APA or Chicago Notes

  • Anthropology → try Chicago Author-Date
  • Business → try APA (see also Citing Business Information from Foster Library)
  • Communication → try APA
  • Criminology & Criminal Justice → try Chicago Author-Date
  • Economics → try APA
  • Education → try APA
  • Geography → try APA
  • Government & Law (for non-law students) → try Chicago Notes
  • History → try Chicago Notes
  • Informatics → try APA
  • Law (for law students) → use Bluebook
  • Library & Information Science → try APA
  • Museology → try Chicago Notes
  • Political Science → try Chicago Notes
  • Psychology → use  APA
  • Social Work → try APA
  • Sociology → use  ASA or Chicago Author-Date

When in doubt, try: CSE Name-Year or CSE Citation-Sequence

  • Aquatic & Fisheries Sciences → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Astronomy → try AIP or CSE Citation-Sequence
  • Biology & Life Sciences → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Chemistry → try ACS
  • Earth & Space Sciences → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Environmental Sciences → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Forest Sciences → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Health Sciences: Public Health, Medicine, & Nursing → use AMA or NLM
  • Marine Sciences → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Mathematics → try AMS or CSE Citation-Sequence
  • Oceanography → try CSE Name-Year or APA
  • Physics → try AIP or CSE Citation-Sequence
  • Psychology  → use  APA

When in doubt, try: CSE Name-Year or IEEE

  • Aeronautics and Astronautics → try CSE Citation-Sequence
  • Bioengineering → try AMA or NLM
  • Chemical Engineering → try ACS
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering → try CSE Name-Year
  • Computational Linguistics → try CSE Citation-Sequence
  • Computer Science & Engineering → try IEEE
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering → try IEEE
  • Engineering (general) → try IEEE or CSE Name-Year
  • Human Centered Design & Engineering → try IEEE
  • Human-Computer Interaction + Design → try IEEE
  • Industrial and Systems Engineering → try CSE Name-Yea r
  • Mechanical Engineering → try Chicago Notes or Chicago Author-Date

See also: Additional Citation Styles , for styles used by specific engineering associations.

Pro Tip: Citation Tools Save Time & Stress!

If you’re enrolled in classes that each require a different citation style, it can get confusing really fast! The tools on the Quick Citation Generators section can help you format citations quickly in many different styles.

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Citing Your Sources: CSE (Council of Science Editors) Style

  • Scientific Style and Format
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Boston University Libraries SEARCH

  • Boston University Libraries SEARCH provides a single place to search for academic material provided by the BU Libraries, including books, journals, video and sound recordings as well as online material from a variety of sources.

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

citation format scientific paper

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects.

Scientific Style and Format: the CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers

Scientific Style and Format Style Manual Committee, Council of Science Editors. 8th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2014 Location: Science & Engineering Library T11.S386 2014 

See Chapter 30:  Citations and References pages 617-676  Citing electronic sources pages 665-669

the Citation-Sequence system (see page 619-622) the Name-Year system (see pages 619-620)

The following examples use the Name-Year system.

The in-text citation includes the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication of the document enclosed in parentheses.in-text citation: (Sawin 2004)

The reference list is included at the end of the document. Reference list entries are arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the author, editor, or other individual or entity.Names are formatted as Last, Initials.reference list entry: Sawin, JL. 2004. Mainstreaming renewable energy in the 21st century. Washington, DC. Worldwatch Institute. 76 p.

General format: Author/editor. Year. Title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher. #pages. Example: Sorensen, B. 2004. Renewable energy : its physics, engineering, use, environmental impacts, economy, and planning aspects. 3rd ed. Boston : Elsevier Academic Press. 928 p.

Chapter or other part of a book

General format: Author of selection. Year. Title of selection. In: Author/editor of book. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: publisher. Pages of selection. Example: Singleton P, Sainsbury D. 2001. Dictionary of microbiology and molecular biology. 3rd ed. New York: J Wiley. Plasmid; p 593-4.

Conference proceedings

General format: Editor. Year. Title of publication or conference. Name of conference; dates of conference; place of conference. Place of publication: publisher. Total number of pages. Example: Dubois DM, editor. 2004. Computing anticipatory systems. CASYS 2003 – Sixth International Conference; 2003 August 11-16; Liege, Belgium. Melville, NY: American Institute of Physics. 602 p.

Conference papers

General format: Author of the paper. Date of publication. Title of the paper. Connective phrase [In]: editor of the proceedings. Title of the publication, or name of conference, or both; dates of the conference; place of the conference. Place of publication: publisher. Paper pages. Example: Rossler OE. 2004. Nonlinear dynamics, artificial cognition and galactic export. In: Dubois DM, editor. Computing anticipatory systems. CASYS 2003 – Sixth International Conference; 2003 August 11-16; Liege, Belgium. Melville, NY: American Institute of Physics. p 47-67.

Journal article

General format: Author. Year (or Date). Title of article. Title of journal. Volume and issue number. Page numbers. URL in angle brackets. Date accessed. Example:  Bisagni C, Mirandola, C. 2005. Experimental and numer ical investigation of crash behavior of composite helicopter cruciform elements. Journal of the American Helicopter Society 50(1): 107-116. Example: Cavalcanti A. 2003. Assembly automation with evolutionary nanorobots and sensor-based control applied to nanomedicine. IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology.  2(2): 82 – 87.  {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.bu.edu/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1204819} Accessed April 7, 2020

General format:  Author. Title [medium]. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date of Publication [Date of update/Date of citation]. Availability. Example:  Animal Welfare Information Center [Internet]. Beltsville (MD): National Agricultural Library (US); [updated April 14, 2005; cited April 7, 2020]. Available from: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/.

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Citation Guide: Council of Science Editors (Citation-Sequence System)

CSE stands for the Council of Science Editors. CSE style is based on the eighth edition of Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers .

CSE style, used primarily in the physical sciences, life sciences, and mathematics, recommends two systems.

  • a Citation-Sequence system, which lists sources in the references list according to the order in which they appear in the document
  • a Name-Year system, which is similar to the Author-Date system used by APA

This guide is based on Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (8th ed.) , a publication of the Council of Science Editors. For more detailed formatting information, guides and examples, visit the Council of Science Editors website. Formatting examples also based on the National Library of Medicine Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation Supplement: Internet Formats . 2 nd Ed. 2007. [Updated Aug 2015].

[Guide Updated Jul 2017]

Citing Sources within Your Paper (Using In-Text Numbering)

The CSE - Citation/Sequence in-text citation system is simple: It relies on numbers. Unlike the Name/Year system, no parenthetical information is required. All that's needed is a superscripted number: a raised numeral located at the end of a clause or sentence identifying the content as outside source material.

The superscripted number flags the reader's attention to a correspondingly numbered entry on a References list located at the end of a book or document.

In-Text Numbering Rules

CSE In-Text Numbering Rules are as follows:

  • In-text superscripted numbers appear after the punctuation and quotation marks at the end of a cited clause or sentence. There is no space between the punctuation and the numeral.
  • Source material located in the first part of a sentence separated by an em dash (two hyphens) is cited with the number placed before the dash begins.
  • Beginning with 1, each number follows in sequential order from page to page.
  • When citing a previously mentioned source, use the first number assigned to the source.
  • When referring to more than one source, separate the numbers using commas.
  • When referring to a source cited in another source, use the phrase "cited in":

The data 12(cited in 8) collected in the third month of study...

  • Superscripted numbers can be created in Microsoft® Word.

How to Superscript Numbers with Microsoft® Word 2007 or later

  • Select the number you want to superscript
  • Click on the superscript icon located in the font box ( x 2 )
  • Click on the superscript icon again to return to normal font

How to Superscript Numbers with Microsoft® Word 2003 or earlier

  • Select Font on the tool bar Format drop-down menu and open the Font tab.
  • Select the same font and style used in the rest of your document.
  • Select a font-size one or two points smaller than the body text.
  • Select automatic (for black) or another color choice from the Font color menu.
  • Check the Superscript option in the Effects section.
  • Click OK, return to your document and insert your superscript number.
  • Once inserted, you must return to the Font dialogue box and uncheck the Superscript selection before entering any more text.

Citing Sources at the End of Your Paper

The end documentation in the CSE Citation/Sequence system is called the References list. It is located at the end of a document or book and contains all the bibliographic information needed to find out more about each cited source within the text.

This page is a selective bibliography and does not include a full accounting of sources related to or consulted before you began writing your document, but only those actually cited. You may want to include sources that directly informed your thinking but aren't explicitly cited in the text on a separate page entitled Additional References . Further reading suggestions or a fuller bibliography should be placed on yet another page entitled Additional Reading or Bibliography .

Proper CSE documentation depends on the References page. Without it the in-text numbers would make little sense as they would no longer be pointing at any corresponding entries in the end documentation.

References Formatting Rules

CSE references list formatting rules call for the end documentation to begin on the last page of your document, not on a separate one. If your document is 6½ pages long, the References list should begin on page 7, directly below the concluding text of your document.

The references list formatting rules are as follows:

  • References is the most common title, however Cited References or Literature Cited are acceptable titles as well.
  • The title should be placed flush-left on the page and may appear Bold , Underlined , or capped in UPPERCASE letters.
  • Double space between title and first entry; single-space all other entries.
  • Set font-size one or two point (type) sizes smaller than the document text.
  • Page numbers are included when specific passages rather than entire sources are being cited and in the case of quotations.
  • Arrange entries numerically, following their initial in-text order of appearance. Each number should be followed by a period and one space.

Individual entries may be formatted in the following three ways:

  • No indentation. All lines in each entry flush-left.
  • Numbers flush-left. All lines in each entry indented one or two spaces.
  • Indent the first line of each entry five spaces from the left margin (the normal tab-button default space). Subsequent lines are flush-left.

Bibliography Formatting Rules

CSE bibliography formatting rules differ significantly from the References rules:

  • The title-- Bibliography --replaces the word References at the top of a separate page.
  • Numbers are omitted altogether and entries are arranged alphabetically, last name first, instead of numerically.
  • Optional elements such as author affiliations, original language, notes, etc., may be included here. More information on their placement is available online in National Library of Medicine Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation (pdf file).

Examples of CSE Citation-Sequence References Formatting

Books and book parts.

Note: For consistency, book entries should be formatted with the initials of authors and editors first names when the References list includes journal article entries [for which the rule calls for using initials rather than the first names of authors and editors] as well.

1. Book with One Author

Format: Give the author’s last name and first initial with no comma. Next, include the title, capitalizing only the first word and proper nouns, followed by publication information. Include the state abbreviation in parentheses after the city.

1. Leonard, C. The meat racket: the secret takeover of America’s food business. New York (NY): Simon Schuster; 2014.

2. Book with Two or More Authors

Format: List the authors in the order in which they appear on the title page, each of them last name first. (If there are more than 10 authors, list the first ten followed by a comma and “et al.”) Note that periods are not used after initials. Separate authors with commas. When using CSE style, abbreviate “United Kingdom” as “GB.”

2. Willis KJ, McElwain JC. The evolution of plants. 2 nd ed. Oxford (GB): Oxford University Press; 2014.

3. Edited Books or a Work in an Anthology

Format : List the author and title of the section; then include the word “In” followed by a colon, the editor’s name (last name followed by initials) and the word “editor.” Include the book title, place, and publisher, and note the inclusive pages of the section. Note that page range numbers are given in full.

3. Rothenberg M, Clarke MF. Cancer stem cells, In: Carlson BM, editor. Stem cell anthology. London (GB): Academic Press; 2010. p. 221-236.

4. Books with Author, Editor, Translator and Note

Format : Identify the editor(s) before the publication. Identify the translator after the title, giving the last name first.

4a. Einstein, A. The cosmic view of Albert Einstein: writings on art, science, and peace. Martin W, Ott M, editors. New York (NY): Sterling Publishing; 2013.

4b. Schoeps KH. Literature and film in the Third Reich. Dell’Orto KM, translator. Columbia (SC): Camden House; 2010.

5. Microform Books

Format : Entry number. Last name and initial(s) of author, [followed by last names and initial(s) of other authors, if any]. Title of book [type of microtext]. Place of publication: microform publisher; year of publication. Number of reels. Type of film.

5. Fortney, S. Bedrest in healthy women [microfiche]. Springfield (VA): National Technical Information Service; 1986. 2 microfiches: negative.

6. Multivolume Work

Format : Include the total number of volumes if you are making a reference to all volumes in the work, or “Vol.” followed by the specific volume number followed by the title of that volume (if that volume is separately titles).

6. Serway RA, Jewett JW. Physics for scientists and engineers. Vol. 5. 8 th ed. Pacific Grove (CA): Brooks-Cole; 2010.

7. Titled Book Chapter

Format : If you wish to refer to a chapter of a book, identify the chapter of the book after the publication information. End with the inclusive pages of the chapter.

7. Pendergrast M. Inside the outbreaks: the elite medical detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Boston (MA): Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2010. Chapter 7, Fighting pox, pandemics, and special pathogens; pg. 72-90.

8. Titled Book Chapter not Written by Book Author

Format : Entry number. Last name and initial(s) of author of chapter or part, [followed by last names and initial(s) of other authors, if any]. Title of chapter or part. In: last name and initial(s) of author or editor of book [followed by last names and initial(s) of other authors or editors, if any]. Title of book. Edition information. Place of publication: publisher; year of publication. Inclusive page numbers.

8. Hansen B. New York City epidemics and history for the public. In: Harden VA, Risse GB, editors. Aids and the historian. Bethesda: National Institute of Health; 1991. p 21-8.

Format: Identify the organization as the author.

9. National Geographic. EarthPulse. 2 nd ed. New York (NY): Wiley; 2010.

Format: Begin with the title.

10. The first 100,000 prime numbers. Lenox (MA): Hard Press; 2007. 215 p.

Format: Note the edition (for instance “2 nd ed.” or “New rev. ed.”) after the title and with a separating period.

11. Roberts N. The holocene: an environmental history. 3 rd ed. Oxford (GB): Wiley Blackwell; 2014.

Format: To cite an anthology of essays or a collection of articles, treat the editor’s name as you would an author’s name but identify with the word “editor.”

12. Carlson BM, editor. Stem cell anthology. London (GB): Academic Press; 2010.

Format: If the part is written by someone other than the author of the book, treat it as you would a chapter in an edited book, identifying the author or editor of the book before the book title.

13. Groopman J. Introduction. In: Cohen J, editor. The best of the best American science writing: ten years of the series. New York (NY): Ecco; 2010; p. ix-xv.

Format: List the editors of the proceedings as authors or, if there are no editors, begin with the name and year of the conference. Then give the title of the publication; the date of the conference; the place of the conference; and the place of publication, publisher, and date.

14. Platts H, Barron C, Lundock J, Pearce J, Yoo J, editors. TRAC 2013. Proceedings of the 23 rd Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference; 2013; London. Oxford (GB): Oxbow Books; c2014; 160 p.

Format: Use the general format for a book, adding the word “dissertation” or “thesis” in square brackets after the title. Treat the institution granting the degree as the publisher. If the place is not listed on the dissertation but can be inferred, use brackets around the place as shown here.

15. Prescott JW. Computer-assisted discovery and characterization of imaging biomarkers for disease diagnosis and treatment planning [dissertation]. [Columbus (OH)]: Ohio State University; 2010; 191 p.

Format: Use the general format for a book, adding the word “dissertation” or “thesis” in square brackets as a final element of the title. Treat the institution granting the degree as the publisher.

16. Wagner KP. A generalized acceptance urn model [dissertation]. Tampa (FL): University of South Florida; 2010.

Scholarly and Professional Journals

Note: When there are between two and ten authors, list all authors in the entry. When there are more than ten, list only the first ten.

1. General Format for Journal Articles

Format : Abbreviate and capitalize all of the major words in a journal’s title; omit articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. The CSE manual includes specific guidelines for citing journal titles. A semicolon separates the year of publication followed by a semicolon and the volume number. If there is an issue number, include it in parentheses, followed by a colon and the page numbers. There are no spaces between the year, volume number, and page numbers.

1. Gauthier S, Leuzy A, Racine E, Rosa-Neto P. Diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease; past present and future ethical issues. Prog Neurobiol. 2013;110:102-113.

Format : List the entry number, the last name and initial(s) of author, followed by last names and initial(s) of other authors, if any]. List the article title and include the type of article in square brackets along with the title of the journal, the year of publication followed by a semicolon, the volume (issue number) followed by a colon and inclusive page numbers.

2. Besho F, Kobayashi N. A historical sketch of pediatric hematology and oncology in Japan [editorial]. Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 1993; 10(2): v-viii.

Format : List the entry number, last name and itiatial(s) of the author, followed by the last names and initial(s) of other others (if any). List the article title, the title of the journal, the year of publication followed by a semi colon, the volume (issue number) followed by a colon and inclusive page numbers.

3. Besho F, Kobayashi N. A historical sketch of pediatric hematology and oncology in Japan. Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 1993; 10(2): v-viii.

Format : List the entry number, the last name and initials of the author, followed by the last names and initials of other authors (if any). List the title of the article, the title of the journal, the year of publication, volume number followed by a colon and the the first set of inclusive page numbers, second set, and so on.

4. Weisse AB. A plague in Philadelphia. The story of Legionnaires' disease. Hosp Pract. (Off Ed). 1992; 27(6):151-4,157,161-8.

Format : List the entry number, the last name and initial(s) of the author, followed by the last names and initial(s) of other authors (if any). List the title of the article, the title of the journal, the year of publication followed by a semicolon, the volume (issue number and supplement) followed by a colon and inclusive page numbers.

5. Feindel W. Development of surgical therapy of epilepsy at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Can J Neurol Sci. 1991;18(4 Suppl): 549-53.

Format : List the entry number, the last name and initial(s) of the author, followed by the last names and initial(s) of other authors (if any). List the title of the article, the title of the journal, the year of publication followed by a semicolon, the volume and supplement number followed by a colon and inclusive page numbers.

6. Rahe RH. Psychosocial stressors and adjustment disorder: Van Gogh's life chart illustrates stress and disease. J Clin Psychiatry. 1990; 51 Suppl: 13-9.

Newspaper and Magazine Articles

1. A Signed Article in a Newspaper

Format : Treat newspaper articles as you would magazine articles, identifying their pages by section, page, and column on which they begin (in parentheses).

1. Jalonick MC. Suit says toys in Happy Meals break the law. Boston Globe. 2010 June 23;Sect. B:11 (col. 1).

Format : Begin the entry with the title of the article. “Anonymous” is not permitted in CSE style.

2. A mouse to save your wrist and hand. Boston Globe. 2010 Nov 29;Sect. B:8 (col. 3).

Format : Magazines are not identified by volume. Give only the date (year, month, day for weekly magazines; year and month for monthly magazines). Abbreviate all months to their first three letters.

3. Milius S. In field or backyard, frogs face threats. Sci News. 2010 Sep 11:28-29.

Conference Proceedings, Papers and Abstracts

1. Published Proceedings of a Conference

Format : List the editors of the proceedings as authors or, if there are no editors, begin with the name and year of the conference. Then give the title of the publication; the date of the conference; the place of the conference; and the place of publication, publisher, and date.

1. Platts H, Barron C, Lundock J, Pearce J, Yoo J, editors. TRAC 2013. Proceedings of the 23 rd Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference; 2013; London. Oxford (GB): Oxbow books; c2014; 160;.

Format : Format the citation as you would a chapter in an edited book.

2. Paten B, Diekhans M, Ear D, St. John J, Ma J, Suh BB, Haussler D. Cactus graphs for genome comparisons. In: Berger B, editor. RECOMB 2010. Research in computational molecular biology, 14 th annual international conference proceedings; 2010 Apri 25-28; Lisbon, Portugal. Berlin (DE): Springer-Verlag; c2010; p. 410-425.

Format : List the entry Number, the last name and initial(s) of the author, followed by the last names and initial(s) of other authors (if any). List the title of the abstract followed by “abstract” in square brackets. List “In:” followed by the title of the proceedings or conference; the year month and number of days of the conference; and the location of the conference. List the place of publication: the publisher (capitalized); and the year of publication. List the page numbers and include the abstract number [if available].

21. Willoughby E. A neglected treatise on headache [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the International Conference of the Auckland Medical Historical Society; 1994 Aug; Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland: Pyramid Press; 1995. p 419.

Scientific and Technical Reports

Formats for scientific and technical reports vary according to the organization responsible for the report. Follow the examples in formatting listed below.

1. U.S. Government Report Authored by a Government Agency or Dept.

Format : Entry Number. Name of Agency or Department (US) [Abbreviation of Agency or Department]. Title and description of report. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year and Month of Publication. Number of Pages or Volumes. Availability Statement.

1. Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health (US) [DOE]. Office of Occupational Medicine. Annual report. Washington, DC: DOE; 1993 Aug. 14 p. Available from: NTIS, Springfield, VA; DE-93018387.

Format : Entry Number. Last Name and Initial(s) of Author, [followed by last names and initial(s) of other authors, if any] (Name of Responsible Organization). Title and description of report. Place of Publication: Publisher or Sponsoring Organization; Year Month and Day of Publication. Report Number. Contract Number. Number of Pages. Availability Information.

2. Lenz TG, Vaughan JD, Cooper LN. (Colorado State University). Study of improved methods for predicting chemical equilibria. Final Report 1 Jan 90-31 Mar 93. Washington: Department of Energy; 1993 Sep. Report nr DOE/ER/13582-T3. Contract nr FG02-86ER13582. 33 p. Available from: NTIS, Springfied, VA; DE-94001647.

Format : Entry Number. Name of Responsible Organization [abbreviation of performing organization]. Title and description of report. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year and Month of Publication. Report Number. Number of Pages.

3. Gas Research Inst. [GRI], Institute of Gas Technology. Computerized operations management. Final report Feb 1992. Chicago (IL): Transport and Storage Research Dept; 1992 Feb. Report nr PB94-12203, PB94-122041. 1009 p. in 2 v.

Dissertations, Theses and Patents

1. Published Dissertation or Thesis

Format : Use the general format for a book, adding the word “dissertation” or “thesis” in square brackets after the title. Treat the institution granting the degree as the publisher. If the place is not listed on the dissertation but can be inferred, use brackets around the place as shown below.

1. Prescott JW. Computer-assisted discovery and characterization of imaging biomarkers for disease diagnosis and treatment planning [dissertation]. [Columbus (OH)]: Ohio State University; 2010; 191 p.

2. Upublished Dissertation or Thesis

Format : Use the general format for a book, adding the word “dissertation” or “thesis” in square brackets as a final element of the title. Treat the institution granting the degree as the publisher.

2. Wagner KP. A generalized acceptance urn model [dissertation]. Tampa (FL): University of South Florida; 2010.

Format : Entry Number. Last Name and Initial(s) of Inventor, [followed by last names and initials of other inventors, if any], inventor(s). Assignee. Title of Patented device or process. Patent descriptor. Year Month Day the Patent Was Issued.

3. Umezawa H, Suzuki S, Ohkuma T, inventors; Zaidan Hojin Biseibutsu Kagaka, assignee. Medical composition for injection containing a spergualin as active ingredient and process for preparing the same notag [stabilizers of dextrans, cyclodextrins, and chodroitin sulfate; anticarcinogenic agents, immunomodulators]. US patent 4,876,244. 1989 Oct 24.

Legal Materials

Note: The NLM ( National Library of Medicine Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation ) does not offer its own guidelines for documenting legal references. The CSE instead defers to A Uniform System of Citation (HLRA 1992) and offers the formats below, based on their recommendations.

1. Court Cases

Format : Entry Number. Title of Case, Volume Source Page Numbers (Court and Date).

1. Meyer v. State of Nebraska., 262 U.S. 390 (S.Ct. 625 1923).

Format : Entry Number. Title of Statute, Volume Number Source Section Number § (Year of Publication)

2. Farm Credit Act. 42 U.S.C.A. § 410 (1959)

Note: This example was taken from CSE's Scientific Style and Format (p 663).

Format : Entry Number. Senate Bill Number, Number of Congress, Number of Session Section Number § (Year).

3. S. 2830, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. § 8 (1980).

Format : Entry Number. Resolution Number, Legislature Number, Session Number, Year Collection of Laws

4. H.R.J. Res 1, 40th Leg., 2d Spec. Sess., 1974 Utah Laws 7

Format : Entry Number. Title of Hearing , Number of Congress, Session Number. (Year)

5. U.S. Policy in the Persian Gulf: Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations , 101st Cong., 2nd Sess. (1990)

Media Sources

1. Sound Recording

Format : Cite as you would a film or video recording (listed below)

1. Howler monkeys: singing into the night [sound recording]. Carroll B, sound recordist. Keene (NH): Belize Bruce; 2013.

Format : Give the title, then the type of medium identified in square brackets, followed by individuals listed as authors, editors, performers, conductors, and so on. Identify the producer if different from the publisher. Provide publication information, including a physical description of the medium.

2. Great migrations [DVD]. Hamlin D, Serwa C, producers. Washington (DC): National Geographic; 2010. 3 DVDs: 200 min.

Format : CSE style does not provide guidance on citing television programs. Cite the title of the program, with the medium designator in brackets, followed by information about the series (if any), including individuals such as the producer, writer, director, and the place and date of broadcast at the end.

3. Mt. St. Helens: back from the dead [television program]. Barret M, executive producer. Nova. New York (NY): Thirteen/WNET; 2010 May 4.

Format : CSE style does not provde guidance on citing radio programs. Cite the title of the program, with the medium designator in brackets, followed by information about the series (if any), including individuals such as the producer, writer, director, and the place and date of broadcast at the end.

4. Mental exercise and dementia [radio program]. Flatow I, host. Talk of the Nation Science Friday. New York (NY): National Public Radio; 2010 Sep 3.

Digital Sources

Note: The following CSE style formats demonstrate citations for various digital sources.

1. Online Journal Article

1. Pitaval A, Tseng Q, Bornens M, Thery M. Cell shape and contractility regulate ciliogenesis in cell cycle – arrested cells. J Cell Biol. 2010 [accessed 2013 Aug 23]; 191(2):303-312. http//jcb.rupress.org/content/191/2/303.full?sid=d87c638dc-4082-99a8-ca19a37d72fe. doi:10.1083/jcb.201004003.

2. Gliklich RE, Dreyer NA, editors. Registries for evaluating patient outcomes: a user’s guide. 2 nd ed. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2010 [cited 2010 Nov 1]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK49444.

3. Chen M, Schlief M, Willows RD, Cai Z-L, Neilan BA, Scheer H. A red-shifted chlorophyll. Science. 2010 Sep 10 [accessed 2014 Feb 1]:1318-1319. Expanded Academic ASAP. Farmington Hills (MI): Thomson Gale; c2010. http://web4.infotrac.galegroup.com. doi:10.1126/science.1191127.

4. Kolata G. Stem cell biology and its complications. New York Times. 2010 Aug 24 [accessed 2010 Dec 15]. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/health/research/25cell.html.

5. US Geological Survey. Washington (DC): US Department of the Interior; [updated 2010 Sep 28; accessed 2010 Dec 16]. http://www.usgs.gov.

6. Lavelle M. National Geographic Daily News. Washington (DC): National Geographic Society. Forcing gas out of rock with water. 2010 Oct 17 [accessed 2010 Dec 16]. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news-old/2010/10/101022-energy-marcellus-shale-gas-science-technology-water.

Note : Email messages are considered personal communication. Cite them in the text only; do not cite them in the reference list.

8. Williams JB. Re: Tomato seed question. In: BIONET. [London (GB); Medical Research Council]; 2010 Nov 1, 7:57 am [accessed 2010 Nov 15]. http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/plantbio/2010-November/027780.html.

9. Epidemic and pandemic spread. In: Influenza [updated 2014 Mar 1; accessed 2014 Mar 25]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza#Epidemic_and_pandemic_spread.

10. Orth JF. Invasive species weblog. c2002-2010 [updated 2011 Jan 22; accessed 2010 Jan 25]. http://invasivespecies.blogspot.com.

11. Reynolds G. Phys Ed: Brains and Brawn. In: Well. 2011 Jan 19 [accessed 2011 Jan 22.]. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/phys-ed-brains-and-brawn.

12. Yang, H. Topics in gravitational-wave science: macroscopic quantum mechanics and black hole physics [dissertation]. Pasadena (CA): California Institute of Technology; 2013; 339 p. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Ann Arbor (MI): ProQuest; c2013. http://search.proquest.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/docview/1496774506?accountid=11311.

Unpublished Work

Format : Entry number. Last name and initial(s) of letter author(s). [Description and date of letter]. Located at: repository and location of repository.

1. Bacon F. [Letters to various Tudor notables, ca. 1630]. Located at: The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Yale University Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Connecticut.

Format : Entry number. Title of document. [Description and date of document]. Located at: repository and location of repository.

2. Box account book. [Accounts of wholesale druggist Henry Box, 1629-42]. Located at: The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Yale University Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Connecticut.

Format : Entry number. Last name and initial(s) of author, [followed by last names and initials of other authors, if any]. Title of forthcoming document. Abbreviated title of journal and year of forthcoming publication (if known). Forthcoming.

3. Pohl PS, Winstein C. Practice effects on the less-affected upper extremity after stroke. J Am Cong Rehab Med. Forthcoming.

Additional CSE Resources

Printed Resources:

Council of Science Editors. Scientific style and format: The CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 6th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press; 1994. 825 p.

National Library of Medicine Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation/Pb 91182030. United States Government Printing Office; 1991.

Electronic Resources:

The official Council of Science Editors web site, updated regularly, is the comprehensive guide to all things CSE: the organization, its journals, products and services.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center, CSE Documentation

Citation Information

Will Allen, Ellen Palmquist, Peter Connor, Heidi Scott, and Laurel Nesbitt. (1994-2024). Citation Guide: Council of Science Editors (Citation-Sequence System). The WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University. Available at https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/writing/guides/.

Copyright Information

Copyright © 1994-2024 Colorado State University and/or this site's authors, developers, and contributors . Some material displayed on this site is used with permission.

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Best Science Citation Formats for Research Papers

citation format scientific paper

When choosing the best citation format or style for a research paper, it is easy to get confused.

One of the most important  sections in a research proposal  or scientific paper is the bibliography or  references section . Even though it is often listed as one of the last parts of a  research proposal checklist , leaving it to the end would cause you a lot more time and effort.

In this article, we will explore the best citation style or format for a scientific research paper, academic manuscript, or Ph.D./Master’s thesis or dissertation. 

Our new Wordvice APA Citation Generator , MLA Citation Generator , Chicago Citation Generator , and Vancouver Citation Generator automatically generate citations for your specific academic formatting style for FREE. Be sure to check out the citation style you need after reading this article. And get professional proofreading services from Wordvice before submitting your paper to journals or professors to make sure your work is polished and free of errors.

What is the best science citation style? 1

Science Citation Style Guide Overview

If you have ever written any type of research document, then chances are you have come across an academic style guide. 

What is an academic style guide?  

A style guide or manual explains how to cite your sources properly. But that’s not all it does. It also tells you how to format your citations, bibliography (if you’re using one), headings, footnotes, and endnotes—all the things you need to know to avoid academic dishonesty or plagiarism and make sure your work is clear and accurate.

Besides attribution, citation style guides are also used to clarify your writing process, identify elements as points of emphasis, and give credibility to your research arguments. This is especially important when it comes to passing the  peer review process , where your research will be closely scrutinized by other researchers in your field.

In general, citation style guides are used to ensure that all references within a document are formatted consistently. This helps make the document easier to read and less prone to errors that can be confusing to the reader.

What is the best science citation style? 2

Factors to Consider When Choosing A Citation Style

There are numerous citation formats and styles for science papers, academic research, and PhD/Master’s dissertations and theses, but which one should you use?

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a citation style. At the most basic level, the style you choose should reflect your discipline or field of study, the type of academic or research institution or organization you work for, the guidelines of your target journal, the type of source you are citing, and the nature of your readership.

Related Article:  Complete Introduction to Citation Style Guides

What is the best science citation style? 3

Best Citation Format to Use for Science Papers

So, you have finally completed your research project or dissertation and are ready to submit it to a scientific journal. 

Your next step should be to check your target journal’s submission guidelines–If you haven’t decided on your target journal yet, be sure to check out the following resources:

  • How to Choose the Right Journal for My Manuscript
  • How Do I Know If My Manuscript Matches a Journal’s Aim and Scope?
  • How to Increase my Manuscript’s Chance of Acceptance
  • Journal Manuscript Editing Services
  • Thesis Editing Services
  • Dissertation Editing Services

Ensure that the field, scope, and purpose of your research match your target journal. Another factor you must consider is your budget. Publishing in high-impact science journals is not cheap, so be sure to align your strategy with your professor or lab director.

Second, you want to consider the source of your citation. Is it a book, journal article, or even a website? For science research papers, your sources will almost always be limited to journal articles and other primary research texts.

Regardless, the  Wordvice APA Citation Generator  has books, journal articles, and websites covered. In addition, APA, MLA, Chicago, and Vancouver citation formats can be automatically generated.

science citation style, APA 7 style

APA (American Psychological Association) style  is a citation format used primarily in the social sciences, education, behavioral sciences, business, and nursing. However, APA is also seen in a variety of fields, including basic sciences.

In-text Citation Example – APA 7th style

“The current work assesses the demographic, social, and economic states of the southern half of the Korean peninsula…” (Schwekendiek, 2014, pp. v)

Reference List Citation Example – APA 7th style

Schwekendiek, D. J. (2014).  The Data Atlas of South Korea: Demography, Society, Economic Activity  (First Edition; A. Brennfoerder, Ed.). Seoul, Republic of Korea: Jimoondang.

APA in-text citations follow the Author-Date style in parenthetical format, which consists of the last name of the author and the year of publication within parentheses. To cite a source directly, include the page number using the abbreviation “p/pp”.

APA Style Resources

  • Official APA Style Guidebook
  • Wordvice APA Citation Guide
  • Wordvice APA Citation Generator

Chicago Style

science citation style, Chicago style

The  Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)  is used primarily for works in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Chicago style adds a layer of complexity in the form of two variations: Notes-Bibliography (NB) and author-date. The NB style is widely used in the arts and humanities, while author-date is more favored‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌social‌ ‌sciences.

Author-Date Citation Example – Chicago 17th Style

“The current work assesses the demographic, social, and economic states of the southern half of the Korean peninsula…” (Schwekendiek, 2014, v)

Footnote Citation Example – Chicago 17th Style

1. Schwekendiek, “ The Data Atlas of South Korea: Demography, Society, Economic Activity ,” v..

Similar to the APA system, the Author-Date system for Chicago style is composed of in-text citations that match the reference list at the end of the document.

Chicago Style Resources

  • Official Chicago Style Guidebook
  • Wordvice Chicago Style Guide
  • Wordvice Chicago 17th Citation Generator

Vancouver Style

science citation style, Vancouver style

Vancouver style  uses a strict author-number system and has been adopted by many journals and institutions in the medical field, including the  IEEE  (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and  MEDLINE . Vancouver style is different from the above styles in that it features a number encompassed within square brackets  [ ]  when using in-text citations. This bracketed number corresponds to the relevant source cited in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text Citation Example – Vancouver style

“According to Schwekendiek (1), the current work assesses the demographic, social, and economic states of the southern half of the Korean peninsula…” 

Reference List Citation Example – Vancouver style

(1) Schwekendiek DJ. The Data Atlas of South Korea: Demography, Society, Economic Activity. First Edition. Brennfoerder A, editor. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Jimoondang; 2014.

Similar to the APA system, the author-date system for Chicago style is composed of in-text citations that match the reference list at the end of the document.

Vancouver Style Resources

  • Official Vancouver Style Guidebook  
  • Wordvice Vancouver Style Guide
  • Wordvice Vancouver Style Citation Generator

science citation style, MLA 8 style

MLA ( Modern Language Association ) style  is commonly used by students and writers preparing manuscripts in humanities disciplines ‌such‌ ‌ as‌ ‌cultural‌ ‌studies,‌ ‌English,‌ ‌literature,‌ ‌and‌ ‌critical‌ ‌theory. 

MLA style is rarely (if ever) used as a style guide for scientific papers. However, there are cases, especially for the social sciences and humanities, in which you may find yourself reading articles or books cited in MLA format. For that reason, it’s good to be familiar with MLA style. 

In-text Citation Example – MLA 8th style

“The current work assesses the demographic, social, and economic states of the southern half of the Korean peninsula…” (Schwekendiek v)

Reference List Citation Example – MLA 8th style

Schwekendiek, Daniel J.  The Data Atlas of South Korea: Demography, Society, Economic Activity . Ed. Andrew Brennfoerder. First Edition. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Jimoondang, 2014. Print.

MLA citations are based on the  author-page  format consisting of the author’s name and page number(s). Although your sentence may include the author’s name, any page number(s) should be included in‌ parentheses.

MLA Style Resources

  • Official MLA Style Guidebook
  • Wordvice MLA Style Guide
  • Wordvice MLA 8th Citation Generator

Frequently Asked Questions about Citation Styles

Which citation style should you use.

The citation style you use for your science paper or academic research document is dependent on various factors, including your research scope, target journal for publication, readership/audience, and type of cited source.

Which citation style is most commonly ‌used‌ ‌in‌ ‌science?

The most frequently used citation style used in science is  APA Style  (American Psychological Association) style or  Vancouver Style , created by the  IEEE  (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). 

What citation system is the best to use for science?

There are two types of citation systems:  author-date  and  numeric . The author-date System is most used by those working in the social and basic sciences. Whereas those working in literature, history, and the arts should apply the NB System.

What is the author-date system?

With the author-date system, the author’s last name and publication year are included in an in-text citation. For example: (Schwekendiek, 2014, p. v).

What is an in-text or parenthetical citation?

There are two formats for in-text citations:‌ ‌‌parenthetical‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌narrative. Parenthetical citations include information about the publication date and the author’s name. When a narrative citation is used, the author’s name is incorporated into the sentence and the year follows in parentheses.

citation format scientific paper

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How to Format a Scientific Paper

#scribendiinc

Written by  Joanna Kimmerly-Smith

You've done the research. You've carefully recorded your lab results and compiled a list of relevant sources. You've even written a draft of your scientific, technical, or medical paper, hoping to get published in a reputable journal. But how do you format your paper to ensure that every detail is correct? If you're a scientific researcher or co-author looking to get your research published, read on to find out how to format your paper.

While it's true that you'll eventually need to tailor your research for your target journal, which will provide specific author guidelines for formatting the paper (see, for example, author guidelines for publications by Elsevier , PLOS ONE , and  mBio ), there are some formatting rules that are useful to know for your initial draft. This article will explore some of the formatting rules that apply to all scientific writing, helping you to follow the correct order of sections ( IMRaD ), understand the requirements of each section, find resources for standard terminology and units of measurement, and prepare your scientific paper for publication.

Format Overview

The four main elements of a scientific paper can be represented by the acronym IMRaD: introduction, methods, results, and discussion. Other sections, along with a suggested length,* are listed in the table below.

* Length guidelines are taken from https://www.elsevier.com/connect/11-steps-to-structuring-a-science-paper-editors-will-take-seriously#step6 .

Now, let's go through the main sections you might have to prepare to format your paper.

On the first page of the paper, you must present the title of the paper along with the authors' names, institutional affiliations, and contact information. The corresponding author(s) (i.e., the one[s] who will be in contact with the reviewers) must be specified, usually with a footnote or an asterisk (*), and their full contact details (e.g., email address and phone number) must be provided. For example:

Dr. Clara A. Bell 1, * and Dr. Scott C. Smith 2

1 University of Areopagitica, Department of Biology, Sometown, Somecountry

2 Leviathan University, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Sometown, Somecountry

*[email protected]

FORMATTING TIPS:

  • If you are unsure of how to classify author roles (i.e., who did what), guidelines are available online. For example, American Geophysical Union (AGU) journals now recommend using Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT), an online taxonomy for author contributions.

In this summary of your research, you must state your subject (i.e., what you did) and encapsulate the main findings and conclusions of your paper.

  • Do not add citations in an abstract (the reader might not be able to access your reference list).
  • Avoid using acronyms and abbreviations in the abstract, as the reader may not be familiar with them. Use full terms instead.

Below the abstract, include a list of key terms to help other researchers locate your study. Note that "keywords" is one word (with no space) and is followed by a colon:

Keywords : paper format, scientific writing.

  • Check whether "Keywords" should be italicized and whether each term should be capitalized.
  • Check the use of punctuation (e.g., commas versus semicolons, the use of the period at the end).
  • Some journals (e.g., IEEE ) provide a taxonomy of keywords. This aids in the classification of your research.

Introduction

This is the reader's first impression of your paper, so it should be clear and concise. Include relevant background information on your topic, using in-text citations as necessary. Report new developments in the field, and state how your research fills gaps in the existing research. Focus on the specific problem you are addressing, along with its possible solutions, and outline the limitations of your study. You can also include a research question, hypothesis, and/or objectives at the end of this section.

  • Organize your information from broad to narrow (general to particular). However, don't start too broad; keep the information relevant.
  • You can use in-text citations in this section to situate your research within the body of literature.

This is the part of your paper that explains how the research was done. You should relate your research procedures in a clear, logical order (i.e., the order in which you conducted the research) so that other researchers can reproduce your results. Simply refer to the established methods you used, but describe any procedures that are original to your study in more detail.

  • Identify the specific instruments you used in your research by including the manufacturer’s name and location in parentheses.
  • Stay consistent with the order in which information is presented (e.g., quantity, temperature, stirring speed, refrigeration period).

Now that you've explained how you gathered your research, you've got to report what you actually found. In this section, outline the main findings of your research. You need not include too many details, particularly if you are using tables and figures. While writing this section, be consistent and use the smallest number of words necessary to convey your statistics.

  • Use appendices or supplementary materials if you have too much data.
  • Use headings to help the reader follow along, particularly if your data are repetitive (but check whether your style guide allows you to use them).

In this section, you interpret your findings for the reader in relation to previous research and the literature as a whole. Present your general conclusions, including an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the research and the implications of your findings. Resolve the hypothesis and/or research question you identified in the introduction.

  • Use in-text citations to support your discussion.
  • Do not repeat the information you presented in the results or the introduction unless it is necessary for a discussion of the overall implications of the research.

This section is sometimes included in the last paragraph of the discussion. Explain how your research fits within your field of study, and identify areas for future research.

  • Keep this section short.

Acknowledgments

Write a brief paragraph giving credit to any institution responsible for funding the study (e.g., through a fellowship or grant) and any individual(s) who contributed to the manuscript (e.g., technical advisors or editors).

  • Check whether your journal uses standard identifiers for funding agencies (e.g., Elsevier's Funder Registry ).

Conflicts of Interest/Originality Statement

Some journals require a statement attesting that your research is original and that you have no conflicts of interest (i.e., ulterior motives or ways in which you could benefit from the publication of your research). This section only needs to be a sentence or two long.

Here you list citation information for each source you used (i.e., author names, date of publication, title of paper/chapter, title of journal/book, and publisher name and location). The list of references can be in alphabetical order (author–date style of citation) or in the order in which the sources are presented in the paper (numbered citations). Follow your style guide; if no guidelines are provided, choose a citation format and be consistent .

  • While doing your final proofread, ensure that the reference list entries are consistent with the in-text citations (i.e., no missing or conflicting information).
  • Many citation styles use a hanging indent and may be alphabetized. Use the styles in Microsoft Word to aid you in citation format.
  • Use EndNote , Mendeley , Zotero , RefWorks , or another similar reference manager to create, store, and utilize bibliographic information.

Appendix/Supplementary Information

In this optional section, you can present nonessential information that further clarifies a point without burdening the body of the paper. That is, if you have too much data to fit in a (relatively) short research paper, move anything that's not essential to this section.

  • Note that this section is uncommon in published papers. Before submission, check whether your journal allows for supplementary data, and don't put any essential information in this section.

Beyond IMRaD: Formatting the Details

Aside from the overall format of your paper, there are still other details to watch out for. The sections below cover how to present your terminology, equations, tables and figures, measurements, and statistics consistently based on the conventions of scientific writing.

Terminology

Stay consistent with the terms you use. Generally, short forms can be used once the full term has been introduced:

  • full terms versus acronyms (e.g., deoxyribonucleic acid versus DNA);
  • English names versus Greek letters (e.g., alpha versus α); and
  • species names versus short forms (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus versus S. aureus ).

One way to ensure consistency is to use standard scientific terminology. You can refer to the following resources, but if you're not sure which guidelines are preferred, check with your target journal.

  • For gene classification, use GeneCards , The Mouse Genome Informatics Database , and/or genenames.org .
  • For chemical nomenclature, refer to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the Gold Book ) and the  IUPAC–IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature .
  • For marine species names, use the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) or the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) .

Italics must be used correctly for scientific terminology. Here are a couple of formatting tips:

  • Species names, which are usually in Greek or Latin, are italicized (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus ).
  • Genes are italicized, but proteins aren't.

Whether in mathematical, scientific, or technical papers, equations follow a conventional format. Here are some tips for formatting your calculations:

  • Number each equation you present in the text, inserting the number in parentheses.

X + Y = 1                                                                                                                                               (1)

  • Check whether your target journal requires you to capitalize the word "Equation" or use parentheses for the equation number when you refer to equations within the text.

In Equation 1, X represents . . .

In equation (1), X represents . . .

(Note also that you should use italics for variables.)

  • Try using MathType or Equation Editor in Microsoft Word to type your equations, but use Unicode characters when typing single variables or mathematical operators (e.g., x, ≥, or ±) in running text. This makes it easier to edit your text and format your equations before publication.
  • In line with the above tip, remember to save your math equations as editable text and not as images in case changes need to be made before publication.

Tables and Figures

Do you have any tables, graphs, or images in your research? If so, you should become familiar with the rules for referring to tables and figures in your scientific paper. Some examples are presented below.

  • Capitalize the titles of specific tables and figures when you refer to them in the text (e.g., "see Table 3"; "in Figure 4").
  • In tables, stay consistent with the use of title case (i.e., Capitalizing Each Word) and sentence case (i.e., Capitalizing the first word).
  • In figure captions, stay consistent with the use of punctuation, italics, and capitalization. For example:

Figure 1. Classification of author roles.

Figure 2: taxonomy of paper keywords

Measurements

Although every journal has slightly different formatting guidelines, most agree that the gold standard for units of measurement is the International System of Units (SI) . Wherever possible, use the SI. Here are some other tips for formatting units of measurement:

  • Add spaces before units of measurement. For example, 2.5 mL not 2.5mL.
  • Be consistent with your units of measure (especially date and time). For example, 3 hours or 3 h.

When presenting statistical information, you must provide enough specific information to accurately describe the relationships among your data. Nothing is more frustrating to a reviewer than vague sentences about a variable being significant without any supporting details. The author guidelines for the journal Nature recommend that the following be included for statistical testing: the name of each statistical analysis, along with its n value; an explanation of why the test was used and what is being compared; and the specific alpha levels and P values for each test.

Angel Borja, writing for Elsevier publications, described the statistical rules for article formatting as follows:

  • Indicate the statistical tests used with all relevant parameters.
  • Use mean and standard deviation to report normally distributed data.
  • Use median and interpercentile range to report skewed data.
  • For numbers, use two significant digits unless more precision is necessary.
  • Never use percentages for very small samples.

Remember, you must be prepared to justify your findings and conclusions, and one of the best ways to do this is through factual accuracy and the acknowledgment of opposing interpretations, data, and/or points of view.

Even though you may not look forward to the process of formatting your research paper, it's important to present your findings clearly, consistently, and professionally. With the right paper format, your chances of publication increase, and your research will be more likely to make an impact in your field. Don't underestimate the details. They are the backbone of scientific writing and research.

One last tip: Before you submit your research, consider using our academic editing service for expert help with paper formatting, editing, and proofreading. We can tailor your paper to specific journal guidelines at your request.

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Consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.

  • Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
  • Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
  • Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
  • Book: What have reviews said about it?
  • What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
  • Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
  • Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
  • Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
  • Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
  • Are there ads?
  • When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
  • Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
  • Does the source even have a date?
  • Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
  • If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?

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Scientific Style (CSE) Citation Examples

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END REFERENCE (ONE AUTHOR)

[ web example ]

    IN TEXT

(Geggel 2016 ) .

END REFERENCE

[Author abbreviation] Author. Date. Title. Place of publication: Publisher; [updated date; accessed date]. URL.

​ [IRPC] Industrial Psychology Research Centre. 2010. Aberdeen (UK): University of Aberdeen. [updated 2010 Oct 6; accessed 2019 Jan 22]. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/iprc/ .

IN TEXT 

(IRPC 2010).

[ web page with no author image ]

(Human Biology . . . c2002-2016).

​ Organizations and memberships. 2016. Reston  (VA): American Institute of Biological Sciences, [accessed 2016 Jul 1]. http://access.aibs.org/organizations.html.

  

(Organizations . . . 2016).

[date unknown]

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  1. What citation style to use for science [Updated 2023]

    #1 APA APA (American Psychological Association) style is a citation format used in the social sciences, education, and engineering, as well as in the sciences. APA consists of two elements: in-text citations and a reference list.

  2. Citation Styles Guide

    Table of contents Types of citation: Parenthetical, note, numerical Which citation style should I use? Parenthetical citation styles

  3. Scientific Style and Format Online

    Scientific Style and Format presents three systems for referring to references (also known as citations) within the text of a journal article, book, or other scientific publication: 1) citation-sequence; 2) name-year; and 3) citation-name. These abbreviated references are called in-text references.

  4. Citation Styles

    What is ACS? What is ACS style? A documentation style for writing and formatting scientific research papers including citing sources Includes information about reviewing and submitting scientific manuscripts Created by the American Chemical Society

  5. How to Cite a Journal Article

    To cite an article from an academic journal, you need an in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the name (s) of the author (s), the publication date, the article title and journal name, the volume and issue numbers, the page range, and the URL or DOI. Different citation styles present this information differently.

  6. Formatting guide

    This summary paragraph should be structured as follows: 2-3 sentences of basic-level introduction to the field; a brief account of the background and rationale of the work; a statement of the main...

  7. The Principles of Biomedical Scientific Writing: Citation

    A good citation adds to the scientific prestige of the paper and makes it more valuable to the reader. The citation has three basic elements: quoting from others, an in-text reference to the source, and bibliographic details of the source.

  8. Formatting References for Scientific Manuscripts

    References are formatted in two basic styles - the Vancouver style which is numeric (more commonly used in medical journals) and Harvard which uses author-date style (more commonly used in natural and Social sciences journals). 4 Parts and order of the parts cited differ on what the author is citing (reference type) and the journal that is being...

  9. What are scientific citation styles?

    A scientific citation style is a system of source citation that is used in scientific disciplines. Some commonly used scientific citation styles are: Chicago author-date, CSE, and Harvard, used across various sciences. ACS, used in chemistry. AMA, NLM, and Vancouver, used in medicine and related disciplines. AAA, APA, and ASA, commonly used in ...

  10. How to Cite a Scientific Paper in APA

    A scientific paper in APA has a simple citation format for in-text citations. The following information appears in parentheses after the text that cites the source, in what is known as a parenthetical citation: (Author's Last Name, Year)

  11. How to Cite a Scientific Paper in MLA

    Citing a scientific paper in MLA follows the format for citing a journal article. Use our free citation generator below to build your citation accordingly, filling out as many fields as you have information for. Citation Information Citation Style MLA Chicago Contributor First Name * Middle Initial Page (s) Date Accessed MLA Full Citation Preview

  12. Which citation style should I use?

    The citation style you choose will largely be dictated by the discipline in which you're writing. For many assignments your instructor will suggest or require a certain style. If you're not sure which one to use, it's always best to check with your instructor or, if you are submitting a manuscript, the publisher to see if they require a certain ...

  13. Scientific Style and Format

    Citing electronic sources pages 665-669 CSE style has two main variations: the Citation-Sequence system (see page 619-622) the Name-Year system (see pages 619-620) The following examples use the Name-Year system. CSE citation style has two parts: in-text citation and a reference list.

  14. Citation Guide: Council of Science Editors (Citation-Sequence System)

    This guide is based on Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (8th ed.), a publication of the Council of Science Editors. ... Citing Sources at the End of Your Paper. The end documentation in the CSE Citation/Sequence system is called the References list. It is located at the end of a document or book ...

  15. Research Guides: Scientific Style (CSE) Citation Examples: Home

    Contact The formatting and citation examples in this guide are based upon rules and examples in the Scientific Style and Format, 8th edition by the Council of Science Editors. If you would like additions or would like to report a correction to this guide, please contact Carolyn Johnson . Last Updated:

  16. Instructions for preparing an initial manuscript

    Electronic files should be formatted for US letter paper (8.5 by 11 inches). Technical terms should be defined. Symbols, abbreviations, and acronyms should be defined the first time they are used. All tables, figures, and references should be cited in numerical order. For best results, use Times New Roman font. Avoid Symbol fonts if possible.

  17. Best Science Citation Formats for Research Papers

    38,852 Best Science Citation Formats for Research Papers Wordvice KH When choosing the best citation format or style for a research paper, it is easy to get confused. One of the most important sections in a research proposal or scientific paper is the bibliography or references section.

  18. In text

    Three or more authors: list only the first author's last name, followed by "et al." and the year. EXAMPLE: (Tsutsui et al. 2009) If different authors have the same surname (last name), add their initials . . .but later studies (Mardis KL and Mardis LA 2012) established that. . . Last Updated: https://libguides.nwmissouri.edu/cse

  19. Cite a Scientific Journal Article

    Cite a journal article Citation style APA 7th edition Cite Title Required Show subtitle Journal name Required Contributors Recommended Add organization Volume number Range Issue number Article number or eLocator Publication status Recommended Published In press Publication date Recommended No month No day Library database Page Recommended Range DOI

  20. How To Cite a Research Paper in 2024: Citation Styles Guide

    JAN 2, 2024 How To Cite a Research Paper in 2024: Citation Styles Guide by Imed Bouchrika, Phd Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist Share If you are looking for the best advice on how to write a research paper, the first thing you would find is to cite your sources. In academic research, it is standardized by many institutions.

  21. How to Format a Scientific Paper

    Keywords: paper format, scientific writing. FORMATTING TIPS: Check whether "Keywords" should be italicized and whether each term should be capitalized. Check the use of punctuation (e.g., commas versus semicolons, the use of the period at the end). Some journals (e.g., IEEE) provide a taxonomy of keywords.

  22. SCIENTIFIC-REPORTS Citation Generator

    Get research tips and citation information or just enjoy some fun posts from our student blog. Citation Machine® helps students and professionals properly credit the information that they use. Cite sources in APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and Harvard for free.

  23. Web pages

    Find how to cite articles, books (+ chapters, textbooks, lab manuals) magazines/newspapers, videos, conference papers, web pages, in text parentheticals, & author names. Single-space citations with a hanging indent (ctrl+t). Double-space between entries. Web page with author, No author