Official CSE Website for Scientific Style and Format
Click the image above to view very basic guidelines for how to cite journals, books, websites, and more on the CSE website.
Scientific Style and Format by 
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Following a specific style for your citations is makes it very clear when you are citing outside information AND helps the reader find your sources easily.
There are three systems for citing sources according to Scientific Style and Format, 8th Edition. This guide will focus on the name-year format. For help with the citation-sequence or citation-name systems, consult the books or websites linked on this guide.
For the name-year format, each source is cited in the text with the author's last name and the year of publication (in-text citation). The references list lists all of the sources used, in alphabetical order by the author's last name. The goal of the in-text citation is to point the reader to the full citation in the list of references, so they should match.
Every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize information from an outside source, you must provide an in-text citation. It points your reader to the source's full citation in your list of references at the end of your paper.
For any type of resource (article, book, website, etc), a basic in-text citation includes the author's name and the publication year (example: Kean 2013).
When directly quoting a source or paraphrasing a specific passage, you also include a page number (example: Kean 2013, p. 26).
Wolves may play a role in restoring alder tree populations (Ripple et al. 2015).
Ripple et al. (2015) found that wolves may place a role in restoring alder tree populations.
Remember, the name you use in your in-text citation should match the name you use in your full citation in the list of references!
For one author, include the author's last name, year of publication, and the page number for a direct quote or information from a specific part of a source.
For a work by two authors, use the word "and" between the authors' names.
For three or more authors, include only the first author's last name, followed by "et al."
When you cannot find a person's name as an author, try to identify the organization responsible for the page. This is especially common for government websites, such as the National Park Service or the CDC. When you do the in-text citation, use a common abbreviation, or the first letters of each word.
About HIV/AIDS from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
When you cannot identify a person or organization as an author, use the first word (or few words) of the title, followed by an ellipsis (...). Use only as many words as necessary to distinguish it from another source.
Look carefully at the work to find any date of publication, copyright, or update. If no date can be found, use "[date unknown]" in your in-text citation.
The list of references is a list of all of the resources you used in your research paper or assignment, organized alphabetically by author.
The list is double-spaced with a hanging indent, meaning that, for a citation on more than one line, each line after the first is indented 1/4" from the left margin. Here's how:
The first part of your in-text citation (almost always the author) should match the first part of your full citation in the list of references.
There are guidelines for how to cite different numbers and types of authors, and how to cite different formats of information (article, book, website, etc.). You will have to combine these guidelines for each citation.
Use the author's last name, followed by first and middle initials.
Kean S.
List all authors. For each, use the author's last name, followed by first and middle initials.
Ripple WJ, Beschta RL, Painter LE.
List the first ten authors, followed by "et al."
George, MA, Dubbe, D, Pate, JP, Murphy, J, Twardos, M, Crohn, K, Henry, R, Hartman, J, Hickox, CE, Bisom, T, et al.
List the abbreviation you used in your in-text citation in brackets, followed by the full name of the organization. For national organizations, such as federal government agencies, include (US) after the name of the organization.
[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US).
If you cannot find any indication of an individual or organization as the author, begin the citation with the title of the work.
Handbook of Knitting with Cat Hair.
The basic citation for an article from a database is shown below. Refer to the guides we've shared for any different situation, such as a different number of authors. Pay attention to punctuation and capitalization.
Journal titles are usually abbreviated according to a standard system. You can use the PubMed Catalog of Journals to look up an abbreviation.
Click the image to view the article in ScienceDirect
Citing a web page (or a short work from a website) can be tricky. Look carefully for the name of an author, or use the organization as the author, especially with government websites, if you cannot find a name. Abbreviate the organization the same way you did for the in-text citation and spell out the name of the organization. The organization is usually the same for the publisher, but sometimes there is a larger organization. To find the place of publication, you may need to find the "About Us" or "Contact Us" link to find where the company is located.
Click the image to visit the Bull trout page on the US Fish Wildlife & Parks Service website.
Find the majority of the information you need to cite a book on the backside of the title page, also called the verso. You can use the title page, but the information on the verso is more specific and accurate.
Click to view the record for the book, The Disappearing Spoon, in OneSearch. Use the Details tab to find the information for the citation.
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Center all information on the title page. Include the following:
The title page is page 1, but it is not numbered. |
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Choose a font that is standard and easy to read, such as Times New Roman. Size 12 is considered standard. Double-space the paper. Use 1" margins. Indent each paragraph 1/2". You can hit the tab key once. Number all of the pages in the body of your paper. Type a shortened form of the title, followed by the page number, in the upper right corner of each page. Double-click in the header, then check the box for "Different first page." Then go to Page Number, choose Top of Page, then choose the upper right corner. Type the short title with a space before the number.
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Start your references on a new page. Center the title, "References." List all of the works you have cited in the paper. Double-space the list. Each reference has a hanging indent, which means the first line is flush with the margin, but any lines after are indented 1/4". List the references in alphabetical order by the author's last name, the organization's initials, or the title of the work, whichever is the first part of the citation. To create the hanging indent, highlight your list, then enter your paragraph settings, choose "hanging indent" and set it to 0.25".
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