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Council of Science Editors (CSE) Citation Style Guide

An overview of the CSE citation style used across the sciences.

Bluebook citation style

When making reference to laws, bills, and other legal materials, you will need to follow the style of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, regardless of which CSE Manual system you are using. Because the format of legal material is prescribed by the legislative community, you cannot modify these citations to meet the guidelines of any of the three CSE Manual systems.

For detailed information on the Bluebook, please contact the Goodson Law Library. Otherwise, you will find basic citation information for major types of legal material below.

Cases

Case

Case name, Reporter volume Reporter name First page of the case (Name of court Year of decision).

Anatomy of a citation
  1. Case name: The names of the parties to the case, formatted as "Party 1 v. Party 2."
  2. Reporter volume: The volume of the reporter where the case opinion is published.
  3. Reporter name: The name of the reporter where the case opinion is published.
    • U.S. Supreme Court: cite to United States Reporter (U.S.) or Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.).
    • Federal Courts of Appeals: cite to Federal Reporter (F., F2d, F3d) and indicate name of court parenthetically.
    • Federal District Courts: cite to Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d) and indicate name of court parenthetically.
  4. Page: The starting page of the court opinion in the reporter.
  5. Name of court: The name of the court deciding the case.
    • If citing the U.S. Supreme Court or the highest court of a state, omit the court name.
  6. Date: The year the decision was made.
In-text citation

When referring to a case within the text, italicize the case name and only abbreviate widely known acronyms and these 8 words: &, Ass'n, Bros., Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd., and No. The first time you mention a case, use its full name. In subsequent references to the case within the same general discussion, you can simply refer to the first party's name which you may shorten.

The case of Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms (2010), casts doubt on a court's equitable discretion to tailor relief when a statutory remedy plainly prescribes a particular remedial outcome.98 More specifically, Monsanto calls into question a district court's decision...

Bibliography

Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, 561 U.S. 139 (2010).

Example taken from: Hausman N. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms: Breaking sigh of equitable relief. Tulane Environ Law J. 2011;25(1):155-206.

Statues, rules, and regulations

Statute, rule, or regulation

Name of the act, Published source (Year).

Anatomy of a citation
  1. Name: Official name of the act.
  2. Source: The published source in which the act may be found (often cited to a current official or unofficial code (e.g., United States Code (U.S.C.))
    • Code = title number, abbreviated name of the code, section number(s), and year of the cited code edition (not the year the act was passed!)
    • § = section, §§ = sections
  3. Year: The year the statue was passed
In-text citation

In the name–year system, begin the parenthetical in-text citation with the first word or first few words of the legislative material's title, followed by an ellipsis and the year of publication. If the name of the material is part of the sentence, the first mention of a statue, rule, or regulation requires its full name. However, subsequent citations may be in short form that clearly identifies the statue, rule, or regulation.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (1980), is best known for establishing a scheme for cleaning up  sites contaminated by releases of hazardous substances through "response actions" selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or other delegated agencies. In §107(a), CERCLA defines four categories of parties that may be liable…

Bibliography

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et seq. (1980).

Example taken from: Brighton WD, Glaser, DA, King, RE. Natural resource damages under CERCLA and OPA. 2024. Environ Law Report;54(7):10569-10603.

Legislative materials

Legislative material

Title of the material, Legislative body Number assigned to material, Number of legislative season (year of publication).

Anatomy of a citation
  1. Title: The name of the bill, hearing, report, or resolution
  2. Legislative body: The abbreviated name of the legislative body and type of material (e.g., resolution (Res.), bill (B.))
  3. Material number: The number assigned to the material
  4. Legislative season number: The number of the legislative season (e.g., number of the Congress, session number for House and Senate)
  5. Year: The year of publication.
In-text citation

In the name–year system, begin the in-text citation with the first word or first few words of the legislative material's title, followed by an ellipsis and the year of publication.

A recently introduced bill hopes to protect waterways and ensure that polluters don't introduce PFAS into our water (Water Systems...2025).

Bibliography

Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act, H.R. 1267, 119th Cong. (2025).

Examples of other legislative materials
Federal bill
Privacy Protection Act of 1998, H.R. 3224, 105th Cong. § 2(a) (1998).
Federal resolution
H.R.J. Res. 79, 106th Cong. (1999).
State bill
H.R. 124, 179th Leg., 1st Spec. Sess. (Pa. 1995).
State resolution
S.J. Res. 836, 118th Leg., 3rd Spec. Sess. (Me. 1999).
Committee hearing
Background and History of Impeachment: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on the Constitution of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 105th Cong. 22-23 (1998) (statement of Rep. Hutchinson, Member, H. Comm. on the Judiciary).
Federal report
H.R. REP. NO. 101-524, at 10 (1990), reprinted in 1990 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1448, 1451.