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Council of Science Editors (CSE) Citation Style Guide

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

Books

Book/Book chapter

Author, organization, or editor name. Book title. Edition. Publisher; Year.

or

Author name. Chapter title. In: Editor name, editor. Book title. Edition. Publisher; Year. Page(s).

Anatomy of a citation
  1. Author name(s):
    1. Personal: Formatted as last name and initials (no periods) and separated by commas. Do not use & or "and" before the last author. For books with more than 5 authors, list the first author followed by “et al.”
    2. Organizational: If a division of an organization is listed, list the parts of the name is descending hierarchy separated by commas.
    3. Editors: Formatted like personal authors, followed by a comma and "editors."
  2. Title: Use sentence case.
  3. Edition: Formatted as "Nth ed.", if applicable.
  4. Secondary author(s): Such as editors, translators, etc., if applicable.
  5. Publisher
  6. Year of publication
  7. Page number(s): Page range, for chapters or parts of a book.
  8. DOI: Formatted as URL, for online books.

 

Examples

Personal author(s)

Rathinamoorthy R, Balasaraswathi SR. Microfiber pollution. Springer Nature; 2022.

Organizational author(s)

National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. Science, evolution, and creationism. National Academies Press; 2008.

Edited book

Karapanagioti H, Kalavrouziotis IK, editors. Microplastics in water and wastewater. IWA Publishing; 2019.

Online book

Crate SA, Nuttall M, editors. Anthropology and climate change: From actions to transformations. 2nd ed. Routledge; 2016. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315530338

Book chapter

Tunalı M, Yenigün O. Effects of microplastics on freshwater and marine microalgae. In: Karapanagioti H, Kalavrouziotis IK, editors. Microplastics in water and wastewater. IWA Publishing; 2019. p 170-181.

Technical reports

Technical report

Author name. Title of report. Sponsoring organization; Year. Report No.: DOI/URL

Anatomy of a citation
  1. Author name(s):
    1. Personal: Formatted as last name and initials (no periods) and separated by commas. Do not use & or "and" before the last author. For reports with more than 5 authors, list the first author followed by “et al.”
    2. Performing organization: If a division of an organization is listed, list the parts of the name is descending hierarchy separated by commas. This is the organization that conducted the research.
  2. Title: Use sentence case.
  3. Sponsoring organization: The organization that funded the research.
  4. Year of publication
  5. Report number: Formatted as "Report/Contract No: xxxxx."
  6. DOI: DOI preferred, try to use a permalink or stable URL when possible (if applicable).

 

Examples

Written and published by the sponsoring organization

Page E, Harney JM. Health hazard evaluation report. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; 2001. Report No.: HETA2000-0139-2824. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2000-0139-2824.pdf

Written by the performing organization and published by the sponsoring organization

Behrand D, Armstrong KL, Baver KD (NVI, Inc). International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry 2019+2020 biennial report. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US); 2021. Report No.: NASA/TP-20210021389. Contract No.: NNG1HS00C. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210021389

Written and published by the performing organization

Miller R, Murray J, Kennedy T. Goldstone radar measurements of the orbital debris environment: 2018. NASA Technical Reports Server (US); 2021. Report No.: NASA/TP20210015780. Contract No.: NASA 917091. Sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US). https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210015780

How to choose between book and report

When to cite as a technical report versus book

Most technical reports are published by governmental agencies, universities, or other research institutions. They are cited similarly to books but with major differences in authorship, sponsorship, and report/contract/grant numbers. It's important to identify the performing, sponsoring, and publishing organizations (sometimes it's the same for all three!).

Technical reports are published under the following three scenarios:

  1. Written and published by the sponsoring organization
  2. Written by the performing organization and published by the sponsoring organization
  3. Written and published by the performing organization