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Council of Science Editors (CSE) Citation Style Guide

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

Journal articles

Journal article

Author name. Year. Article title. Journal Title Abbrev. Volume(Issue):Page(s). DOI/URL


Anatomy of a citation
  1. Author name(s): Formatted as last name and initials (no periods) and separated by commas. Do not use & or "and" before the last author. For articles with more than 5 authors, list the first author followed by “et al.”
  2. Year of publication
  3. Title: Use sentence case.
  4. Journal name: Use abbreviated form with no periods.*
  5. Volume and issue: If part of a supplemental issue, include "Suppl #" after issue number.
  6. Page number(s): If no page numbers, use article number.
  7. DOI or URL: Format the DOI as the full URL (if published online).

*Standard ISO 4:1997 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the official standard for abbreviating journal titles. Since this document is paywalled, use these resources:

 

Example

Picó Y, Barceló D. 2019. Analysis and prevention of microplastics pollution in water: Current perspectives and future directions. ACS Omega. 4(4):6709-6719. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b00222

Newspaper and magazine articles

Newspaper/magazine article

Author name. Publication date. Article title. Newspaper/Magazine Name (edition). URL

or

Author name. Publication date. Article title. Newspaper/Magazine Name (edition);section:page(s).


Anatomy of a citation
  1. Author name(s): Formatted as last name and initials (no periods) and separated by commas. Do not use & or "and" before the last author. For articles with more than 5 authors, list the first author followed by “et al.”
  2. Date: Formatted as year month (abbreviated) and day (include updated date in brackets if applicable).
  3. Title: Use sentence case.
  4. Serial name: Full name of the magazine or newspaper, include edition in parentheses if applicable.
  5. Section/pages: If published in print.
  6. URL: If published online.

 

Examples

Flavelle C, Rojanasakul M. 2024 Dec 18. Insurers are deserting homeowners as climate shocks worsen. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/12/18/climate/insurance-non-renewal-climate-crisis.html

Flavelle C, Rojanasakul M. 2024 Dec 21. Insurers drop homeowners over climate risks. The New York Times;Sect A:1,12.