Citations

Why CSE?
Cover of Scientific Style and Format (Council of Science Editors)
The CSE Manual
  • Call #: T11 .S386 2024
  • 2 copies • General Collection
In many of your bioscience courses, you will be required to use CSE citation style when citing references. This is the generally accepted citation style in the biosciences field and the preferred style for references in many scholarly publications of the field.

General Rules for In-Text Citations

In-text citations consist of the last name of the author or authors and the year of publication.

Examples

One author: (Walters 2005)

Two authors: (Roe and Smith 1984)

Three or more authors: (Richards et al. 2006)

No author

No author: If the author of a work cannot be determined, use the first word or first few words of the title, followed by an ellipsis.

Top fields of study … (Open . . . 2010).

No date

No date: For sources where the publication year cannot be determined, use [date unknown]:

(Smith [date unknown])

Some content from Penn State University Libraries

In-Text Citations for Images

When including a graphic in your assignment, be sure to cite it in your reference list as well as within your assignment. For an in-text citation of an image, you should include the source of the image/photograph/illustration along with a description written in your own words. Label your images in order as Fig(ure) 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, etc.

Blood pressure diagram
Fig. 1. Blood pressure force to the artery walls (Harding 2004)

Place of Publication

Rule

If more than one place is indicated, select the first city listed.

General Guideline

The name of the city should typically be followed by the 2-letter abbreviation for its state/province/country in parentheses. Exceptions are:

  • well-known cities can stand alone (without the 2-letter abbreviation)
  • cities outside the United States can be followed by either the country written out or by its 2-letter abbreviation
Example

An ideal example for the exceptions and the rule is the city of London in England. It can be listed correctly using any of the following:

  • London:
  • London (England):
  • London (GB):
If no place of publication can be found, leave that information out of the citation.

CSE General Formatting Rules

Use the CSE name–year system.
No date? Place the words “date unknown” in square brackets in the in-text reference. Include [date unknown] in the end reference as well.
Smith argues that whalefish are among the most mystical of all ocean dwellers (Smith [date unknown]).
Smith J. [date unknown]. Creatures of the deep. 5th ed. New York: Oxford Press.
Capitalize only the first word of book, chapter, or article titles (and proper nouns). For example: Celiac disease. In: The Gale encyclopedia of science.
The end-of-paper citation list should be titled References.
Citations in the reference list should be listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Use the full last name, followed by initials for first and middle names.
End-of-paper citations are not double-spaced.
Using a hanging indent in the reference list is optional.
In-text citations appear in parentheses and include the author’s last name and the year of publication, for example (Miller 2013).

Print Book — Entire Book

FORMAT
Author AA, Author BB. Year. Title. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher Name.
EXAMPLE
Islam SU. 2023. Infectious diseases: smart study guide for medical students, residents, and clinical providers. London: Academic Press.

Print Book — Chapter in a Book

FORMAT
Author AA, Author BB. Year. Title of the chapter or entry. In: Title of reference book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher Name. Volume number (if applicable), p. pages.
EXAMPLE
Gulli LF, Mallory N, Terry T. 2016. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. In: The Gale encyclopedia of genetic disorders. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale. Vol. 2, p. 946–949.

Chapter in an eBook (Electronic Book)

FORMAT
Author AA, Author BB. Year. Title of the chapter or entry. In: Editor AA, Editor BB, editor(s). Title of eBook. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; [accessed date you viewed the webpage]. p. page(s). Available from: Title of Database; hostname URL.
EXAMPLES
With Author(s)
Aldridge S, Santhanam K. 2018. Gonorrhea. In: Infectious diseases. Detroit: Gale; [accessed 2023 Jan 26]. Vol. 1, p. 387-390. Available from: Gale eBooks; https://link.gale.com.
With Editor(s) only
Ferrara MH, editors. 2010. Tay-Sachs disease. In: Human diseases and conditions. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons; [accessed 2023 Jun 26]. Vol. 4, p. 1638-1641-310. Available from: Gale eBooks; https://link.gale.com.
With Author(s) and Editor(s)
Sims J, Vance A. 2022. Celiac disease. In: Narins B, editor. Gale encyclopedia of genetic disorders. 5th ed. Detroit: Gale; [accessed 2023 Feb 9]. p. 319-323. Available from: Gale eBooks; https://link.gale.com.
No Author or Editor (start with the title)
Hemophilia. 2022. In: The Gale encyclopedia of genetic disorders. 5th ed. Detroit: Gale; [accessed 2023 Sep 25]. Vol. 2, p. 891-895. Available from: Gale eBooks; https://link.gale.com.

Journal Article (Library Database)

FORMAT
Author AA, Author BB. Year of publication. Article title. Journal title. [accessed date you viewed the article]; Volume number(issue number):page numbers. Available from: Library Database; hostname URL.
EXAMPLE
Carlson M, Redvers N. 2023. Indigenous peoples and cultural safety in public health. Am J Public Health. [accessed 2023 Oct 12];113(10):1059–1063. Available from: CINAHL Complete; https://search.ebscohost.com.
Journal Title Abbreviations
In CSE, journal titles may be abbreviated. Use ISI Journal Title Abbreviations.

Webpage (with Author)

FORMAT
Author AA. Publication or Updated/Revised Date. Title of webpage. Place of publication: Publisher; [accessed date you viewed the webpage]. URL.
EXAMPLE
Tosh PK. 2022 Dec. Monkeypox: what is it and how can it be prevented? Rochester (MN): Mayo Clinic; [accessed 2023 Sep 10]. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/expert-answers/monkeypox-faq/faq-20533608.

Webpage (No Author)

FORMAT
Title of webpage. Publication or Updated/Revised Date. Place of publication: Publisher; [accessed date you viewed the webpage]. URL.
EXAMPLE
Rhinoviruses. 2023 Mar 8. Atlanta: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; [accessed 2023 Oct 12]. https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/rhinoviruses-common-cold.html.

Internet Publication

FORMAT
Author AA, Author BB. Publication or Updated/Revised Date. Section. In: Title of publication. Place of publication: Publisher; [accessed date you viewed the web publication]. hostname URL.
EXAMPLE
Vergidis P. 2023 Sep. Infectious diseases: fungi: sporotrichosis. In: The Merck manual professional edition. Kenilworth (NJ): Merck & Co.; [accessed 2023 Nov 1]. https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional.

Videos from Websites

FORMAT
Poster AA. Uploaded Date. Title of video. Website; [accessed date you viewed the video]. URL.
EXAMPLE
National Geographic. 2015 Nov 10. Can we use bacteria to treat diseases? YouTube; [accessed 2023 Oct 10]. https://youtu.be/6LjvUPADFtM?si=rvo0qXBIR9LDZ0T3.

Images

Image from a Website

FORMAT
Author AA. Publication or Updated/Revised Date. Title of webpage. Place of Publication: Publisher or Sponsoring Organization; [accessed date you viewed the webpage]. URL.
EXAMPLE
Harding J. 2004 Aug 6. Medical encyclopedia: blood pressure. Bethesda (MD): U.S. National Library of Medicine; [accessed 2022 Mar 26]. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/9124.htm.
Image of artery walls
Illustration of blood pressure force on artery walls.
In-text Citation:
Fig. 1. Blood pressure force to the artery walls (Harding 2004)

Image from Online Book in Library Database (Gale eBooks)

FORMAT
Author AA. Year. Title of the article or entry. In: Title of reference book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; [accessed date you viewed the webpage]. Volume number, p. page(s). Available from: Title of Database; hostname URL.
EXAMPLE
Alic M, Rocheleau J. 2021. Global cancer incidence and mortality. In: Gale encyclopedia of cancer. 5th ed. Detroit: Gale; [accessed 2023 Jan 26]. Vol. 2, p. 952–957. Available from: Gale eBooks; https://link.gale.com.
Chart displaying cancer rates by country
Chart showing cancer incidence by country.
In-text Citation:
Fig. 2. Countries with the highest cancer rates, 2018 (Alic and Rocheleau 2021)
Subjects: Citations