When using sources and references, it is important and necessary to give credit to the original author and work by properly citing the source. Citing sources and references properly allows for the correct reference to be located. In order to cite correctly and obtain the proper full-text article it is necessary to know the different parts that make up a citation to obtain access to the article.
Primary literature like journal articles will be the most common kind of reference used when writing lab reports and research papers.
When citing a journal article using the American Chemical Society (ACS) format, the citation contains the following elements:
An ACS reference citation lists information in the following order and formatting for journal articles :
* depending on the journal, the title of the article is not always included as part of the reference
References should be cited in the text of a paper in one of the following ways: with an italicized number, a superscript number, or withe first author name and year of publication. References should be numbered sequentially; when citing more than one reference, each reference should be listed with an increasing number and should be separated with a comma. As always, check the publication or with your instructor for the proper or desired style for citations and reference lists.
Different types of references (e.g. Journal Articles vs. Books) have different citation formats.
Proper formatting for different reference sources can be found in Chapter 14, Table 14-2 of the ACS Style Guide, and formatting styles of common references can be found below.
Format 1:
Author 1, Author 2, Author 3, etc. Title of Article. Journal Abbreviation Year, Volume, Pages cited.
Nguyen, S. T.; Johnson, L. K.; Grubbs, R. H.; Ziller, J. W. Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP) of Norbornene by a Group VIII Carbene Complex in Protic Media. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114 (10), 3974–3975.
Format 2:
Author 1, Author 2, Author 3, etc. Journal Abbreviation Year, Volume, Pages cited.
Nguyen, S. T.; Johnson, L. K.; Grubbs, R. H.; Ziller, J. W. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114 (10), 3974–3975.
Note:
Authors are listed by their last name then their first and middle initials in the order they appear in the byline.
Article titles are not required in reference citations, but inclusion of the title can be useful for indicating the contents of a paper and for helping to locate the specific reference. Some ACS publications include the article title in journal references, and some do not. So, it is important when citing references to check the requirements of the publication.
The minimum amount of information required for a book citation is the author or editor, book title, publisher, city of publication, and year of publication. Page numbers can and should be included when specific pages in a book are being cited, but are not necessary if the book is being cited as a whole.
Book Chapter/Book with Editors:
Author 1; Author 2 Title of Chapter. In Title of Book; Editor 1, Editor 2, Eds. Name of Publisher: City, Year of Publication; Page Numbers.
Minch, Eric Dynamics and Complexity in Systems Biology Modeling: Theoretical Challenges in Metabolic Simulation. In Bioinformatics and Genomes Currents Perspectives; Andrade, M.A. ed. Horizon Scientific: Norfolk, England. 2003; pp123-140.
-or-
Author 1, Author 2 Title of Book; Editor 1, Editor 2, Eds. Name of Publisher: City, Year of Publication; Page Numbers.
Perez-Iratxeta, Carolina; Andrade, Miguel A. In Bioinformatics and Genomes Currents Perspectives; Andrade, M.A. ed. Horizon Scientific: Norfolk, England. 2003; pp 141-152.
Note: In some cases the title of the chapter is included and may be useful for finding the specific chapter or work being referenced. The use of the word "In" prior to the title of the book is used to indicate that the authors wrote part of the book, but not the whole book.
Book without editors:
Author 1, Author 2 Title of Book; Name of Publisher: City, Year of Publication; Page Numbers.
Carpenter, Barry K. Determination of Organic Reaction Mechanisms; Wiley: New York, 1984.
Book in a Series:
Author 1, Author 2 . Title of Chapter. In Title of Book; Editor 1, Editor 2, Eds.; Name of Publisher: City, Year of Publication; Volume, Page Numbers.
Vogt, Emil; Hansen, Anne S.; Kjaergaard, Henrick, G. Local Modes of Vibration: The Effect of Low-Frequency Vibrations. In Molecular Spectroscopy: A Quantum Chemistry Approach; Ozaki, Y.; Wojcik, M.J.; Popp, J; Eds.; Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA: Weinham, Germany, 2019; Volume 2, pp 389-424.
Author 1, Author 2. Title of Website. URL (date accessed)
Nyant, Anak. Physical Chemistyr: 7 tips to Approach Problems in Physical Chemistry. https://www.toppr.com/bytes/7-tips-to-excel-in-physical-chemistry/ (accessed January 8, 2020)
-or-
The ACS Style Guide. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/bk-2006-STYG (accessed January 5, 2020)
Note: Required information for a website includes the site title, URL, and access date. The author of the site should be included if available
Author 1, Author 2 Name of Patent. Country and Patent Number, Date of Patent Submission.
Straubinger, R.M., Sharma, A., Mayhew, E. Taxol Formulation. United States US5415869A, May 16, 1995.
Citation of reference management software provides a method for keeping track of articles, books, web pages, and more as you find them during the course of your research or literature searching. Most citation management software provides similar and useful functions that may include:
The library has a gude that provides some guidance on picking the citation management software that will work best for you
How to Chose: Zotero, Mendeley, or Endnote
