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 :

• Author: The authors are listed by their last name then their first and middle initials in regular font in the order they appear in the byline
• Title of Article: The title of the article is written in regular font*
• Journal:  The title of the Journal is italicized; journal abbreviations can be found at https://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp
• Year: The year the article was published is formatted in bold font
• Volume: The volume of the article comes after the year and is italicized
• Issue: If the article has an issue number, it is listed after the volume, is not italicized, and is enclosed in parentheses
• Page Numbers:  The page numbers of the cited article are listed in regular font

* 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: 

• storing all references in one location 
• providing organization and management of many references
• sharing references or collections of references with collaborators
• generating bibliographies or reference lists in the proper format/style for a giving manuscript or discipline
• allowing writers to use a "cite while write" function

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

• Can gather citations for PDF content
• Can easily gather citations for non-PDF content (e.g. websites, artwork, manuscripts)
• Works well with many catalogs and databases
• Can drag and drop a PDF into Zotero to create a citation record
• Can sync online and desktop libraries
• Can create groups with other Zotero users to create shared libraries
• Zotero has useful guides and online support:  www.zotero.org/support/
• WUSTL Libraries has a helpful guide and provides support for Zotero:  libguides.wustl.edu/zotero

 

• Can gather citations for PDF content
• Works well with catalogs and Elsevier databases
• Can drag and drop and PDF into Mendeley to create a citation record
• Mendeley has an integrated PDF viewer
• Can sync online and desktop libraries
• Can find related references online through your Mendeley account (automatic look up process)
• Can collaborate and join “Groups” in Mendeley online that have similar research interests to share references and/or libraries
• Can create Groups with other Mendeley users to share libraries
• Can share and edit a library or annotate PDFs with another Mendeley user simultaneously. 
• Mendeley has excellent online support:  www.mendeley.com/guides