How to Cite Your Sources in ACS Style

 

The list of references or citations at the end of the paper must be written in a consistent format. There are many citation styles, however, the ACS (American Chemical Society) style is usually preferred for a chemistry paper.

 

Students are encouraged to use RefWorks (http://www.asu.edu/refworks/) to keep track of their research citations. RefWorks is a citation management program that will keep a list of your references and format the list into any one of 300+ citation styles. RefWorks is easy to use, is accessible from any computer whether on campus or off, will convert a bibliography into ACS style, and best of all, it's free because you're an ASU student.

 

Students not using RefWorks or other citation management software should skip the following sections and go to the instructions on how to manually construct citations in ACS style below.

 

How to Set Up a Folder in RefWorks

To set up a folder for a chemistry assignment:

  1. Go to RefWorks at http://www.asu.edu/refworks/
  2. Log-in with your ASURITE ID#, and your password
  3. Log into RefWorks
    If you are a new user, click on the Sign up for an Individual Account link on the left, fill in the requested information and click on the Register button.
  4. On the Folders menu, click on Create New Folder
  5. Type in the name you want to use for this folder and click OK.


How to Convert Your RefWorks Folder into a ACS-styled Bibliography

To create an ACS-styled bibliography from your folder:

  1. Go to RefWorks at http://www.asu.edu/refworks/
  2. Log-in with your ASURITE ID# and your password
  3. Log into RefWorks
  4. Click on the Bibliography button
  5. Select the option Format a Bibliography from a list of references
  6. Select the appropriate File Type to Create
  7. Under include, select References From and then specify the folder
  8. Click on the Create Bibliography button on the bottom of the screen
  9. A new window will open with the bibliography that can then be "copied and pasted" or go back to the RefWorks window and select either the download or e-mail options..

 

How to Manually Construct References in ACS Style

ACS style has two formats:

  • A "full" format that gives a complete citation, and
  • A "short" format that is preferred by most of the journals published by the society; the short format eliminates the article, patent and chapter titles.

Examples of ACS format:
Books | Encyclopedia Articles | Journal Articles | Patents | ACS Style Guide

 

Formats for conference proceedings, dissertations, theses, and data sets are discussed in Penn State Libraries' A Quick Guide to Citing Using the ACS Style Guide.  For more detailed information, please consult the ACS Style Guide.

Journal Articles

 

Journal article citations must include: author names (inverted), abbreviated journal title in italics, year of publication in bold, volume number (if any) in italics and pagination; the long format must include the title of the article as well.

 

Citations for electronic journal articles should include the article title; article pre-prints must identified as such. If no page numbers are given in the electronic version, use the URL or DOI (digital object identifier) code or other identifying information provided by the publisher.

 

Journal Article Example #1

Full Format:
Pietsch, H. Synthese von S-Aspartyl-S-Phenylalaninmethylester (Aspartam) aus S-4-Vinylazetidin-2-on. Tetrahedron Lett. 1976, 17, 4053-4056.

Short Format:
Pietsch, H. Tetrahedron Lett. 1976, 17, 4053-4056.

Journal Article Example #2:

Full Format:
Ruble, J. C.; Fu, G. C.  Chiral-Complexes of Heterocycles with Transition Metals: A Versatile New Family of Nucleophilic Catalysts. J. Org. Chem. 1996, 61, 7230-7231.

Short Format:
Ruble, J.C.; Fu, G. C. J. Org. Chem. 1996, 61, 7230-7231.

 

Electronic Journal Article Example:

Hambourger, M.; Liddell, P. A.: Gust, D.; Moore, A. L.; Moore, T. A. Parameters affecting the chemical work output of a hybrid photoelectrochemical biofuel cell. Phtochem. Phtobiol. Sci. [Online] 2007, 6, 431-437. http://www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/PP/article.asp?doi=b616444g (accessed April 23, 2007).

 

Electronic Pre-Print Example:

Holland, G. P.; Sharma, R.; Agola, J. O.; Amin, S.; Solomon, V. C.; Singh, P.; Buttry, D. A.; Yarger, J. L. NMR Characterization of Phosphonic Acid Capped SnO2 Nanoparticles. Chem. Mater. [Online early access]. DOI: 10.1021/cm062821u. Published online: April 21, 2007. http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/asap.cgi/cmatex/asap/pdf/cm062821u.pdf (accessed April 23, 2007).

 

To find the "approved" journal title abbreviations consult one of the following:

 

ACS Style Guide: Effective Communicationof Scientific Information, 3rd ed .
QD8.5 .A25 2006 Science Reference

 

CASSI
(Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index)

QD1 .A514x Science Reference

Journal Titles and Abbreviations
(Kevin Lindstrom, Chemistry Librarian, UBC)
http://www.library.ubc.ca/scieng/coden.html



Books

 

Book citations must include author names (inverted), book title in italics, edition number (if 2d or higher), series title (if any), publisher, place of publication, year of publication, volume number (if any), and pagination (if applicable). Electronic books should be cited the same as those in print except for the inclusion of the URL or DOI at the end of the citation. Book citations are the same whether in full or short format.

 

Authored chapters within books should be cited with author names (inverted), title of the chapter (only in long format), In (indicating the authors wrote only part of the book), book title in italics, edition number (if 2d or higher), editor names (inverted), series title (if any), publisher, place of publication, year of publication, volume number (if any), and pagination.

 

Book Example #1:

Roberts, J. D.; Caserio, M. C. Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry; Benjamin: New York, 1965; pp 477-478.

Book Example #2:

Gennaro, A. R. Ed. Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, 20th ed.; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Baltimore MD, 2000; p 1447.

 

Chapter Within A Book Example:

Full Format:
Kagan, H. B. Asymetric Oxidation of Sulfides. In Catalytic Asymetric Synthesis, 2nd ed.; Ojima, I., Ed.; Wiley-VCH: New York, 2000; pp 327-356.

Short Format:
Kagan, H. B. In Catalytic Asymetric Synthesis, 2nd ed.; Ojima, I., Ed.; Wiley-VCH: New York, 2000: pp 327-356.

 

Encyclopedia Articles

 

Encyclopedia article citations are treated the same as authored chapters within books and must include author names (inverted), title of the article, In (indicating the authors wrote only part of the encyclopedia), encyclopedia title in italics, edition number (if 2d or higher), editor names (inverted) (if any), publisher, place of pulication, year of publication, volume number (if any), and pagination. The short format is not recommended for encyclopedia articles.

 

Electronic encyclopedia articles should be cited the same as those in print, especially if the page numbers are given. If no pages number are given, include the URL and/or DOI at the end of the citation and the date accessed.

 

Print Encyclopedia Article Example:

Long, A. R.; Barker, S. A. Antibiotics in Foods of Animal Origin. In Wiley Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology, 2nd ed.; Francis, Frederick J. Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1999; Vol. 1, pp 54-63.

 

Electronic Enycyclopedia Article Example:

Lee, T. D. Sweeteners. In Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology; John Wiley & Sons, 1997; DOI: 10.1002/0471238961.19230505120505.a01; Accessed: May 17, 2004.

 

Hollmann, M.; Lehmann, J. D.; Albrecht, H. P.; Thyes, M. Cardiovascular Drugs. In Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry; Wiley-VCH, 2002; URL: http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/ueic/articles/a05_289/abstract-fs.html  Accessed: May 17, 2004.

 

Patents

 

U.S. patent citations must include inventor names (inverted), title of the patent (full format only), U. S. Patent, number, and year of issuance.

 

Foreign patent citations must include inventor names (inverted), title of the patent (full format only), country or patent agency name or abbreviation, patent number, and year of issuance.

 

US Patent Example:

Full Format:
Hilborn, J. W.; Jurgens, A. R. Fluoxetine process from benzoylacetonitrile. U.S. Patent 6,025,517, 2000.

Short Format:
Hilborn, J. W.; Jurgens, A. R. U.S. Patent 6,025,517, 2000.

 

Foreign Patent Example:

Long Format:
Christensen, J. A.; Squires, R. F. Verfahren zur Herstellung von aromatischen Hydroxyverbindungen. German Patent DE 2404114, 1974.

Short Format:
Christensen, J. A.; Squires, R. F. German Patent DE 2404114, 1974.

 

 


For detailed information on ACS Style see:


ACS Style Guide: Effective Communicationof Scientific Information, 3rd edition .


QD8.5 .A25 2006 Science Reference



"Chapter 14: References" contains examples of the different types of documents formatted in ACS style.

 

 

 

 

 



 

Page last modified: July 11, 2008