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BIOL 230 Staples

Cell & Molecular Biology

CSE Style

The Council of Science Editors (CSE), formerly the CBE (Council of Biology Editors), produces a guide to appropriate scientific style used for citing sources in the sciences, which includes biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics and physics. The guide is referred to as "the CSE Manual." For more detailed information, see these websites:

CSE does not prescribe a paper format, but the library recommends using 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced with one-inch margins top, bottom and sides.

CSE Format Youtube video

CSE style citation generator

MyBib logo four books on a shelf

MyBib: Enter information about your book, article, or website and MyBib will create a citation. As with any citation generator, check the format against an authoritative citation guide.

CSE citation style and a few rules

Examples of citations of different formats in CSE Name-Year

A few rules about CSE Name-Year system:

  • Authors’ first names are written as capitals after their surnames; i.e., Ríos JB, Jones TL, Cho J.
  • Titles of articles, chapters, journals and books are not italicized.
  • Only the first word in a title of a book or article is capitalized.
  • Only species' names are italicized; i.e., Sequoia sempervirens or Olea europaea.

The two types of citations are "end references," which are listed on your References or Cited References page, and "in text references," which are inserted within the text of your paper in the paragraph in which you cite that source. Reference pages are formatted with a hanging indent; i.e., the second line of a citation is indented. In the name-year system, list (but do not number) your sources alphabetically in the reference list at the end of your paper. In the sentences of your paper, cite these sources by giving the author’s last name and year of publication in parentheses.

Print book format

Author(s). Date. Title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher. Extent (number of pages). Notes.

End reference example:

Campbell NA, Reece JB, Taylor MB, EJS, Dickey JL. 2009. Parasitic fungi harm plants and animals. In: Biology: concepts & connections. 6th ed.

San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. p. 359.

In text citation example: (Campbell et al. 2009)

Online journal article format

Author(s). Date. Article title. Journal title (edition). [date updated; date accessed];Volume(issue):location. Notes.

End reference example

Savage E, Ramsay M, White J, Beard S, Lawson H, Hunjan R, Brown D. 2005. Mumps outbreaks across England and Wales in 2004; observational study. BMJ. [accessed 2005 May 31];330(7500):1119-1120. http://bmj.bmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/330/7500/1119. doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1119.

In text citation example: (Savage et al. 2005)

Websites and Homepages

Title of the homepage. Date of publication. Place of publication: publisher; date of publication [date updated; date accessed]. Notes.

Example:

APSnet: plant pathology online. c1994-2005. St. Paul (MN): American Phytopathological Association; [accessed 2005 Jun 20]. http://www.aspnet.org/.

Webpage on a website

Author(s) name. Date. Title of the webpage [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; [date updated; cited date]. Available from: web address

Example:

ACS Green Chemistry Institute [Internet].  c2010.  Washington, DC:  American Chemical Society; [cited 2010 Oct 27].  Available from: http://portal.acs.org/portal/Public
WebSite/greenchemistry/index.htm

When there is no author available for a work, the date of publication comes after the title in the name-year system.