The ACS Style Guide developed by the American Chemical Society is often used in research papers in chemistry and other physical sciences. This guide focuses on citing the most frequently used reference sources. Each citation consists of in-text citation and citation in the reference list. In addition to the print version of The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, there is an online version available.
Three citation methods are used in ACS publications:
Subscript numbers (the most common method)
The orientational ordering of the vapor-liquid interface has been probed by second harmonic generation.1
If an author's name is part of the sentence:
Pratt1 indicates that the orientational ordering of the vapor-liquid interface has been probed by second harmonic generation.
Italic number
Engineered substrates based on nanometer-sized metallic shapes, like rods, rings (1).
If an author's name is part of the sentence:
Pratt (1) indicates that engineered substrates based on nanometer-sized metallic shapes, like rods, rings.
Author name and year of publication
The flexible, hemilabile nature of the DPEphos ligand allows it to adopt a number of coordination modes (Weller and Willis, 2008).
If an author's name is part of the sentence:
Weller and Willis report that the flexible, hemilabile nature of the DPEphos ligand allows it to adopt a number of coordination modes (2008).
Articles from print journals
Two ways to cite:
Include article title:
Cyranski, M. K.; Krygowski, T. M.; Katritzky, A. R.; Schleyer, P. v. R. To What Extent Can Aromaticity Be Defined Uniquely? J. Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 1333-1338.
Without article title:
Cyranski, M. K.; Krygowski, T. M.; Katritzky, A. R.; Schleyer, P. v. R. J. Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 1333-1338.
(Note: Journal title abbreviations are published in Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (QD Z5523 .A52, in Research Services).
Articles from online journals
For articles retrieved from online journals that have corresponding print versions, cite them using the basic journal reference style.
For articles that have been viewed only in their electronic forms, use the below citation format (Note: article titles should be included in this situation).
Affortunato, F.; Florio, S.; Luisi, F.; Musio, B. α- vs Ortho-Lithiation of N-Alkylarylaziridines: Probing the Role of the Nitrogen Inversion Process. J. Org. Chem. [Online] 2008, 73, 9214-9220. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jo8016549?prevSearch=luisi&searchHistoryKey= (accessed July 21, 2019).
Articles from subscription electronic databases
Hallet, V. Scanning the Globe for Organic Chemistry. U.S. News and World Report [Online], April 19, 2004, p 59, Business Source Complete. http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/ (accessed July 21, 2019).
Book with authors
Denniston, K. J.; Topping, J. J.; Caret, R. L. General, Organic, and Biochemistry, 5th ed.; McGraw-Hill: Boston, 2007.
Book with editors
Ellenberg and Rifkin's Diabetes Mellitus: Theory and Practice, 6th ed.; Porte, D., Sherwin, R. S., Baron, A., Eds.; McGraw-Hill: New York, 2006.
Chapter in a book
Almlof, J.; Gropen, O. Relativistic Effects in Chemistry. In Reviews in Computational Chemistry Lipkowitz, K. B., Boyd, D. B., Eds.; VCH: New York, 1996; Vol. 8, pp 206-210.
Book in series
Dondoni, A.; Massi, A. Synthesis of Heterocycle-Linked C-Glycosyl α-Amino Acids and C-Glycopeptides. In Asymmetric Synthesis and Application of α-Amino Acids; Soloshonok, V. A., Izawa, K., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series 1009; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2009; pp 13-30.
Articles from conference proceedings
Wudl, F.; Hirsch, A.; Khemani, K. C.; etc. Fullerenes: Synthesis, Properties and Chemistry of Large Carbon Clusters. In ACS Symposium Series 468, Atlanta, GA, April 14-19, 1991; Hammond, G. S.; Kuck, V. J., Eds.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992; pp 161−175.
Davis, A.; Jackson, P. Abstracts of Papers, Part 1, 209th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Anaheim, California, Arp 2-6, 1995; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1995; CHED-123.
Articles from theses and dissertations
Articles from patents
White; M.G.; Iretski; A.V.; etc. Adsorbents, Methods of Preparation, and Methods of Use Thereof. U.S. Patent 7,442,232, October 28, 2008.
Note: Make sure that the patent stage (Patent, Patent Application, etc.) is indicated.
Articles from web site
National Center for Biotechnology Information. How To: Retrieve All Sequences for an Organism or Taxon. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/guide/howto/retrieve-seq-org/ (accessed July 21, 2019)
[This ACS citation guide was developed by Li Zhang and updated on July 21, 2019. Please send any comments to lzhang@library.msstate.edu.]
