CSE Style Guide
CSE style is the citation style recommended by the Council of Science Editors for use in biology and other sciences.
The current 8th edition of Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers is available:
Overview
There are three different methods of CSE Style:
- name-year
- citation-sequence
- citation-name
In-text citations and the order of end references are formatted differently with each method.
General Formatting
- Capitalize the titles of journals as they appear in the publication. Books, chapters and articles, use sentence case.
- Do not list the author’s full first name, only their initial(s). No commas separate the author’s last name and first initial(s)
- The references page can be titled “References”, “Cited References”, “Literature Cited”, or “Bibliography”
- When creating a citation for a source with 1-10 authors, list all authors. For a source with 11+ authors, list the first 10 followed by “et al.”
In-Text Citations
Name-Year
In the name-year system, parenthetical in-text citations will consist of the author’s last name and year of publication. In the case of two authors, place both names in the parenthesis separated by and. If a source has three or more authors, list only the first author’s name followed by et al.
Example:
Based on the literature, when designing an effective kinase hinge binder, “one to three H-bonds are required to gain sufficient potency at a given kinase” (Sharma and Gupta 2022).
Appears in references section as:
Sharma, V, Gupta, M. 2022. Designing of kinase hinge binders: A medicinal chemistry perspective. Chem Biol Drug Des. 100(6):968-980.
Citation-Sequence
In the Citation-Sequence system, use superscript numbers within the text. In your references cited page number your citations in order that they appear in your paper.
Example:
Data suggests that female patients being treated following in-hospital cardiac arrest show slightly higher rates of survival than men1.
Appears in references section as:
1. DiLibero, J, Misto, K. Outcomes of in-hospital cardiac arrest: A review of the evidence. Crit. Care Nurs Clin. North Am. 2021 Sep;33(3): 343-356.
Citation-Name
In the Citation-Name system, complete the list of end references for your paper before adding the superscript numbers in your text. For instance: if the first source cited in your paper is a work by Zimmerman and there are 43 sources cited in your paper, Zimmerman will be number 43.
Example:
Hypoxia tumor cells are highly resistant to cancer therapies 67, however research has found success with a multimodal therapy approach12.
Appears in References section as:
12. Graham, K, Unger, E. Overcoming tumor hypoxia as a barrier to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatment. Int. J. Nanomedicine. 2918 Oct;13:6049-6058.
67. Wang, J-J, Lei, K-F, Han, F. Tumor microenvironment: recent advances in various cancer treatments. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2018 Jun;22(12):3855-3864
Cited References
List the references to sources that you have cited within the text alphabetically by author under the heading “References”, “Cited References”, “Literature Cited”, or “Bibliography”. You can list references that you consulted but did not cite for additional reading or other purposes under a separate heading such as “Additional References” or “Supplemental References”.
Name-Year
Articles
Print Journal Article
See section 29.3.7.1 of the CSE Manual.
Meise CJ, Johnson DL, Stehlik LL, Manderson J, Shaheen P. 2003. Growth rates of juvenile Winter Flounder under varying environmental conditions. Trans Am Fish Soc. 132(2):225-345.
Online Journal Article
See section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
Setälä H, Sun ZJ, Zheng JQ, Lu C, Cui MM, Han SJ. 2023. Loss of soil carbon and nitrogen indicates climate change-induced alterations in a temperate forest ecosystem. Ecological Indicators. [accessed 2023 July 20]:148. https://www-sciencedirect-com.une.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S1470160X23001978?via%3Dihub. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110055
Online Encyclopedia Article
See section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
Wagner S, Johanna T. 2016. Pregnancy. In: Gale encyclopedia of medicine [database on the Internet]. 5th ed. Vol. 2. Farmington Hills (MI): Gale. [accessed 2023 Jul 13]. (Gale Virtual Reference Library). p. 260-792. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL.
BOOKS
Print Book
See section 29.3.7.2 of the CSE Manual.
McCormac JS, Kennedy G. 2004. Birds of Ohio. 2nd ed. Auburn (WA): Lone Pine.
E-book
See section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
Rollin, BE. 1998. The unheeded cry: animal consciousness, animal pain, and science [Internet]. 3rd ed. Ames (IA): The Iowa State University Press. [accessed 2021 August 27]. http://www.netlibrary.com.
Book Chapter
See section 29.3.7.2.10 of the CSE Manual.
McDaniel TK, Valdivia RH. 2005. Cellular microbiology. 2nd ed. Washington (DC): ASM Press. Chapter 2, New tools for virulence gene discovery; p. 473-488.
Webpages
See section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
It can often be difficult to locate all the required elements of a citation on a webpage. Work with the information provided; if an author or other element is not listed, leave that element out and do not create placeholders.
Include citation elements in this order:
Title of Homepage. Date of publication. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; [date updated; date accessed]. Notes.
Example:
Whale Shark. 2023. Washington (DC): Oceana; [accessed 2023 July 27]. https://oceana.org/marine-life/whale-shark/.
Conference Paper
See section 29.3.7.3 of the CSE Manual.
Lee DJ, Bates D, Dromey C, Xu X, Antani S. c2003. An imaging system correlating lip shapes with tongue contact patterns for speech pathology research. In: Krol M, Mitra S, Lee DJ, editors. CBMS 2003. Proceedings of the 16th IEEE Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems; New York. Los Alamitos (CA): IEEE Computer Society. p. 307–313.
Dissertation or Thesis
See section 29.3.7.5 of the CSE Manual.
Brann, C. 2018. Drosophila glypicans Dally and dally-Like control injury induced allodynia [thesis]. [Biddeford (ME)]: University of New England. [Accessed 2023 July 20]. https://dune.une.edu/theses/164/
Technical Report
See section 29.3.7.4 of the CSE Manual.
Gimble JM. 2009. Circadian biology and sleep: Missing links in obesity and metabolism. Baton Rogue (LA): Louisiana State University System. Report No.: W81XWH-09-1-0289. Available from: NTIS, Springfield, VA.
Figures & Images
See section 30.2 of the CSE Manual
Talbot P. 2011. Mesocricetus auratus, blood cell, oocyte, cumulus cell [recorded image]. La Jolla (CA): Cell Image Library. http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/images/18042.
Citation-Sequence & Citation-Name
Articles
Print Journal Article
See Section 29.3.7.1 of the CSE Manual.
Justen H, Delmore KE. The genetics of bird migration. Current Biology. 22 Oct;32(20): R1144-R1149.
Online Journal Article
See Section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
Xiaojie W, Jinling X, Yixin Y. Response of fish to ocean warming and acidification. Acta Ecologica Sinica. 2022 Jan [accessed 2023 July 24];42(2):433-441. https://www.ecologica.cn/stxb/article/abstract/stxb202006081486. doi: 10.5846/stxb202006081486
Online Encyclopedia Article
See Section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
Angell B. Behavioral therapy. In: Franklin C, editor. Oxford research encyclopedia of social work. New York (NY): Oxford University Press; 2013 [accessed 2023 July 24]. https://doi-org.une.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.30
BOOKS
Print Book
See Section 29.3.7.2 of the CSE Manual.
Lemons DS. A student’s guide to entropy. New York (NY): Cambridge University Press; 2013.
E-book
See Section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
Chambers JA. Field guide to global health & disaster medicine. Philadelphia (PA): Elsevier; 2022 [accessed 2023 July 24]. https://www-clinicalkey-com.une.idm.oclc.org/#!/browse/book/3-s2.0-C20200000599.
Book Chapter
See Section 29.3.7.2.10 of the CSE Manual.
Voight ML, Tippett SR. Plyometric exercise in rehabilitation. In: Prentice WE, editor. Rehabilitation techniques for sports medicine and athletic training. Thorofare (NJ): SLACK Incorporated; 2015. 285-310.
Webpages
See Section 29.3.7.13 of the CSE Manual.
It can often be difficult to locate all the required elements of a citation on a webpage. Work with the information provided; if an author or other element is not listed, leave that element out and do not create placeholders.
Include citation elements in this order:
Title of Homepage. Edition. Place of Publication: publisher; date of publication; date updated]. Notes.
Example: ECOS letter on U.S. DOJ SEP policy. 2022. Washington (DC): Enviormental Council of the States; [accessed 2023 July 24]. https://www.ecos.org/documents/ecos-letter-on-u-s-doj-sep-policy/.
Conference Paper
See Section 29.3.7.3 of the CSE Manual.
Mahdavi K, Culshaw R, Boucher J, editors. Current developments in mathematical biology. Conference on Mathematical Biology and Dynamical Systems; Tyler, TX. University of Texas at Tyler.
Dissertation or Thesis
See Section 29.3.7.5 of the CSE Manual.
Sullivan SM. Identifying complex adaptive systems using quantitative approaches at a midsized biotechnology firm [dissertation]. Biddeford (ME): University of New England; 2022.
Technical Report
See Section 29.3.7.4 of the CSE Manual.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Atlanta (GA): Center for Disease Control and Prevention; 2019. Report No.2019-133.
Figures & Images
See section 30.2 of the CSE Manual
Winslow T. Spine anatomy [illustration]. Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute. [Accessed 2023 Aug 4]. https://visualsonline.cancer.gov/details.cfm?imageid=12201.
Questions & Help
If you have questions on this, or another, topic, contact a librarian for help!