CSE Citation Style: CSE Citation Style for Biology

This CSE citation style guide was created by Liz Minnerly and Susan Bradshaw.  Originally created February 2010, revised August 7, 2013 and May 11, 2017.  For more information email the reference desk at library@cf.edu.

The Council of Science Editors’ (CSE) citation style is a variant of the APA citation style. This is a brief introduction; for more information, consult the

Scientific Style & Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers, 8th ed.

• Some of the unique features of this citation style are:
• No commas after the author’s name
• Include the number of pages of a book at the end of the book citation
• Abbreviate journal titles and publisher’s name if appropriate and no hanging indents for the second or third line of a citation.

In-Text Citations

When citing in the text of your research paper, cite the author(s) last name(s), then a space and the full year of publication. If you are citing a specific page add p and the page number(s). If you are citing a webpage, omit the page numbers.

If there are two authors, separate their last names by "and."

If there are three authors, give the first author's last name, followed by "et. al."

If the author is corporate or institutional, use the abbreviation you gave in brackets in the reference list.

References Page

The references list is included as a separate page at the end of your research paper. The title References or Cited References (in plain text, not italicized, underlined, in quotes, or otherwise enhanced) is placed at the top of the page. A blank line is next, followed by each of the list entries.

The CSE prefers a flush-left style, instead of a hanging-indent or first-line indent. Entries are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the author, editor, or other individual who is listed first. For that reason, this name is reversed. [ia.juniata.edu/citation/cse/]

More information on the CSE citation style is also available at these websites:

Citing Medicine

     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=citmed

Juniata College Online Citation Guide

     http://ia.juniata.edu/citation/cse/

Journal and Publisher Abbreviations

     http://ia.juniata.edu/citation/cse/index.htm#workscited

A Sample Paper in CSE, References and In-Text Citations

     http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch11_o.html