Research Guides: Citation Style Guides and Management Tools: Science Styles

Each time you make a statement based on a reference, cite that reference as soon as clarity allows, using the author(s) name(s) and publication date. e.g.:Several studies found that atrazine causes cancer in lab animals (Chickenlittle 1992; Jay and Crow 1996); however, other studies found no such effect (Ostrich et al. 1994; Frankenstein 1998).

The EPA web page provided both water quality standards (EPA 2002a) and drinking water standards (EPA 2002b).

For text references with more than 2 authors, list the first author and then "et al." Example:Smith et al. 1994.In the bibliography, list all authors for a source.

If you discuss one study for one or more paragraphs, do not cite it every sentence. Introduce the study at the beginning, then end with a final citation. For example: Bailey et al (1994) produced one of the definitive studies on the impacts of grazing on riparian birds….(discuss for a paragraph or two). ……. Hence livestock grazing was concluded to be one of most widespread human actions reducing the diversity of bird populations in the southwest US (Bailey et al 1994).

How to cite a work that was cited by someone else: (Powell 1858, cited in Forbes 1872) .NOTE: The CBE style manual, 1994 (pg. 626) states that "such citation through secondary sources should, in general, be discouraged" (i.e. read the original article if you want to cite it).

Generic Examples of Citations in a Bibliography

Sample Citation Guidlines
This document contains examples of citing scientific work.

Citations should be listed alphabetically (by first author's last name) and chronologically (i.e. for papers by the same author, list earlier papers first). For papers by the same author in the same year, use: Harris, C. L. 1990a; Harris, C. L. 1990b; EPA 2002; EPA 2003

Indent or skip lines between citations for clarity.

Italicize Latin words (et al., genus species Ursus arctos) & journal names; underline or italicize book titles.