Citing Sources Guide

Iona University Libraries Research Guide on Citing Source

Research Paper

Always follow your instructor's guidelines if specified. CSE does not have a standard format; science writers follow the journal's policies they are submitting to. However, here are a few guidelines to follow for the citation page:

All lines are flush with the left margin
No hanging indents
Author's last name and then initials; no commas or periods between initials
Wright BG.
List ten authors using a comma between authors, then write et at. for all subsequent authors
Adams AB, Brown BC, Cookes CD, Dudley DE, Eggert EF, Flowers FG, Gaffe GH, Hapert HI, Iklant IJ, Jippy JK, et al.
Only capitalize the first word of a title - unless a proper noun
- "The bluest eye"
- "My name is David"
Titles of books and articles are "placed in quotations marks" or "underlined"
Edition information goes after the title
- first becomes 1st; second becomes 2nd; third becomes 3rd; fourth becomes 4th
Journal titles are abbreviated. Follow the set abbreviation in the CASSI
https://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp
Do not hyperlink the URL

There is no standard format for formatting a research paper in CSE. Science writers follow the journal submitting standards for formatting. Please follow your instructor's requirements.

Reference List Layout

All lines flushed left (no hanging indents)
Single spaced
If you use citation-sequence, the reference list is numerical
If you use citation-name, the reference list is alphabetical
Author initials are used rather than first names (Wright N.)
Author's last name, the first and middle initials, then a period (no commas) - Taylor TS.
When more than one author use commas - not and or & (Cohen DS, Rider AG, Feldman G.)
When more than ten authors list first ten then follow with et al. (10 authors Williams D, et al.)
Only the first word in a title is capitalized
Titles of books and articles are placed inside quotation marks or underlined
Abbreviate journal titles; no periods are used in the abbreviation (e.g., Mol Cell Biol)
- Check the CASSI for the abbreviations (https://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp)
Do not hyperlink URLs