CSE Citation Quick Guide
7th edition
CSE style (or Council of Scientific Editors style) is divided into three sub-styles. Select the appropriate sub-style for examples. If the examples provided do not seem appropriate, consult the CSE Manual for a comprehensive listing.
Click on the category to find out how to cite specific resources
Citation Sequence
Ordering a Reference List and In-text Citations
Citation-Sequence
- End references are sequenced based on the order that they appear in the text, they are not listed alphabetically.
- Use numbers within the text to refer to the end references.
Example:
in-text reference:
Liberated German art was hauled away to secret locations to be distributed among American civilians1.end reference:
1. Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, Simpson B, Burns L, et al. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
2. Lumpkin L, Simpson C,. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Journals
- Author(s). Article title. Journal title. Date;Volume(issue):page numbers.

Example:
Simpson A. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Electronic Journal Article from a Database
- Author. Article title. Title of Periodical. Year; volume (issue): page numbers. In Name of database [database on internet].Edition or Release. Place of Publication: Publisher of Database; date of publication. [Cited date]. Number of pages. Available from: article URL; document number if available.
Example:
Skinner S. Evolution or intelligent design: the menu model of elementary science instruction. Science Educator. 2005; 32(2)1975-2008. In Science Direct [database on the internet]. Release 3. NY: Science Direct Publishing; 2005. [Cited 2008 May 4]. 33p. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect/scienceeducator/32/2/skinner ; doi:123456789
Journals with two to ten authors
- List them all.
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Journals with more than ten authors
- List first 10 followed by "et al." or "and others".
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, Simpson B, Burns L, et al. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Journals' title
- Abbreviate the significant words in a title
- Omit articles, conjunctions, and prepositions
- Do not use a period after each abbreviation. Put at the end of entire title
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Journals' date
- For multiple years, put the first year and the last year, and put a hyphen between years
- The month and day need to be included if there is no volume or issue numbers, and dates of update
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989-1992;9(1):49-58.
Simpson A, Burns M, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989 Feb 10:15-35.
Journals' volumes and issues
- Write both volumes and issues numbers in Arabic numerals
- Separate multiple volume and issue numbers by a hyphen
- Put issue numbers in parentheses
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989-1992;13-15(1A-2C):69-78.
Books
- Author(s). Title. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date. Extent. Notes.

Example:
Lumpkin L. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with two to ten authors
- List all the names of authors in the order in which they appear in the text.
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C,. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with more than authors
- List the first names of authors in the order in which they appear in the text followed by "et al" or "and others"
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C, Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, et al. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with no authors
- If there are editors, put the names of editors followed by the word "editor" or "editors"
- If there are no authors and editors, begin with the title
Example:
Simpson B, Callahan N, editors. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with both authors and editors
- Put the authors first then put the editors after the title.
Example:
Lumpkin L. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Powers R, Simpson L, editors. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books' place of publication
- Universally known place such as New York or London can stand alone
- If there is no place of publication, put place unknown within square brackets
Example:
Lumpkin L. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. [place unknown]: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books' dates
- If the year of publication is unknown but the year of copyright is known, use the year of copyright, preceded by "c"
- For multiple years, put the first year and the last year, and put hyphen between years
- If both years are unknown, put date unknown within square brackets
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; c1989. 419 p.
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989-1992. 419 p.
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; [date unknown]. 419 p.
Conference Proceedings
- Editor(s). Title of Book. Number and name of conference; date of conference; place of conference. Place of publication: publisher; date. Extent. Notes.

Example: Van Houten, N, Flanders R, Editors. Nachos Flanders style. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Stadium Food; Vancouver, British Columbia: Fallout Press; 1975. 620 p.
Conference Papers
- Author(s). Title of paper. In: Editor(s). Title of book. Number and name of conference; date of conference;place of conference. Place of publication: publisher; date. Page numbers. Notes.

Example:
Van Houten N, Flanders R. Nachos Flanders style. In: Simpson, C, Lumpkin, L, editors. The Book of Nacho. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Stadium Food; 1976 Feb. 10-15; Vancouver, British Columbia. Pullman (WA): Fallout Press; 1975. p. 175-200.
Dissertations and Theses
Bibliographies
- Author(s), compliers. Title of bibliography[content designator]. Place of publication: publisher; date. Extent. Notes.

Example:
Flanders R, Flanders T, compliers. Biblical Allusions Flanders Style [bibliography]. Springfield (VT): University of Springfield. 2008. 1110 p. Lee S complier. Technology and Internet [bibliography]. Pullman (WA): University Press; 2008. 1110 p.
Patents
- Author(s), inventors; patent holder, assignees. Title of patent. Country issuing the patent country code patent number. Publication date. Extent.

Example:
Leonard L, Carlson C, inventors; Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, assignee. Doughnut shaped nuclear reactor. US patent 4,777,123. 2008 Jun 10. 352 p.
Newspapers
Homepages and Other Internet Materials
All resources that reside on the Internet are cited the same way that such materials appearing in print are cited, with these exceptions.
- Use the word "Internet" within square brackets after the title
- Include any date of update/revision and a date of citation within square brackets
General
Example:
Pretzelmaking [Internet]. [Updated 2006 May 4]. F. Ormand inc.; [cited 2007 May 7]. Available from: http://www.frankormondpretzelmaking.com/twisted.html
Name Year
Ordering a Reference List and In-text Citations
Ordering a Reference List
- In the reference list, list alphabetically by author
In Text Citations
Single Author
- For in-text references, list the author and the year
Example:
Due to uneasiness on the part of male spectators the foot-long hotdog has been removed from the concession menu (Flanders 2002).
Multiple Works Published by the Same Author in Different Years
- List the author and the years in chronological sequence
Example:
Flanders's studies of concession offerings (Flanders 1970, 1975) have shown that...
Multiple Authors
- For 2 authors, list both names in the in-text reference, separated by "and".
Example:
...and the most recent work on the Flying Hellfish (Burns and Simpson 2001) is...
- For more than 2 authors, list the first author followed by "et al." and the year
Example:
... but later studies (Carlson et al. 2004) determined that...
Corporation or Organization as Authors
- List the initial letter of each part of name or readily recognizable abbreviation and the year
Example:
The landmark report on nuclear power (SNPP 1979) was...
Journals
- Author(s). Date. Article title. Journal title. Volume(issue):page numbers.

Example:
Simpson A, Burns M. 1989. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 9(1):49-58.
Electronic Journal Article from a Database
- Author. Year. Date. Article title. Journal title. Volume(issue):page numbers. In: Name of database [database on the internet]. Edition or Release. Place of Publication: Publisher of database; date of publication. [Cited date].Number of pages. Available from: article URL; document number if available.
Example:
Skinner S. 2005. Evolution or intelligent design: the menu model of elementary science instruction. Science Educator. 32(2) 1975-2008. In Science Direct [database on the internet]. Release 3. NY: Science Direct Publishing; 2005. [Cited 2008 May 4]. 33p. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect/scienceeducator/32/2/skinner ; doi:123456789
Journals with two to ten authors
- List them all.
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Gumble B, Powers R, Simpson L. 1989. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr. J 9(1):49-58.
Journals with more than ten authors
- List the first 10 followed by "et al." or "and others".
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, Simpson B, Burns L, et al. 1989. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 9(1):49-58.
Journals' title
- Abbreviate the significant words in a title
- Omit articles, conjunctions, and prepositions
- Do not use a period after each abbreviation. Put at the end of entire title
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L. 1989. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 9(1):49-58.
Journals' date
- The month and day need to be included if there is no volume or issue numbers, and dates of update
- For multiple years, put the first year and the last year, and put hyphen between years
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. 1989-1992. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 9(1):49-58.
Simpson A, Burns M, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. 1989 Feb 10. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 9(1):49-58.
Journals' volumes and issues
- Write both volumes and issues numbers in Arabic numerals
- Separate multiple volume and issue numbers by a hyphen
- Put issue numbers in parentheses
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. 1989-1992. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 13-15(1A-2C):69-78.
Books
- Author(s). Date. Title. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher. Extent. Notes.
Example:
Lumpkin, L. 1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Books with two to ten authors
- List all the names of authors in the order in which they appear in the text.
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. 1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Books with more than authors
- List the first names of authors in the order in which they appear in the text followed by "et al" or "and others"
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C, Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, et al. 1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Books with no authors
- If there are editors, put the names of editors followed by the word "editor" or "editors"
- If there are no authors and editors, begin with the title
Example:
Simpson B, Callahan N, editors. 1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Country singin aint for me. 3rd Ed. 1989. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Books with both authors and editors
- Put the authors first then put the editors after the title.
Example:
Lumpkin, L. 1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Powers R, Simpson L, editors. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Books' place of publication
- Universally known place such as New York or London can stand alone
- If there is no place of publication, put place unknown within square brackets
Example:
Lumpkin, L. 1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. [place unknown]: Country Press.
Books' dates
- If the year of publication is unknown but the year of copyright is known, use the year of copyright, preceded by "c"
- For multiple years, put the first year and the last year, and put hyphen between years
- If both years are unknown, put date unknown within square brackets
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. c1989. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. 1989-1992. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. [date unknown]. Country singin aint for me. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Country Press.
Conference Proceedings
- Editor(s). Date. Title of Book. Number and name of conference; date of conference; place of conference. Place of publication: publisher. Extent. Notes

Example:
Van Houten N, Flanders R, Editors. 1975. Nachos Flanders style. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Stadium Food; Vancouver, British Columbia: Fallout Press.
Conference Papers
- Author(s). Date. Title of paper. In: Editor(s). Title of book. Number and name of conference; date of conference; place of conference. Place publication: publisher. Page numbers. Notes.
Example:
Van Houten N, Flanders R. 1975. Nachos Flanders style. In: Simpson C, Lumpkin L, editors. The Book of Nacho. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Stadium Food; 1976 Feb. 10-15; Vancouver, British Columbia. Pullman (WA): Fallout Press. p. 175-200.
Dissertations and Theses
Bibliographies
Patents
Newspapers
Homepages and Other Internet Materials
General
All resources that reside on the Internet are cited the same way that such materials would appear in print or electronically cited, with these exceptions.
- Use the word "Internet" within square brackets after the title
- Include any date of update/revision and a date of citation within square brackets
Example:
Pretzelmaking [Internet]. [Updated 2006 May 4]. F. Ormand inc.; [cited 2007 May 7]. Available from: http://www.frankormondpretzelmaking.com/twisted.html
Citation Name
Ordering a Reference List and In-text Citations
Citation-Name
- In the Citation-Name style references are to be listed alphabetically in the reference list and assigned a number that reflects the order in which it is listed in the reference list.
Example:
in-text reference
Ziff found58...
Amandopolis considered spatial...1...
According to Simpson's research32...
Burns sampled2...
end reference
1. Amandopolis...
2. Burns...
32. Simpsoon...
58. Ziff...
Journals
- Author(s). Article title. Journal title. Date;Volume(issue):page numbers.

Example:
Simpson A. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Electronic Journal Article from a Database
- Author. Article title. Title of Periodical. Year; volume (issue): page numbers. In Name of database [database on internet].Edition or Release. Place of Publication: Publisher of Database; date of publication. [Cited date]. Number of pages. Available from: article URL; document number if available.
Example:
Skinner S. Evolution or intelligent design: the menu model of elementary science instruction. Science Educator. 2005; 32(2)1975-2008. In Science Direct [database on the internet]. Release 3. NY: Science Direct Publishing; 2005. [Cited 2008 May 4]. 33p. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect/scienceeducator/32/2/skinner ; doi:123456789
Journals with two to ten authors
- List them all.
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Journals with more than ten authors
- List first 10 followed by "et al." or "and others".
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, Simpson B, Burns L, et al. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Journals' title
- Abbreviate the significant words in a title
- Omit articles, conjunctions, and prepositions
- Do not use a period after each abbreviation. Put at the end of entire title
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989;9(1):49-58.
Journals' date
- For multiple years, put the first year and the last year, and put a hyphen between years
- The month and day need to be included if there is no volume or issue numbers, and dates of update
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989-1992;9(1):49-58.
Simpson A, Burns M, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989 Feb 10:15-35.
Journals' volumes and issues
- Write both volumes and issues numbers in Arabic numerals
- Separate multiple volume and issue numbers by a hyphen
- Put issue numbers in parentheses
Example:
Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T. The Flying Hellfish: WWII liberators of art from Nazi Germany. Cypr J. 1989-1992;13-15(1A-2C):69-78.
Books
- Author(s). Title. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher; Date. Extent. Notes.
Example:
Lumpkin L. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with two to ten authors
- List all the names of authors in the order in which they appear in the text.
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C,. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with more than authors
- List the first names of authors in the order in which they appear in the text followed by "et al" or "and others"
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C, Simpson A, Burns M, Lovejoy J, Gumble B, Christian S, Powers R, Simpson L, Flanders T, et al. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with no authors
- If there are editors, put the names of editors followed by the word "editor" or "editors"
- If there are no authors and editors, begin with the title
Example:
Simpson B, Callahan N, editors. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books with both authors and editors
- List the authors, title and then editors
Example:
Lumpkin L. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Powers R, Simpson L, editors. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books' place of publication
- Universally known place such as New York or London can stand alone
- If there is no place of publication, put place unknown within square brackets
Example:
Lumpkin L. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. [place unknown]: Country Press; 1989. 419 p.
Books' dates
- If the year of publication is unknown but the year of copyright is known, use the year of copyright, preceded by "c"
- For multiple years, put the first year and the last year, and put a hyphen between years
- If both years are unknown, put date unknown within square brackets
Example:
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; c1989. 419 p.
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; 1989-1992. 419 p.
Lumpkin L, Simpson C. Country singin' ain't for me. 3rd Ed. Washington, DC: Country Press; [date unknown]. 419 p.
Conference Proceedings
- Editor(s). Title of Book. Number and name of conference; date of conference; place of conference. Place of publication: publisher; date. Extent. Notes.

Example:
Van Houten, N, Flanders R, Editors. Nachos Flanders style. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Stadium Food; Vancouver, British Columbia: Fallout Press; 1975. 620 p.
Conference Papers
- Author(s). Title of paper. In: Editor(s). Title of book. Number and name of conference; date of conference;place of conference. Place of publication: publisher; date. Page numbers. Notes.
Example:
Van Houten N, Flanders R. Nachos Flanders style. In: Simpson, C, Lumpkin, L, editors. The Book of Nacho. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Stadium Food; 1976 Feb. 10-15; Vancouver, British Columbia. Pullman (WA): Fallout Press; 1975. p. 175-200.
Dissertations and Theses
Bibliographies
- Author(s), compliers. Title of bibliography[content designator]. Place of publication: publisher; date. Extent. Notes.
Example:
Flanders R, Flanders T, compliers. Biblical Allusions Flanders Style [bibliography]. Springfield (VT): University of Springfield. 2008. 1110 p. Lee S, Leem E, compliers. Technology and Internet [bibliography]. Pullman (WA): Pullman Network; 2008. 1110 p.
Patents
- Author(s), inventors; patent holder, assignees. Title of patent. Country issuing the patent country code patent number. Publication date. Extent.
Example:
Leonard L, Carlson C, inventors; Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, assignee. Doughnut shaped nuclear reactor. US patent 4,777,123. 2008 Jun 10. 352 p.
Newspapers
Homepages and Other Internet Materials
General
All resources that reside on the Internet are cited the same way that such materials appearing in print are cited, with these exceptions.
- Use the word "Internet" within square brackets after the title
- Include any date of update/revision and a date of citation within square brackets
Example:
Pretzelmaking [Internet]. [Updated 2006 May 4]. F. Ormand inc.; [cited 2007 May 7]. Available from: http://www.frankormondpretzelmaking.com/twisted.html
Information was gathered from [CSE] Council of Science Editors. 2006. Scientific style and format: The CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers, 7th ed. Reston, VA: Council of Science Editors and Rockefeller University Press.