Citing with ACS Style: Home

This guide is based on the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication guidelines for ACS citations. Additional citation examples are located in section 4.3 of ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication.

Some changes from the 3rd edition of the ACS style guide include: 

• Adding the article title into a journal citation 
• No longer require the addition of [Online] to the citations for online information 
• Place of publication is recommended only for smaller or specialized publishers
• Include DOI for online publications with DOI
• Include (CAS RN: number) at end of citation for information on a specific chemical substance
• Access date listed in YYYY-MM-DD format
• Some changes in the way database entries are listed.

ACS style is the standard style used in chemistry.  

ACS suggests citing references in text in three ways:

• By superscript numbers - numbers are listed in the text starting with ¹ 

  • Oscillation in the reaction of benzaldehyde with oxygen was reported previously.3

  • The syntheses described by Fraser3 take advantage of carbohydrate topology.

  • Journal examples:  Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Organic Chemistry

  • References should be numbered sequentially.  If a reference is cited more than once, it does not receive a new number.

• By italic numbers in parentheses - numbers are listed in the text starting with (1)

  • Oscillation in the reaction of benzaldehyde with oxygen was reported previously (6).

  • Jensen (6) reported oscillation in the reaction of benzaldehyde with oxygen.

  • References should be numbered sequentially.  If a reference is cited more than once, it does not receive a new number.

• By author name and year of publication in parentheses (author-date system) - no longer used in ACS Journals:

  • Oscillation in the reaction of benzaldehyde with oxygen was reported previously (Finnegan et al., 2004).

  • The primary structure of this enzyme has also been determined (O'Brien and Alenno, 2005; Axelrod, 2003).

ACS style is the standard style used in chemistry.  The ACS Style Guide is available in print and online format.  Chapter 14 of the guide includes examples of different types of references. References are arranged either by number or alphabetically by author, depending upon which type of in-text citations are used. 

ACS Style includes journal title abbreviations. The journal title field is abbreviated using the abbreviations listed in CASSI (CAS Source Index). If the journal title is not included in CASSI list include the full, unabbreviated title in the citation. Single word journal titles are not abbreviated. Journal abbreviations are italicized.

Capitalize all major word in the article title as well as the first word in the title and subtitle. Exception: Genus names are italicized and species names are not capitalized.

Electronic journals - if the journal only publishes electronically or if the online version is different from the print version, then it may be appropriate to include information about the online access.  This should include the date you accessed it, and either the DOI, the article URL or the database.

Where to Find Citation Information:  Check the title page and copyright information page.

Basic Format of Print Book with Author (no editors)

Author, A. A.; Author 2; ...; Author 10; et al. Chapter Title. Book Title, Edition Number; Series Information (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, Year; Volume Number, Pagination.

Basic Format of Print Book with Editors

Author, A. A.; Author 2; ...; Author 10; et al. Chapter Title. In Book Title, Edition Number; Editor 1, Editor 2, etc., Eds.; Series Information (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, Year; Volume Number, Pagination.

Place of Publication: The place of publication is not required for well-known publishers like Wiley, Springer, CRC Press, American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Elsevier. 

An online book generally corresponds to the printed version.  Cite books like print-based books but add the DOI at the end of the citation if it is available. If a DOI is not available add the URL for the home page of the site. 

Citing data in an online book: Cite the page number with the data. Some online books also have interactive tables that do not have page numbers.  In this case cite the table and indicate the substance or other identifying name in the table instead of the page number.

Where to Find Citation Information:  Some online books will provide a basic citation.  Look for the words Citation or something like Cite this Book.  These citations will not necessarily be in ACS style but will give you clues as to what information to cite.  Also check the Front Matter section, Preface or book cover.

Basic Format for Online Books with Editors:

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; ...; Author 10; et al. Chapter Title.  In Book Title; Editor 1, Editor, etc. Eds.; Series Information (if any); Publisher:  Place of Publication, Year posted online; Volume Number, Pagination or Name of Compound or other identifying information; URL* (accessed YYYY-MM-DD) (CAS RN #).

*Include home page URL for subscription sites without the proxy information. To access subscription sites a proxy server is used to indicate that University of Manitoba students are allowed to access the site and uml.idm.oclc.org  is added to the URL.  When citing remove the proxy server information.  In order to get the URL without the proxy information it is recommended to search for the database name using Google and then copy the URL. Be as concise as possible.  For instance, use https://scifinder.cas.org https://scifinder.cas.org/scifinder/login.

A database is a website that has a collection of information such as citations to journal articles, physical property data, or spectra.  A database includes a search feature and individual records matching the query are retrieved.  Most databases will include some unique identifier that will allow the user to retrieve that specific information again.  Examples include:  accession number, entry number, CAS registry number, or chemical name.

General Features of Databases:

• accessible on the Internet
• includes a search option
• individual entries identified by a unique number or an identifier such as a chemical name

Where to Find Citation Information:  Look at the About Us links, copyright link, copyright information at the bottom of the search screen, links with the word Citation or Cite. If a sample citation is provided it may not be in ACS Style.

Basic Format:  Author, A. A.; Author 2; ...; Author 10; et al.(if any).  Title of Database Item. Title of Database, database version (if any). Publisher: Place of Publication, Date posted online. DOI or URL* (accessed YYYY-MM-DD) More information on type of information used, eg.Melting Point, IR spectra (CAS RN: number).

*Include home page URL for subscription sites without the proxy information. To access subscription sites a proxy server is used to indicate that University of Manitoba students are allowed to access the site and uml.idm.oclc.org  is added to the URL.  When citing remove the proxy server information.  In order to get the URL without the proxy information it is recommended to search for the database name using Google and copy the URL.  Be as concise as possible.  For instance, use https://scifinder.cas.org not https://scifinder.cas.org/scifinder/login. Please note that the Libraries' proxy server information is automatically added into the examples that are listed in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication but when citing the proxy server information should not be included in the references.

Basic Format: Title; CAS RN: number; Catalog Number; version number; Manufacturing Company:  Location of Company, YYYY-MM-DD. URL (accessed YYYY-MM-DD).

Web sites can be government sites, organization sites, course web sites or personal home pages.  Some websites are considered databases and should be cited as a database.  See the information on databases listed below.  Databases include a reference number or other identifying information along with one or more search options.  

General Features of Web Sites:

• accessible on the Internet
• no page numbers
• information cited is located at the URL provided – no additional searching is required

Where to Find Citation Information:  Look at the About Us links, Contact Us links, Copyright link, copyright information at the bottom of the search screen, links with the word Citation or Cite.  If a sample citation is provided it may not be in ACS Style.

Basic Format:  Author, A. A.; Author 2; ...; Author 10; et al. or Organization (if any). Title of Site. URL (accessed YYY-MM-DD), other identifying information (if any).

Basic Format

Author 1; Author 2; …; Author 10; et al. Title of Audio or Video. Title of Program or Series. Title of Site or Organization, date. URL (accessed Sept. 20, 2020).

The following example appears to be more like a database but the Citation Guide on its website indicates that this source should be cited as a book.

The Citation Guide page on the NIST Chemistry Website includes the author names for each section.