LibGuides: Organic Chemistry: Citing

ACS Style Guide Online

ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication by Banik, G. M., Baysinger, G., Kamat, P. V., Pienta, N. J.
ISBN: 9780841235830
Publication Date: 2020
Information on citing in ACS style is included in Part 4.3.

Academic Fraud/Plagiarism

Citing Physical Property Data Using ACS Style

ACS Style Guidelines for Citing Physical Property Data

The purpose of the citation is to provide sufficient detail so that someone else can locate the data. Page numbers may not exist when citing online sources of data and therefore it may be necessary to indicate information like the CAS Registry Number or the entry name so that someone else can locate the exact information that was cited.

The ACS Style Guide provides a few examples for citing data but does not include examples of the wide variety of online sources that are available. Access the Citing Data using ACS Style ( University of Manitoba) guide to find more examples of how to cite physical property data like melting points and spectra or click on the links below to see examples of citations.

ACS Guidelines for Citing Data

Introduction to ACS Style

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.

In–Text Option

Organization of Reference List

Superscript¹

(most common style)

Arranged numerically - numbers are listed in the text starting with 1

Example:

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

Italic numbers (1)

Arranged numerically - numbers are listed in the text starting with (1)

Example:

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

Author/year (Smith, 2012)

(not very common - was used primarily in books but currently not used by ACS Publications)

Alphabetically by author

Example:

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).

Journal Abbreviations

CASSI
Includes journal abbreviations used by the Chemical Abstract Service (CAS).
NLM Catalog: Journals referenced in the NCBI Databases
Includes the full journal name and abbreviated journal name of journals listed in PubMed and NCBI databases.
Beyond CASSI
Beyond CASSI includes abbreviations of journal articles that may be found when searching historical chemical literature that are not included in the CASSI Search Tool.
Science and Engineering Journal Abbreviations
A list of journal abbreviations compiled by Kevin Lindstrom from the University of British Columbia Library.

Can I use a Citation Generator?

Some Citation Generators can create some citations in ACS style for books or journal articles. You should always check to make sure that the generated citation matches the requirements of the style used. Citation Generators DO NOT abbreviate the name of the journal which is required in ACS style. To find the correct abbreviation consult the CASSI Source Index.

USE THE INFORMATION GENERATED AS A STARTING POINT FOR YOUR CITATION ONLY. YOU NEED TO CHECK ALL PARTS OF THE CITATION INCLUDING AUTHOR NAMES, CAPITALIZATION, JOURNAL NAMES (AND JOURNAL ABBREVIATIONS IF NECESSARY) AND PUNCTUATION.

Online Citation Generators

These generators include many different citation styles and can help you cite journals, books or websites. One citation generator that is free and does not have ads is ZoteroBib,

Managing Your References

Citation Management Software can help you organize and cite your references. See the Citation Management Software guide for more information on EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley.