Science Magazine Citation Guide

There are two parts to a citation:

1.  In-text citation at the end of the sentence you are citing.

• For Science-style citations, use numbers for each reference, as they appear in the text. The numbers should be in (parentheses) and in italics at the end of a sentence.
  • For example, the first reference is listed as (1) at the end of the sentence in which it is cited.

2.  A “References” section at the end that includes a list of all references.

• In the Science citation format, they should be in numerical order and should match the numbers listed throughout your text. Formatting changes based on the type of source you are using (i.e., book, article, etc.). 

Learn more about how to format Science magazine citation style:

For citing an entire book in Science magazine citation style:

Your citation should start with the author. Use initials for the first and middle names, separated by a space. If there are multiple authors, join them with commas; do not use "and."

• If the creator of the work is an organization, use that in place of the author's name.
• If the creator of the work is an editor, insert "Ed." after their name. If there are multiple editors, insert "Eds."

Italicize the title of the book, and capitalize all important words.

After the title, list the publisher name, edition number, and year in parentheses. If the book is part of a series, indicate this after the title. If there are two versions of the publisher's name, use the shorter of the two.

Reference List Format:

Number. A. A. Author, Title (Publisher, Publisher Location, Publication Year).

Reference List Examples:

1. J. B. Carroll, Ed., Language, Thought and Reality, Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1956).

2. J. Sprung, Corals: A Quick Reference Guide (Oceanographic Series, Ricordea, Miami, FL, 1999).

3. National Academy of Sciences, Principles and Procedures for Evaluating the Toxicity of Household Substances (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 1977).

Follow the guidelines for citing an entire book. Before listing the title of the book, include the chapter you are citing in quotation marks. Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.

After the publisher information, include the chapter number or the page range of the chapter.

Reference List Format:

Number. A. A. Author, "Chapter Title" in Title, E. E. Editor, Ed. (Publisher, Publisher Location, Publication Year), Pages or Chapter.

Reference List Examples:

1. M. Lister, "[Chapter title goes here]" in Fundamentals of Operating Systems (Springer, New York, ed. 3, 1984), pp. 7-11.

2. R. Davis, J. King, "[Chapter title goes here]" in Machine Intelligence, E. Acock, D. Michie, Eds. (Wiley, 1976), vol. 8, chap. 3.

List the author as you would when citing a book. Follow it with the word "thesis." Do not include the degree the paper is written for.

Including the title of the thesis is optional. If you choose to use it, place it in quotation marks following the author's name and before "thesis."

Indicate the institution where the thesis was written. If it could be mistaken for another institution, include the city.

Reference List Format:

Number. A. A. Author, "Optional Thesis Title," thesis, Institution (Year).

Reference List Examples:

1. B. Smith, thesis, Georgetown University (1973).

2. R. White, "[Thesis title goes here]," thesis, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL (1983).

Your citation should start with the author. Use initials for the first and middle names, separated by a space. If there are multiple authors, join them with commas; do not use "and."

List the title of the article after the author, and follow with a period. Capitalize the first word and proper nouns only.

The title of the journal should be listed in italics following the title of the article. Abbreviate the journal title whenever possible. After this, include the volume number in boldface. If there is no volume number, use the publication year.

For most journals, you will list the page numbers of the article. If the article is online only and does not have page numbers, use the article number or citation number.

End your citation with the year in parentheses and a period following. Do not use “ibid.” or ”op. cit.”

Reference List Format:

Number. A. A. Author, Article title. Journal Title Volume, Pages (Year).

Reference List Examples:

1. N. Tang, On the equilibrium partial pressures of nitric acid and ammonia in the atmosphere. Atmos. Environ. 14, 819-834 (1980).

2. W. R. Harvey, S. Nedergaard, Sodium-independent active transport of potassium in the isolated midgut of the Cecropia silkworm. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 51, 731-735 (1964).

3. N. H. Sleep, Stagnant lid convection and carbonate metasomatism of the deep continental lithosphere. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 10, Q11010 (2009).

Your citation should start with the author. Use initials for the first and middle names, separated by a space. If there are multiple authors, join them with commas; do not use "and."

List the title of the article in quotation marks. Capitalize the first word and proper nouns only.

After the title, provide the report number (if available), publisher name, and year in parentheses. If the easiest way to access the work is by providing a URL, list it after the publication year.

Reference List Format:

Number. A. A. Author, "Report title" (Report Number, Publisher, Year; URL).

Reference List Examples:

1. G. B. Shaw, “Practical uses of litmus paper in Möbius strips” (Tech. Rep. CUCS-29-82, Columbia Univ., 1982).

2. F. Press, “A report on the computational needs for physics” (National Science Foundation, 1981).

3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA), “White Paper on Bt plant-pesticide resistance management” (Publication 739-S-98-001, EPA, 1998; www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/white_bt.pdf).