Journal Articles

Format:
Author AA. Year of publication. Title of article. Journal Title (ed). [accessed year month day];Volume (issue):page range. URL. doi:number.

Example:
Setälä H, Sun ZJ, Zheng JQ, Lu C, Cui MM, Han SJ. 2023. Loss of soil carbon and nitrogen indicates climate change-induced alterations in a temperate forest ecosystem. Ecol Indic. [accessed 2023 Jul 20];148. https://www-sciencedirect-com.une.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S1470160X23001978?via%3Dihub. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110055.

Notes:

• Abbreviate the major words in journal titles and omit articles, conjunctions and prepositions.
• For print articles, omit the access date and replace the URL or DOI number with page numbers.
• Magazine articles follow the same format as journal articles in CSE style.

Newspaper Articles

Format:
Author AA. Publication Year Month, Day. Title of article. Title of Publication (ed). [accessed year month day]. URL.

Example:
Mellen R, Noll B, Cappucci M. Apr 4, 2025. Deadly storm brings new rounds of tornados and flash floods. The Washington Post (Online). [accessed Jun 24, 2025]. https://une.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/deadly-storm-brings-new-rounds-tornadoes-flash/docview/3186440752/se-2?accountid=12756.

Notes:
For print sources, include the section, first page, and column in place of the accessed date and URL.

Conference Paper

Format:
Author AA, Author BB. Year of publication. Title of paper. In: Editor EE. Title of book. Number and name of conference; date of conference; place of conference. Place of publication: publisher. [accessed year month day]. p. page-page. URL.

Example:
Jamek Kokalj A. 2024. The impact of microplastics on soil invertebrates. In: Mortimer M, Kahru A, Leito I, Rebane R, Aruoja V, editors. International Conference EcoBalt 2023 “Chemicals & Environment”; 2023 Oct 9-11; Tallinn, Estonia. Basil (Switzerland): MDPI.[accessed 2025 Jun 17]. p. 82-82. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023092082.

Dissertation or Thesis

Format:
Author AA. Year of publication. Title of dissertation or thesis [type of resource]. [University Place]: University Name. [accessed year month day]. URL.

Example:
Brann, C. 2018. Drosophila glypicans dally and dally-like control injury induced allodynia [thesis]. [Biddeford (ME)]: University of New England. [Accessed 2023 Jul 20]. https://dune.une.edu/theses/164/.

Technical Report

Format:
Author AA. Year of publication. Title of report. ed. Place of publication: Publisher. Report No.: URL or DOI.

Example:
Gimble JM, Bray MS, Young A. 2009. Circadian biology and sleep: Missing links in obesity and metabolism. Baton Rogue (LA): Louisiana State University System. Report No.: W81XWH-09-1-0289. Available from: NTIS, Springfield, VA. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2009.00672.x.

Note: Include a place of publication for all book references. If the city is not commonly known, use the state or province abbriation in parentheses.

e-book

Format:
Author AA, Author BB. Date of publication. Title of book. edition. Place of publication: publisher; [accessed year month day]. URL.

Example:
Rollin, BE. 1998. The unheeded cry: animal consciousness, animal pain, and science. 3rd ed. Ames (IA): The Iowa State University Press. [accessed 2024 Aug 27]. http://www.netlibrary.com.

Print Book

Format:
Author AA, Author BB. Date. Title of book. edition. Place of publication: publisher.

Example:
McCormac JS, Kennedy G. 2004. Birds of Ohio. 2nd ed. Auburn (WA): Lone Pine.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Format:
Author AA, Author BB. Title of chapter. In: Editor AA, editor(s). Date. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; [accessed year month day]. p. page range. URL.

Example:
Voight ML, Tippett SR. Plyometric exercise in rehabilitation. In: Prentice WE, editor. 2015. Rehabilitation techniques for sports medicine and athletic training. Thorofare (NJ): SLACK Incorporated [accessed 2024 May 18]. p. 285-310. https://unelib.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UNE_INST/umhsls/alma991018204843508656.

Encyclopedia Entry

Format:
Author AA, Author BB. Entry title. In: Editor AA, editor(s). Date of publication. Book title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; [accessed year month day]. p. page range. URL or DOI.

Example:
Kotermanski SE, Cascio M. Neuronal action potentials and ion channel allostery. In: Bradshaw A, Hart GW, Stahl PD. editors. 2024. Encyclopedia of cell biology. 2nd ed. Cambridge (MA): Academic Press. p. 244-251. https://www-sciencedirect-com.une.idm.oclc.org/referencework/9780128216248/encyclopedia-of-cell-biology-second-edition#book-description.

If you cannot find any of the required elements, omit and do not create placeholders.

Webpages

Format:
Title of page. Date. Place of publication: Website;[updated year month day; accessed year month day]. URL.

Example:
Whale shark. 2025. Washington (DC): Oceana;[accessed 2024 July 27]. https://oceana.org/marine-life/whale-shark/.

Streaming Video

Format:
Title of video [video]. Date first aired or posted, length. Title of program. Producer. [accessed date]. URL.

Example:
Can you fool a self driving car? [video]. 2025 Mar 15, 18:53. Mark Rober. [accessed 2025 Jun 12]. https://www.youtube.com/watchv=IQJL3htsDyQ&list=PL45865A763BAB32CA&index=4.

Podcast

Format:
Host AA. Released year month day, length. Title of episode [podcast, episode #]. Name of podcast. Producer. [accessed date]. URL.

Example:
Ramirez R, Kwong E, McCoy B, Barber R, Rubin C. 2025 Jul 14, 14:35 min. Do you clean up ocean trash if it’s part of a vibrant ecosystem? [podcast]. Shortwave. NPR. [accessed 2025 Jul 14]. https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/1255667287/great-pacific-garbage-patch-ecosystem-trash-sea.

Blog Post

Format:
Author AA. Publication year month day. Title of post [blog]. Title of blog. [accessed year month day]. URL.

Example:
Valentine S. 2025 July 11. Is the show finally over for these dolphins? [blog]. Nautilus. [accessed 2025 Jul 14]. https://nautil.us/is-the-show-finally-over-for-these-whales-and-dolphins-1223809/?_sp=244d6abb-47a7-482b-b8de-ea529e257b9f.1752505068145. 

For guidance on formatting figures of your own creation, consult chapter 30 of Scientific Style and Format.

Images & Infographics

If you cannot find any of the required elements, omit and do not create placeholders.

Format:
Creator AA. Title [type of work]. Place of publication: Publisher or Producer; [accessed year month day]. URL.

Example:
Talbot P.  Mesocricetus auratus, blood cell, oocyte, cumulus cell [recorded image]. La Jolla (CA): Cell Image Library. [accessed 2024 Jul 31].  http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/images/18042.

Unpublished Communications

Class handouts, slides, personal interviews, e-mail, or letters are not included in reference lists in CSE style, but can be referenced within the text of your paper.

Format:
(first/middle initials, last name, form of communication, month day, year; unreferenced).

Example:
(A. Mugabe, personal interview with author, Nov 5, 2024; unreferenced).

Poster Presentation 

Format:
Author AA. Year. Title of poster. Poster presented at: Title of conference. Number and name of the conference; place of the conference.

Example:
Tweedle J, Fletcher M. 2024. Consequences: energy drinks and oral health, Poster presented at: College of Arts and Sciences Spring Research Symposium. University of New England; Biddeford, ME.

Legal Materials

The Council of Science Editors refers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation for legal references.

CSE does not currently have official guidelines for citing AI tools. However, The Council of Science Editors recommends treating AI-generated content as personal communication:

• Cite in-text only
• The nature and source of the cited information should be identified by an appropriate statement.

Example:

(ChatGPT [OpenAI], response to question from author, 2024 Jul 18).

Author’s Name in the Sentence

If you are using the author’s name in the sentence and there is no ambiguity, include only the year in parentheses to avoid redundancy.

Example: 

According to Yoon (2023), mitochondrial dynamics play a critical role in regulating cellular energy homeostasis and apoptosis under oxidative stress conditions.

Corporation or Organization as Author

If the author is an organization or corporation, you can use abbriations to avoid long parentheticals.

Example: 

Vaccination is one of the best ways to protect children from more than a dozen serious diseases before the age of two (CDC, 2022).

Multiple works by the same author

If you are citing multiple works by the same author, published in different years, list in ascending date order and separate with a comma.

Example:

(Barbieri 1989, 1991)

If the works you are citing were published in the same year, add a letter to the end of the date to differentiate them.

Example:

(Barbieri 1989a, 1989b)

Authors with the same last name

If you are citing two authors with the same last name, include their initials and separate with a semicolon:

Example: 

(Nguyen M 2003; Nguyen L 2024)

No Author

If no author can be found, your in text citation should include the first word or words of the title, followed by an ellipsis:

Example: 

(Whale shark…2025)

For more specific circumstances, see Scientific Style and Format, chapter 29.2.1.2.