Citing Journal Articles & Book Chapters

Here are the ACS bibliographical formats for citing journal articles, books, book chapters, handbooks, and encyclopedias:

  • To cite journal articles, use the following format, and see the example below:
    • Author Last Name, Author Initials. Journal Name Abbreviation Year, Issue, Start Page-End Page.
    • For example: Huffman, J.C.; Lewis L. N.; Caulton, K. G. Inorg. Chem. 1980, 19, 2755.
    • If you need to know the abbreviated title of the journal you are citing, you can find it here.

  • To cite books with authors and no editors, use the following format and see the examples below:
    • Author Last Name, Author Initials. Book Title, Publisher: City, Year; Chapter.
    • Example: Stothers, J. B. Carbon-13 NMR Spectroscopy, Academic: New York, 1972; Chapter 2.
    • Example: Dresselhaus, M. S.; Dresselhaus, G.; Eklund, P.C.; Science of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes; Academic:New York, 1996; pp 126-141.

  • To cite books with editors, use the following format and see the example below:
    • Editor Last Name, Editor Initials., Ed. Book Title, Publisher: City, Year.
    • Example: Bandy, A.R., Ed. The Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Oxidants and Oxidation in the Earth's Atmosphere; Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge, England, 1995.

  • To cite chapters in books, use the following format and see the example below:
    • Author Last Name, Author Initials. Chapter Title. In Book Title Edition Number; Editor Last Name, Editor Initials, Eds.; Publisher: City, Year; Volume Number, Pagination.
    • Example: Almlof, J.; Gropen, O. Relativistic Effects in Chemistry. In Reviews in Computational Chemistry Lipkowitz, K.B., Boyd, D.B., Eds.; VCH: New York, 1996; Vol. 8, pp 206-210.
    • Example: Hillman, L. W. In Dye Laser Principles with Applications; Duarte, F. J., Hillman, L.W. Eds.; Academic: New York, 1990; Chapter 2.

  • To cite handbooks, see the following examples:
    • CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL., 2003.
    • Merck Index, 13th ed. Merck & Co.: Rahway, NJ., 2001.

  • To cite encyclopedias, use the following examples:
    • Tungsten Compounds.Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th ed.; Wiley & Sons: New York, 1997; Vol. 24; pp 588-602.
Source: Dodd, Janet S., Ed.The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors; American Chemical Society: Washington DC, 1997.