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CHEM 3201 : Chemical Literature

This course guide was created specifically to assist the students of CHEM 3201: Chemical Literature

ACS: American Chemical Society

You might need to cite your sources using the ACS Style Guide.

Basic Format

The basic preferred format for journal articles is:

  • Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Title of Article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. Year, Volume, Inclusive Pages.

Database Article

The format for an article retrieved from a database is:

  • Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; etc. Title of Article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. Year, Volume, Inclusive Pages. Name of database url of top page (access date Month day, Year).

Specific Formatting Rules

  • Author names are separated by a semi-colon, and in the form Surname, First Initial. Middle Initial, Jr. (etc.). List all authors on the item, in the order given on the item.
  • Check the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI) for journal title abbreviations. If the title is not listed, use the full title.
  • Publication date, and the following comma, are in bold-face font.
  • Full dates are listed as Month Day, Year. The months which are abbreviated are Jan Feb Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec. Examples: June 20, 2005. Or Oct 20, 2011.

Examples

  • An, J.; Tuan, C. Y.; Cheeseman, B. A; Gazonas, G. A. Simulation of Soil Behavior under Blast Loading. International Journal of Geomechanics. 2011, 11, 323-334. Academic Search Complete. http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/academic-search-complete (accessed Oct 20, 2011).
  • LoPresto, M. C. Experimenting with Musical Intervals. Phys. Educ. 2003, 38, 309-315.
  • Matthews, Q.; Jirasek, A.; Lum, J. J.; Brolo, A. G. Biochemical Signatures of in Vitro Radiation Response in Human Lung, Breast and Prostate Tumour Cells Observed with Raman Spectroscopy. Phys. Med. Biol. 2011, 56, 6839-6855. Institute of Physics Journals http://iopscience.iop.org/ (accessed Oct 21, 2011).
  • Mizrahi, J.; Verbitsky, O.; Isakov, E; Daily, D. Effect of Fatigue on Leg Kinematics and Impact Acceleration in Long Distance Running. Human Movement Science. 2000, 19, 139-151. ScienceDirect http://www.sciencedirect.com/ (accessed Oct 21, 2011).

Further Information

The ACS Style Quick Guide shows citations for various other kinds of sources such as books, conference proceedings, dissertations, etc.

ACS and AI

According to the ACS Author Guidelines: 

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools do not qualify for authorship. The use of AI tools for text or image generation should be disclosed in the manuscript within the Acknowledgment section with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use cases or descriptions of AI tool use, authors should provide full details within the Methods or other appropriate section of the manuscript.

For more information, please visit: AI in Research and Peer Review: Facing the Future with Integrity