Guides: Chemical Lab Reporting: Citing Your Sources

Citing Your Sources

Why should you cite your sources?

Shows you have done your research
Lends credibility and support to your research and recommendations
Allows others to reproduce your research process
Acknowledges others' contributions

Be as specific as you can: cite specific pages if possible; cite a particular chapter instead of the whole book, especially if chapters are written by different authors, etc.

There are thousands of different styles available for you to cite your sources. So while you can choose practically any style that is appropriate, it is important to stick to that one style and remain consistent. If your instructor or TA indicates a particular style, be sure to use that.

General structure for citing books and articles:

Book with Author(s):

Author, A. A.; Author, B. B. Book Title (italics), Edition (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, Year; Pagination.

Dill, K. A.; Bromberg, S. Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Chemistry and Biology; Garland Science: New York, 2003.

Journal Articles:

Author, A. A; Author, B. B; Author, C. C. Title of Article. Journal Abbreviation (italics) [Online if online] Year (boldface), Volume (italics), Pagination.

Deno, N. C.; Richey, H. G.; Liu, J. S.; Lincoln, D. N.; Turner, J. O. Carbonium Ions. XIX. The Intense Conjugation in Cyclopropyl Carbonium Ions. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 1965, 87, 4533-4538.

ACS Style Quick Guide
Citing Your Sources: ACS
This guide provides basic information on how to cite sources and examples for formatting citations in common citation styles.