Citation Help: ACS Style

• What is ACS Style?
• Reference List Examples
• In-Text Citation Examples
• Books and eBooks in our collection
• Access the ACS Style Guide online

ACS = American Chemical Society

ACS is a common citation style in the sciences, or for communicating scientific information effectively. This style is also used internationally. 

The current print edition is the 3rd edition, and the current electronic edition is updated biannually. In good practice, make sure you format your citations in the appropriate edition format that your instructor or professor requests.

Here is a short list of examples. Please find additional examples either in the print edition or online.

Print Sources

Journal Article

Author 1 Last name, First initial. Middle initial.; ...; Author [Final] Last name, First initial. Middle initial. Title of article. Journal abbreviation Publication Year, Volume number, Page numbers.

Example (from page 292 in the print edition)

Klingler, J. Influence of Pretreatment of Sodium Powder. Chem. Mater. 2005, 17, 2755-2768.

Book with editors

Author 1 Last name, First initial. Middle initial.; ...; Author [Final] Last name, First initial. Middle initial. Title of chapter. In [Insert book title here]; Editor 1 Last name, First initial. Middle initial., ..., Editor [Final] Last name, First initial. Middle initial, Eds.; Publisher name: City, Year; Volume number, Page numbers.

Example (from page 292 in the print edition)

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.

Electronic Sources

Journal Article (based on print edition)

Author 1 Last name, First initial. Middle initial.; ...; Author [Final] Last name, First initial. Middle initial. Title of article. Publication name [Online] Year, Volume number, Number assigned. DOI or URL (Date accessed).

Example (from page 292 in the print edition)

Fine, L. Einstein Revisited. J. Chem. Educ. [Online] 2005, 82, 1601 ff. http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2005/Nov/abs1601.html (accessed Oct 15, 2005).

There are three ways to use in-text citations:

1. Use of a superscripted number
2. Italicized number in parentheses
3. Author name and Publication date

Rules of thumb:

• Whichever option you choose is fine, as long as you are consistent throughout your paper.
• Number citations in the order they appear in the paper.
• If you are citing a source again, it receives the same number as used the first time.
• If you cite multiple sources for the same chunk of text, organize them by increasing numbers separated by commas.

Examples (From page 287 in the print edition):

1. Oscillation in the reaction of benzaldehyde with oxygen was reported previously.³
2. The mineralization of TCE by a pure culture of a methane-oxidizing organism has been reported (6).
3. The primary structure of this enzyme has also been determined (Finnegan et al., 2004).