Subject Guides: Citation and Reference Management: CSE

CSE (Council of Science Editors)

CSE is the citation style of the Council of Science Editors, and it is commonly used for scientific writing. CSE allows three different systems for in text citation style and ordering your reference list; you must pick one and be consistent.

Name-year: In text citations are in name-year format, e.g., (Barrow 2004), and the reference list is ordered alphabetically by author.
Citation-sequence: In text citations are numbered, and the reference list numbering is based on order of appearance in the paper.
Citation-Name: In text citations are numbered, and reference list numbering is alphabetical by author.

References in reference list are formatted the same regardless of which system you use.

CSE Style Guides

CSE Citation Style QuickGuide (U of A)
Brief introductory information as well as examples of the most common kinds of references, using the Name-Year system.

Scientific Style and Format Citation Quick Guide (CSE)
Provides more detail about the three systems for presenting and ordering references. The examples include templates for the pieces of information included in a reference.
CSE Citation Style - Quick Guide (Dalhousie)
This quick guide is longer and provides example references of more variations of publication types.

Complete Manual

Scientific Style and Format (online and print available)
Includes guidelines for scientific writing and publication, including instructions and examples for references.