How to Cite a Journal Article in Council of Science Editors (CSE)

How to cite a journal article in CSE step by step

1. List authors with initials. Give each author surname first with initials and no periods, the CSE form.
2. Put the year after the authors. Place the publication year right after the author list, which is the heart of the name-year system.
3. Add the article title. Give the article title in sentence case with no quotation marks or italics.
4. Abbreviate the journal. Use the standard abbreviated journal title, with periods removed as CSE prefers.
5. Add volume, issue, pages. Give the volume, the issue in parentheses, and the page range.
6. Add the DOI. Include the DOI at the end for articles that have one.

Common journal article citation variations

How do I cite a journal article in the CSE name-year system?

Put the year immediately after the authors in the reference, and cite author and year in parentheses in the text.

How do I cite an article with many authors in CSE?

List the authors up to the CSE cap, then use et al. for the remainder, keeping surname-first order.

Does CSE abbreviate journal titles?

Yes. CSE uses the standard abbreviated journal title with periods removed, for example J Clin Med.

Where does the DOI go in a CSE journal citation?

The DOI goes at the end of the reference as the stable identifier for the article.