Use this guide to learn how to cite journal articles in ACS style in a reference list or bibliography. If you need help citing other types of sources or doing in-text superscripts consult the ACS Style Quick Guide online.
The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is a great resource to learn about scientific communication and writing and presenting data.
Elements of a citation:
Author 1; Author 2; Author 3. Title of Article. Journal Abbreviation Year, Volume, Inclusive Pagination. DOI
Note: Author names should be in the format: lastname, initials
with each initial followed by a period, and a semicolon separating author names.
If the citation takes up more than one line on your page, you must indent the second and subsequent lines. Example:
Jones, E. F.; Smith, P.Q.; Majors, B.T. Green Chemistry is Fun. Fun. Chem. 2021, 22, 15493-15494.
DOI 239230/3dskfjsd.ChemFun
Author names
lastname, initials
If there are multiple authors separate them with a semicolon.
Example Jones, E. F.; Smith, P.
The last author in the list of names should have only a single period after the author's initial.
Title of Article
Capitalize the first word and then each main word.
Journal Abbreviation
Abbreviate the journal and put it in italics. A list of abbreviations for commonly used journals can be found using the Chemical Abstracts Source Index.
Example: Inorganic Chemistry is abbreviated Inorg. Chem.
Year
Use only the year, not a month or day, and put it in bold.
Example: 2016
Follow with a comma
Volume number
Put in italics and use only the number, do not include v. or vol.
Follow with a comma.
Issue number
If present, it should be enclosed in parentheses: (11)
Follow with a comma.
Pages
Give inclusive pages, the start and ending pages.
Example: 1254-1268.
Follow with a period.
DOI
Almost all articles will have a DOI. If there is no DOI provide the URL followed by the date accessed.
Example: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001998.html (accessed Feb 8, 2018)
Examples:
Du, Y. D.; Zhou, C.Y.; To, W.-P.; Wang, H. X.; Che, C.M. Iron Porphyrin Catalyzed Light Driven C-H Bond Amination and Alkene Aziridination with Organic Azides. Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 4680-4686.DOI:10.1039/d0sc00784f
Guo, P.; Liao, S.; Wang, S.; Shi, J.; Tong, X. Highly Efficient and Selectivity-controllable Aerobic Oxidative Cleavage of C-C Bond over Heterogeneous Fe-based Catalysts. J. Catal. 2021, 395, 399-403. DOI:10.1016/j.jcat.2021.01.029
Li. Z.; Liu, J.; Shi, R.; Waterhouse, G. I. N.; Wen, X.D.; Zhang, T. Fe-Based Catalysts for the Direct Photohydrogenation of CO2 to Value-Added Hydrocarbons. Adv. Energy Mater. 2021, 11, 2002783. DOI:10.1002/aenm.202002783