CSE Style

CSE stands for the “Council of Science Editors” and is primarily used for organizing biological science research papers and citations. There are three different systems under this style which include the citation-name, citation-sequence, and name-year systems. 

CSE Formats

Name-year: References are not numbered. Instead, they are alphabetized by last name or organization. The in-text citations provide the last name a publication year.  

  • Example of in-text:
    • The temperatures required to chill August Pride and Babcock peaches are very similar (Lurie and Crisoto 2005).

Example of end reference from Journal:

Lurie S, Crisosto CH. 2005. Chilling injury in peach and nectarine. Postharvest Biol Tec. 37(3): 195-208.

Weinberger JH. 1950. Chilling requirements of peach varieties. ASHS.  65: 122-128.

Citation- name & Citation-sequence are identical except for the reference order used:

Citation-name: End references are listed alphabetically and given a number which are used for in-text citations.

Citation-sequence: End references are numbered in the order used in your paper.

  • Example in-text reference for citation-sequence style:

    • The cost of food production has increased every year due to the adaptations insect populations make against pesticides1.  (Citation-sequence) 
  • Example of end reference from Journal:  
    • 1. Carvalho FP. 2006. Agriculture, pesticides, food security and food safety. Environ Sci Policy. 9(7-8):685-692. 

Formatting for Different Media

For journal articles use the following format:

Author (s). Date. Article title. Journal title. Volume # (issue): page number(s). 

For books:

 Author(s). Date. Book title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher. Extent. Notes.

For websites:

Author last name first/middle initials. c(year published). Title of website [Internet]. Publication city(state): Publisher/Organization. [updated year abbreviated month day; cited year abbreviated month day]. Available from: URL

CSE Paper Guidelines & Formatting

When citing, authors should be listed in the same order as found on the resource. Any authors after the tenth should be replaced with et al. Do not separated author names by and or &, simply use a comma.

Author names should follow this format: Last name First initial (no space) Middle initial. 

Example: Rowling JK, Lewis CS, Poe EA. 

Titles of resources should follow sentence format. Do not capitalize words other than the first word and proper nouns.

A CSE paper should use abbreviated Journal Titles. A helpful website to find the appropriate abbreviation can be found here: https://www.library.caltech.edu/journal-title-abbreviations 

Although there are no specific rules to formatting a CSE styled paper, the following guidelines may be helpful to follow:

  • It is recommended to use Times New Roman 12 pt font, although there is no specified typography mentioned in the CSE Style Guidebook.
  • The paper should have 1 inch margins on all sides and be double-spaced throughout.
  • Pages should be numbered on the top right corner beginning on the second page.

Components of a Scientific Paper

  • Cover Page 

    • This should only include a centered paper title, your name, affiliated institution, professor name, and date (in that order). 
  • Abstract
    • These are meant to be only 250 words and contain a full, but brief summary of the contents in the entire paper. 
  • Paper Body: This should include separate sections titled Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion 
  •  End References 

Hailey | 2020

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit “http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. 

Return to Research Resources