CSE Style Guide: About CSE

Always refer to the CSE Manual for authorized examples of citations.

Some of the citations in this guide are taken from the CSE Manual; others are created by IRSC librarians.

A copy of this manual is available in all IRSC campus libraries.

This is the required style manual text for biological sciences courses at IRSC. A copy of this guide is available at the Main and Pruitt Campus Libraries.

The standard citation style guide book for the natural and physical sciences is the Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Author, Editors and Publishers, 7th edition, 2006. The CSE (Council of Science Editors), formerly the CBE (Council of Biology Editors), publishes the manual. We commonly refer to it as "the CSE Manual".

The biology department at IRSC recommends CSE format for papers written in the biological sciences.

Two types of citations are included in most research papers: citations within the text of the document and a list of reference citations at the end of the paper.

In-Text Citations:

The CSE Manual describes 3 different systems for citing within the text of a document: citation-sequence, name-year, and citation-name. IRSC instructors recommend name-year. [Note: The manual favors the citation-name system, so examples in the book usually follow that format.

Reference Citations:

The sources you use in your work are included as a separate list at the end of the paper, much like APA or MLA style.  The CSE Manual suggests using the title, "End References", for the list.

Scientific publications take on many forms, but the basic components of an original research article include:

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• References

This guide is provided by the IRSC libraries. Always ask your instructor for specific directions pertaining to your assignment.