Chemistry: Organizing & Citing

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The sections of a manuscript are:

• Title provides text that describes the subject and the focus of the reported research
• Authors’ names and institution or company names and addresses
• Abstract provides the purpose of the research, the major results and conclusions
• Introduction provides context for the research, the objectives of the research
• Results and Discussion [may be separate sections], research results are presented and discussed
• Conclusion [optional]
• Experimental Section provides descriptions of procedures and materials used to produce the reported results
• Acknowledgments [optional]
• References and Endnotes, see section on this page about citation format.

Adapted from the Guidelines to Authors, Journal of Organic Chemistry.

In-text citations

In the body of your paper use a superscript Arabic number (1, 2, 3. 4 etc.) to sequentially number your citations. These citations will be listed at the end of your paper in numerical order in your reference list.

The Reference List

Journal titles are abbreviated in the reference list according to ACS standards. The accepted abbreviations are listed at http://cassi.cas.org/search.jsp

Citing a Journal Article

Blackburn, N.; Fenchel, T. Influence of bacteria, diffusion and shear on micro-scale nutrient patches, and implications for bacterial chemotaxis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 1999, 189, 1-7.

Fine, L. Einstein Revisited. J. Chem. Educ. [Online] 2005, 82, 1601 ff. http://jchemed.chem.wic.edu/Journal/Issues/2005/Nov/abs1601.html (accessed Oct 15, 2005). Citing Books

Zar, J.H. Biostatistical Analysis, 4th ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999.

Citing a Chapter in a Book

Schroeder, T.A. Hurricanes. In Atlas of Hawaii, 3rd ed.; Juvik, S.P., Juvik, J.O., University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, HI, 1998; pp 74-75.

Citing Data The Sadtler Standard Spectra: 300 MHz Proton NMR Standards;Bio-Rad, Sadtler Division: Philadelphia, PA, 1994; No. 7640 (1-Chloropentane).

Citing a Dissertation

Eve, T.M. Chemistry and chemical ecology of Indo-Pacific gorgonians. Ph.D. thesis, University of California San Diego, 2001.

Citing a Website--ChemSpider

Indole-3-Acetic Acid; Chemspider ID 780 [Online]; Royal Society of Chemistry. http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.780.html (accessed Jan 11, 2011).

Examples of how to cite the literature were adapted and borrowed from:

• The Journal of Organic Chemistry Guidelines for Authors. http://pubs.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/joceah/joceah_authguide.pdf (accessed Jan 9, 2011).
• Dodd, J.S., Solla, L., Berard, P.M. References. In The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information; Coghill, A.M., Garson, L.R., Eds.; Oxford University Press: New York; NY, 2006; pp 287-327.

Nānā i ke kumu

Citing the work that supports your research is both an ethical issue and a legal issue.

The ethics of citing is based on the scholarly tradition of giving credit for information and ideas that are not one's own. Science has a long tradition of acknowledging priority through citations. You have the ethical responsibility to cite all works that were used to support your research, to give credit to the earlier work and to provide a clear path for those who follow in your footsteps.

Or, to put it another way:

An example of some legal aspects of citing can be found in Copyrights, Title 17 of the U.S. Code, which describes the legal protections of authors' and creators' intellectual property rights within U.S. law.

*Pukui MK. 1983. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau : Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press. [1261] p.137.

Plagiarism is defined as:

"The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft"

"plagiarism, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 21 May 2015.  Available from: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/144939

See the University of Hawaiʻi Student Conduct Code for more information.

Sci/Tech Librarians Email:
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