Using a consistent citation style helps other people find your references more easily and makes you look like a smart researcher. For this course, you can choose the citation style you want to use.
Bibliographies
Examples of several common styles are included below so you can see what the reference lists (also known as bibliographies) should look like for each of these styles. In addition, many journals have their own specific style. Look at the author guidelines website for any journal you are interested in to learn more about a journal-specific style.
In-text Citations
An sample paragraph is included so you can see an example of what in-text citation styles can look like for an author-date style as well as a numbered style.
Citation Generators
At the end of this page, learn how to cite with the citation generator ZoteroBib.
Council of Science Editors (CSE) Author-Date Style
Fleming TH. Birds, bats, and blooms: the coevolution of vertebrate pollinators and their plants. University of Arizona Press; 2024.
Lu Q, Jiao H, Wang Y, Norbu, N, Zhao H. Molecular evolution and deorphanization of bitter taste receptors in a vampire bat. Integr Zool. 2021;16(5):659–669. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12509
Gonçalves F, Galetti M, Streicker DG. Management of vampire bats and rabies: a precaution for rewilding projects in the Neotropics. Perspect Ecol Conserv. 2021;19(1):37–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2020.12.005
Nature Journal Style
1.The invasive lionfish: assessments and impact management. (Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2013).
2. Albins, M. A. & Hixon, M. A. Worst case scenario: potential long-term effects of invasive predatory lionfish (Pterois volitans) on Atlantic and Caribbean coral-reef communities. Environmental Biology of Fishes 96, 1151–1157 (2013).
3. Frazer, T. K., Jacoby, C. A., Edwards, M. A., Barry, S. C. & Manfrino, C. M. Coping with the lionfish invasion: can targeted removals yield beneficial effects? Reviews in Fisheries Science 20, 185–191 (2012).
Vampire bats have been widely studied as they are important pollinators (Fleming 2024). The most striking areas of study have explored their feeding habits. However, Lu and collaborators (2021) have also found that vampire bats also demonstrate complex social relationships including behaviors such as grooming. The impact of pollutants on vampire bats’ immune systems has been a more recent focus of study (Gonçalves et al. 2021). Perhaps most timely though is exploration of vampire bats’ genetic diversity and their ability to pass viruses to humans.
General guidance for creating in-text citations using the author and year (as compared to a numerical style).
| 1 author |
(Simonsen 2010) OR (Center for Veterinary Medicine 2014) |
| If the author(s) is named in the sentence, only include the publication year in the parenthetical citation. Always include the period to end the sentence after the last parentheses. | Simonsen reported high serum concentrations of IgM (2010). |
| 2 authors |
Include both authors' last names (Bankston and Meador 2015). |
| 3 or more authors |
Use the first author's last name followed by et al. to indicate other authors. (Foster et al. 2005). |
Watch the citing with ZoteroBib video to learn how to quickly create bibliographies based on the sources you find in any database or search tool. ZoteroBib is a free, web-based tool.
