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CBE style for citing research in science and math

Writers in mathematics, physical sciences, and the life sciences rely on the the Council of Biology Editors, and the CBE Style Manual. The CBE has two styles of citation: one starting with the author and date and one beginning with numbers. Regardless of which style you are using, you should provide a list of all sources cited under the title “References.”

Both the name-year, and number style call for a hanging indent style.

Name-Year Style

Olson G. 2000. Limitations of metaphysical thinking.
          Los Angeles:  Blue Note Publishing. 208p.

 Number Style

2.  Olson G. 2000. Limitations of metaphysical
          thinking. Los Angles: Blue Note Publishing.
          208p.

 

 

 

The CBE's advice on Scientific Style and Format includes only a few models for electronic sources including how to source a CD-ROM, an online journal article, an online book, and computer software. So the examples you see are “derived” examples. In other words, we've taken the principles presented in the CBE Manual and applied them to cyber citing. A word of caution. If you feel squeamish about using the format in our examples, we recommend you use the Columbia Online Style to document your cyber sources.

Web Site—No author or title of work:

FindLaw, 1994-2001. FindLaw home page. <http://www.findlaw.com>. Accessed 
          2001 May 22.

 To reference a specific page at a site:

 FindLaw, 1994-2001. FindLaw: Legal Professionals page.
          <http://guide.lp.findlaw.com/01topics/>. Accessed 2001 May 22.

 Articles or a Specific Document from a Web Site—Here are examples of an article with an identified author and an article without an author.

 An article with an identified author:

 Daza J. 2001 May 12. Technology planning: What small business needs to know. 
          Technology Today. <http://www.atc-1.com/technologytip.htm>. Accessed 2001
          June 12.

 An article with no author identified:

 From infrastructure to structured cabling: Why spend the extra. 2000 July. Convergence,
          51. <http://scs.com/news/stc.html>. Accessed 2001 May 15.

 Online Databases—Start with the author if there is one, followed by the date the information was first released or updated, the name of the abstract or article, the publication with volume and page numbers, the name of the database, the URL, and the date of access.

Master J.P. 2001 May. Purchasing habits of cyber buyers. Cyber Psychology 46:56-68.
          IDEAL database <http://www.europe.idealibrary.com>. Accessed 2001 Jun 1.

E-mail—Start with the author's name, followed by the date it was sent, the subject line, type of communication (e-mail, electronic letter, office communication) in square brackets, and the date of access. Note, the date of access may not be the date you first received it. It is the date you actually used it for your research (Weird!).

Panzarella J. 2001 Apr 13. ICBY race [Personal e-mail]. Accessed 2001 May 4.

 Discussion Group—Start with the author's name or alias, the date of posting, the title of posting, the URL in angle brackets and the date of access.

Yeffa S. 2001 Jan 14. Orchard care. <http://www.farmersgroup.org/news/orchards/html>.
          Accessed 2001 May 12.

 Newsgroup—Start with the author's name, the date of posting, the subject line, the name of the newsgroup in angle brackets, and the date of access.

Carolla F. 2001 Feb 15. Text book for EBUS 540. <alt.books.reviews>. Accessed 
          2001 May 30.

 If you don’t have an author's name or an alias, use the author's email address.

 <fc104@hotmail.com> 2001 Feb 15. Text book for EBUS 540. <alt.books.reviews>.
          Accessed 2001 May 30.

 Chat Sessions—Treat these just as you would a newsgroup or discussion group, depending on the information you have available.

 List messages—To document this source, provide the author's name, date of posting, subject line, address, and date of access.

 Billings V. 2001 May 30. On strategy formulation class syllabus.
          <ebusstrform@bued.bu.ed>. Accessed 2001 May 31.

FTP site—Provide the following information for documenting a file from an ftp site; name of author or file and size if you have it, date of the publication, title of the document, the address in angle brackets, and the date of access.

 Highcountryaspens.gif [427K]. 2001 Apr 5.
          <ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/images/highcountryaspens.gif>. Accessed 2001 May 28.

Brunelli R. 1999. Techniques for teaching mathematics to dyslexic students. Los Angeles:
          Blue Note Publishing. <ftp://ftp.nau.grad/thesis/brunelli>. Accessed 2001 Feb 12.

 Telnet Site—Citing a telnet site is very similar to citing an FTP site. Start with the author or agency, then the date of the publication, the title of the document, the address in brackets, with directions for accessing the document, and end with the date of access.

Lepkey G. 2000 Oct 23. Selected railway photo listing. <telnet://telnet.ncf.carleton.ca>
          login guest, go freeplace. Accessed 2001 April 12.

 GOPHER SitesCiting GOPHER sites is almost identical to citing telnet sites. See if you can catch the difference in our example.

Jamal T. 1997. Global Issues - Biotechnology in Food Production. India International
          Information Programs. <Gopher://gopher.iiip.org.india: 80/120/gbi/1997/gbi97.11> .
          Accessed 2001 May 31.

Did you find the difference? You still start with the author and date of publication, but with a GOPHER site you add the agency that sponsors the site. If there was no author listed, the citation would look like this:

India International Information Programs. 1997. Global Issues - Biotechnology in Food
          Production. <Gopher://gopher.iiip.org.india: 80/120/gbi/1997/gbi97.11> . Accessed
          2001 May 31.

See

Council of Biology Editors Style Manual Committee. 1994. Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, Sixth Edition. Reston, VA: Council of Science Editors.

 

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