American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Guide

Author

• invert the names of all authors (the last name followed by initials).
• Keep author names in the order they appear on the document.
• Put semicolons between the names, as here:

  Dillard, J. P.; Shen, L.
  Guastello, D.; Braun, S.; Gutierrez, J.; Johnston, K.; Olbinski, B.

Publication Date

• For scholarly journals, put the year the work was published or produced in bold.

  Evans, D. A.; Fitch, D. M.; Smith, T. E.; Cee, V. J. Application of Complex Aldol Reactions to the Total Synthesis of Phorboxazole B. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 10033-10046.

• For nonscientific magazines and newspapers, give the exact date of publication. Abbreviate the month, followed by the day of the month, a comma, the year, a comma, and the pagination. Do not bold the year.

  (Jan 2016, 2010, p H1.).

• For books, do not bold the year of publication.

Title

Caruso, R. A.; Caruso, F. Multilayered Titania, Silica, and Laponite Nanoparticle Coatings on Polystyrene Colloidal Templates and Resulting Inorganic Hollow Spheres. Chem. Mater. 2001, 13, 400-409.

• Journals
  • Capitalize the main words of titles and subtitles. Do not use quotation marks or italics.
  • Finish the component with a period.
  • Italicize journal titles. Abbreviate the journal title according to the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index.
• Books

  Morris, R. The Last Sorcerers: The Path from Alchemy to the Periodic Table; Joseph Henry Press: Washington, DC, 2003; pp 145-158.

  • Put the titles and subtitles of books in italics.
  • Finish the component with a semicolon.

Publication Date

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

Caruso, R. A.; Caruso, F. Multilayered Titania, Silica, and Laponite Nanoparticle Coatings on Polystyrene Colloidal Templates and Resulting Inorganic Hollow Spheres. Chem. Mater. 2001, 13, 400-409.

Mullin, R. Chem. Eng. News 2005, 83 (42), 7.

2-15

11771-11779

➔ Put the volume number in italics, followed by a comma and pagination.
➔ If the periodical has issues as well as volumes, put the issue number in parentheses after the volume number, before the comma, and not in italics.
➔ Where possible, indicate the complete page range in the pagination. Do not put commas or spaces in pagination.

• Books
  ➔ Include the name of the publisher, and the place and year of publication in book references.

  • American Chemical Society

    Cambridge, MA,

    Chichester, U.K.,

    Dordrecht, Netherlands,

    Paris,

    Gould, S. J. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory; Belknap Press: Cambridge, MA, 2002.
    ➔ Put publisher names in normal typeface, not italicized, bolded, or abbreviated. Follow them with a colon.
    ➔ For items published in the US, give the city and state of publication. For items published outside the US, give the city and country, unless it is a major world city. Follow the place of publication with a comma.
    ➔ Put the year of publication in normal typeface, after the place of publication. Finish the component with a period at the end of a reference, or a semicolon if more information follows.