ACS referencing is a style of referencing developed by the American Chemical Society for use in the field of chemistry. The hallmark of ACS referencing is that it’s designed to be as convenient and practical as possible.
In ACS referencing, each citation consists of two parts. The first is in-text citations, which you can complete in one of three ways; superscript numbers, italic numbers in brackets or author name and year of publication in brackets (known as the author-date system). The second part is a full reference list at the end, which provides bibliographic information for all sources used.
Several factors can cause variations in the citation format, such as whether a book is one in a series, whether it’s cited in its entirety or only in part, or if it has different editions. The most common formats require the author’s name, title and date of publication, the name of the publisher and place of publication.
Looking for an easier option? Reference websites, journal articles, books and much more with Cite This For Me’s free ACS reference generator.
Use the following template to cite a book using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title; Publisher: City, Year Published; p. Pages Used.
Example:
(1) Sunday, T. You Posted What!?: How to Help Your Teen Use Social Media to Gain an Advantage for College and Future Employment; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014; p. xii.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
Our digital profiles can be an asset or a liability 1
Use the following template to cite a journal using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Publication Title Year Published, Volume number, Pages Used.
Example:
(1) Yeo, K.; Ren, Y. Systems Engineering 1-51.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
T1,R13(x) 1
Use the following template to cite a film or movie using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Title; Publisher: City, Year Published.
Example:
(1) Foo Fighters Back and Forth; Spitfire Productions, Dolby Digital, Sony Music: America, 2011.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
I'm not a rockstar, I'm a musician. 1
Use the following template to cite an online image or video using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title; Year Published.
Example:
(1) Woolworths Baby and Toddler Club,. Menstrual Cycle.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
Image 7 1
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Use the following template to cite a website using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title http://Website URL (accessed Oct 10, 2013).
Example:
(1) Simon, J. Comments on ""Why We Laugh"" | Psychology Today http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201101/why-we-laugh/comments (accessed Jun 18, 2014).
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
Why we laugh isn’t a mystery anymore. The questions about appropriate vs. inappropriate laughter, about laughing “with” vs. “at” someone, about how our relationship with others in our immediate social circle affects our laugh response, even the evolutionary origins of laughter…these have been worked out with a new, but little known theory published in 2008. The theory defines laughter as “a vocal affirmation of mutual vulnerability.” If my friend spills gravy on his tie, my reminding him of our mutual vulnerability (that I too sometimes have trouble with such tasks) is welcomed. It is, in this context, a signal of sympathy, of solidarity. His status has been diminished by his actions, and my laughter effectively raises him back up (Lifting Laughter). If my pain-in-the-butt coworker, who thinks he’s so much better than I, highlights his shortcomings by spilling HIS gravy, then reminding him of our mutual vulnerability is my way of saying, “See, you’re not as great as you think you are.” Same message, just a different motivation (Lowering Laughter) and different response, most likely unwelcomed. These are examples of what we commonly refer to as laughing WITH someone and laughing AT them. The same is true when laughing at our own vulnerabilities. Nervous (Self-Lifting) Laughter reminds others around us (or, if alone, ourselves) that others probably suffer the same fate sometimes. It solicits supportive responses (incl. Lifting Laughter) from those who might be nearby. And if our status is raised by some random or seemingly undeserved victory (e.g., a lottery win), then an expression of mutual vulnerability (Self-Lowering Laughter) is an acknowledgment that those around us could have won just as well, that our good fortune is not going to sever old friendships. In all these cases, the message is the same even though the motivation and effects on others might differ. Just like a car horn (Hey!) can sometimes express the sender’s desire to say, “Hey, stop!” or “Hey, go!” And, similarly, a car horn can be welcomed when pressed by a loved one you’ve been waiting patiently for, or unwelcomed when pressed by the idiot behind you in rush hour traffic. It’s all a matter of context and relationship. 1
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Use the following template to cite a blog using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title. Publication Title, Year Published.
Example:
(1) Theimer, K. The Future of Archives is Participatory: Archives as Platform, or A New Mission for Archives. ArchivesNext, 2014.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
Discussion of traditional archives management 1
Use the following template to cite a court case using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Title; Year Published; Vol. Volume number, p. Pages Used.
Example:
(1) The Trial Transcript in Crown v Lindy and Michael Chamberlain; 1982; p. Selected Excerpts.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
'I saw no evidence on any of these garments to suggest that any member of the canine family was involved. I cannot say anything about dingoes. I speak about the canine family in general.' He also made this statement ‘There is evidence to suggest it was killed in another method. It suggests there was an incised wound around the neck. In other words, a cut throat.' 1
Use the following template to cite a dictionary entry using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title. Publication Title, Year Published, Pages Used.
Example:
(1) 2014.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
1
Example:
a part of a motor vehicle, especially the extreme front and rear, designed to crumple easily in a crash and absorb the main force of an impact. 1
Use the following template to cite an e-book or pdf using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title; Publisher: City, Year Published; p. Pages Used.
Example:
(1) Core Communication Skills In Mental Health Nursing; 1st ed.; 2014; p. 2.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
Listening is the most important skill and often the most challenging. In our experience, mental health nurses often worry about what they are going to say, what questions they should ask, or whether they have asked the right question. While such concerns are common and understandable for the newcomer to mental health nursing, these thoughts can distract the mental health nurse from listening to the person who is talking. 1
Use the following template to cite an edited book using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Title; Author Surname, Author Initial., Ed.; Publisher: City, Year Published; p. Pages Used.
Example:
(1) Life-Span Development; Santrock, J.; Mackenzie-Rivers, A.; Malcomson, T.; Leung, K., Ed.; 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2011; p. Page 37.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
"This is also the stage when children come face to face with the realities of their family life and a conscious emerges as they learn something is taboo." 1
Use the following template to cite an email using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title, Year Published.
Example:
(1) Spaven, A. Questions and research for report - Application, 2014.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
1
Example:
Spoke to by telephone as well. 1
Use the following template to cite an encyclopedia article using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title. Publication Title, Year Published, Pages Used.
Example:
(1) Selection. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
1
Example:
"...species with useful adaptations to the environment are more likely to survive." 1
Use the following template to cite an interview using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title, Year Published.
Example:
(1) Cachia Zammit, M. What does FORM mean to you?, 2014.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
For me in architecture, form simply follows function. Form can work with, and against, the function of any object created by man 1
Use the following template to cite a magazine using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Publication Title. Year Published, p. Pages Used.
Example:
(1) Singh, I.; Kharas, H.; Bhattasali, D. The World Bank. 2007,.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
This book explore the future of East Asia's middle-income countries. Without the advantages of low wages or high skills, and with limited natural resources, East Asian economies are following a new path of regional integration, led by China. Along this path, policy makers must manage a migration of 2 million per month to East Asian cities; a sharp and unprecedented increase in income inequality; and growing discontent with corruption. This new agenda of domestic integration is the main challenge facing East Asia. 1
Use the following template to cite a newspaper using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title. Publication Title, Year Published, Pages Used.
Example:
(1) The Australian,. Simon Gittany guilty of high-rise murder, 2014, A single page.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
1
Example:
installed CCTV in his apartment and used a computer program to monitor Ms Harnum's text messages, emails and internet usage. 1
Use the following template to cite a podcast using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title http://Website URL (accessed Oct 10, 2013).
Example:
(1) Johng780,. (accessed Jan 1, 2014).
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
An attentiongrabbing dialogue is worth comment. I believe that you must write extra on this subject, it won't be a taboo topic but typically persons are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers agkfeeggaedk 1
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Use the following template to cite a song using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Author Surname, Author Initial. Title; Publisher: City, Year Published.
Example:
(1) Knowles, B.; Coleman, J.; Furler, S. Pretty Hurts; Columbia: New York, 2013.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
“Ain’t no doctor or pill that can take the pain away, the pain’s inside and nobody frees you from your own body, it’s the soul that needs surgery; it’s my soul that needs surgery. Plastic smiles and denial can only take you so far, then you break when the fake facade leaves you in the dark. You’re left with shattered mirrors and the shards of a beautiful past.” “Blonder hair, flat chest; TV says, ‘bigger is better,’ south beach, sugar free, Vogue says, ‘thinner is better.” 1
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Use the following template to cite The Bible using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Title,. Publisher: City, Year Published; p. Pages Used.
Example:
(1) The holy text of Cheese!,. Magnus Thomsen: Trondheim, 2014; p. 12345.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
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Example:
The word of cheese. 1
Use the following template to cite a TV Show using the ACS citation style.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Template:
(1) Title, Year Published.
Example:
(1) Ugandans hit back at Kony 2012 campaign, 2012.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
Template:
1
Example:
Ugandans have criticised the viral Kony2012 video, saying it is yet another neo-colonial campaign that portrays Africans as powerless to help themselves. 1