The Council of Science Editors scientific style of documentation is used primarily in the physical sciences, life sciences, and mathematics. CSE offers three systems for documenting sources: 1) a Citation-Sequence system, 2) a Citation- Name system and 3) a name-year system. This guide is meant to explain all three. The Citation-Sequence and Citation Name system share similarities. The Name - Year system is very similar to the Author-Date system used by the APA.

This guide is based on Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (8th ed.) 2014, a publication of the Council of Science Editors. 

For more information, you can find a copy of the CSE Guide contact your library. 

The general page formatting for a paper using Council of Science Editors (CSE) is outlined below. Please know these may or may not be the requirements of your professors/instructor, so it is best to consult the assignment as well. 

Paper Format

• Margins - Use 1 inch margins on all sides
• Font - 12 pt. readable font. Times New Roman or Arial are the standard here. If you would like to use a different one, you should probably ask your instructor. 
• Spacing - The paper should be double spaced within the body of the paper
• Headings - In your paper you will have headings including: INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSIONS/CONCLUSIONS
  • Distinguish subheadings from headings by a different typography

Abstract:

• A single paragraph that describes the writer's research methods, findings, and conclusions. 

Bibliography Page

• Center the title Bibliography and then list the works cited in the paper according to the requirements of your instructor using Citation/Sequence, Citation/Name or Name/Year formatting. 

Citing: The process of acknowledging the sources of your information and ideas.

In-Text Citation: A brief note at the point where information is used from a source to indicate where the information came from. An in-text citation should always match more detailed information that is available in the Reference List.

Paraphrasing: Taking information that you have read and putting it into your own words.

Plagiarism: Taking, using, and passing off as your own, the ideas or words of another.

Quoting: The copying of words of text originally published elsewhere. Direct quotations generally appear in quotation marks and end with a citation.

Reference: Details about one cited source.

Reference List: Contains details on ALL the sources cited in a text or essay, and supports your research and/or premise.

This information in this guide is used/adapted with the permission of UW Madison Writing Center.  For information please contact wcenter@writing.wisc.edu. Or visit the Writing Center's Website at https://writing.wisc.edu/ . 

Note: When copying this guide, please retain this box.

Special thanks to Sarah Olson, Online Writing Coordinator, from UW Madison for all of the hard work that she and the Writing Center did in putting together the information that this libguide is based on.