ACS: journal article (with DOI)
- Separate authors with semicolons.
- The journal abbreviation (from CAS Source Index) is italic, the year bold, the volume italic.
ACS: book
- The publisher comes before the place, separated by a colon.
ACS: chapter in an edited book
- ACS writes “pp” with no full stop.
Not shown for ACS: web page, report, thesis or dissertation. We publish only patterns we've checked against the The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication; for these, see the manual or your course's guide.
ACS in-text citations
ACS allows three formats: superscript numbers, italic numbers in parentheses, or author name and year. Use one throughout.
| Superscript | …as reported previously.¹ |
| Italic number | …as reported previously (1). |
| Author–date | (Jergas and Baethge, 2015) |
- Numbered citations follow the order of first citation; a source keeps its number.
Common ACS mistakes
- Leaving the year roman or the volume roman. In a journal reference, the year is bold and the volume italic.
- Separating authors with commas or “and”. ACS uses semicolons.
- Mixing superscript and parenthetical numbers in one paper.
Format a reference in ACS
Our free in-browser formatter covers journal articles in six styles (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver). ACS is one of the 2,500+ styles in the full MoreMind workspace.
ACS questions
Is the article title required in ACS references?
ACS journals include article titles, and most courses expect them. Follow your journal or instructor if they say otherwise.
Which in-text format should I use?
Superscript numbers are the most common. ACS also accepts italic numbers in parentheses or author–date citations; use whichever your journal or course specifies, consistently.
Where do I find the journal abbreviation?
ACS uses the CAS Source Index (CASSI). Titles of one word, like PeerJ, are not abbreviated.
How do I cite a chemical-safety data sheet or patent?
The ACS guide covers these, but we have not included them here; check the guide or your instructor.
About the examples
Every style guide on this site formats the same six sources, so you can compare styles side by side. The journal article is real; the others are fictional, with placeholder names.
- Journal article (with DOI) (real): Hannah Jergas and Christopher Baethge, “Quotation accuracy in medical journal articles—a systematic review and meta-analysis,” PeerJ, volume 3, article e1364, published 27 October 2015, DOI 10.7717/peerj.1364.
- Book: Jane A. Doe, Evidence and argument in student research, Example University Press, London, 2021.
- Chapter in an edited book: Richard B. Roe, “Reading statistics critically,” pages 45–67 of A handbook of research methods, edited by Maria C. Sample and Lee D. Example, Example University Press, London, 2020.
- Web page: Pat Q. Public, “How to check that a source exists,” Example Research Hub (London), published 12 March 2024, https://www.example.org/guides/check-a-source, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Report: Example Institute for Education (author and publisher, London), Student research practices in higher education, 2023, https://www.example.org/reports/student-research-2023, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Thesis or dissertation: Alex B. Placeholder, Peer feedback and revision in first-year writing, unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Education, Example University, London, 2022.
Based on the The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication. Last reviewed 2026-11. Your instructor's or journal's own guidelines take precedence. Spotted an error? Email support@moremind.ai.