Scientific Style and Format, 8th edition (Name-Year)
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Used by biology, ecology, zoology, botany, life sciences, natural history, veterinary biology. CitePlain emits the current edition by default. We never paywall it.
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Example output
Yeh RW, Valsdottir LR, Yeh MW, Shen C, Kramer DB, Strom JB, Secemsky EA, Healy JL, Domeier RM, Kazi DS, et al. 2018. Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial. BMJ. 363:k5094. doi:10.1136/bmj.k5094.
Edition guide
The Council of Science Editors style is defined in Scientific Style and Format, 8th edition (2014). CSE is the dominant style across biology, ecology, life sciences, natural history, and parts of chemistry. CSE supports three citation systems: Name-Year (closest to APA), Citation-Sequence (numbered, like Vancouver), and Citation-Name (numbered but alphabetised). CitePlain emits the Name-Year variant by default because it is the most common in biology programs and the easiest cross-walk for APA users.
Quick rules
Name-Year places the in-text citation as (Smith 2024) and orders the reference list alphabetically by first author. Citation-Sequence uses superscript numbers in the order of first citation, with the reference list ordered by appearance. Citation-Name uses superscript numbers, but the list is alphabetised by first author. Most undergraduate biology programs default to Name-Year. Confirm with your instructor or the target journal which variant they require.
Surname followed by initials, no periods. Authors are separated by commas. Up to 10 authors are listed before truncating with et al. The author block ends with a period. Example: Darwin C, Wallace A, Mendel G, et al.
In CSE Name-Year, the year appears immediately after the author block, with no parentheses around it. This is the most visible difference from APA, which puts the year in parentheses. Example: Darwin C. 1859. On the origin of species. Murray.
Title of the article, then the journal name. CSE allows either the full journal title or the standard biomedical abbreviation. Volume number directly follows the journal name with no comma. Issue in parentheses. Pages after a colon. Example: Nature. 615(7951):120-135.
Tag the title with [Internet] for any online source. Add an accessed date in square brackets year month day. Append the URL at the end with no introductory phrase. DOIs use the doi: prefix without https. Example: Nature. 615(7951):120-135. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05123-7.