Introduction

In-Text Citation

Books

Selections from Books

Periodicals

Online Sources

Citing Periodicals in CSE Style

Remember that entries in the reference list are listed alphabetically by author.  This page deals with printed periodicals only; there is another page for online periodical databases and articles on the Internet.  

When citing periodicals, you cite the individual articles rather than an entire issue of the periodical.  This page covers articles in magazines, (scholarly) journals, and newspapers. 

There are three sections to this page: a detailed chart on formatting references, citation examples, and general reference forms.

The components of a reference for articles from periodicals, listed in the proper order:  

Component

Formatting Details

    Ending
Punctuation
Author(s)

  • Format author name(s) as follows: last name, followed by the first and middle initials.  There is no comma following the last name, and no periods or spaces separate the initials, as in "Last FM."  [Example]

  • For two to 10 authors, list the authors as above, separating names by a comma and a space.    [Example]

  • If there are more than 10 authors, list the first ten, followed by "and others."  [Example]

  • If the article is anonymous, write "[Anonymous]" in place of the author.    [Example]

  • If the author is an organization, give the organization's name here.  If the organization has an abbreviation, put the abbreviation in brackets before its name, e.g. "[CBE] Council of Biology Editors."  [Example]

  Period (.)
Date
  • For a journal article, give only the four digit year.   [Example]
  • For a newspaper article, give the year, followed by the month (abbreviated by the first three letters only and with no period) and day, e.g. "2000 Jul 11." [Example]
  • For a magazine article, 
    • If the magazine has a date, format the date as you would for a newspaper article. [Example]
    • If the magazine is monthly, simply omit the day.  [Example]
    • If the date is a season, give the full season name, not abbreviated.
    • If the date includes a span of months or seasons, separate them by an en-dash (–) or a hyphen if the en-dash isn't available.  No spaces precede or follow the dash. 
    • If the magazine has volume and issue numbers (like a journal), you may cite it like a journal. 
  Period (.)
Title
  • The title of the article is written in plain text.  Only the first word and proper nouns and adjectives are capitalized.  There are only a few exceptions.   [Example]
  • If there is a secondary title or subtitle, it can be included after the main title.  Separate the two with a colon and space afterward. [Example]  
  • If the article is an editorial, write "[editorial]" after the title but before the ending period. [Example]  
  • If the article is a letter to the editor, write "[letter]" after the title but before the ending period.  
  Period (.)
Magazine, Newspaper, or Journal Title
  • Include the title of the periodical in plain text.  All words in the title are capitalized.  [Example]  
  • Abbreviate most JOURNAL titles: 
  • For magazines and newspapers, if the place of publication is needed to distinguish the periodical from another, you may give the place in parentheses following the title, but before the end punctuation.    
   Journal: a single space only

Magazine: colon (:)

Newspaper: semicolon (;)
Volume, Issue, and/or Section
  • If the article is from a scholarly journal paged consecutively throughout a volume, give the volume number (using digits).  [Example]
    • If the article is in a supplement, write "Suppl" following the volume number. [Example]
  • If the article is from a scholarly journal paged separately by issue, give the volume number, followed by the issue number in parentheses.  There are no spaces before, after, or within the parentheses.  [Example]
    • If the article is in a supplement, write "Suppl" following the issue number. [Example]
  • If the article is from a newspaper, write "Sect" followed by the section letter or number here.  [Example]
  

Colon (:)
Page Number(s)
  • Include the page numbers of the article.  [Example]
  • If the article appears on consecutive pages, separate the first and last page numbers with an en-dash (–) or a hyphen if the en-dash isn't available. Do not write "pages," "pp," etc.  [Example]
  • You only need to give the least number of necessary digits, e.g. 205-7, 205-12, or 295-303.  However, the library recommends that you give the full page numbers for clarity.  "205-207" is much clearer than "205-7" and doesn't use much more space.  [Example]
  • If the article appears on nonconsecutive pages (starts on one and jumps to another), list all the page ranges, separating them with a comma and a space. [Example]
  • If there are letters as part of the page numbers of journal articles, retain them. [Example]
  • If the article is from a newspaper, give the column number directly following the page number in parentheses, e.g. "1(col 5)." [Example]
  Period (.)

Read the note on punctuation and spacing.

Citation Examples (from Scientific Style and Format) 

[Anonymous]. 1990 Aug 24. Gene data may help fight colon cancer. Los Angeles Times;
Sect A:4.
[Unsigned newspaper article]
[Anonymous]. 1976. Epidemiology for primary health care. Int J Epidemiol 5:224-5, 226-8.
[Anonymous journal article]
Crews D, Gartska WR. 1981. The ecological physiology of the garter snake. Sci Am 
245:158-64, 166-8.
[Journal article on discontinuous pages]
Eifel EL. 1976. Stereochemisty since LeBel and van't Hoff: part II. Chemistry 49(3):
8-13.
[Article in journal paginated by issue]
Gardos G, Cole JO, Haskell D, Marby D, Paine SS, Moore P. 1988. The natural history
of tardive dyskinesia. J Clin Psychopharmacol 8(4 Suppl):31S-37S.
[Article in journal issue supplement]
Lu C. 1993 Sep. A small revelation: Newton has arrived at long last. Macworld:102-6.
[Magazine article]
Magni F, and others. 1988. BN-52021 protects guinea-pig from heart anaphylaxis. Pharm 
Res Commun 20 Suppl 5:75-8.
[Article in supplement to volume]
Rensberger B, Specter B. 1989 Aug 7. CFCs may be destroyed by natural process. 
Washington Post;Sect A:2 (col 5).
[Signed newspaper article]
[SSCCCP] Scandanavian Society for Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Physiology, Committee
of Enzymes. 1976. Recommended method for the determination of γ-glutamyltransferase
in blood. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 36:119-25.
[Journal article with organizational author]
Smith KY. 1991. New dangers in our field [editorial]. Am J Nucl Eng 12:15-6.
[Editorial]
Steiner U, Klein J, Eiser E, Budkowski A, Fetters LJ. 1992. Complete wetting from
polymer mixtures. Science 258:1122-9.
[Journal article]
You CH, Lee KY, Chey RY, Menguy R. 1980. Electrogastrophic study of patients with
unexplained nausea, bloating, and vomiting. Gastroentology 79:311-4.
[Journal article]

General Forms

Journal article 

Author. Year. Article title. Journal title volume#(issue#):pages.

Newspaper article 

Author. Date. Article title. Newspaper title;section:pages(column#).

Magazine article 

Author. Date. Article title. Magazine title:pages.
This page is best viewed using Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater. Please send questions, comments, and suggestions to ia@juniata.edu.  
Created: 06/27/2000
Last Modified: 09/25/2002