American Chemical Society (ACS) Citation Style Guide

GENERAL FORMAT

Author 1; Author 2; …; Author 10; et al. Title of the Article. Journal Title Abbreviation year of publication, volume number (issue number), page range. DOI: number

The following are some things to remember when citing journal articles using ACS:

• If the journal's title is not listed in CASSI in order to find an abbreviation, then no abbreviation is used. 
• You may need to use an article number instead of page numbers
• Always list the DOI for the resource
• Omit the issue number if it is not available 
• Pay attention to where you retrieved the article - via a publisher database or an aggregator database - as the reference will look different
• Conference proceedings that are published as part of an issue in a journal are to be cited the same way as a journal article

(for more, see section 4.3.5.2: Periodicals in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication)

EXAMPLE

Pan, X. J.; Kadla, J. F.; Ehara, K.; Gilke, N.; Saddler, J. N. Organosolv Ethanol Lignin from Hybrid Poplar as a Radical Scavenger: Relationship Between Lignin Structure, Extraction Conditions, and Antioxidant Activity. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2006, 54 (16), 5806-5813. DOI: 10.1021/jf0605392

When citing an article with 10 or more authors, you'll be listing the first 10 authors names and then indicating et al. to represent that there are additional authors. 

EXAMPLE

Jiang, Y.; Wang, Z. X.; Xu, C. X.; Li, W. X.; Li, Y.; Huang, S. S.; Chen, Z. W.; Zhao, B.; Sun, X. L.; Wilkinson, D. P.; et al. Atomic Layer Deposition for Improved Lithiophilicity and Solid Electrolyte Interface Stability During Lithium Plating. Energy Storage Materials 2020, 28, 17-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.ensm.2020.01.019

**This is an example of where the journal title is not available in the CASSI journal abbreviation system, thus it is listed as a full journal title. 

With single word journals, you do not need to abbreviate the journal title. 

EXAMPLE

Steinke, T.; Shaw, B. K.; Jong, H.; Patrick, B. O.; Fryuk, M. D. Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry of a Tridentate o-Phenylene-Bridged Diphosphine-NHC System. Organometallics 2009, 28 (9), 2830-2836. DOI: 10.1021/om9000764

EXAMPLE

Weiler, M.; McGlynn, B. L.; McGuire, K. J.; McDonnell, J. J. How Does Rainfall Become Runoff? A Combined Tracer and Runoff Transfer Function Approach. Water Resour. Res. 2003, 39 (11), 1315. DOI: 10.1029/2003WR002331