American Chemical Society (ACS) Citation Style Guide

GENERAL FORMAT

See below for the format suggestions for authored and edited books. 

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

• Always list the DOI for the resource
• Include the volume number for the series when available
• Pay attention to where you retrieved the book - via a publisher database or an aggregator database - as the reference will look different
• If the book has over 10 authors or editors, list the first 10 and then state et al. to show there are more. 
• When citing an edited book, it is preferable to cite the chapter used rather than the whole book. 

(for more, see section 4.3.5.3: Books, Book Series, Book Sets, Continuously Updated Books, & Book Collections in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication)

Many books are authored by one or more individuals, but do not have editors. This is an important thing to look for, as the citation format is different for each situation. The main thing to watch out for is if each chapter in a book has its own authors - this usually signals that it is an edited not an authored book.

You can cite either the whole book or a chapter in authored books.  

GENERAL FORMAT - WHOLE BOOK

Author 1; Author 2; …; Author 10; et al. Book Title; Series Title, Vol. number (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, year.

GENERAL FORMAT - CHAPTER

Author 1; Author 2; …; Author 10; et al. Chapter Title. In Book Title, edition number; Series Title, Vol. number (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, year; pagination.

(for more, see section 4.3.5.3: Books, Book Series, Book Sets, Continuously Updated Books, & Book Collections in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication)

The following examples show common types of e-books you might need to cite when they have been authored.

Authored e-Book on a Publisher Database

EXAMPLE

Waterhouse, A. L.; Sacks, G. L.; Jeffery, D. W. Understanding Wine Chemistry; Wiley, 2016. DOI: 10.1002/9781118730720

Authored e-Book on an Aggregator Database

EXAMPLE

Cullen, W. R.; Reimer, K. J. Arsenic is Everywhere: Cause for Concern?; Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=4773653 (accessed 2020-09-14).

Authored e-Book with an Edition Number

EXAMPLE

Grainger, K.; Tattersall, H. Wine Production and Quality, 2nd ed.; Wiley, 2016. DOI: 10.1002/9781118934562

Chapter in an Authored e-Book

EXAMPLE

Waterhouse, A. L.; Sacks, G. L.; Jeffery, D. W. Amines, Amino Acids, and Proteins. In Understanding Wine Chemistry; Wiley, 2016; pp 40-50. DOI: 10.1002/9781118730720

Alternatively, other books are edited by one or more individuals, and the individual chapters also have unique authors. This is an important thing to look for, as the citation format is different for each situation. The main thing to watch out for is if each chapter in a book has its own authors - this usually signals that it is an edited not an authored book.

You can cite either the whole book or a chapter in authored books - but it is more common to see chapter references for edited books unless you are using multiple chapters from one book. 

GENERAL FORMAT - WHOLE BOOK

Author 1; Author 2; …; Author 10; et al. In Book Title, edition number; Editor 1, Editor 2, [continue until all editors are listed], Eds.; Series Title, Vol. number (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, year.

GENERAL FORMAT - CHAPTER

Author 1; Author 2; …; Author 10; et al. Chapter Title. In Book Title, edition number; Editor 1, Editor 2, [continue until all editors are listed], Eds.; Series Title, Vol. Number (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, year; pagination.

(for more, see section 4.3.5.3: Books, Book Series, Book Sets, Continuously Updated Books, & Book Collections in the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication)

The following examples show common types of e-books you might need to cite when they have been edited.

Edited e-Book on a Publisher Database

EXAMPLE

Active Learning in General Chemistry: Specific Interventions; Blaser, M., Clark, T., Lamont, L., Stewart, J. J., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1340; American Chemical Society, 2019. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2019-1340

Edited e-Book on an Aggregator Database

EXAMPLE

Mindful and Relational Approaches to Social Justice, Equity, and Diversity in Teacher Education; Kitchen, J., Li, Y., Raggonaden, K., Eds.; Mindfulness in Education; Lexington Books, 2019. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/ (accessed 2020-09-14).

Edited e-Book with an Edition Number

EXAMPLE

Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 3rd ed.; Mullen, G. R., Durden, L. A., Eds.; Elsevier, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/C2017-0-00210-0

Chapter in an Edited e-Book

EXAMPLE

Molnar, B.; Bourne, C. A.; Freeman, T. K. Learn Smart: Success Strategies for First-Year Students. In Active Learning in General Chemistry: Specific Interventions; Blaser, M., Clark, T., Lamont, L., Stewart, J. J., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1340; American Chemical Society, 2019; pp 149-157. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2019-1340.ch010