ACS Citation Generator
Your bibliography
0 sourcesACS citation generator is a free tool that builds American Chemical Society references and in-text citations from a title, DOI, or URL. It formats authors, journal abbreviations, bold years, and italic volumes to the ACS Guide’s current rules.
How do I use the ACS citation generator?
Paste a DOI, URL, or article title into the tool, choose the source type, confirm the auto-filled fields, and copy the formatted ACS reference. The generator abbreviates the journal, bolds the year, italicises the volume, and orders authors for you.
- Select your source type: journal article, book, book chapter, website, thesis, or video.
- Enter a DOI or paste the details; the tool retrieves author names, title, journal, year, volume, issue, and pages.
- Check the abbreviated journal title against CASSI and confirm author initials.
- Copy the reference into your bibliography and drop the matching superscript number into your text.
What is ACS citation style?
ACS style is the citation and formatting system of the American Chemical Society, defined in The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication. Chemists and many physical-science journals use it. It abbreviates journal titles, bolds the publication year, and italicises journal names and volume numbers.
ACS is distinctive because it supports three interchangeable in-text methods within one style, and it favours highly compressed journal-title abbreviations drawn from the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI). Article titles are included in references and set in roman (upright) type.
How do ACS in-text citations work?
ACS allows three in-text methods, and you must use one consistently: superscript numbers, italic numbers in parentheses, or author–date. Superscript numbering is the most common. Numbers are assigned in the order sources first appear and reused on later mentions.
| Method | In-text form | Reference-list order |
|---|---|---|
| Superscript number | catalysis was observed.1 | Numerical, by order of citation |
| Italic number in parentheses | catalysis was observed (1). | Numerical, by order of citation |
| Author–date | catalysis was observed (Smith, 2023). | Alphabetical, by first author |
With numeric styles, place the superscript after any punctuation. Cite two sources as 1,2 and three or more consecutive ones as 1–3. Each number maps to one entry in the reference list.
What are the ACS reference list rules?
The ACS reference list, headed “References,” appears at the end of the paper. With numeric in-text citations, entries are numbered in the order they were first cited, not alphabetically. Author–date users instead alphabetise entries by the first author’s surname.
Every reference names all authors (no “et al.” in the list), abbreviates the journal per CASSI, bolds the year, and italicises the journal title and volume. Issue numbers sit in parentheses, and a DOI closes online sources.
What does an ACS reference contain?
- Authors — surname then spaced initials; semicolons separate authors; a period follows the last one.
- Article title — included and set in roman type, ending with a period.
- Journal — CASSI abbreviation in italics.
- Year, volume, issue, pages — bold year, italic volume, issue in parentheses, then pages or article number.
- DOI — supplied for online and recent articles.
How does ACS format author names?
ACS lists every author as surname followed by a comma and spaced initials with periods, for example Smith, J. R. Semicolons separate authors, and no ampersand appears before the last name. The reference list never abbreviates the author string with “et al.”
- One author: Doyle, M. P.
- Multiple authors: Doyle, M. P.; Forbes, D. C.; Vasbinder, M. M.
- Organisation as author: spell the group out, e.g. American Chemical Society.
- Editors: add
Ed.orEds.after the names in a book chapter.
What are ACS examples for each source type?
Below are copy-ready ACS references across common source types. Italics mark journal and book titles and volume numbers; the year is bold in journal entries.
Journal articleKo, S. L.; Dorrell, J. A.; Griffith, K. J. Extreme Defect Tolerance for Electrochemical Intercalation in Wadsley–Roth Structures. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147 (10), 8513–8522. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c12345.
Online-only articleKuchenreuther, J. M.; Britt, R. D.; Swartz, J. R. New Insights into [FeFe] Hydrogenase Activation. PLoS One 2012, 7 (9), e45850. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045850.
Book (whole)Le Couteur, P.; Burreson, J. Napoleon’s Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History; Penguin Books: New York, 2004.
Book chapterPuls, J.; Saake, B. Industrially Isolated Hemicelluloses. In Hemicelluloses: Science and Technology; Gatenholm, P., Tenkanen, M., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series 864; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2004; pp 24–37.
WebsiteAmerican Chemical Society. Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry. ACS Publications. https://pubs.acs.org/nomenclature (accessed 2026-07-18).
Thesis / dissertationCable, M. L. Sensing Mechanisms of Lanthanide Complexes. Ph.D. Dissertation, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 2010.
Video (YouTube)Reactions. What Is the Best Way to Store Batteries? American Chemical Society. YouTube, July 23, 2022. https://youtu.be/VIRP-bNtZdY (accessed 2026-07-18).
PatentSheem, S. K. Low-Cost Fiber Optic Pressure Sensor. U.S. Patent 6,234,032, May 22, 2001.
How should an ACS paper be formatted?
ACS gives authors flexibility, but a manuscript is typically double-spaced in a serif font with numbered references collected under a “References” heading. Follow the target journal’s author guidelines, because ACS journals set their own margins, headings, and figure requirements.
- Order references numerically when using superscript or italic-number citations.
- Use CASSI abbreviations for every periodical title.
- Give a DOI whenever one exists; a full URL and access date replace it for web-only sources.
- Keep one in-text method throughout the whole document.
How do ACS editions differ?
The current guidance is The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication (2020, an online successor to the 3rd edition of The ACS Style Guide, 2006). The newest guidance always includes article titles, standardises DOIs as DOI: 10.xxxx, and drops the place of publication for many book references.
| Feature | 3rd edition (2006) | ACS Guide (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| Article title | Optional | Included |
| DOI format | Bare or URL | DOI: 10.xxxx/… |
| Book place of publication | Usually shown | Often omitted |
| Access date | “accessed Month Day, Year” | ISO date accepted |
What are common ACS citation mistakes?
The frequent errors are spelling out full journal names, forgetting to bold the year, and italicising the wrong element. Writers also mix in-text methods or drop authors behind “et al.” in the reference list, which ACS never permits.
- Writing Journal of the American Chemical Society in full instead of J. Am. Chem. Soc.
- Leaving the year unbolded or italicising it by mistake.
- Italicising the article title (it stays roman) instead of the journal and volume.
- Placing the superscript before the punctuation rather than after it.
- Alphabetising a numeric reference list instead of ordering by citation.
How accurate is this generator, and what are its limits?
The generator produces correct ACS structure for well-described sources, but it cannot judge every field. Journal abbreviations, capitalisation of chemical names, and author initials from imperfect metadata still need a human check against CASSI and the original source.
Automated data from DOIs occasionally misses an issue number, garbles special characters in formulae, or supplies a full journal name that you must abbreviate yourself. Treat the output as a fast, accurate first draft, then verify the bold year, italic volume, and CASSI abbreviation before you submit.
ACS citation generator FAQ
Is the ACS citation generator free?
Yes. Every source type is free, with no account, sign-up, or export limit. You can generate unlimited ACS references and copy them straight into your manuscript.
Which ACS in-text method should I use?
Superscript numbers are the most widely used and the default for most ACS journals. Italic numbers in parentheses and author–date are also valid, but pick one method and apply it consistently across the whole paper.
Does ACS use “et al.” in the reference list?
No. The ACS reference list names every author in full. “Et al.” is only ever used in author–date in-text citations with three or more authors, never in the reference entries themselves.
How do I abbreviate the journal title in ACS style?
Use the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI). It provides the standard abbreviation for each periodical, such as J. Am. Chem. Soc. for the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Single-word titles are not abbreviated.
What is bold and italic in an ACS journal reference?
The publication year is bold, and the journal title and volume number are italic. The article title, issue number, and page range stay in roman (upright) type.
Can I generate ACS citations for websites and videos?
Yes. The tool supports websites, YouTube videos, theses, patents, and books alongside journal articles. Web and video sources take a full URL and an access date in place of a DOI.