Citations and reference styles
In short: Select publications in the Library and click Cite these N publications, or click Cite on one publication. In the Cite dialog, pick one of 81 citation styles (APA 7th edition is the default), copy the in-text citation and the reference list, or Download them as .txt, .rtf, .bib or .ris. You can cite up to 200 publications at a time.
Open the Cite dialog
| From | Click |
|---|
| Library, with publications selected | Cite these N publications in the selection bar |
| Library, a publication's ⋯ menu | Cite this |
| Publication details (Library or a map's publication window) | Cite |
| Research in Formation, an object's Research Record | Cite this publication |
The dialog's title reads "Cite this publication" or "Cite N publications".
Cite publications
- Open the Cite dialog.
- Choose a Style from the list. Styles are grouped, as in the full list below.
- Read the preview. It shows the In-text citation and the Reference (or References). For note styles, the sections are Footnote and Bibliography.
- Click Copy next to a section. The button briefly shows "Copied". Formatting such as italics comes along when you paste into a word processor.
- To save a file, click the Download button, for example Download .txt. To choose another format, click the arrow next to it (Choose a download format).
If you pick a style that isn't your default, the dialog says "Applies here only — your default stays style." with a Change the default link.
| Format | File | Contains |
|---|
| Plain text | .txt | The in-text citation and the reference list, in the chosen style |
| Rich text | .rtf | The same, with formatting such as italics, for word processors |
| BibTeX | .bib | The publications' data, for LaTeX and reference managers |
| RIS | .ris | The publications' data, for reference managers such as Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote |
BibTeX and RIS files carry publication data, not a style. The dialog remembers the format you used last. Files are named after the publication and style, for example author-year-apa.txt, or references-N-apa.txt for several publications.
Set your default style
- Open the user menu and click User Preferences.
- Click Reference style.
- Type in "Find a style…" or scroll the groups.
- Click a style. It's saved to your account and follows you to every device.
Each style shows how it cites in the text: Author–date, Numeric, Notes or Author–page. The Cite dialog always opens in your default style.
Limits
- Up to 200 publications per citation. With more selected, the Library's cite button is disabled; select fewer. If more than 200 reach the dialog another way, it says "Citing the first 200 of N selected publications."
- Formatting uses citeproc-js with styles from the CSL project.
All 81 styles
General & cross-disciplinary (19)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| APA 7th edition (default) | Author–date |
| APA 6th edition | Author–date |
| MLA 9th edition | Author–page |
| MLA 8th edition | Author–page |
| Chicago 17th (author –date) | Author–date |
| Chicago 17th (notes and bibliography) | Notes |
| Chicago 17th (full notes) | Notes |
| Turabian 9th (author–date) | Author–date |
| Turabian 9th (notes) | Notes |
| Harvard (Cite Them Right) | Author–date |
| IEEE | Numeric |
| Vancouver | Numeric |
| Vancouver (superscript) | Numeric |
| CSE name–year | Author–date |
| CSE citation–sequence | Numeric |
| CSE citation–name | Numeric |
| MHRA 4th edition | Notes |
| ISO 690 (author–date) | Author–date |
| ISO 690 (numeric) | Numeric |
Life sciences & medicine (18)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| Nature | Numeric |
| Science | Numeric |
| Cell | Author–date |
| The Lancet | Numeric |
| BMJ | Numeric |
| AMA 11th edition | Numeric |
| NLM | Numeric |
| New England Journal of Medicine | Numeric |
| PLOS | Numeric |
| PNAS | Numeric |
| BioMed Central | Numeric |
| Frontiers | Author–date |
| Ecology (ESA) | Author–date |
| Journal of Neuroscience | Author–date |
| ASM | Numeric |
| AACR | Numeric |
| Journal of Biological Chemistry | Numeric |
| Annual Reviews | Author–date |
Physical sciences & mathematics (11)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| ACS | Numeric |
| Royal Society of Chemistry | Numeric |
| AIP | Numeric |
| APS | Numeric |
| IOP | Numeric |
| AMS | Numeric |
| SIAM | Numeric |
| AGU | Author–date |
| Geological Society of America | Author–date |
| American Meteorological Society | Author–date |
| Copernicus Publications | Author–date |
Engineering & computing (5)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| ACM | Numeric |
| ACM SIG Proceedings | Numeric |
| ASCE | Author–date |
| ASME | Numeric |
| AIAA | Numeric |
Social sciences (5)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| ASA 7th edition | Author–date |
| APSA | Author–date |
| AAA | Author–date |
| American Economic Association | Author–date |
| Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics | Author–date |
Humanities & law (3)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| OSCOLA 4th edition | Notes |
| Bluebook 21st edition | Notes |
| SBL 2nd edition | Notes |
Publisher house styles (15)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| Elsevier Harvard | Author–date |
| Elsevier Vancouver | Numeric |
| Elsevier (numeric, with titles) | Numeric |
| Springer Basic (author–date) | Author–date |
| Springer Basic (numeric) | Numeric |
| Springer Vancouver | Numeric |
| Taylor & Francis Chicago (author–date) | Author–date |
| Taylor & Francis NLM | Numeric |
| SAGE Harvard | Author–date |
| SAGE Vancouver | Numeric |
| Emerald Harvard | Author–date |
| Oxford University Press (HumSoc) | Notes |
| Cambridge University Press (author–date) | Author–date |
| Cambridge University Press (notes) | Notes |
| MDPI | Numeric |
National standards (5)
| Style | In the text |
|---|
| ABNT NBR 6023 (Brazil) | Author–date |
| GOST R 7.0.5-2008 (Russia) | Numeric |
| DIN 1505-2 (Germany) | Author–date |
| GB/T 7714-2015 (author–date) | Author–date |
| GB/T 7714-2015 (numeric) | Numeric |
Troubleshooting
- The Cite button in the Library is greyed out. More than 200 publications are selected. Select 200 or fewer.
- "N publications could not be formatted in this style." Some publications are missing data the style needs. Check their details, or try another style.
- "This style has no bibliography section — the footnote is the full reference." That's how this note style works. Copy the Footnote section.
- The dialog shows an error with "Try again". Formatting failed. Click Try again.
- "Could not copy to the clipboard." Your browser blocked clipboard access. Allow it, or use Download instead.
- "That change could not be saved. Your previous style is still in effect." Your default style didn't save. Try again on the Reference style page.
FAQ
Does changing the style in the Cite dialog change my default?
No. It applies to that dialog only. Change the default under User Preferences → Reference style.
How do I get citations into Word or Google Docs?
Click Copy and paste, which keeps formatting such as italics. Or download a .rtf file and open it in your word processor.
How do I move publications into Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote?
Download a .ris or .bib file from the Cite dialog and import it into your reference manager.
Can I add a citation style that isn't listed?
No. SciNodes offers the 81 styles listed on this page.