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Chemistry: Referencing

Why reference?

It is important to learn the scholarly practice of citing other people’s research, and referencing the material you have used. 

Referencing: 

  • Enables your reader to find the material you have referred to  

  • Demonstrates your breadth of reading about the subject 

  • Supports and/or develops your argument

  • Avoids plagiarism: using somebody else’s work without acknowledging the fact is plagiarism. It is important to always reference when quoting or paraphrasing another person’s work 

Referencing Software

Referencing software allows you to manage references, insert citations and create a bibliography, in your referencing style.

EndNote iconEndNote

EndNote is referencing software from Clarivate. EndNote is available from Warwick IT Services, and is supported by Warwick Library. Please see the EndNote LibGuide for further information. 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is an academic offence and something that the University takes very seriously. You can find an online course that takes you through what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

How to reference in RSC style

The Chemistry department recommends RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) style for referencing.  However, you may use any other referencing style except Harvard.

The following guide is based on information provided by the Royal Society of Chemistry.  Please refer to their webpage for additional examples and guidance.  

Please verify with your module leader or supervisor if they prefer a specific referencing style.

 

Referencing in-text

Cite your sources in the main body of your text using superscript numbers.  Citation numbers should appear at the end of the sentence after the punctuation, except can be located after the relevant word or compound.  For example:

Ethanol has an abundance of uses such as medical applications where it is used as an antiseptic and antidote as well as recreational and fuel uses.¹

If a statement has multiple references, they must all be cited in the text.  For two references, or non-consecutive references, separate them with commas with no spaces. For example:

12,13 or 12,14,15

If there are more than two references and they are consecutive, use an en-dash to separate the first and last citation. For example:

14-20

 

Reference List

Your numbered citations should correspond to a reference list at the end of your paper.  References are listed in numerical order according to the order they appear in your text, not in alphabetical order.

IMPORTANT: Journal titles use abbreviated forms, not the full title as it appears in the published journal article.  RSC style uses journal abbreviations as found in the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI).  If you cannot find a recognised abbreviation and it is not obvious how it should be abbreviated, please cite the full journal title. 

In general:

  • List all authors, do not abbreviate with et al in your reference list
  • For journal articles, list the journal title, not the article title.
  • For books, only include the edition if it is not the first edition.

Please pay attention to all punctuation and spacing.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (PUBLISHED)

All journal references must contain:

  • In-text reference number
  • Names of all authors (Initial, Surname) in the order given in the article
  • Journal title (italicised and abbreviated)
  • Year
  • Volume (in bold)
  • Page range / DOI (use DOI if there is no page information)
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, Journal Title, year, volume, page.

1. N. Ogawa, Y. Kobayashi, Tetrahedron Lett., 2009, 50, 6079-6082.

JOURNAL ARTICLE (PREPRINT)

All references to preprint journal articles without page numbers must contain:

  • In-text reference number
  • Names of all authors (Initial, Surname) in the order given in the article
  • Journal title (italicised and abbreviated)
  • Year
  • DOI
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, Journal Title, year, DOI. 2. T. J. Hebden, R. R. Schrock, M. K. Takase and P. Müller, Chem. Commun., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC17634C.
JOURNAL ARTICLE (UNPUBLISHED)

All references to preprint journal articles without page numbers must contain:

  • In-text reference number
  • Names of all authors (Initial, Surname) in the order given in the article
  • Journal title (italicised and abbreviated)
  • Submitted or In press.
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, Journal Title, submitted or in press. 3. R. Chen, D. J. G. Pearce, S. Fortuna, D. L. Cheung and S. A. F. Bon, J. Am. Chem. Soc., in press.
BOOK

All book references must contain:

  • In-text reference number
  • Names of all authors
  • Book title
  • Publisher
  • Place of Publication
  • Year
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, Book Title, Publisher, Place of Publication, year. 4. S. T. Beckett, Science of Chocolate, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2000.
EDITED BOOK

All edited book references must contain:

  • In-text reference number
  • Title of Book (Italicised)
  • Names of all editors (Initial, Surname) preceded by the word "ed."
  • Publisher
  • Place of Publication
  • Edition (if not the first edition)
  • Year.
How to reference Example
Reference number. Title of Book, Publisher, Place of Publication, Edition, year. 5. Metal-catalyzed Cross-coupling Reactions, ed. F. Diederich, P. J. Stang, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 1999.
BOOK CHAPTER IN AUTHORED BOOK

All references to chapters in authored books must have:

  • In-text reference number
  • Names of all authors (Initial, Surname) of the chapter
  • Title of book (Italicised)
  • Publisher
  • Place of Publication
  • Edition (if not the first edition)
  • Year
  • Chapter
  • Page range, preceded by pp.
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, Book Title, Publisher, Place of Publication, Edition, year, chapter, page range. 6. P. W. Atkins and J. de Paula, Atkins' Physical Chemistry, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 9th edn, 2010, ch. 22, pp. 831-875.
BOOK CHAPTER IN EDITED BOOK

All references to chapters in edited books must include:

  • In-text reference number
  • Names of all authors (Initial, Surname) of the chapter
  • Title of Book (Italicised), preceded by a comma and the word "in"
  • Names of all editors (Initial, Surname), preceded by a comma and the word "ed."
  • Publisher
  • Place of Publication
  • Edition (if not the first edition)
  • Year
  • Chapter
  • Page range, preceded by pp.
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, in Book Title, ed. A. Editor and B. Editor, Publisher, Place of Publication, year, ch. XX, pp. XX-XX. 7. S. Schultz, S. Goring, B. Schmidt and C. Hoft, in Emerging Drugs and Targets for Parkinson's Disease, ed. A. Martinez and C. Gil, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2014, ch. 11, pp. 266.293.
THESIS

All references to theses must include:

  • In-text reference number
  • Author (Initial, Surname)
  • Thesis level (PhD, MA, etc.)
  • University Name
  • Year of completion
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, PhD thesis, University Name, year. 8. J. P. Specht, PhD thesis, University of Warwick, 2022.
REPORT

All references to theses must include:

  • In-text reference number
  • Authors (Initial, Surname)
  • Title (Italicised)
  • Department or Division Report Number (if available)
  • Publisher
  • Place of Publication
  • Year
How to reference Example
Reference number. A. Name, B. Name and C. Name, Title of Report, Department/Division Report Number, Publisher, Place of Publication, year. 9. D. Li and K. P. Shine, A 4-Dimensional Ozone Climatology for UGAMP Models, UGAMP Internal Report No 35, Reading University, Reading, 1995.
PATENT

All references to theses must include:

  • In-text reference number
  • Name of patentee(s) (Initial, Surname)
  • Patent country (Abbreviated, Italicised)
  • Patent number
  • Date.
How to reference Examples
10. A. Name, Country Pat., Patent number, year.

J. C. Chung, US Pat., 20100105549A1, 2010.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, Jpn. Pat., 2013034915A, 2013.