This CSE citation generator formats references in Council of Science Editors style, used across biology and the natural sciences and defined in Scientific Style and Format. Paste a DOI, PMID or title and the generator formats the retrieved record in the citation-sequence system. CSE defines three different systems, so the first thing to establish is which one your course requires.
Real Council of Science Editors (CSE) 8th edition references, formatted the way biology and the natural sciences coursework expects them.
Journal article
1. Smith JA, Jones BC. Working memory under time pressure. J Cogn Psychol. 2024;36(2):118-134.
Book
2. Okafor N. Principles of plant physiology. 3rd ed. Boston (MA): Meridian; 2022.
Chapter in an edited book
3. Berg L. Photosynthesis at low light. In: Alvarez M, editor. Advances in plant science. Boston (MA): Rowan Press; 2023. p. 88-115.
CSE offers three systems. Citation-sequence numbers sources in the order they first appear. Citation-name numbers them after alphabetising the reference list. Name-year works like an author-date style. This page produces citation-sequence, which is the most common in undergraduate coursework, with a superscript number in the text.
recent work¹ confirms
Citing a website in CSE needs the author or organisation, the page title, the designation [Internet], the place and publisher, the publication date, the date you cited it in square brackets, and the URL after Available from.
4. World Health Organization. Air quality and health [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2024 [cited 2026 Aug 19]. Available from: https://www.who.int/example
The pattern each source type follows, as a quick reference. Fields in the generator are filled from the database record, but these are what the finished entries should look like.
Journal article
1. Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Journal Abbrev. Year;Vol(Issue):pages.
Book
2. Author AA. Title of book. 3rd ed. City (ST): Publisher; Year.
Chapter
3. Author AA. Chapter title. In: Editor BB, editor. Book title. City (ST): Publisher; Year. p. 88-115.
Web page
4. Organisation. Page title [Internet]. City (ST): Publisher; Year [cited YYYY Mon DD]. Available from: URL
Thesis
5. Author AA. Title [dissertation]. City (ST): University; Year.
Dataset
6. Author AA. Title of dataset [dataset]. Repository; Year. Available from: URL
CSE style comes from the Council of Science Editors and is defined in Scientific Style and Format. It is used across biology, ecology, genetics, zoology and the wider natural sciences, particularly in North American undergraduate programmes. Older course handouts sometimes call it CBE, which was the Council of Biology Editors before it changed its name in 2000; the same manual is meant. Some biology journals use Vancouver or a house style instead, so confirm what your specific course requires.
CSE defines three systems, and they produce visibly different papers, so the first thing to settle is which one your course wants.
Both are numeric science styles with similar-looking entries, and both are used in the life sciences, so the distinction is easy to miss.
| Governing body | Council of Science Editors | ICMJE, with NLM formatting |
|---|---|---|
| Systems offered | Three, including name-year | One numeric system |
| Place of publication | Included with state: Boston (MA) | Included, no state code |
| Typical field | Biology and natural sciences | Medicine and clinical research |
| Author cut-off | Varies with the system | First six, then et al. |
Citation-sequence is the most common in undergraduate work and is what this page produces. Check your course handbook, because some departments require name-year, which changes both the in-text citation and the order of the reference list.
CSE is the successor. The Council of Biology Editors became the Council of Science Editors in 2000, and older handouts that say CBE are referring to an earlier edition of the same manual.
They are related and look similar, both being numeric styles used in the sciences. CSE covers the natural sciences broadly, while Vancouver follows the ICMJE recommendations for biomedical journals. The details of punctuation and page ranges differ.
Give the database name, the accession number, and the date you accessed it. Accession numbers function like DOIs in the life sciences: they identify one record unambiguously and remain valid even as the surrounding database is reorganised.
Not when a DOI is present, which is the preferred locator. Add a URL with a cited date only for material that exists solely online and has no DOI, such as an institutional report or a preprint on a server that does not assign them.
APA
psychology, education and the social sciences
(Smith & Jones, 2024, p. 42)
MLA
literature and the humanities
(Smith 42)
Chicago
history, art history and publishing
1. Jane Smith, Rivers and Empire (Boston: Meridian, 2024), 42.
AMA
medicine
Smith et al reported similar findings.¹
IEEE
electrical engineering and computer science
as shown in [1], [3]–[5]
ACS
chemistry
as previously reported¹
Turabian
undergraduate humanities writing
1. Jane Smith, Rivers and Empire (Boston: Meridian, 2024), 42.
Vancouver
biomedicine
previous studies (1,2) have shown
Harvard
UK and Australian universities
(Smith and Jones, 2024, p. 42)