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CSE Style: In-Text Citation

Write and cite in CSE style
  • Use the Name-Year system for In-text references. This system consists of surname(s) of the author and the year of publication of the document. In-text citations must appear in brackets, no comma between surname and year. Example: This claim was later refuted (Jones 2008). OR Jones (2008) later refuted this claim.

  • If you are citing a specific part of a document (e.g. direct quotation, or a figure, chart or table), it is recommended to include also the page number. Example: These results clearly contradict those published in 2004 by the Smith lab. (Jones 2008, p. 56).

  • If using multiple works by the same author published in different years, cite the publication year in chronological order. Example: (Smith 1998, 2005).

  • If you are citing works by the same author published in the same year, add a designator (a, b, c…) to distinguish the works. Use the same designators in the reference list. Example: (Dubois 1976a; Dubois 1976b)

  • If document has two authors, insert an “and” between surnames. Example: (Bassett and Zueli 2000).

  • If document has three or more authors, use et al. after the first author surname. Example: (Field et al. 2005).

  • If you are citing several sources at once, list them in chronological order, or alphabetically if two or more works were published in the same year, and separate each one with a semicolon. Example: (Samson 1963; Carter and Bowles 1975; Grimes 1975; Anderson et al. 1992).

  • If date of publication cannot be determined, use the year of access (for online sources) or [date unknown] for print publications. Example: (Smith [date unknown])

  • No author: begin the in-text citation with the first word or first few words of the title, followed by an ellipsis. Example: (Handbook… c2000)