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UMass Amherst Libraries

NATSCI 387 CNS Junior Writing

Junior Year Writing for some majors in the College of Natural Sciences (NATSCI)

Style Guides (writing and citing)

On the Web:

Writing Scientific Manuscripts – a guide for undergraduates  (2005) from The Journal of Young Investigators. Sections on the peer review process, writing up primary research, and creating literature reviews.    

Books in the Library: (link to the library catalog record)

Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association, 6th ed., 2010.
UM Science Reference / BF76.7 .P83 2010
UM Reference Desk (Du Bois) BF76.7 .P83 2010

Mastering scientific and medical writing: a self-help guide, Silvia M. Rogers
UM Science  Reference T11 .R64 2007

Scientific style and format: the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers, by the Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology Editors
UM Science  Reference T11 .S386 2006

Citing Websites (in particular)

There are many standard formats for citations. Ask your instructor which to use.

RefWorks has a tool called "Save to RefWorks" - a button you can put on your favorites bar, or bookmark bar. If the website has enough metadata, the tool will gather information you need to cite the website. If you need help installing this in your browser, ask me.

But, many websites do not provide authors or other publication data automatically, or at all. Sometimes information can be tracked down, sometimes it just isn't available.

To cite a website, you need:

  • Author (individual, or organization - look for an "About" link)
  • Date published if available; or if not, use: n.d. (no date)
  • Title of article (within the page)
  • Title of web site (usually top of page)
  • Retrieved date (date you took the information from the website)
  • URL (Universal Resource Locator - web address)

Many scientists and science journals follow a style based on the American Psychological Association (APA) style of citation.  The full APA style guide is not available online, but this APA website will help you cite websites using APA.

Create your APA Website citation

The rules of APA Style are detailed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, available in the both the Science Library Reference and the Du Bois Reference collections, call number Reference / BF76.7 .P83 2010