Citation is incredibly important! It is difficult to understate how important citation is to your academic integrity, so taking steps to improve your citation practice will help you avoid academic plagiarism. Of course, the importance of citing makes the plethora of picky citation styles frustrating. But don't fret! Librarians are very happy to help you cite correctly, guide you to the correct resources to help you cite well, and even proofread your citations (but give us at least a week of lead time before your assignment is due)!
Below are common citation styles in biology, as well as tools that will help you become better at citing. Curious about citations? Looking for more info? Please feel free to reach out to me!
The Council of Scientific Editors style is used throughout the scientific publishing community. Currently in it's 8th edition, it has three different systems for refering to references:
The resources below give you a general understanding of how to use CSE style. Please refer to the full text library reference book (linked at the bottom of this box) for references that do not fit the citation examples in the links below. NOTE: Most citation managers will format for CSE.
Scientific Style and Format by APA is currently in it's 7th edition. The MSU Libraries maintains an APA citation guide which you can view at the link below.
Can't find what you are looking for on the guide? Check out the additional resources below for citation help!
Just looking for the guide? Click the link below to access our digital copy using your MSU credentials!
APA 7th Manual Made Easy: Full Concise Guide Simplified for Students by Citation managers are robust tools that help you organize, edit, and store citation information for long term use. More importantly, they work with Microsoft Word and (often) Google Docs to insert correctly formatted citations in your research document as you write, and imports a full bibliography into your document when you are finished composing. While they have a little bit of a learning curve, they are well worth the time it takes to learn them.
If you are interested in a tutorial, reach out to any of the librarian teams who support the citation managers listed below, or feel free to contact me.
