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CSE Citation Style

This guide provides basic instruction about the CSE (Council of Science Educators) Citation Style.

Content and Medium Designator

This is information on the nature and physical format of a document.

Content Designators

  • For journal articles, this can be original research articles, meta-analyses, editorials, letters to the editor, news, and meeting abstracts.
  • For books, this can be formats such as dissertations and bibliographies.
  • For electronic documents, this can be databases and computer programs.

Medium Designators

  • This informs the reader that an item is in a nonprint format and that special equipment is needed to read or view it.
  • DVD, microfilm, or videocassette are examples of medium designators

Place designators in square brackets between the title and the period.

From CSE Manual 9th ed., Ch. 29.3.3.4 Content and Medium Designators

Example

Content designators:

Armann JP et al. SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in adolescent students and their teachers in Saxony, Germany (SchoolCoviDD19): persistent low seroprevalence and transmission rates between May and October 2020 [preprint]. medRxiv 2020; 2020.07.16.20155143. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.16.20155143

Medium designator:

Goldie S. A calendar of letters of Florence Nightingale [microfiche]. Oxford Microfilm Publications; 1977.