ACS Style Guide - Books

Free ACS Book Citation Generator

Generate accurate ACS citations for chemistry textbooks, edited volumes, and book chapters. Search by title, author, or ISBN for instant references.

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How to cite a book in ACS

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ACS Book Citation Format

Basic Book:

Last Name, Initials. Title of Book; Publisher: City, Year.

Chapter Format:

Author, A. B. Chapter Title. In Book Title; Editor, C. D., Ed.; Publisher: City, Year; pp X-Y.

ACS Book Citation Examples

Book with One Author

Atkins, P. W. Physical Chemistry, 11th ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2018.

In-text: 1

Book with Multiple Authors

Clayden, J.; Greeves, N.; Warren, S. Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012.

In-text: 2

Edited Book

Davis, R. J., Ed. Modern Analytical Chemistry; Wiley: New York, 2023.

In-text: 3

Chapter in Edited Book

Williams, E. F. Spectroscopic Methods in Organic Chemistry. In Modern Analytical Chemistry; Davis, R. J., Ed.; Wiley: New York, 2023; pp 145-198.

In-text: 4

Examples formatted in ACS style

Handling Special Cases

Multiple Authors and Editors

Separate ACS book authors with semicolons. Edited books use Ed. or Eds. after the editor names.

Smith, A. B.; Jones, C. D., Eds. Title; Publisher: City, 2024.

Page Numbers for Chapters

Use pp for a range or p for a single page when citing a chapter or section. Whole-book citations do not need page numbers.

pp 145-198

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a book with one author in ACS format?

Use the format: Last Name, Initials. Title of Book; Publisher: City, Year. For example: Clayden, J. Organic Chemistry; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012. The title is italicized and the year is bold. A semicolon separates the title from publisher information.

How do I cite a book with multiple authors in ACS?

List all authors separated by semicolons: Last, Initials.; Last, Initials. For example: Clayden, J.; Greeves, N.; Warren, S. Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012. Each author's last name is followed by a comma and initials with periods.

How do I cite an edited book in ACS format?

For an entire edited book, list the editors with "Ed." or "Eds." after the names: Davis, R. J., Ed. Modern Analytical Chemistry; Wiley: New York, 2023. For multiple editors, use "Eds." after the last editor name.

How do I cite a chapter in an edited book in ACS?

Start with the chapter author, chapter title, then "In" followed by the book title in italics, editor with "Ed.", publisher, city, year, and page range. Example: Williams, E. F. Spectroscopic Methods. In Modern Analytical Chemistry; Davis, R. J., Ed.; Wiley: New York, 2023; pp 145-198.

How do I include the edition number in ACS book citations?

Place the edition after the book title, abbreviated as "2nd ed.", "3rd ed.", "4th ed.", etc. Example: Atkins, P. W. Physical Chemistry, 11th ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2018. The edition comes after a comma following the title.

Do I need to include page numbers for ACS book citations?

Page numbers are required when citing a specific chapter or section within a book. Use "pp" for a range (pp 145-198) or "p" for a single page (p 42). For citing an entire book, page numbers are not needed.