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ACS is the American Chemical Society

  • Don't put a period after an "abbreviated unit of measure"
  • "Capitalize the first word after a colon only if the colon introduces more than one complete sentence, a quotation, or a formal statement."
  • ACS has unique rules on quotation marks and punctuation. If the closing punctuation mark was part of the original quote put it inside the quotation marks. If not, put it outside.
  • The sample solution was stirred briefly with a magnetic “flea”.
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”
  • Put quotes of 50 words or more into block quotes. Indent on both sides. Don't use quotation marks.
  • "Use square brackets to indicate concentration: [Ca+]."

Using ACS Formatting

Presented by the Lamar University Writing Center

Quick Tips on Editorial Style

The Style Guide (ACS 2006) claims that there are "no fixed set of 'writing rules to be followed like a cook book recipe or experimental procedure".

In-Text Citations:

Three Ways of Citing

  • Use lower case, except for beginnings of sentences and proper nouns and adjectives. Do not capitalize chemical names and terms.
  • "Do not capitalize lowercase chemical descriptors hyphenated to chemical names when they are at the beginning of a sentence."
  • cis-4-Chloro-3-buten-2-one was obtained in 74% yield.
  • o-Dichlorobenzene was the solvent.
  • Same capitalization rules for all titles and headings at all levels.
  • Write journal and book titles in italics
  • Use actual Greek letters instead of spelling them out in English

Numbers

The Style Guide (ACS 2006) claims that there are "no fixed set of 'writing rules to be followed like a cook book recipe or experimental procedure".

Quick Tips on Writing Style

The Style Guide (ACS 2006) claims that there are "no fixed set of 'writing rules to be followed like a cook book recipe or experimental procedure".

  • Technical vs. Non-technical
  • Use numeral with units of time or measure
  • With items other than units of time or measure, use words for numbers less than 10 and numerals for 10 and above.
  • Very large numbers not used in technical sense, use a combinations of numerals and words
  • 18 billion
  • Spell out numbers that start sentences, but try to rework the sentence instead.
  • Fractions: spell out if both terms are less than 10. Numerals if either item is 10 or higher
  • three fourths
  • 9/10
  • "[I]nstead of repeating chemical names
  • over and over, use numerals in boldface (not italic) type to identify chemical species.
  • This paper describes the syntheses, structures, and stereodynamic behavior of the novel hexacoordinate silicon complexes 1–4.
  • "Define all symbols for mathematical constants, variables, and unknown quantities the first time you use them in the text."
  • Define mathematical abbreviations the first time they are used
  • lhs left-hand side (of an equation)
  • ODE ordinary differential equation
  • Spell out units of measure that do not follow a number
  • 9 mL
  • Several milliliters

Some Tips:

  • In all three methods, the author's name can be made a part of the sentence, and the number or year will follow immediately.
  • Smith (2009) found...
  • Smith (7) found....
  • If a reference is repeated, do not give it a new number; use the original reference number
  • ACS does not address using quotes. If you must quote, cite in the same way or defer to publisher's or professor's preferences.
  • If there are two authors, use both names. If there are more than two, use et al.
  • If citing more than one source in a sentence, separate numbers with commas; separate author-date entries with semi-colons
  • Cite the reference at a logical place in the sentence

Quick Tips on Writing Style

Examples of "Logical Places" for Citing

  • recent investigations (cite) other developments (cite) was reported (cite)
  • as described previously (cite) previous results (cite)
  • were demonstrated (cite)
  • a molecular mechanics study (cite) Marshall and Levitt’s approach (cite) the procedure of Lucas et al. (cite)

The Style Guide (ACS 2006) claims that there are "no fixed set of 'writing rules to be followed like a cook book recipe or experimental procedure".

  • Precise and unambiguous!
  • "Short, simple, declarative sentences"--but not so many that your writing sounds monotonous
  • ACS prefers active voice when "it is less wordy and more direct" and passive when "the doer of the action is unknown or not important".
  • Active: Our work in this area demonstrates that such processes are under strict stereoelectronic control
  • Passive: Melting and boiling points have been approximated.
  • Use simple past tense to state what was done. Use present tense to state fact. Either are appropriate for results, discussion, and conclusion--just be consistent.
  • Use gender neutral language.
  • Use the Oxford or serial comma

Some examples

  • The solutions were heated to boiling.
  • Hyperbranched compounds are macromolecular compounds that contain a branching point in each structural repeat unit.
  • The characteristics of the voltammetric wave indicate that electron transfer occurs spontaneously.
  • The absence of substitution was confirmed by preparative-scale electrolysis.
  • IR spectroscopy shows that nitrates are adsorbed and are not removed by washing with distilled water.

The Basic Format

The Style Guide (ACS 2006) claims that there are "no fixed set of 'writing rules to be followed like a cook book recipe or experimental procedure".

Conventions in Chemistry

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Experimental Details or Theoretical Basis
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
  • Both spelled out names and chemical symbols for chemical and elements are acceptable, but be consistent.
  • "Short chemical reactions may be run into text or they may be displayed and numbered, if numbering is needed. Long chemical reactions should be displayed separately from the text. "

Creating References

WHAT IS ACS?

Article title. Headline capitalization. No quotation marks.

"There is no best way to present data. A presentation that is suitable for one paper or publication may be unsuitable for another."

The Style Guide (ACS 2006) claims that there are "no fixed set of 'writing rules to be followed like a cook book recipe or experimental procedure".

Year of publication in bold, followed by volume number in italics, and page number. Separated with commas.

Why?

So then what?

According to The ACS Style Guide (2006), this format "parallels the scientific method of deductive reasoning" and "enables the reader to understand quickly what is being presented and to find specific information easily".

Some Tips

Author's names, separate by semi-colon.

ACS centers on flexibility. They always encourage you to check the publisher's requirements!

  • Format
  • Number of pages
  • Citing References

For your purposes, defer to your professor's guidelines or the Graduate School's thesis guidelines.

  • Look at ACS Style Guide (2006) for a list of CASSI abbreviations for journal titles
  • Cite all authors. May use "et al." for 10 or more authors in some journals
  • Using a hanging indentation, unless otherwise indicated by publisher or professor
  • If you used a numbering system for in-text citations, place your sources in the same order, preceded by their reference number in parentheses
  • If you used, author-date, put your sources in alphabetical order

But...

What about other kinds of texts?

Abbreviated journal title in italics. Only ends in a period when last word is abbreviated

  • Most importantly, the writing should be
  • Well organized
  • Scientifically sound
  • Appropriate to publication
  • "[S]ome headings or sections may be ommitted or other sections or subsections added" (ACS 2006).

"Manuscripts for monographs, handbooks, literature, reviews, or theoretical papers generally do not follow the standard format" (ACS 2006).

They produced the ACS style guide to create a standard method of writing, formatting, and documenting sources for writers in chemistry.

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