Library Guides: CHM 375/376: Organic Chemistry Lab: Writing &amp; Citing

American Chemical Society (ACS) Style

ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication
Note: CHM 375/376 uses superscript numbering for in-text citations. See Chapter 4.3.2 Creating References for more details.
Tip: For examples of full citations, see the ACS Style Quick Guide and Chapter 4.3.5 Reference Formatting & Examples by Source Types.
CASSI (CAS Source Index)
Use CASSI to find journal title abbreviations. These abbreviations are needed for journal article references in ACS style.
ACS: Preparing a Research Report
Helpful guidelines for undergraduate students on preparing a research report. Formal reports in CHM 375 and CHM 376 follow the same outline as this resource.

Other Writing Guides

Write Like a Chemist
Call Number: Available online
A Scientific Approach to Writing for Engineers and Scientists
Call Number: Available online

Common ACS Examples for UP Students

For detailed style guidelines see: Chapter 4.3.5.14 Data & Datasets

For an online book or encyclopedia:

Cyclohexane. In CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 104th ed.; Rumble, J. R., Ed.; CRC Press, 2023. http://hbcponline.com/ (accessed 2023-08-19). (CAS RN: 110-82-7).

For an online database:

Cyclohexane. The Merck Index Online. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013. https://www.rsc.org/Merck-Index/monograph/m3986/cyclohexane (accessed 2023-08-15). (CAS RN: 110-82-7).

Cyclohexane. SDBSWeb. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, n.d. https://sdbs.db.aist.go.jp (accessed 2023-08-17). (CAS RN: 110-82-7).

Cyclohexane. SciFinder. CAS, n.d. https://scifinder.cas.org (accessed 2023-03-28). IR spectral data obtained from Bio-Rad Laboratories. (CAS RN: 110-82-7).

For detailed style guidelines see: Chapter 4.3.5.13 Safety Data Sheets

Found through a third-party such as University of Portland MSDS Online:

Cyclohexane; CAS RN: 110-82-7; 650455; ver. 6.8; Sigma-Aldrich: St. Louis, MO, May 25, 2023. Retrieved from University of Portland MSDS Online. https://chemmanagement.ehs.com/9/9849d80f-5ad9-428c-bc44-250b1fe349d5/ebinder/146961324 (accessed 2023-08-15).

Found on manufacturer site:

Cyclohexane; CAS RN: 110-82-7; 227048; ver. 6.9; Sigma-Aldrich: St. Louis, MO, May 24, 2023. https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/sds/sial/227048 (accessed 2023-08-15).

Citing an experiment or appendix from the course lab manual? Use the ACS format for citing a chapter in a book.

Example:

Bard, R.; Bard, R.; Breuer, K.; Jacob, W.; Osborne, D.; Schacherer, L.; Taylor, B.; Thompson, W.; Valente, E.; Wood, W. Experiment A2: Distillation of a Mixture of Cyclohexane and Toluene. In CHM 375 Organic Chemistry I Laboratory Manual; University of Portland, 2023-2024; pp 25-32.

The Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry has 204 million organic and inorganic substances. Each substance has been given a unique registry number (RN) and that is the most accurate way to search for information about it. Searching by substance name can be less accurate since there are different naming systems.

The registry number might be referred to as:

CAS Registry Number
CAS RN
CAS No.
CAS Number

The number has dashes which are considered part of the number. For example, the CAS RN for Cyclohexane is: 110-82-7. Include the dashes when searching by CAS RN in various databases, and also when including the number in a citation for a source.

Citation Management Tools

RefWorks can be used to gather sources in one place and automatically-generate bibliographies in APA, MLA, Chicago, and many other styles.

Mendeley is another citation management tool and an alternative to RefWorks. It is free up to 2GB of storage. Students are not likely to need more storage than that for their projects.