Numbered citation explained

Numbered citation explained Books and articles Other sources

Note: Different units at Deakin use different referencing styles. Check your unit assessment information to find which style you are required to use.

Deakin guide to Numbered Citation (PDF, 451.7 KB)

Last updated: 6 March 2024

Overview
Multiple citations
Group author
Reference list

Overview

The numbered citation style used by the Royal Society of Chemistry consists of the following elements:

In-text references in the form of consecutive superscript numbers that follow the relevant section of the text. The same number is used throughout a paper for a single work.
A numerically ordered reference list at the end of the paper giving full details of each source cited in text.

You must reference all material you use from sources each time you use a fact, a conclusion, an idea or a finding from someone's work.

It is necessary to cite a source each time you:

summarise, explain or discuss another writer's ideas or findings in your own words
paraphrase (closely re-word what someone has said)
quote (reproduce an author's exact words).

No quotation marks are required if you are summarising or paraphrasing. Place direct quotes within quote marks.

For all sources cited in the body of the paper, provide a superscript number (with no space) after the relevant text. The superscript number is placed after a full stop or other punctuation marks at the end of a sentence.

The structural and dynamic properties of polymers have been studied by comparing the behaviour of linear and ring polymers in dilute solution.¹

These numbers refer to a numerically ordered reference list at the end of the paper.

The same number is used for a source throughout a paper. This number is determined by the first citation of the source. For example, if a work is the fourth source cited in a paper, it will be referred to by the superscript number, such as ⁴,throughout that paper.

This guide is based on the Royal Society of Chemistry referencing style, which is used in a range of scientific disciplines. The guide draws examples and explanations from:

K. Lim, Chemistry Style Manual, Deakin University, Geelong, rev. edn., 2010.

Multiple citations

When two or more references appear at the same point in the text, the relevant superscript numbers are separated by commas.
Three or more consecutive citations are joined by a hyphen.

Homonuclear metal cluster complexes have been extensively studied, with the chemistry of the triosmium clusters and organic substrates being the most well-established.^{1, 2} The synthesis and chemistry of homonuclear metal cluster complexes have been reported.^2-4

Group author

In the reference list entry, place the institution responsible for the work in the author position.

Royal Society of Chemistry, Common Journal Abbreviations, <http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ReSourCe/AuthorGuidelines/AuthoringTools/JournalAbbreviations>, 2010 (accessed 3 June 2020).

Reference list

The reference list includes only the works cited in the paper. It appears at the end of the paper and provides the full bibliographic information of the sources cited. Only one reference list entry should be provided for each work cited. The reference list is ordered numerically according to the order of the first citation of a work.

The reference number does not have a full stop after it and the reference entry is indented from the number.
Include the names of all authors in the order they are listed in the publication.
Authors' and editors' initials precede their family names. Names are separated by commas with 'and' between the last two names, e.g. P. S. Francis, R. A. Russell and N. W. Barnett.
Titles of books and journals are italicised.

Sample reference list

U. Klabunde, Inorg. Synth., 1974, 15, 82-84.
K. F. Lim, Parabola, 1981, 17 (1) 17-23.
S. J. Davies, J. A. K. Howard, M. U. Pilotti and F. G. A. Stone, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans., 1989, 1855-1863.
G. H. Aylward and T. J. V. Findlay, S.I. Chemical Data, Wiley, Milton (Qld), 6th edn., 2008.
W. H. Miller (ed.), Dynamics of Molecular Collisions, Plenum Press, New York, 1976.
P. C. Jurs, in Reviews in Computational Chemistry, ed. K. B. Lipkowitz and D. B. Boyd, VCH Publishers, New York, 1990, vol. 1, pp. 169-212.
P. Corradini and G. Guerra, in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Chemistry, ed. J. J. Lagowski, Simon & Schuster Macmillan, New York, 1997, vol. 4, pp. 1538-1543.
W. L. Hase, R. J. Duchovic, X. Hu, A. Komornicki, K. F. Lim, D. H. Lu, G. H. Peslherbe, K. N. Swamy, S. R. Vande Linde, A. Varandas, H. Wang and R. J. Wolf, Quantum Chem. Program Exchange Bull., 1996, 16 (4) 43.
R. G. Gilbert, M. J. T. Jordan and S. C. Smith, Program package UNIMOL: Calculation of rate coefficients for unimolecular and recombination reactions, University of Sydney, 1990.
Royal Society of Chemistry,Common Journal Abbreviations, <http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ReSourCe/AuthorGuidelines/AuthoringTools/JournalAbbreviations>, 2010 (accessed 3 September 2020).