Documentation in Environmental Science
There is no single standard documentation format used in Environmental Science, or even in many sub-disciplines like biology. There are many different journals in Environmental Science, with many different formats for citing sources, and they are typically NOT following other standard formats like MLA, or APA or Chicago style formats. This can be confusing for students, so it is important to find out which format a specific instructor requires. If no format is specified, then it is important to pick one style and be consistent in the application of the format. This same format is now used in the Exercise Science program as well.
In order to avoid plagiarism, documentation of sources is important whenever writing a paper. It is important to credit the ideas of others in addition to documenting direct quotes. Within the body of a paper the information is credited by including the author’s last name and year, often in parentheses at the end of the sentence. A Literature Cited section is included at the end of the paper, in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name, which includes the detailed information on each source. This information includes the authors’ names, year of publication, title of the article, name of the journal, volume and page numbers.
Since the content of most web pages can be altered frequently, and without trace, the exact date that the website is accessed should be included, as well as the usual citation information. Include the author’s name (if known) or institution/host, date of publication or last revision, full title of the page, title of the complete work or home page, the date you visited the site and the full URL for the page accessed.
In addition to giving credit to the authors of the sources, another goal of the Literature Cited documentation is to allow the reader to use the information provided to go and find the sources listed. The information provided in Literature Cited section should be as thorough and clear as possible.
Documentation enacts the values of the field
Plagiarism is a very serious academic offense and is basically stealing someone else’s ideas or work. This is not a unique concern in environmental science; it is a tenet of all academic disciplines. As mentioned above in the Code of Ethics, environmental science professionals will “not condone misrepresentation of work” and will “not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation or discrimination”.
How to Cite References for Environmental Science (at SMSU)
To avoid plagiarism, whenever you use a reference to write a paper (even if you are not putting in direct quotes) you must credit the source. The format to use for listing references at the end of the paper in a “References” section is as follows. All references in the bibliography should be in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. All entries should use a hanging indent (hanging indent is not shown in these examples).
For Journal Articles (and Magazines)
Author (last name first for first author, followed by first and last name of next author) in the same order that they are listed in the paper. You must list ALL authors for the paper, in the same order they are given in the paper). Year. Title of article (first word only is capitalized). Title of Journal (in italics) volume of journal (followed by number of journal, if present): page numbers Notice that the second line of the citation should be indented and the references are single spaced with a 2nd space between reference
Example:
Smith, James, Bart P. Jones and Ron Mayers. 1997. Alien plant invasions. Ecology Vol. 10 (No.1), pp. 23-34.
NOTE: An alternative, acceptable format would be to omit the words Vol. and No. (see example below):
Smith, James, Bart P. Jones and Ron Mayers. 1997. Alien plant invasions. Ecology 10 (1): 23-34.
Some journal articles are available in databases on the web before they are published in print, which means they won’t have a volume or page number yet. If you find an article like that it will say something similar to “Article in Press, Corrected Proof”. In this case you need to cite the digital object identifier or (DOI) in place of the volume and page numbers. This DOI is a permanent number that is assigned to the document and can be used as another way to find the article in the future. Always use the volume and page number if it is available, so DOI will only be used on articles less than a year old.
Example:
Thomassen, Mark, Karl van Calker, Michael Smits, George Iepema and Israel de Boer. 2015. Life cycle assessment of conventional and organic milk production in the Netherlands. Agricultural Systems doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2007.06.001
For Books
Author (last name first for first author, followed by first and last name of next author). Year. Title of book (in italics). Publisher. Location (city and state). page numbers.
Example:
Horne, Alfred .P. and Charles Goldman. 1991. Limnology. McGraw Hill, Inc. Chicago, Illinois, pp. 16-35.
For Chapters in books
Author (last name first for first author, followed by first and last name of next author). Year. Title of chapter. In Title of Book (in italics). Book editors, eds. Publisher, Location (city and state), page numbers.
Example:
Horner, Alfred B. and Ron Mack. 1986. Dispersal of annual plants. In Ecology of Biological Invasions of North America. Hilary A. Mooney and James A. Drake, eds. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, pp. 191-122.
For Web sites
-Author’s name (if known) or institution/host
-date of publication or last revision
-full title of the document
-title of the complete work or home page (in italics)
-the date you visited the site
-full http address (URL)
Since the content of most Web pages can be altered frequently, and without trace, you must indicate the exact date you accessed the information as well as the usual citation information.
Example:
Smith, James. Feb. 14, 1999. Malarial mortality in Africa. World Health Organization. Accessed online June 3, 2010 from
www.who.intrbm/Presentations/MIP-RBM-final/sld005.htm
If no author is given, you should use Anonymous in place of the author’s name, or the main site name.
For referencing Newspaper Articles
Newspaper articles are different because they are published every day, therefore the exact date of the article must be included. Format should be:
Author’s last name, author’s first name, date (include month, day and year), title of article, source in italics (name of newspaper), section and page number(s).
Example:
Smith, Jim. Feb.16, 2006. Bird Flu Expands Range. Pioneer Press pages A1, A6
If no author is given list “Anonymous” in place of the author.
Referencing in the Body of A Paper You WRITE
For journal articles, books, book chapters and website in which the author is known, use the author’s last name and the year of the publication as shown in the following example:
Example:
Allelopathy is the production and release of chemical substances by one species to inhibit the growth of other species (Horner 1986)
For two authors use:
The majority of green plants in full sunlight, at 25oC, will transpire at a rate of 0.25ml / cm/ min (Jones and Smith, 1996)
For three or more authors use et al. (a latin term that indicates “and others”). For example:
Allelopathy is the production and release of chemical substances by one species to inhibit the growth of other species (Horner et al., 1986).
NOTE: The Latin term et al. is NOT used in the bibliography. ALL authors must be listed, and in the same order they are listed in the journal article.
For websites in which the author(s) is known, follow the same format as above.
For websites in which the author(s) NOT known, list the main website in place of the author.
For example, if you used information from a website about Bald Cypress trees and had the following information for the citation at the end of the paper-
National Wildlife Federation. 2015. Bald Cypress. National Wildlife Federation. Accessed on Jan 10, 2014 from http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/plants/bald-cypress.aspx
Cite it this way in the body of the paper:
One theory is that the knees on bald cypress trees are involved in gas exchange and therefore serve as an adaptation to existence in an anoxic environment (National Wildlife Federation, 2015).
Environmental Science: Disciplinary Perspective
Writing in Environmental Science
Research in Environmental Science
Reading in Environmental Science