Video:Quick Tip: Cite Sources for Biology Lab Reports

Transcript:Quick Tip: Cite Sources for Biology Lab Reports

Hi, I'm Jim Shields for About.com, and today I'm going to talk about citing sources for a biology lab report. 

It's important to cite your information sources in your biology lab report. It lends the report credibility because you are showing that published scientists agree with your ideas. It also prevents you from getting accused of plagiarism.     

Cite Sources in CSE Format

There are a number of ways to properly cite your sources in your biology lab report, but I'm recommending using the CSE format. CSE stands for "Council of Science Editors," and until the year 2000, it was called the "Council of Biology Editors," so it would seem to be the right format for a biology lab. CSE format uses superscripted numbers after each part of the report you want to cite. The number refers to the corresponding source in list of resources at the end of your report. 

Example of CSE Format

So if I were to write "The stamen is the part of the plant that produces pollen," I would place a one at the end of my sentence, after the punctuation, and in superscript. Now that I have the text numbered, I need to make a number at the end of my paper with the reference. So my end note will include the name of the author, the title of the book or article, and the publishing information, such as the city where it was published, the name of publisher, the year published and how long the article or the book is.  

Follow this format throughout your paper for all information that you learned from other sources.  

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