Citing Sources: Engineering Styles

Within the text, references should be cited in numerical order according to their order of appearance. The numbered reference citation within text should be enclosed in brackets. In the case of two citations, the numbers should be separated by a comma [1,2]. In the case of more than two references, the numbers should be separated by a dash [5-7].

Example: It was shown by Prusa [1] that the width of the plume decreases under these conditions.

 

Note: ASME primarily uses the Chicago Manual of Style for references formatting. Authors are encouraged to seek out precise instructions, such as the use of et al. in references at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/. Note: ASME does not allow references to Wikipedia.

 

You can also visit our Chicago Style guide for more examples and guidelines.

References in Text:

References need not be cited in the text . When they are, they appear on the line, in square

brackets, inside the punctuation. Grammatically, they may be treated:

as if they were footnote numbers, e.g.,
as shown by Brown [4], [5]; as mentioned earlier [2], [4]–[7], [9]; Smith [4] and Brown and Jones [5]; Wood et

al. [7]

or as nouns: as demonstrated in [3]; according to [4] and [6]–[9].

NOTE: Use et al. when three or more names are given.

• References should be listed together at the end of the paper; footnotes should not be used for this purpose.
• References should be arranged in numerical order according to the sequence of citations within the text. Each reference should include the last name of each author followed by initials.

 

EXAMPLES:

 

PRINT SOURCES:

Book with 2 Authors

[10] Gibson, T.A., and Tucker, M. T., 2008, The Big Book of Cellular Studies, John Wiley and Sons, NY.

 

Chapter in an edited volume

[32] Stevens, T. T., 1999, “Stochastic Fields and Their Digital Simulation,” Stochastic Methods. T. A. Sulle, and M. Siiu, eds., Martinius Publishers, Dordrecht, Germany, pp. 22-36.

 

Journal Article

[3] Adams, Z., 2014, “Bending of an Infinite Beam on an Elastic Substrate,” ASME J Appl. Mech., 3, pp. 221-228.

[see the style guide for preferred journal title abbreviations, https://www.asme.org/publications-submissions/journals/information-for-authors/journal-guidelines/references]

 

Conference Paper/Proceedings

[21] Wions, T. T., and Mills, C. D., 2006, “Structural Dynamics in Parallel Manipulation,” Proceedings of the IDETC/CIE, New Orleans, LA, September 10-13, 2005, ASME Paper No. DETC2005-99532, pp. 777-798.

 

Theses and Technical Reports

[1] Oligaria, T. T., Fredy, C. W., Popullo, A. Z., and Tucker, M. A., 20111, “Characterization of PKM Dynamics,” SAE Technical Paper No. 2011-02-8345, 07ATC-96.

 

ELECTRONIC SOURCES:

Website Content

[3] “Apple Privacy Policy,” last modified February 4, 2009, accessed July 19, 2010, http://www.apple.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.

 

[for more examples and guidelines, see the style guide linked on this page]

• Reference numbers are set flush left and form a column of their own, hanging out beyond the body of the reference. The reference numbers are on the line, enclosed in square brackets.
• In all references, the given name of the author or editor is abbreviated to the initial only and precedes the last name. Use commas around Jr., Sr., and III in names. If there are many names, use them all; use et al. only if names are not given.
• Note that when citing IEEE Transactions, if the month is not available, the number may be kept , although it is normally deleted. Keep the day of t he month when referencing a patent.
• References may not include all information; please obtain and include relevant information. Do not combine references. There must be only one reference with each number. If there is a URL included with the print reference, it can be included at the end of the reference.

 

PRINT SOURCES:

Book with 1 Author

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Title of chapter in the book,” in Title of His Published Book, xth ed. City of Publisher, Country if not

USA: Abbrev. of Publisher, year, ch. x, sec. x, pp. xxx–xxx.

Example:

[1]  B. Klaus and P. Horn, Robot Vision. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.

 

Journal Article

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Name of paper,” Abbrev. Title of Periodical, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx, Abbrev. Month, year.

Example:

[1]  R. E. Kalman, “New results in linear filtering and prediction theory,” J. Basic Eng., ser. D, vol . 83, pp. 95-108, Mar. 1961.

 

Report

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Title of report,” Abbrev. Name of Co., City of Co., Abbrev. State, Rep. xxx, year.:

Example:

[1]  E. E. Reber, R. L. Michell, and C. J. Carter, “Oxygen absorption in the earth’s atmosphere,” Aerospace Corp., Los Angeles, CA, Tech. Rep. TR-0200 (4230-46)-3, Nov. 1988.

 

Handbook

Basic Format:
[1] Name of Manual/Handbook, x ed., Abbrev. Name of Co., City of Co., Abbrev. State, year, pp. xxx-xxx.

Example:

[1]  Transmission Systems for Communications, 3rd ed., Western Electric Co., Winston-Salem, NC, 1985, pp. 44–60.

 

Conference Proceedings

The general form for citing conference proceedings is to list the author and title of the paper, followed by the name (and location, if given) of the conference in italics using standard abbreviations (see Style Guide for details)

 

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Title of paper,” in Unabbreviated Name of Conf., City of Conf., Abbrev. St ate (if given), year, pp.xxx-xxx. 

Example:

[1]  G. R . Faulhaber, “Design of service systems with priority reservation,” i n Conf. Rec. 1995 IEEE Int. Conf. Communications, pp. 3–8. *** If the year is given in the conference title, it may be omitted from the end of the reference as shown here.***

 

Paper Presented at Conference

Basic Format:

[1] J. K. Author, “Title of paper,” presented at the Unabbrev. Name of Conf., City of Conf., Abbrev. State, year.

Example:

[1]  M. Mayer, presented at the 4th Congr. Permanent Magnets, Grenoble, France, Mar. 1995.

 

Patent

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Title of patent,” U.S. Patent x xxx xxx, Abbrev. Month, day, year.

Example:

[1] J. P. Wilkinson, “Nonlinear resonant circuit devices,” U.S. Patent 3 624 125, July 16, 1990. NOTE: Use “issued date” if several dates are given.

 

Theses and Dissertations

Theses (M.S.) and Dissertations (Ph.D.)

Basic Format:

[1]  J. K. Author, “Title of thesis,” M.S. thesis, Abbrev. Dept., Abbrev. Univ., City of Univ., Abbrev. State, year.

[2]  J. K. Author, “Title of dissertation,” Ph.D. dissertation, Abbrev. Dept., Abbrev. Univ., City of Univ., Abbrev. State, year.

Examples:

[1] N. Kawasaki, “Parametric study of thermal and chemical nonequilibrium nozzle flow,” M.S. thesis, Dept. Electron. Eng., Osaka Univ., Osaka, Japan, 1993.

[2] J. O. Williams, “Narrow-band analyzer,” Ph. D. dissertation, Dept . Elect . Eng., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, M A, 1993.

 

Standard

Basic Format:
[1] Title of Standard, Standard number, date.

Example:

[1]  IEEE Criteria for Class IE Electric Systems, IEEE Standard 308, 1969.

 

ELECTRONIC SOURCES:

Article from Online Database

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author. (year, month). Title. Journal [Type of medium]. volume(issue), paging if given. Available: site/path/file

Example:

[1]  R. J. Vidmar. (1992, Aug.) On the use of atmospheric plasmas as electromagnetic reflectors. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. [Online]. 21(3), pp. 876–880. Available: http://www.halcyon.com/pub/journals/21ps03-vidmar

 

E-book

Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author. (year, month day). Title (edition) [Type of medium]. volume(issue). Available: site/path/file

Example:

[1] S. Khutaina. (1 995, Aug. 15). EMBASE handbook (3rd ed.) [Online]. 3(21). Avail able: Knowledge Index File:

EMBASE Handbook (EMHB)

 

 [Many more examples and abbreviations are included in the PDF in the Style Guides box on this page; also click on  the link to the University of Michigan guide for citing data]