Natural Resources

Citation Style Guides

The following style is commonly used for fisheries and wildlife publications. However, always check for an instructor's or journal's preferred citation style.

Reference Basics

• In the reference list, references should be listed alphabetically by authors' last names. Multiple references by the same author should then be listed chronologically.
• For a resource that is only available online (or is in print but was accessed online), format the reference as you would a printed item. 
  • AFS: URLs for online articles may be given for sources that would otherwise be difficult to locate, but should be omitted otherwise. 
• Format each entry in your reference list using a hanging indent. This means that every line after the first line is indented 1/2 inch.
• For most titles, the first letter of the first word is capitalized and subsequent words are lowercase (with the exception of proper nouns). 

In-text citations:

• If there are two authors, the last names of both of them should be included in the text citation. (Smith and Johnson 2012)
• If there are more than two, include the last name of the first author followed by “et al.” (Roberts et al. 2000)

Citation Examples

Book with one author:

Bogue, M. B. 2000. Fishing the Great Lakes: an environmental history, 1783-1933. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

• In text: (Bogue 2000) or "... Bogue (2000) ..."

Book with two authors:

Strauss, A., and J. Corbin. 1990. Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California.

• In text: (Strauss and Corbin 1990) or "... Strauss and Corbin (1990) ..."

Chapter in a book:

Lofgren, B. M. 2002. Global warming influences on water levels, ice, and chemical and biological cycles in lakes: some examples. Pages 15-22 in N. A. McGinn, editor. Fisheries in a changing climate. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 32, Bethesda, Maryland.

Journal article with one author:

Kennedy, V. S. 1990. Anticipated effects of climate change on estuarine and coastal fisheries. Fisheries 15(6):16–24.

Journal article with two authors:

Bélisle, M., and A. Desrochers. 2002. Gap-crossing decisions by forest birds: an empirical basis for parameterizing spatially-explicit, individual-based models. Landscape Ecology 17:219-231.

Need more examples? 

Look through a journal that uses the style you need, such as Fisheries: The Monthly Magazine of the American Fisheries Society or the Journal of Wildlife Management. Always compare the examples to the official style guide!