ASCE-Quick Guide to Common Types of Referenced Material

Journal References

Include year, volume, issue, and page numbers.

Stahl, D. C., Wolfe, R. W., and Begel, M. (2004). “Improved analysis of timber rivet connections.” J. Struct. Eng., 130(8), 1272-1279.

Conference Proceedings and Symposiums

Include the publisher of the proceedings, AND that entity’s location—city and state or city and country. Only include the sponsor of the conference if it is part of the title of a proceedings. If there is no “publisher”, then the name and location of the sponsor are required.

Garrett, D. L. (2003). “Coupled analysis of floating production systems.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Deep Mooring Systems, ASCE, Reston, VA, 152-167.

Books

Include author, book title, publisher, the publisher’s location, and chapter title and inclusive page numbers (if a whole book is used, or pages here and there throughout, page numbers need not be given).  If no author is listed, alphabetize the entry by book title.

Zadeh, L. A. (1981). “Possibility theory and soft data analysis.” Mathematical frontiers of the social and policy sciences, L. Cobb and R. M. Thrall, eds., Westview, Boulder, CO, 69-129

Reports

Same as for books, as above. For reports authored by institutions: spell out institution acronym on first use, and follow with acronym in parentheses, if applicable. If subsequent references were also authored by that same institution, use only the acronym. For reports authored by persons, include the full institution name—no acronym—and its location.

Unpublished Material

Unpublished material is not included in the references but may be cited in the text as follows: (John Smith, personal communication, May 16, 1983) or (J. Smith, unpublished internal report, February 2003).

In Press Articles

As an exception to the “Unpublished Material” section above, in press articles (i.e., those that have been accepted but have not yet been published) may be included in the references as follows:

Dasgupta, G. (2008). “Stiffness matrix from isoparametric closed form shape functions using exact integration.” J. Aerosp. Eng., in press.  

In press articles should be updated to include the actual publication information whenever possible.

Web Pages

Include author, year of publication or last revision, title of “page,” title of the complete work, Web address enclosed within angle brackets, and date material downloaded.

Burka, L. P. (1993). “A hypertext history of multi-user dimensions.” MUD history,<http://www.ccs.neu.edu> (Dec. 5, 1994).

CD-ROM

Include authors, copyright date, titles, medium, producer/publisher and its location, and section, chapter, and page numbers if available.

Liggett, J. A., and Caughey, D. A. (1998). “Fluid statics.” Fluid mechanics (CD-ROM), ASCE, Reston, VA, Section 3.1, Chapter 2, 167-177.

Theses and dissertations

Include authors, copyright date, title, and the name and location of the institution where the research was conducted. Note that some institutions use specific terminology; for example, "doctoral dissertation" rather than "Ph.D. thesis".

Sotiropulos, S. N. (1991). "Statis response of bridge superstructures made of fiber reinforced plastic." M.S. thesis, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV.

ASCE-Author-Date References

Note: See the Quick Guide to Common Types of Referenced Material for additional information.

All factual material that is not original with you must be accompanied by a reference to its source. ASCE books and journals prefer the author–date system of referencing. This system has two parts, the text citation and the reference list.

• The text citation appears where the material to be cited is presented. The citation refers readers to a source in the reference list by the author’s surname and the year of publication. Often, the author and date appear in parentheses; a comma is not placed between them.

For example: One recent report (Carson 2006) finds evidence that…

Or: …yielded varying results (Jones 2005; Marks and Smith 2004a,b).

• Use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” in citations for publications with three or more authors.
• When the researcher is part of the sentence, the last name does not need to be repeated.

For example: Carson (2006) finds evidence that…

• The reference list appears at the end of each paper for journal articles, or chapter (when chapters are by different authors) or in a separate section at the end of the book.
• References begin with the names of the author(s), last name first for all authors, followed by the year of publication in parentheses. See the Quick Guide to Common Types of Referenced Materials for guidance on punctuation and formatting.
• References by the same author(s) published in the same year are designated with lowercase letters: 2004a, 2004b.
• Every reference must have a text citation and every text citation must have a corresponding reference. For publications that will be copyedited (ASCE Press titles, manuals of practice, standards, and journal articles), unmatched references will be queried or deleted by the copy editor.
• For camera-ready books, reference lists should be prepared single-spaced. For typeset books and for journal articles, reference lists should be prepared double-spaced and submitted as word-processed files.

ASCE-Author's Guide: Writing Style

This section of the Author's Guide explains ASCE style on various aspects of good writing for the topics listed below.

• Style Guides 
• Active versus Passive Voice 
• Direct versus Indirect Statements 
• Use of "I" and "We" 
• Inclusive Language 
• Acronyms and Abbreviations 
• SI versus Customary Units 
• Figures, Tables, and Other Supporting Materials 
• Language Cleanup Services 

Style Guides

The following publications can provide useful guidance in preparing your manuscript.

• For guidance on the mechanics of written communication, consult the current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press).
• For spelling and word usage, ASCE follows the current editions of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Webster’s International Dictionary, Unabridged.
• For rules of grammar and usage, refer to Words into Type (Prentice-Hall) orNew York Public Library Writer’s Guide to Style and Usage (HarperCollins).
• For guidance on engineering terms, refer to McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, Wiley Dictionary of Civil Engineering and Construction, or Means Illustrated Construction Dictionary.
• For assistance in the presentation of mathematics, refer to Mathematics into Type (American Mathematical Society).
• For assistance with the use of SI (metric) units, refer to IEEE/ASTM SI-10,Standard for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System (this standard replaces the former ASTM E-380 and ANSI/IEEE Std 268-1992) or to Metric Units in Engineering: Going SI (ASCE Press).

Active versus Passive Voice

Wherever possible, use active verbs that demonstrate what is being done and who is doing it.

Instead of:  The bridge was built by James Eads.

Use: James Eads built the bridge.

Instead of: Six possible causes of failure were identified in the forensic investigation.

Use: The forensic investigation identified six possible causes of failure.

Direct versus Indirect Statements

Direct statements are clear, concise, and do not wear on your reader. Indirect statements are those that begin with phrases such as “it should be noted that…” or “it is common that….” Other types of indirect statements may begin with “to be” statements such as “there are” or “it was”.

Instead of: It should be noted that the flow was interrupted by a surge…

Use: A surge interrupted the flow…

Instead of: It is common that the steel rebars are weakened by oxidation…

Use: Oxidation commonly weakens steel rebars…

Instead of: There are many reasons that concrete may fail…

Use: Concrete may fail for many reasons…

Instead of: There are three kinds of bolt that can be used in these circumstances…

Use: Three kinds of bolt can be used in these circumstances.

Use of “I” and “We”

While the use of first-person pronouns (I, we, my, our) should be sparing in technical material, the use of “I” and “we” is preferable to awkward constructions such as “the authors” or “this researcher.”

• If you are the sole author, use “I” to indicate your actions or opinions.
• If you are working with coauthors, use “we” to refer to your collective actions or opinions. Use last names to refer to the actions or opinions of individual coauthors.
• If you use “we” to refer to yourself and your coauthors, avoid the use of “we” in other contexts, such as referring to other people or humankind in general.

Inclusive Language

Writing without bias may feel stiff or unnatural at first, but usually results in greater precision and consideration for your readers. Therefore, avoid language that arbitrarily assigns roles or characteristics or excludes people on the basis of gender; racial, ethnic, or religious background; physical or mental capabilities; sexual orientation; or other sorts of stereotypes.

• Avoid using man or men to refer to groups containing both sexes. Substitute words and phrases such as humankind, humanity, people, employees, workers, workforce, staff, and staff hours.
• Avoid the use of masculine pronouns to refer to both sexes. Use plural pronouns, a locution that carries no bias, imperative verb forms, or second-person pronouns.

Instead of: When an engineer begins to design an overpass, he should consider…

Try: When engineers begin to design overpasses, they should consider…

Or: When beginning to design an overpass, an engineer should consider…

Instead of: A manager should not assume that his staff will alert him to potential problems.

Try: As a manager, do not assume that staff will alert you to potential problems.  

Or: As a manager, you should not assume that your staff will alert you to potential problems.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortening form of a word or phrase, such as “Jan.” for “January”, “U.S.” for “United States,” and “ASCE” for “American Society of Civil Engineers.” An acronym is formed when the abbreviation forms a pronounceable word, such as “NATO” for “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” or “AASHTO” for "American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials."

• Abbreviations and acronyms in text must be spelled out the first time that they appear in each chapter or paper, with the shortened form appearing immediately in parentheses. Thereafter, the shortened form should be used throughout the chapter.
• Several very common abbreviations (U.S. and U.K. as adjectives; DNA and PVC for nouns) do not need to be spelled out on first usage. 
• Basic units of measure do not need to be spelled out on first usage. These include: ft, in., lb (customary) and m, mm, kg (SI).

SI versus Customary Units

ASCE publications use Système Internationale (SI) units, the most widely and officially recognized system of metric units, as the primary system of weights, dimensions, and other physical measures. For more information about SI units, visit the Web sites of the U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc. or the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or consult the book, Metric Units in Engineering: Going SI. 

All ASCE publications use SI units in text, figures, and tables. Customary (also known as English or imperial) units may be included in parentheses, if the author chooses.

One exception is recognized for ASCE Press titles. Case studies, examples, and problem sets can become difficult to use when both systems of units are presented. Therefore, it is acceptable to alternate metric and customary units in cases, examples, or problems.

Figures, Tables, and Other Supporting Materials

Elements such as figures, tables, and boxes containing lists or case studies are included to support or augment what appears in the text.

• For books, each element should be numbered consecutively with the chapter number and an Arabic numeral: Fig. 9-1, Fig. 9-2, Fig. 9-3 …; Table 7-1, Table 7-2 …; Box 10-1, Box 10-2 …. For journal articles and conference proceedings volumes, which do not have chapter numbers, the chapter number is left out: Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3....
• If a figure or table has parts, a capital or lowercase letter is used to identify the parts: Fig. 9-1A, Fig. 9-1B…; Fig. 1(a), Fig. 1(b)…
• In books, do not use subheading numbers for figures and tables. This practice is awkward and confuses readers.
• Every element must be discussed in text, with a reference to the element and its number. The first reference to a figure, table, or box is the call-out. The call-outs must be worded consistently throughout your manuscript. Spell out “Table” and abbreviate “Fig.” For example: "The results of the stress tests (Fig. 1) clearly demonstrate…" and "Table 6-2 presents a range of planning options along with…".
• When your manuscript is typeset, the element will be placed on the page on which it is called out—or as soon as possible thereafter.
• Tables and figures must be numbered in the order in which they are discussed in text so that call-outs also appear in numerical order. In other words, Table 3 must be called out in text before Table 4.

Language Cleanup Services

For a list of companies offering language editing, translation, and cleanup services for manuscripts, please visit the Language Cleanup Services list. Note that these services are not offered or endorsed by ASCE, and that this information is provided only as a courtesy to our potential authors.