Each subject area and discipline has a favored citation style (like APA or MLA). In the sciences you will also find that individual journals may required a unique style format for their submissions.
The resources on this page focus specifically on the citation style format required for the journal "Ecology." Though this style has similarities with citation styles you may have used in the past, some of the requirements and organizational structure are unique should be followed closely.
Follow the links on the left-hand column entitled "Examples of the Ecology Format" to see this method in use.
The purpose of each citation is to indicate where the information came from, and to provide the reader with enough information to access the original source. The type of source can effect the citation, but typically every citation requires the following information:
In a print book or journal, most of this can be found at the beginning of the source:
In online databases, the article's record (what you see when you first discover the article) should contain all the necessary information:
