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Citing Sources: Citing Standards

Citation format instruction for technical & scientific writing.
Citing Standards

The minimum data required for an acceptable citation are the standard title, standard code, and the date.

Examples of how to cite Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements (ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999) using seven different style manuals:

ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication

Find more information in section: 4.3.5.12 Standards


If publisher uses acronym, spell out acronym for the Publisher. Example: American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association not “ANSI/RIA”.

General Format:
Publisher. Standard Title; Standard Code; Location, year. URL/DOI (accessed YYYY-MM-DD)

Example:
American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association. Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements; ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999; Ann Arbor, MI, 1999. https://subscriptions.techstreet.com/products/13518 (accessed 2022-06-10)

AMA Manual of Style

Find more information in section: 3.15.5 Government/Organization Reports


If publisher uses acronym, spell out acronym for the Publisher. Example: American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association not “ANSI/RIA”.

General Format:
Publisher. Standard Title. Standard Code. Accessed date (format Month Date, Year). URL/DOI

Example:
American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association. Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements. ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://subscriptions.techstreet.com/products/13518

APA Publication Manual

Find more information in section: 10.4 Reports and Gray Literature


If publisher uses acronym, spell out acronym for the Publisher. Example: American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association not “ANSI/RIA”.

General Format:
Publisher. (Year). Standard Title (Standard Code). Retrieved from URL

Example:
American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association. (1999). Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements (ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999). Retrieved from https://subscriptions.techstreet.com/products/13518

Chicago Manual of Style

Find more information in sections: 14.259 Standards and 15.37 Organization as author in author-date references


Author-Date References

If publisher uses acronym use “Acronym (Spell out acronym)” for Publisher. Example: ANSI/RIA (American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association).

General Format:
Publisher. Year. Standard Title. Standard Code. Location: Publisher, approved date (format Month Date, Year); reaffirmed date (format Month Date, Year).

Example:
ANSI/RIA (American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association). 1999. Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements. ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999. Ann Arbor, MI: RIA, approved June 21, 1999.

Notes and Bibliography

If publisher uses acronym use “Spell out acronym (acronym)” for Publisher. Example: American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association (ANSI/RIA).

General Format:
Publisher. Standard Title. Standard Code. Location: Publisher, approved date (format Month Date, Year); reaffirmed date (format Month Date, Year).

Example:
American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association (ANSI/RIA). Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements. ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999. Ann Arbor, MI: RIA, approved June 21, 1999.

Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual

The CSE Manual does not specifically reference Standards.


Organizations as authors has different formats for each style as demonstrated below
Section 29.3.6.1.2 Organizations as Authors for more information.

Citation–sequence and citation–name:

Organization as author - spell out entire organization and do not use acronym.

Using the general format a Citation–sequence and Citation–name citation can be constructed as:
Publisher. Standard Title. Standard Code. Publisher Location City (Location State): Publisher; Year.

Example:
American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association. Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements. ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999. Ann Arbor (MI): Robotic Industries Association; 1999.

Name–year:

Organization as author - use the initial letter of each part of the name or a readily recognizable abbreviation to create a shortened form for the in-text reference inside a bracket. Example: [ANSI/RIA] American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association

Using the general format a Name-year citation can be constructed as:
Publisher. Year. Standard Title. Standard Code. Publisher Location City (Location State): Publisher.

Example:
[ANSI/RIA] American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association. 1999. Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements. ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999. Ann Arbor (MI): Robotic Industries Association.

IEEE Guide to Writing in the Engineering & Technical Fields

Find more information in section: Appendix: IEEE Styles for References 


General Format:
Standard Title, Standard Code, year.

Example:
Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements, ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999, 1999.

MLA Handbook 9th Ed.

The MLA Handbook does not specifically reference Standards.


Using the MLA Format Template it can be constructed as:
Standard Title. Standard Code, Publisher, year of publication.

Example:
Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements. ANSI/RIA R15.06-1999, American National Standard Institute/Robotic Industries Association (ANSI/RIA), 1999.

Citing the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is consistent across all styles.

The following describes how information is contained in a CFR citation.

  • Title: Is the numeric value to the left of "CFR".
  • Part: Is the numeric value to the right of "CFR" and preceding the period (".").
  • Section/Subpart: Is the numeric value to the right of the period (".").
    • A subpart is a letter of the alphabet (A-Z) that is used to retrieve an entire subpart of the CFR rather than many individual sections. For example: Subpart E.
  • Revision Year: The four digit year from the "Revised as of" text represents the year being cited. The revision year is not always available when the CFR is cited.

General Format:
Title CFR Part.Section/Subpart Revised as of Date (Format Month Day, Year)

Example:
21 CFR 310.502 Revised as of April 1, 1997

  • Title: 21
  • Part: 310
  • Section: 502
  • Year: 1997