How do I cite a journal article that only has an article number in CSE Style?
Answer
This question has been updated to the 9th edition of CSE Style. If you are using 8th edition, see this Library Handout, Quick Guide, or contact a librarian.
Many journals, but especially online only journals, have stopped assigning unique page numbers to PDFs of their articles and instead assign the entire article a number.
Article numbers can have many different formats to them, here are some examples
- e19019080
- 65
- 200245012
- sg2345
While the PDF will be numbered starting with 1, these are not the official page numbers and should not be used in citations. Instead include the article number as part of the citation.
Author Last Name Author First Initial(s). Year. Article title. Journal Name. Volume number(issue number):article number. DOI/URL.
Tait J, Perotto-Baldivieso H, McKeown A, Westcott DA. 2014. Are flying-foxes coming to town? urbanisation of the spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) in Australia. PLoS One 9(10):e109810. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109810.
Since CSE Style does not require the inclusion of page numbers in-text, having an article number instead of page numbers does not affect the formatting of your in-text citation.
If you need further help, contact a librarian