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New Mexico Bureau of Geology Editorial Style Guide
Citations & References

Last updated July 26, 2023

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citations

Citations are parenthetical source attributions in the body of text. Each citation must have a corresponding entry in the reference list at the end of the publication. In-text citations within a separate parenthetical statement should be enclosed in brackets (see brackets). For guidance on formatting reference entries, see references.

  • Give the author’s name and year of publication, separated by a comma:
    • The outcrop had eroded (Jones, 2016).
  • If there are two authors, give both, separated by and:
    • The outcrop had eroded (Jones and Doe, 2016).
  • If there are three or more authors, give the first author, then et al.:
    • The formation consists of three members (Jones et al., 2016).
  • If the citation is part of the sentence, include only the date in parentheses:
    • According to Jones et al. (2016), the outcrop is accessible only by helicopter.
  • If there are multiple publications by the same author, separate them with commas and list them in ascending chronological order:
    • (Jones, 2010, 2012, 2016)
  • To list multiple sources in the same citation, separate them with semicolons and list them in ascending chronological order. If two sources have the same date, alphabetize them:
    • (Jones et al., 2010; Doe, 2012; Miller, 2012)
  • If you are citing a direct quote, paraphrasing material, or citing data/measurements without quotation marks, include the page number:
    • The outcrop “was dangerous to access” (Jones, 2016, p. 47).
  • Cite unpublished information relayed personally by a source in written or verbal form as “personal communication” or “unpublished data,” and include at least the year (include a more precise date if possible):
    • (P. Jones, personal communication, June 2019)
    Personal communications/unpublished data are not listed in the references section because readers cannot access such unpublished information.
  • For information on citing legal sources, consult the U.S. legal profession’s primary style guide, The Bluebook Online (https://www.legalbluebook.com/bluebook/v21/quick-style-guide).

references

References are the complete list of sources used in a publication. The guidelines here are largely based on the GSA reference style guide (https://rock.geosociety.org/net/documents/gsa/pubs/GSA_RefGuide_Examples.pdf).

General rules

  • In the References section, list all references mentioned in the text, figures, captions, tables, appendices, and geodatabase.
  • List references alphabetically by author’s last name. For references with two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then alphabetically by second author. For references with more than two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then chronologically by publication date, beginning with the earliest year. For references with the same author(s) and date, use a, b, c, etc. after the publication date (for example, Jones, 2009a, 2009b).
  • For references with more than 10 authors, shorten the author list to the first author’s name plus “et al.” If the author list includes co-chief scientists, include all of their names, with the rest of the author names shortened to “et al.”
  • For any publication that is not yet published but is in preparation, has been submitted, is in review, or is in revision, cite it as “in press.”
  • Include DOI numbers if available, formatted as URLs (for example, https://doi.org/10.58799/B-164). To create a DOI link, add the DOI of the article to the end of https://doi.org/ (for example, DOI 10.58799/B-164 becomes https://doi.org/10.58799/B-164).
  • For website sources, downloaded data, and any other online sources that readers can access, include the month and year the site was accessed in parentheses at the end of the reference.
  • In reference list entries, use an em dash to replace a colon that appears within the document title to avoid possible confusion with the colon that is used to mark the end of the document title.
    • Basins of the Rio Grande Rift—Structure, Stratigraphy, and Tectonic Setting: Geological Society of America Special Paper 291
  • For references that don’t match any of the following examples, include all information that would help a reader locate the reference.
  • Avoid using abbreviations in a reference list, except for abbreviations or acronyms used in a title; v., no., pt., and p.; Inc.; U.S. and D.C.; and [abs.].

For Bureau of Geology publications

    1. Author(s), last name first, followed by initials, followed by a comma. Specify editor(s) with ed. or eds.
    2. Year of publication, followed by a comma.
    3. Title (sentence case), followed by a colon.
    4. New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources and series name and number, followed by a comma.
    5. Total pagination (with p.), followed by a period.
    6. DOI (if available), only end with a period if the DOI includes a trailing period (uncommon)
  1. Dunbar, N.W., Gutzler, D.S., Pearthree, K.S., Phillips, F.M., Bauer, P.W., Allen, C.D., DuBois, D., Harvey, M.D., King, J.P., McFadden, L.D., Thomson, B.M., and Tillery, A.C., 2022, Climate change in New Mexico over the next 50 years—Impacts on water resources: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Bulletin 164, 218 p. https://doi.org/10.58799/B-164
  2. Rawling, G., 2021, Evaluation of water-level trends using spatiotemporal kriging in the Mimbres Basin, southwest New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Open-File Report 616, 57 p.

For journal articles

  1. Author(s), last name first, followed by initials (or organization if no author can be found), followed by a comma.
  2. Year of publication, followed by a comma.
  3. Title (sentence case), followed by a colon.
  4. Name of journal (title case), followed by a comma.
  5. Volume and number (use the abbreviations “v.” and “no.”), followed by a comma.
  6. Pagination span (with p., en dash with no spaces), followed by a period.
  7. DOI (if available).

Examples

  1. Heller, P.L., and Liu, L., 2016, Dynamic topography and vertical motion of the U.S. Rocky Mountain region prior to and during the Laramide Orogeny: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 128, no. 5–6, p. 973–988. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31431.1
  2. Amato, J.M., Mack, G.H., Jonell, T.N., Seager, W.R., and Upchurch, G.R., 2017, Onset of the Laramide Orogeny and associated magmatism in southern New Mexico based on U-Pb chronology: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 129, no. 9–10, p. 1209–1226. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31629.1

For individual works in an edited volume

  1. Author(s), last name first, followed by initials (or organization if no author can be found), followed by a comma.
  2. Year of publication, followed by a comma.
  3. Title (sentence case), followed by a comma and the word in (in italics).
  4. Name(s) of editor(s), last name first, followed by initials, followed by ed. or eds., followed by a comma.
  5. Name of edited volume (title case), followed by a colon.
  6. Publisher and type of publication and number (if applicable, for example, Guide Book, Special Report), followed by a comma. For conference proceedings or abstracts, include the name, location, and date of the conference (if known).
  7. Pagination span (with p., en dash with no spaces), followed by a period.
  8. DOI (if available).

Examples

  1. Seager, W.R., and Mack, G.H., 2018, Geology of the Doña Ana Mountains, south-central New Mexico—A summary, in Mack, G.H., Hampton, B.A., Ramos, F.C., Witcher, J.C., and Ulmer-Scholle, D.C., eds., Las Cruces Country III: New Mexico Geological Society Fall Field Conference Guidebook 69, p. 71–81. https://doi.org/10.56577/FFC-69.71
  2. Dickinson, W.R., 2009, Anatomy and global context of the North American Cordillera, in Kay, S.M., Ramos, V.A., and Dickinson, W.R., eds., Backbone of the Americas—Shallow Subduction, Plateau Uplift, and Ridge and Terrane Collision: Geological Society of America Memoir 204, p. 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1130/2009.1204(01)
  3. Humphreys, E., 2009, Relation of flat subduction to magmatism and deformation in the western United States, in Kay, S.M., Ramos, V.A., and Dickinson, W.R., eds., Backbone of the Americas—Shallow Subduction, Plateau Uplift, and Ridge and Terrane Collision: Geological Society of America Memoir 204, p. 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1130/2009.1204(04)

For maps

  1. Author(s), last name first, followed by initials (or organization if no author can be found), followed by a comma.
  2. Year of publication, followed by a comma.
  3. Title (sentence case), followed by a colon.
  4. Name of publisher and title of series (if applicable, for example, Open-File Geologic Map, Map and Chart Series, Scientific Investigation Map), followed by a comma.
  5. Scale, followed by a comma, number of sheets (if more than one), followed by a period.

Examples

  1. Rinehart, A.J., Love, D.W., and Miller, P.L., 2014, Geologic map of the Black Butte 7.5-minute quadrangle, Socorro and Valencia Counties, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Open-File Geologic Map 235, scale 1:24,000.
  2. Aby, S., Timmons, J.M., and Miller, P.L., 2016, Geologic map of the El Vado 7.5-minute quadrangle, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Open-File Geologic Map 257, scale 1:24,000.
  3. Bauer, P.W., Kelson, K.I., Aby, S.B., Helper, M.A., and Mansell, M.M., 2021, Geologic map of the Picuris Mountains, Rio Arriba and Taos Counties, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Open-File Geologic Map 294, scale 1:24,000, 2 sheets.

For books

  1. Author(s), last name first, followed by initials (or organization if no author can be found), followed by a comma. Specify editor(s) with ed. or eds.
  2. Year of publication, followed by a comma.
  3. Title (title case), followed by a colon.
  4. City and state or country of publication, followed by a comma. Don’t include state/country with major cities (for example, New York, Boston, London, Amsterdam).
  5. Name of publisher, followed by a comma.
  6. Total pagination (with p.), followed by a period.

Examples

  • Bates, R.L., and Jackson, J.A., eds., 1980, Glossary of Geology (second edition): Falls Church, VA, American Geological Institute, 749 p.
  • Allmendinger, R.W., Cardozo, N., and Fisher, D., 2011, Structural Geology Algorithms—Vectors and Tensors in Structural Geology: New York, Cambridge University Press, 304 p.

For other references not covered above

  1. Author(s), last name first, followed by initials (or organization if no author can be found), followed by a comma.
  2. Year of publication/presentation/etc., followed by a comma.
  3. Title (sentence case), followed by a colon.
  4. Name of conference, etc., followed by a comma.
  5. Number of the conference, etc., followed by a comma.
  6. Place of conference, etc., followed by a comma.
  7. Year of conference, etc., followed by a comma.
  8. Series, volume, part (if any), followed by a comma.
  9. Full pagination (if entire publication is being cited) or pagination span (if only a section is being cited).

Additional examples can be found at https://rock.geosociety.org/net/documents/gsa/pubs/GSA_RefGuide_Examples.pdf