Physics & Astronomy

This page includes guidelines for two common citation styles, AIP and APA. If you are using another style and have questions, feel free to email the Science Librarian, Tessa Withorn (tessa.withorn@louisville.edu). 

Ask your professor which style they would like you to use for your assignment. If you get to choose, I highly recommend APA! 

• AIP
  • In-text citations
  • References

This guide is a quick introduction to the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Style for in-text citations and references. Be sure to consult pages 8-9 of the AIP Style Manual for full details on citing sources in AIP Style.

Include a superscript number for each sequential reference where you cited the information at the end of the sentence, or next to the authors' last name. If there are more than two authors, use the abbreviation et al., which means "and others."

Hartouni et al.¹ found that when plasma burns, ion relative kinetic energy distribution creates a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution.

To add a superscript in Word, highlight the number, then click on the superscript option in the Font settings.

In some cases, you may also cite references in-text with the author's last names and year in parentheses. The reference list would then be ordered alphabetically. 

List your references in numerical order at the end of your paper in a reference section. Citations will vary depending on the type of source.

Journal Article

1. Author(s), List names as first name initial(s) and last name. Use and before the last author. If there are more than four authors, use the abbreviation et al., which means "and others." 

2. Abbreviated Journal Title. Some journal abbreviations will be included with the article information, otherwise look up the abbreviation of names in a search engine or Appendix G of the AIP Style Manual. 

3. Volume, Only the number in bold. 

4. Starting page number

5. (Year). 

¹E. P. Hartouni et al. Nat. Phys. 19, 72 (2023). 

Book

1. Author(s), List names as first name initial(s) and last name. Use and before the last author.

2. Book Title In italics and headline-style capitalization, meaning all important words are capitalized. 

3. (Publisher, City of publication, 

4. Year), 

5. Volume, listed at Vol., # if any.

6. Starting page. Listed as p. x, if any.

²S. E. Hamen, Astronomy in the Real World (Abdo Publishing, North Mankato, 2016), p. 36. 

Website

There is no clear guidance on citing websites, as this is uncommon in published research. However, you can use the following general format.  

1. Author or organization. 

2. Title of Webpage. In italics. 

3. URL 

4. (accessed date). Use the format mm/dd/yyyy. 

³American Museum of Natural History. What Is Astronomy?https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/astronomy/what-is-astronomy (accessed 03/21/2023).