CITATION AND REFERENCE-LIST PRINCIPLES

Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae (SEeB) uses the Chicago author–date citation style, based on the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and adapted to the journal’s specific requirements.

The primary source for the rules governing in-text citations and reference-list entries is the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. Authors may also consult the official Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide for the author–date system. Where SEeB specifies its own requirements or examples, the journal’s rules provided on this page and in the official manuscript template take precedence.

Bibliographic references must be provided as in-text citations and corresponding entries in the reference list. Footnotes may be used only for additional explanatory remarks and must not be used as a substitute for in-text bibliographic citations.

Authors may use reference-management software, such as Zotero, and other tools that assist in preparing citations and reference-list entries. The Free Chicago Style Citation Generator may also be used as a practical aid. Such tools are intended only as aids. Automatically generated citations and references must always be checked for compliance with the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and SEeB's specific requirements. Authors remain fully responsible for the existence, accuracy, completeness, and correct formatting of all cited sources. The official SEeB manuscript template contains additional instructions and examples concerning in-text citations and reference-list entries. Authors should consult the template together with this Citation Style Guide when preparing their manuscripts. 

In the event of any discrepancy, the specific requirements and examples provided by SEeB take precedence over the default output of citation-management software or online citation generators.

If artificial intelligence tools are used to assist in identifying, checking, or formatting sources, their use must be disclosed in accordance with the journal’s AI Policy and manuscript template. Authors remain fully responsible for verifying that every cited source exists and that all bibliographic information is accurate.

If a cited source has a DOI, it must be included in the reference list as a URL, e.g., https://doi.org/10.21697/seb.xxxx. If no DOI is available, a stable URL should be provided that enables online access and helps identify or locate the source. For standard print publications where online access is not relevant, the URL may be omitted.

If an online source provides no date of publication, update, or revision, use n.d. (no date) in place of the year and include the access date.

GENERAL  RULES  FOR  IN-TEXT  CITATIONS

In-text citations must:

1. include the author’s surname and the year of publication;
2. include a page number or page range for direct quotations;
3. include a page number or other stable locator when referring to a specific argument, passage, section, paragraph, chapter, or article, where available;
4. include both authors’ surnames for works by two authors;
5. include the first author’s surname followed by et al. for works by three or more authors;
6. separate multiple sources cited together with semicolons; 
7. distinguish works by the same author or authors published in the same year by adding the letters a, b, c, and so on to the year, assigned according to the alphabetical order of titles; the same designations must be used in the corresponding in-text citations;
8. include the name of an institution or organisation where it serves as the author of the source; a widely recognised abbreviation of the organisation’s name may be used in in-text citations where its meaning is unambiguous to the reader;
9. correspond exactly to an entry in the reference list.

The standard form is:
(Author Year, page)

For example:
(Jonas 1984, 25–27)

Where the author’s name forms part of the sentence, place the year and page number in parentheses:
Jonas (1984, 25) argues that responsibility must extend to future generations.

GENERAL  RULES  FOR  THE  REFERENCE  LIST

The reference list must:

1. include every source cited in the manuscript;
2. include only sources cited in the manuscript;
3. be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author;
4. present authors’ given names in the form used in the cited publication; initials may be retained where the author’s given name is presented in that form in the source;
5. present the first author as surname followed by first name;
6. present subsequent authors as first name followed by surname;
7. list all authors for works with up to six authors; for works with more than six authors, list the first three authors followed by et al.;
8. use consistent punctuation, capitalisation, and italics;
9. include a DOI in URL format wherever available;
10. include a stable URL where no DOI is available and online access is relevant;
11. distinguish works by the same author published in the same year by adding the letters a, b, c, and so on;
12. for multiple works by the same author or authors, repeat the author name or names in each reference-list entry; do not replace repeated names with a 3-em dash.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that every in-text citation corresponds to a reference-list entry and that every reference-list entry is cited in the manuscript.

SELECTED  EXAMPLES

Journal article

Reference list
Gardiner, Stephen M. 2011. “A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics and the Problem of Moral Corruption.” Environmental Values 20 (3): 397–413. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx.

For journal articles, the full page range should be provided in the reference list where available; if the article has no pagination and instead uses an article number, eLocator, or other publication identifier, that identifier should be provided in place of the page range.

In-text citation
(Gardiner 2011, 402)

Book

Reference list
Jonas, Hans. 1984. The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age. University of Chicago Press.

In-text citation
(Jonas 1984, 25)

Chapter in an edited volume

Reference list
Rolston, Holmes III. 2012. “Environmental Ethics for Tomorrow.” In The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics, edited by Stephen M. Gardiner and Allen Thompson. Oxford University Press.

In-text citation
(Rolston 2012, 51)

Institutional or online source

Reference list
United Nations. 2015. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda.

In-text citation
(United Nations 2015, para. 33)

Detailed examples for other source types are provided in the official SEeB manuscript template, the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, and the official Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide.

LEGAL  ACT  CITATION  STYLE

The following examples illustrate the SEeB house style for legal acts and official legal documents.

NATIONAL LEGAL ACT

A national legal act should be cited by reference to its generic type and year.

Reference list

1. Act 2009 – Act of 27 August 2009 on Public Finances (Dz.U. 2017, item 2077, as amended).
2. Regulation 2017 – Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 22 December 2017 on Unit Rates of Charges for Water Services (Dz.U. 2017, item 2502, as amended).
3. Strategy 2017 – Strategy for Responsible Development until 2020, with a Perspective to 2030 (M.P. 2017, item 260).

“Dz.U.” refers to the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland. “M.P.” refers to the Official Gazette of the Republic of Poland.

In-text citation

1. (Act 2009, art. 3(2))
2. (Regulation 2017, § 4)
3. (Strategy 2017, 10)

NAMED LEGAL CODE

A named legal code should be cited using its established name and year.

Reference list

1. Civil Code 1964 – Act of 23 April 1964: Civil Code (Dz.U. 2017, item 459, as amended).

In-text citation

1. (Civil Code 1964, art. 417)

EUROPEAN UNION ACTS

An act of the European Union should be cited by reference to its generic type and identifying number.

Reference list

1. Directive 2011/92/EU – Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the Assessment of the Effects of Certain Public and Private Projects on the Environment. Text with EEA relevance. OJ L 26, 28 January 2012, 1–21.
2. Regulation 1235/2008 – Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 of 8 December 2008 Laying Down Detailed Rules for Implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 as Regards the Arrangements for Imports of Organic Products from Third Countries. OJ L 334, 12 December 2008, 25–52.

In-text citation

1. (Directive 2011/92/EU, art. 3)
2. (Regulation 1235/2008, art. 4)

INTERNATIONAL LAW

An international legal instrument should be cited by reference to its generic type and year of adoption. The reference-list entry should identify the official national or international source in which the text was published.

Reference list

1. Convention 1998 – Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, adopted at Aarhus on 25 June 1998 (Dz.U. 2003, No. 78, item 706).
2. Protocol 1997 – Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted at Kyoto on 11 December 1997 (Dz.U. 2005, No. 203, item 1684).

In-text citation

1. (Convention 1998, art. 3)
2. (Protocol 1997, art. 2)