CITATION AND REFERENCE-LIST PRINCIPLES

Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae (SEeB) uses the Chicago author–date citation style, 17th edition.

The principal reference for in-text citations and reference-list entries is the Turabian Manual for Writers and its Author–Date Citation Quick Guide.

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.

To assist authors in managing citations and preparing the reference list, the Editorial Team recommends using Zotero. Citation-management software is intended solely as an aid. Authors remain fully responsible for verifying the existence, accuracy, completeness, and conformity of all citations and reference-list entries with the SEeB requirements.

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. Authors can also benefit from the automatic generator of bibliographic entries and citations available on the website: Free Chicago Style Citation Generator.

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.

Authors should provide a DOI for every cited source for which one is available. The DOI must be presented in URL format, for example:
https://doi.org/10.21697/seb.xxxx

For sources without a DOI, authors should provide a stable URL where online access is relevant. A URL may be omitted for standard print-only publications.

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. use both authors’ surnames for works by two or three authors;
5. use the first author’s surname followed by et al. for works by four or more authors;
6. separate multiple sources cited together with semicolons;
7. distinguish works by the same author published in the same year by adding the letters a, b, c, and so on;
8. use the name of the institution where the author is an organisation or public body;
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. provide authors’ full first names rather than initials, where available;
5. present the first author as surname followed by first name;
6. present subsequent authors as first name followed by surname;
7. use consistent punctuation, capitalisation, and italics;
8. include a DOI in URL format wherever available;
9. include a stable URL where no DOI is available and online access is relevant;
10. distinguish works by the same author published in the same year by adding the letters a, b, c, and so on.

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.

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. Chicago: 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, 45–62. Oxford: 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. New York: 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 and the Turabian Manual for Writers.

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)