ACS Format Guide
Follow these ACS (current) paper formatting rules to ensure your document meets the required standards. This guide covers font, margins, spacing, title page, headers, and references formatting.
Paper Formatting
Below are the core formatting requirements for papers written in ACS (current) style.
- Font
- 12 pt Times New Roman
- Font Size
- 12 pt
- Margins
- 1 inch on all sides
- Spacing
- Double-spaced for manuscripts
- Title Page
- Title, author names, affiliations, corresponding author email, and abstract on the first page
- Headers / Page Numbers
- Page numbers in the upper-right; running head (abbreviated title) in upper-left
References Formatting
Your references must follow these rules to be correctly formatted in ACS style:
- Title the section "References" at the end of the manuscript
- Number references in the order they appear in the text; place the number in parentheses at the start of each entry
- Separate multiple authors with semicolons
- Abbreviating journal names per CAS is optional and full journal titles are allowed; keep one form throughout the list
- Include the DOI for all journal articles whenever available
- For books, give the publisher and year; add the location only for a lesser-known or ambiguous publisher, as Location: Publisher, Year
- Italicize journal names and book titles
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Cite in ACS Now →Frequently Asked Questions
- What font and size should I use for ACS format?
- ACS (current) requires 12 pt Times New Roman. The standard font size is 12 pt.
- What are the margin requirements for ACS?
- ACS papers require 1 inch on all sides. This applies to the top, bottom, left, and right margins of every page.
- Does ACS require a title page?
- Title, author names, affiliations, corresponding author email, and abstract on the first page