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Geology: Geological Society of America Citation Style

The study of the earth: its origin, history, structure, composition, and the natural processes acting on it. geochronology, stratigraphy, and palaeontology); physical (including geomorphology, geophysics,

GSA Style Basics

GSA style refers to the style and citation formatting requirements for Geological Society of America (GSA) publications.  Due to the prominence of GSA publications, this style is often used in Geology academic courses.  While no official manual exists, reference guidelines are available on the GSA website. 

Some basics of the GSA style include:

  • 1" margins on all sides
  • Times New Roman, 12 point font
  • Double line spacing throughout
  • References in References Cited section should be listed alphabetically and have a hanging indent
  • All references must be cited in an in-text citation in your paper

GSA Citation Style Tips for Journal Articles

The most common items cited in geoscience research are journal articles. GSA citation style does not distinguish between print or online journal articles, but a DOI should be included if available. See the style guides above for information on citing books, abstracts and other information formats.

Basic format:

Author, A.A., Author, B.B., and Author, C.C., Year, Title of article: Titile of Journal, v. #, p. ##-##, doi: 10.####/####

Examples:

Kominz, M.A., Browning, J.V., Miller, K.G., Sugarman, P.J., Mizintseva, S., and Scotese, C.R., 2008, Late Cretaceous to Miocene sea-level estimates from the New Jersey and Delaware coastal plain coreholes: An error analysis: Basin Research, v. 20, p. 211–226, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2008.00354.x.

Doglioni, C., 1994, Foredeeps versus subduction zones: Geology, v. 22, p. 271–274.

Leigh, D.S., 1994, Roxana silt of the Upper Mississippi Valley: Lithology, source, and paleoenvironment: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 106, p. 430–442.

Walter, L.M., Bischof, S.A., Patterson, W.P., and Lyons, T.L., 1993, Dissolution and recrystallization in modern shelf carbonates: Evidence from pore water and solid phase chemistry: Royal Society of London Philosophical Transactions, ser. A, v. 344, p. 27–36. 

General Tips

  • All author names are listed in the same order as they appear on the article
  • Use first and middle initials for authors with periods
  • The only capitalized words in the article title are the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.
  • All major words are capitalized for the journal title.
  • Nothing is italicized or underlined