How do I handle forthcoming articles?

Give what exists, add “Forthcoming” and include the DOI, then update the entry once the article is out. Texas Tech's ASCE guide shows this with Han, Wang, Xia and Chen's paper on slurry-trench stability, which has since appeared as Int. J. Geomech. 15 (5): 06014026, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000268 — a good illustration of why you should re-check a forthcoming citation before submitting.

How do I cite a working paper or submitted manuscript?

ASCE does not allow unpublished material in the reference list, so cite it parenthetically in the text with enough detail for a reader, as a template: “([Initial]. [Surname], ‘[Title],’ working paper, [Institution], [City]).”

What about citing software in ASCE style?

Give the software name, version, developer and location, plus a URL where one exists, in the shape: “[Name]. [Year]. [Title], Version [n]. [City], [State]: [Developer].”

Can I cite personal communications in ASCE?

In text only, never in the reference list. Because a personal communication is unpublished, the form is a template: “…in some cases ([Initials]. [Surname], personal communication, [Year])…”

How to Cite in ASCE Style: Civil Engineering Guide

Q: How do I cite ASCE codes and standards?

Put the issuing organization in the author position, with its acronym expanded on first use, then the year, title and designation: “ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). 2022. Minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures. ASCE/SEI 7-22. Reston, VA: ASCE.” That standard carries DOI 10.1061/9780784415788.

This guide covers how to cite sources in ASCE format — the citation style required for American Society of Civil Engineers journals and proceedings.

Official Resources and What This Page Rests On

ASCE's Publishing in ASCE Journals: A Guide for Authors is the authority, but ascelibrary.org returns HTTP 403 to automated requests, so this page does not quote it directly. The rules below follow two university library guides that reproduce ASCE's own reference examples, named where their wording matters:

Texas Tech University Libraries, "ASCE Citation Style" — the author-date rule, the reference examples, and the map and building-code forms.
Cal Poly Humboldt Library, "ASCE Style Guide".

Every worked example below is a real, published source, checked today against Crossref, Open Library or the publisher's own record — including two that Texas Tech's guide gives with details this page has corrected against the catalogue.

Quick Overview: ASCE Citation Format

ASCE uses the author-date method. Texas Tech's guide states it as: ASCE uses "the author-date method for in-text references, whereby the citation reads as the last names of the authors, then the year." Key characteristics:

In-text citations show author surname(s) and the year
References are alphabetized by the first author's surname
Journal titles are abbreviated in title case
ASCE journals no longer use page numbers — they use content identifiers (CIDs)
Unpublished material is cited in text only

In-Text Citations in ASCE

Single Author

Boundary element methods were reviewed comprehensively for dynamic problems (Beskos 1987).

Two Authors

Use "and" between surnames:

Future flood probabilities can be estimated with quantified uncertainty (Irish and Resio 2013).

Three or More Authors

First author plus "et al.":

Combined caissons alter wave reflection (Faraci et al. 2015).

Multiple Citations

List chronologically, separated by commas:

Several studies bear on this (Beskos 1987, Irish and Resio 2013, Faraci et al. 2015).

Author Name in Sentence

Don't repeat the name in the citation:

According to Beskos (1987), the method had matured considerably by the mid-1980s.

Direct Quotes

Include the page number for a direct quotation: "(Beskos 1987, p. 1)".

Reference List Format

Key formatting notes:

First author: Last name, First initial. Middle initial.
Subsequent authors: First initial. Middle initial. Last name
Article titles in quotation marks, sentence case
Journal titles abbreviated, title case, italicized
Include the DOI where the source has one

Journal Articles

ASCE journals, which use a content identifier in place of a page range:

Faraci, C., P. Scandura, and E. Foti. 2015. "Reflection of sea waves by combined caissons." J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 141 (2): 04014036. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000275.

ASCE journals before the change to content identifiers, and non-ASCE journals, with page ranges:

Irish, J. L., and D. T. Resio. 2013. "Method for estimating future hurricane flood probabilities and associated uncertainty." J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 139 (2): 126–134. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000157.

Beskos, D. E. 1987. "Boundary element methods in dynamic analysis." Appl. Mech. Rev. 40 (1): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3149529.

Texas Tech's guide gives the Irish and Resio entry with the content identifier 04013001; the article's own record shows pages 126–134, which is what appears above.

Books

Evans, G. M., and J. C. Furlong. 2003. Environmental biotechnology: Theory and application. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Texas Tech's guide gives this book's subtitle as "Theory and applications"; the catalogue record has "theory and application", which is used above.

With specific pages, add them after the publisher: Chichester, UK: Wiley, 45–52.

Edited Books and Chapters

Name the chapter, then the collection and its editor:

Ligrani, P. 2018. "Full-coverage effusion cooling in external forced convection: Sparse and dense hole arrays." In Handbook of thermal science and engineering, edited by F. A. Kulacki, 425–445. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26695-4_8.

Conference Proceedings

Give the proceedings title, page range, and the publisher and its location. Where the proceedings have no publisher, ASCE's guidance is to use the sponsoring body and its location.

Yu, D., C. Bennett, and A. Matamoros. 2017. "Retrofitting distortion-induced fatigue in skewed girders to cross-frame connections." In Proc., Structures Congress 2017, 149–161. Reston, VA: ASCE. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480403.014.

Technical Reports

The issuing agency goes in the author position, with the report series and number:

Bergeson, M. T. 2026. The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Wisconsin's economy. Fact Sheet 2026-3007. Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20263007.

Standards

ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). 2022. Minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures. ASCE/SEI 7-22. Reston, VA: ASCE. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784415788.

Texas Tech's guide gives the building-code form with an older ACI standard: "ACI (American Concrete Institute). 1989. Building code requirement for reinforced concrete. ACI 318-89. Farmington Hills, MI: ACI." Cite the edition you actually used — these designations are revised on a cycle.

Websites

Give the organization, year, page title, access date and URL.

USGS (U.S. Geological Survey). 2026. "3D Elevation Program." Accessed September 22, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/3d-elevation-program.

Dissertations and Theses

Liu, H. 2026. "Geotechnical response of cemented paste backfill under the multiphysics coupled conditions in deep mines." Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Ottawa. https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-32125.

Maps

Texas Tech's guide gives ASCE's map form as: "Brown, R. J. E., cartographer. 1967. Permafrost in Canada. Map 1246A. Ottawa: Geologic Survey of Canada." That example is reproduced here as the guide prints it; this page could not open an independent catalogue record for the map sheet, so treat the shape rather than the particulars as the lesson:

[Surname], [Initial]., cartographer. [Year]. [Map title]. Map [number]. [City]: [Issuing body].

ASCE Journal Title Abbreviations

Use the abbreviations the journals themselves print. Common examples:

Full Title	Abbreviation
Journal of Structural Engineering	J. Struct. Eng.
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering	J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng.
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering	J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng.
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering	J. Mater. Civ. Eng.
International Journal of Geomechanics	Int. J. Geomech.
Applied Mechanics Reviews	Appl. Mech. Rev.

Common ASCE Mistakes to Avoid

Including unpublished material: ASCE does not permit unpublished material in the reference list, except forthcoming journal articles with DOIs. Cite unpublished work in text only.
Leaving a "Forthcoming" reference stale: an article marked forthcoming has usually been published by the time you submit. Check the DOI and replace the entry with the full citation.
Wrong author-order formatting: the first author is Last, F. M.; subsequent authors are F. M. Last.
Missing DOIs: include them wherever a source has one.
Confusing content identifiers with page numbers: an ASCE journal citation now ends in a CID such as 04014036, not a page range.
Copying an example from a library guide without checking it: two of the examples on this page needed correcting against the catalogue.

ASCE Citation Tools

Reference managers including Zotero and Mendeley ship ASCE styles, and ASCE provides LaTeX templates for journal submissions. Check the output against a recent article in your target journal.

Sources for This Page

Texas Tech University Libraries. "ASCE Citation Style." https://guides.library.ttu.edu/engineeringcitations/asce — the author-date rule and the reference examples reproduced or corrected above.
Cal Poly Humboldt Library. "ASCE Style Guide Citing Sources." https://libguides.humboldt.edu/ere/asce
American Society of Civil Engineers. Publishing in ASCE Journals: A Guide for Authors. https://ascelibrary.org/page/informationforeditors/authorsguide — the authority, which blocks automated access.
Crossref records for the Faraci et al., Irish–Resio, Beskos and Han et al. papers, the Ligrani chapter, the Yu et al. proceedings paper, the ASCE/SEI 7-22 standard and the USGS fact sheet; Open Library (OL18181219M, LCCN 2002027448) for Evans and Furlong; DataCite DOI 10.20381/ruor-32125 for the Ottawa thesis; usgs.gov for the web example.

When researching civil engineering literature, Wonders can help you discover relevant sources and keep reference lists traceable, though ASCE is not one of its six output styles — see an AI research tool for engineering students.