diff --git a/src/citeme.cpp b/src/citeme.cpp
index d032e34803..a3bbef2f3c 100644
--- a/src/citeme.cpp
+++ b/src/citeme.cpp
@@ -17,20 +17,23 @@
 
 using namespace LAMMPS_NS;
 
-static const char cite_header[] =
-  "This LAMMPS simulation made specific use of work described in the\n"
-  "following references.  See https://lammps.sandia.gov/cite.html\n"
-  "for details.\n\n";
-
-static const char cite_nagline[] = "Please see the log.cite file "
-  "for references relevant to this simulation\n\n";
-
-static const char cite_seefile[] = "Please see the citation file "
-  "for references relevant to this simulation\n\n";
-
 static const char cite_separator[] =
   "\nCITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE-CITE\n\n";
 
+static const char cite_nagline[] =
+  "Your LAMMPS simulation uses code contributions which should be cited.\n"
+  "Please see https://lammps.sandia.gov/doc/Intro_citing.html for more\n"
+  "information on citing LAMMPS itself.\n";
+
+static const char cite_short[] =
+  "A short list of the features is given below.\n\n";
+
+static const char cite_full[] =
+  "Below is a list of the full references in BibTeX format.\n\n";
+
+static const char cite_file[] = "Please see the {} {} "
+  "for detailed references in BibTeX format.\n";
+
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
 CiteMe::CiteMe(LAMMPS *lmp, int _screen, int _logfile, const char *_file)
@@ -45,12 +48,14 @@ CiteMe::CiteMe(LAMMPS *lmp, int _screen, int _logfile, const char *_file)
   logbuffer.clear();
 
   if (_file && universe->me == 0) {
+    citefile = _file;
     fp = fopen(_file,"w");
     if (fp) {
-      fputs(cite_header,fp);
+      fputs(cite_nagline,fp);
+      fputs(cite_full,fp);
       fflush(fp);
     } else {
-      utils::logmesg(lmp, "Unable to open citation file '" + std::string(_file)
+      utils::logmesg(lmp, "Unable to open citation file '" + citefile
                      + "': " + utils::getsyserror() + "\n");
     }
   }
@@ -85,13 +90,25 @@ void CiteMe::add(const char *ref)
 
   if (scrbuffer.empty()) {
     scrbuffer += cite_separator;
-    if (screen_flag == VERBOSE) scrbuffer += cite_header;
-    if (screen_flag == TERSE) scrbuffer += cite_nagline;
+    scrbuffer += cite_nagline;
+    if (!citefile.empty()) scrbuffer += fmt::format(cite_file,"file",citefile);
+    if (screen_flag == VERBOSE) scrbuffer += cite_full;
+    if (screen_flag == TERSE) {
+      if (logfile_flag == VERBOSE)
+        scrbuffer += fmt::format(cite_file,"log","file");
+      scrbuffer += cite_short;
+    }
   }
   if (logbuffer.empty()) {
     logbuffer += cite_separator;
-    if (logfile_flag == VERBOSE) logbuffer += cite_header;
-    if (logfile_flag == TERSE) logbuffer += cite_nagline;
+    logbuffer += cite_nagline;
+    if (!citefile.empty()) logbuffer += fmt::format(cite_file,"file",citefile);
+    if (logfile_flag == VERBOSE) logbuffer += cite_full;
+    if (logfile_flag == TERSE) {
+      if (screen_flag == VERBOSE)
+        scrbuffer += fmt::format(cite_file,"screen","output");
+      logbuffer += cite_short;
+    }
   }
 
   std::string reference = ref;
@@ -111,7 +128,7 @@ void CiteMe::flush()
       if (screen) fputs(scrbuffer.c_str(),screen);
       scrbuffer.clear();
     }
-    if (!scrbuffer.empty()) {
+    if (!logbuffer.empty()) {
       logbuffer += cite_separator;
       if (logfile) fputs(logbuffer.c_str(),logfile);
       logbuffer.clear();
diff --git a/src/citeme.h b/src/citeme.h
index 9a3d30e8e8..dd54268a3b 100644
--- a/src/citeme.h
+++ b/src/citeme.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ class CiteMe : protected Pointers {
 
  private:
   FILE *fp;                    // explicit citation file pointer or NULL
+  std::string citefile;        // name of the explicit citation file.
   int screen_flag;             // determine whether verbose or terse output
   int logfile_flag;            // determine whether verbose or terse output
   std::string scrbuffer;       // output buffer for screen
diff --git a/src/lammps.cpp b/src/lammps.cpp
index b882c76032..1648c55852 100644
--- a/src/lammps.cpp
+++ b/src/lammps.cpp
@@ -1142,7 +1142,8 @@ void _noopt LAMMPS::help()
           "-kokkos on/off ...          : turn KOKKOS mode on or off (-k)\n"
           "-log none/filename          : where to send log output (-l)\n"
           "-mpicolor color             : which exe in a multi-exe mpirun cmd (-m)\n"
-          "-nocite                     : disable writing log.cite file (-nc)\n"
+          "-cite                       : select citation reminder style (-c)\n"
+          "-nocite                     : disable citation reminder (-nc)\n"
           "-package style ...          : invoke package command (-pk)\n"
           "-partition size1 size2 ...  : assign partition sizes (-p)\n"
           "-plog basename              : basename for partition logs (-pl)\n"