How to format your references using the Acta Neurochirurgica citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Acta Neurochirurgica. For a complete guide how to prepare your manuscript refer to the journal's instructions to authors.

Using reference management software

Typically you don't format your citations and bibliography by hand. The easiest way is to use a reference manager:

Paperpile	The citation style is built in and you can choose it in Settings > Citation Style or Paperpile > Citation Style in Google Docs.
EndNote	Download the output style file
Mendeley, Zotero, Papers, and others	The style is either built in or you can download a CSL file that is supported by most references management programs.
BibTeX	BibTeX syles are usually part of a LaTeX template. Check the instructions to authors if the publisher offers a LaTeX template for this journal.

Journal articles

Those examples are references to articles in scholarly journals and how they are supposed to appear in your bibliography.

Not all journals organize their published articles in volumes and issues, so these fields are optional. Some electronic journals do not provide a page range, but instead list an article identifier. In a case like this it's safe to use the article identifier instead of the page range.

A journal article with 1 author

Leonard KE (2015) Perspective: Beyond the neural circuits. Nature 522(7557):S56

A journal article with 2 authors

Kagaya K, Takahata M (2011) Sequential synaptic excitation and inhibition shape readiness discharge for voluntary behavior. Science 332(6027):365–368

A journal article with 3 authors

Lin X, Clark AC, Chan MHW (2007) Probable heat capacity signature of the supersolid transition. Nature 449(7165):1025–1028

A journal article with 11 or more authors

Choi J-H, Ryu W-H, Park K, Jo J-D, Jo S-M, Lim D-S, Kim I-D (2014) Multi-layer electrode with nano-Li4Ti5O12 aggregates sandwiched between carbon nanotube and graphene networks for high power Li-ion batteries. Sci Rep 4:7334

Books and book chapters

Here are examples of references for authored and edited books as well as book chapters.

An authored book

Krishnan V (2006) Probability and Random Processes. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ

An edited book

Lloyd D, Rossi EL (eds) (2008) Ultradian Rhythms from Molecules to Mind: A New Vision of Life. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht

A chapter in an edited book

Karasulu B, Korukoglu S (2013) A Case Study: People Detection and Tracking in Videos. In: Korukoglu S (ed) Performance Evaluation Software: Moving Object Detection and Tracking in Videos. Springer, New York, NY, pp 51–63

Web sites

Sometimes references to web sites should appear directly in the text rather than in the bibliography. Refer to the Instructions to authors for Acta Neurochirurgica.

Blog post

Andrew E (2015) The Secret Maoist Chinese Operation That Conquered Malaria – And Won A Nobel. In: IFLScience. https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/secret-maoist-chinese-operation-conquered-malaria-and-won-nobel/. Accessed 30 Oct 2018

Reports

This example shows the general structure used for government reports, technical reports, and scientific reports. If you can't locate the report number then it might be better to cite the report as a book. For reports it is usually not individual people that are credited as authors, but a governmental department or agency like "U. S. Food and Drug Administration" or "National Cancer Institute".

Government report

Government Accountability Office (2016) U.S. Postal Service: Information on How Broadband Affects Postal Use and the Communications Options for Rural Residents. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC

Theses and dissertations

Theses including Ph.D. dissertations, Master's theses or Bachelor theses follow the basic format outlined below.

Doctoral dissertation

Schultz SM (2010) Interpreting the assemblages of Lonnie Holley through his performative explanations. Doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina

News paper articles

Unlike scholarly journals, news papers do not usually have a volume and issue number. Instead, the full date and page number is required for a correct reference.

New York Times article

Feuer A (2015) A Campaign to Preserve the Ordinary. New York Times MB1

In-text citations

References should be cited in the text by sequential numbers in square brackets:

This sentence cites one reference [2].
This sentence cites two references [3, 4].
This sentence cites four references [4, 5, 7, 8].

About the journal

Full journal title	Acta Neurochirurgica
Abbreviation	Acta Neurochir. (Wien)
ISSN (print)	0001-6268
ISSN (online)	0942-0940
Scope	Clinical Neurology Surgery