How to format your references using the Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (APSB). 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	Find the style here: output styles overview
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

Rich P. Chemiosmotic coupling: The cost of living. Nature 2003;421(6923):583.

A journal article with 2 authors

Hardie RC., Franze K. Photomechanical responses in Drosophila photoreceptors. Science 2012;338(6104):260–3.

A journal article with 3 authors

Flytzani-Stephanopoulos M., Sakbodin M., Wang Z. Regenerative adsorption and removal of H2S from hot fuel gas streams by rare earth oxides. Science 2006;312(5779):1508–10.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Grossman SR., Shlyakhter I., Karlsson EK., Byrne EH., Morales S., Frieden G., et al. A composite of multiple signals distinguishes causal variants in regions of positive selection. Science 2010;327(5967):883–6.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Yu J., Tao D. Modern Machine Learning Techniques and Their Applications in Cartoon Animation Research, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2013.

An edited book

Shaikh SH. Moving Object Detection Using Background Subtraction, Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2014.

A chapter in an edited book

Roumelis G., Vassilakopoulos M., Corral A., Manolopoulos Y. The K Group Nearest-Neighbor Query on Non-indexed RAM-Resident Data. In: Grueau C, and Gustavo Rocha J, editors. Geographical Information Systems Theory, Applications and Management: First International Conference, GISTAM 2015, Barcelona, Spain, April 28-30, 2015, Revised Selected Papers, Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2016, p. 69–89.

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 Pharmaceutica Sinica B.

Blog post

Luntz S. Division of Labor Key To Naked Mole Rats’ Extraordinary Longevity. IFLScience. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/division-labor-key-naked-mole-rats-extraordinary-longevity/ [accessed October 30, 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. Transit Rail: Potential Rail Car Cost-Saving Strategies Exist, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2010.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Gallardo-Macias R. Tin (II) compounds as novel catalysts for the Kabachnik-Fields reaction: Studies in the synthesis of alpha-aminophosphonates under solvent free conditions and Synthesis of phosphonates and phosphates as reversible and irreversible inhibitors of butyrylcholinesterase. Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 2009.

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

Shear MD., Nixon R. Vetting Is Little Changed Since Calls for Travel Ban. New York Times 2017:A14.

In-text citations

References should be cited in the text by sequential numbers in superscript:

This sentence cites one reference ¹.
This sentence cites two references ^1,2.
This sentence cites four references ^1–4.

About the journal

Full journal title	Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B
Abbreviation	Acta Pharm. Sin. B.
ISSN (print)	2211-3835
ISSN (online)	2211-3843
Scope	General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics