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

Stern P. The heavily connected brain. Connection, connection, connection... Introduction. Science 2013;342(6158):577.

A journal article with 2 authors

Hubbell JA., Chilkoti A. Chemistry. Nanomaterials for drug delivery. Science 2012;337(6092):303–5.

A journal article with 3 authors

Elias LAB., Wang DD., Kriegstein AR. Gap junction adhesion is necessary for radial migration in the neocortex. Nature 2007;448(7156):901–7.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Smakowska-Luzan E., Mott GA., Parys K., Stegmann M., Howton TC., Layeghifard M., et al. Publisher Correction: An extracellular network of Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases. Nature 2018;561(7722):E8.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Chin E., Nel D., Ólafsson S. Problems and Solutions in Mathematical Finance, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2014.

An edited book

Kurbanoğlu S., Al U., Lepon Erdoğan P., Tonta Y., Uçak N. Technological Convergence and Social Networks in Information Management: Second International Symposium on Information Management in a Changing World, IMCW 2010, Ankara, Turkey, September 22-24, 2010. Proceedings, vol. 96, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2010.

A chapter in an edited book

An G., Kim K. Real-Time IP Checking and Packet Marking for Preventing ND-DoS Attack Employing Fake Source IP in IPv6 LAN. In: Rong C, Jaatun MG, Sandnes FE, Yang LT, and Ma J, editors. Autonomic and Trusted Computing: 5th International Conference, ATC 2008, Oslo, Norway, June 23-25, 2008 Proceedings, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2008, p. 36–46.

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

Carpineti A. The Core Of The Milky Way Erupted 6 Million Years Ago. IFLScience. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/space/the-core-of-the-milky-way-erupted-6-million-years-ago/ [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. Status and Issues Pertaining to the Proposed Development of the Space Telescope Project, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1977.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Razzaghi M. Quantum Tunneling in Hydride Transfer Reactions in Solution. Doctoral dissertation, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL, 2013.

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

Ortved J. Trading a T Square for Showbiz. New York Times 2016:D2.

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

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