How to format your references using the BBA - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BBA - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. 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:

PaperpileThe citation style is built in and you can choose it in Settings > Citation Style or Paperpile > Citation Style in Google Docs.
EndNoteFind the style here: output styles overview
Mendeley, Zotero, Papers, and othersThe style is either built in or you can download a CSL file that is supported by most references management programs.
BibTeXBibTeX 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
[1]
D.M. Fekete, Developmental biology. Rocks that roll zebrafish, Science. 302 (2003) 241–242.
A journal article with 2 authors
[1]
R.G. Morris, M. Barthelemy, Interdependent networks: the fragility of control, Sci. Rep. 3 (2013) 2764.
A journal article with 3 authors
[1]
M. Ji, M. Odelius, K.J. Gaffney, Large angular jump mechanism observed for hydrogen bond exchange in aqueous perchlorate solution, Science. 328 (2010) 1003–1005.
A journal article with 4 or more authors
[1]
R. Valiullin, S. Naumov, P. Galvosas, J. Kärger, H.-J. Woo, F. Porcheron, P.A. Monson, Exploration of molecular dynamics during transient sorption of fluids in mesoporous materials, Nature. 443 (2006) 965–968.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
[1]
J. Berk, Cost Reduction and Optimization for Manufacturing and Industrial Companies, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, 2010.
An edited book
[1]
M. Kandouz, ed., Intercellular Communication in Cancer, 1st ed. 2015, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, 2015.
A chapter in an edited book
[1]
J. Gal, Exploring the Extended Family of Mediterranean Welfare States, or: Did Beveridge and Bismarck Take a Mediterranean Cruise Together?, in: M. Ajzenstadt, J. Gal (Eds.), Children, Gender and Families in Mediterranean Welfare States, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, 2010: pp. 77–101.

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 BBA - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids.

Blog post
[1]
D. Andrew, NASA Tests Flying Saucer, IFLScience. (2015). https://www.iflscience.com/space/take-spin-nasas-new-breakthrough-technology-low-density-supersonic-decelerator/ (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
[1]
Government Accountability Office, No Child Left Behind Act: Improved Accessibility to Education’s Information Could Help States Further Implement Teacher Qualification Requirements, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2005.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation
[1]
J.N. Samble, Persistence and Advancement in NCAA Division I: Lived Experiences of Female Athletic Administrators, Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 2017.

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
[1]
D. Itzkoff, D. Kelly, Music Chronicle, New York Times. (2005) 724.

In-text citations

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

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 titleBBA - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids
AbbreviationBiochim. Biophys. Acta Mol. Cell Biol. Lipids
ISSN (print)1388-1981
ScopeCell Biology
Molecular Biology

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