How to format your references using the BMC Biotechnology citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BMC Biotechnology. 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

1. Nilsson O. Plant science. A pathway to flowering--why staying cool matters. Science. 2013;342:566–7.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Giessen H, Lippitz M. Physics. Directing light emission from quantum dots. Science. 2010;329:910–1.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Rich T, Allen RL, Wyllie AH. Defying death after DNA damage. Nature. 2000;407:777–83.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Vásquez V, Sotomayor M, Cordero-Morales J, Schulten K, Perozo E. A structural mechanism for MscS gating in lipid bilayers. Science. 2008;321:1210–4.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Burger M, Graeber B, Schindlmayr G. Managing Energy Risk. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2014.

An edited book

1. Vassiliou V, Chow E, Kardamakis D, editors. Bone Metastases: A translational and Clinical Approach. 2nd ed. 2014. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2014.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Holt RJ, Weightman APH, Gallagher JF, Preston N, Levesley MC, Mon-Williams M, et al. Deploying a Two-Player System for Arm Rehabilitation in Schools. In: Langdon P, Clarkson J, Robinson P, Lazar J, Heylighen A, editors. Designing Inclusive Systems: Designing Inclusion for Real-world Applications. London: Springer; 2012. p. 33–41.

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 BMC Biotechnology.

Blog post

1. Andrew E. Polymer Blend Conducts Heat Ten Times More Efficiently Than Conventional Plastics. IFLScience. 2014. https://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/polymer-blend-conducts-heat-ten-times-more-efficiently-conventional-plastics/. 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

1. Government Accountability Office. Airport Finance: Past Funding Levels May Not Be Sufficient to Cover Airports’ Planned Capital Development. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2003.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Pitron JE. The influence of exemplary followership on organizational performance: A phenomenological approach. Doctoral dissertation. University of Phoenix; 2008.

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. Kenigsberg B. Film Series. New York Times. 2017;:C21.

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 title	BMC Biotechnology
Abbreviation	BMC Biotechnol.
ISSN (online)	1472-6750
Scope	Biotechnology

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