How to format your references using the BMC Cell Biology citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BMC Cell Biology. 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. Dalton R. Arizona institute names leader. Nature. 2003;423:6.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Plug LJ, Werner BT. Nonlinear dynamics of ice-wedge networks and resulting sensitivity to severe cooling events. Nature. 2002;417:929–33.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Truog RD, Kesselheim AS, Joffe S. Research ethics. Paying patients for their tissue: the legacy of Henrietta Lacks. Science. 2012;337:37–8.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Rigoni M, Caccin P, Gschmeissner S, Koster G, Postle AD, Rossetto O, et al. Equivalent effects of snake PLA2 neurotoxins and lysophospholipid-fatty acid mixtures. Science. 2005;310:1678–80.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Pischella M, Le Ruyet D. Digital Communications 2. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2015.

An edited book

1. Charikar M, Jansen K, Reingold O, Rolim JDP, editors. Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques: 10th International Workshop, APPROX 2007, and 11th International Workshop, RANDOM 2007, Princeton, NJ, USA, August 20-22, 2007. Proceedings. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2007.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Braff MH, Gallo RL. Antimicrobial Peptides: An Essential Component of the Skin Defensive Barrier. In: Shafer WM, editor. Antimicrobial Peptides and Human Disease. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2006. p. 91–110.

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 Cell Biology.

Blog post

1. Andrew D. What Does Empty Space Sound Like? We Need Your Help To Find Out. IFLScience. 2016. https://www.iflscience.com/space/what-does-empty-space-sound-like-we-need-your-help-to-find-out/. 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. Highways and Transit: Private Sector Sponsorship of and Investment in Major Projects Has Been Limited. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2004.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Boysen J. The ESCRT machinery, required for endosomal trafficking, is a pH-signaling platform. Doctoral dissertation. Columbia University; 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. Kelly D. Smoked. New York Times. 2008;:BR18.

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 Cell Biology
Abbreviation	BMC Cell Biol.
ISSN (online)	1471-2121
Scope	Cell Biology