How to format your references using the BMC Geriatrics citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BMC Geriatrics. 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. Deshaies RJ. Structural biology: Corralling a protein-degradation regulator. Nature. 2014;512:145–6.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Kellner AWA, Campos D de A. The function of the cranial crest and jaws of a unique pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. Science. 2002;297:389–92.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Applegate PJ, Lowell TV, Alley RB. Comment on “Absence of cooling in New Zealand and the adjacent ocean during the Younger Dryas chronozone.” Science. 2008;320:746; author reply 746.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Rauschhuber C, Mueck-Haeusl M, Zhang W, Nettelbeck DM, Ehrhardt A. RNAi suppressor P19 can be broadly exploited for enhanced adenovirus replication and microRNA knockdown experiments. Sci Rep. 2013;3:1363.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Kaplan W. Maxima and Minima with Applications. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 1998.

An edited book

1. Kury H, Redo S, Shea E, editors. Women and Children as Victims and Offenders: Background, Prevention, Reintegration: Suggestions for Succeeding Generations (Volume 2). Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2016.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Hughes D, Evans M, Morrow G, Keith S. The Realities of Practice. In: Evans M, Morrow G, Keith S, editors. The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2016. p. 81–96.

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 Geriatrics.

Blog post

1. Andrew E. Secret Spaceplane Lands After 674 Days In Orbit. IFLScience. 2014. https://www.iflscience.com/space/secret-air-force-spaceplane-lands-after-674-days-orbit/. 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. Commercial Practices: Opportunities Exist to Enhance DOD’s Sales of Surplus Aircraft Parts. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1994.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Bell J. A phenomenological study of African American GS-13 to GS-15 managers within the federal government. Doctoral dissertation. University of Phoenix; 2015.

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. Saslow L. Village Moves to Deter Illegal Housing. New York Times. 2006;:14LI9.

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 Geriatrics
Abbreviation	BMC Geriatr.
ISSN (online)	1471-2318
Scope	Geriatrics and Gerontology

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