How to format your references using the BMC Medical Research Methodology citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BMC Medical Research Methodology. 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. Macilwain C. Science should be ready to jump off “the cliff.” Nature. 2012;491:639.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Sander PM, Klein N. Developmental plasticity in the life history of a prosauropod dinosaur. Science. 2005;310:1800–2.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Li X, Schuler MA, Berenbaum MR. Jasmonate and salicylate induce expression of herbivore cytochrome P450 genes. Nature. 2002;419:712–5.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Gaillard F, Malki M, Iacono-Marziano G, Pichavant M, Scaillet B. Carbonatite melts and electrical conductivity in the asthenosphere. Science. 2008;322:1363–5.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Rigby KA. Aircraft Systems Integration of Air-Launched Weapons. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2013.

An edited book

1. Narey M, editor. Making Meaning: Constructing Multimodal Perspectives of Language, Literacy, and Learning through Arts-based Early Childhood Education. Boston, MA: Springer US; 2009.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Krzyścin JW, Borkowski J, Głowacka A, Jarosławski J, Podgórski J, Pietruczuk A, et al. Half Century of the Ozone Observations at the Central Geophysical Observatory, IGF PAS, Belsk, Poland. In: Bialik R, Majdański M, Moskalik M, editors. Achievements, History and Challenges in Geophysics: 60th Anniversary of the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2014. p. 85–107.

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 Medical Research Methodology.

Blog post

1. Andrews R. Mysterious Signal Above Antarctica Traced Back To Country-Sized Chunk Of Vibrating Ice. IFLScience. 2016. https://www.iflscience.com/environment/mysterious-signal-antarctica-traced-back-countrysized-chunk-vibrating-ice/. 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. Airline Competition: Higher Fares and Less Competition Continue at Concentrated Airports. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1993.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Stevens S. Aboard and Beyond. Doctoral dissertation. George Washington 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. Vecsey G. In Season of Defense, Recalling Swoboda’s Catch. New York Times. 2009;:B19.

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 Medical Research Methodology
Abbreviation	BMC Med. Res. Methodol.
ISSN (online)	1471-2288
Scope	Epidemiology Health Informatics

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