How to format your references using the BMC Nutrition citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BMC Nutrition. 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	Find the style here: output styles overview
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. Bernstein R. From war to science paradise. Science. 2015;348:602.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Wells JA, Kossiakoff AA. Cell biology. New tricks for an old dimer. Science. 2014;344:703–4.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Gardner TJ, Naef F, Nottebohm F. Freedom and rules: the acquisition and reprogramming of a bird’s learned song. Science. 2005;308:1046–9.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Wu Y, Cain-Hom C, Choy L, Hagenbeek TJ, de Leon GP, Chen Y, et al. Therapeutic antibody targeting of individual Notch receptors. Nature. 2010;464:1052–7.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Kirwan MJ. Handbook of Paper and Paperboard Packaging Technology. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2013.

An edited book

1. Panofsky WKH, Deken JM, editors. Panofsky on Physics, Politics, and Peace: Pief Remembers. New York, NY: Springer; 2007.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Cano C, Guerrero M, Bellalta B. Secure and Efficient Data Collection in Sensor Networks. In: Cerdà-Alabern L, editor. Wireless Systems and Mobility in Next Generation Internet: 4th International Workshop of the EuroNGI/EuroFGI Network of Excellence Barcelona, Spain, January 16-18, 2008 Revised Selected Papers. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2008. p. 37–48.

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 Nutrition.

Blog post

1. Hamilton K. Filthy Rich? Insects Prefer To Live In Wealthier Houses Research Says. IFLScience. 2016. https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/filthy-rich-insects-prefer-to-live-in-wealthier-houses-research-says/. 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. Review of Training Grant Awarded to the University of California at Los Angeles. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1970.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Harvey T. The Box. Doctoral dissertation. Southern Illinois University; 2014.

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. Walsh MW. Hispanic Contingent in Congress Asks Treasury to Prevent ‘Catastrophe’ in Puerto Rico. New York Times. 2015;:B3.

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 Nutrition
Abbreviation	BMC Nutr.
ISSN (online)	2055-0928
Scope