How to format your references using the BMC Pediatrics citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for BMC Pediatrics. 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. Kump LR. Reducing uncertainty about carbon dioxide as a climate driver. Nature. 2002;419:188–90.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Georgiou G, Masip L. Biochemistry. An overoxidation journey with a return ticket. Science. 2003;300:592–4.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Melton C, Judson RL, Blelloch R. Opposing microRNA families regulate self-renewal in mouse embryonic stem cells. Nature. 2010;463:621–6.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Nicodeme E, Jeffrey KL, Schaefer U, Beinke S, Dewell S, Chung C-W, et al. Suppression of inflammation by a synthetic histone mimic. Nature. 2010;468:1119–23.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. English JF. The Global Future of English Studies. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2012.

An edited book

1. Lachapelle J-M, Bruze M, Elsner PU, editors. Patch Testing Tips: Recommendations from the ICDRG. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2014.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Fukaya J, Ooba Y, Kuriiwa H, Yamada R, Oka M, Mori H. A Study on Selection Ability in the 3D Space by the Finger. In: Yamamoto S, editor. Human Interface and the Management of Information. Information and Interaction Design: 15th International Conference, HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 21-26, 2013, Proceedings, Part I. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2013. p. 30–6.

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 Pediatrics.

Blog post

1. Andrew E. GM Mosquitoes Set To Be Released In Brazil To Combat Dengue. IFLScience. 2014. https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/gm-mosquitoes-set-be-released-brazil-combat-dengue-0/. 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. Department of Education: Key Aspects of the Federal Direct Loan Program’s Cost Estimates. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2001.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Ishutov S. Tectonic characterization of the THUMS-Huntington Beach fault, offshore southern California. Doctoral dissertation. California State University, Long Beach; 2013.

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. Healy J, Kovaleski SF. One Mother, 7 Dead Newborns and a Stunned Community in Utah. New York Times. 2014;:A18.

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 Pediatrics
Abbreviation	BMC Pediatr.
ISSN (online)	1471-2431
Scope	Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health