How to format your references using the China Communications citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for China Communications. 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]

H. Ko, “Neuroscience. Functional organization of synaptic connections in the neocortex,” Science, vol. 346, no. 6209, p. 555, Oct. 2014.

A journal article with 2 authors

[1]

J. D. Amack and M. L. Manning, “Knowing the boundaries: extending the differential adhesion hypothesis in embryonic cell sorting,” Science, vol. 338, no. 6104, pp. 212–215, Oct. 2012.

A journal article with 3 authors

[1]

M. Yamaguchi, M. Shiga, and H. Kaburaki, “Grain boundary decohesion by impurity segregation in a nickel-sulfur system,” Science, vol. 307, no. 5708, pp. 393–397, Jan. 2005.

A journal article with 4 or more authors

[1]

D. A. Thilker et al., “Massive star formation within the Leo ‘primordial’ ring,” Nature, vol. 457, no. 7232, pp. 990–993, Feb. 2009.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

[1]

T. Anstädt, I. Keller, and H. Lutz, Intelligente Videoanalyse. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2010.

An edited book

[1]

Y. Zhang, Multilayer Integrated Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2013.

A chapter in an edited book

[1]

T. Zielinska, “Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543),” in Distinguished Figures in Mechanism and Machine Science: Their Contributions and Legacies Part 1, M. Ceccarelli, Ed., in History of Mechanism and Machine Science. , Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2007, pp. 117–134.

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 China Communications.

Blog post

[1]

A. Carpineti, “Early Universe Discovery Might Help Explain How Galaxies Got So Big So Quickly,” IFLScience. Accessed: Oct. 30, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.iflscience.com/space/early-universe-discovery-might-help-explain-how-galaxies-got-so-big-so-quickly/

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, “Computer Security: Hackers Penetrate DOD Computer Systems,” U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, T-IMTEC-92-5, Nov. 1991.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

[1]

Y. Tchen, “An evaluation of the effectiveness of mandatory reporting of health care associated infection,” Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 2010.

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]

K. Feeney, “For Those Without Key Cards, Too,” New York Times, p. NJ9, Feb. 26, 2012.

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], [2], [3], [4].

About the journal

Full journal title	China Communications
Abbreviation	China Commun.
ISSN (print)	1673-5447
Scope