How to format your references using the Colloids and Interface Science Communications citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Colloids and Interface Science 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:

PaperpileThe citation style is built in and you can choose it in Settings > Citation Style or Paperpile > Citation Style in Google Docs.
EndNoteFind the style here: output styles overview
Mendeley, Zotero, Papers, and othersThe style is either built in or you can download a CSL file that is supported by most references management programs.
BibTeXBibTeX 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]
M. Kemp, Science in culture: peas without pictures--Gregor Mendel and the mathematical birth of modern genetics, Nature. 417 (2002) 490.
A journal article with 2 authors
[1]
S.A. Redmond, J.R. Chan, Neuroscience. Revitalizing remyelination--the answer is circulating, Science. 336 (2012) 161–162.
A journal article with 3 authors
[1]
A.W. Moore, L.Y. Jan, Y.N. Jan, hamlet, a binary genetic switch between single- and multiple- dendrite neuron morphology, Science. 297 (2002) 1355–1358.
A journal article with 4 or more authors
[1]
J.D. Martin, S.J. Goettler, N. Fossé, L. Iton, Designing intermediate-range order in amorphous materials, Nature. 419 (2002) 381–384.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
[1]
M. Epstein, The Elements of Continuum Biomechanics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK, 2012.
An edited book
[1]
G. Werle, L. Fernandez, M. Vormbaum, eds., Africa and the International Criminal Court, T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, 2014.
A chapter in an edited book
[1]
R.G. Henzell, D.R. Jordan, Grain Sorghum, in: M.J. Carena (Ed.), Cereals, Springer US, New York, NY, 2009: pp. 183–197.

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 Colloids and Interface Science Communications.

Blog post
[1]
E. Andrew, Concrete Cast of Ant Nest Reveals Huge Underground Metropolis, IFLScience. (2014). https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/concrete-cast-ant-nest-reveals-huge-underground-metropolis/ (accessed October 30, 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, High-Risk Series: Student Financial Aid, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1997.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation
[1]
A.N. Harris, Deadly force: Perceptions of police and exploration of strategies used by African American mothers to protect their sons, Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Long Beach, 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]
S.K. (nyt), World Briefing | Europe: Russia: Floods Wreak Havoc, New York Times. (2002) A11.

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 titleColloids and Interface Science Communications
AbbreviationColloids Interface Sci. Commun.
ISSN (print)2215-0382
ScopeBiotechnology
Colloid and Surface Chemistry
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Materials Chemistry
Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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