How to format your references using the Current Opinion in Structural Biology citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Current Opinion in Structural Biology. 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

Mandavilli A: Reinventing an industry. Nature 2007, 445:138–139.

A journal article with 2 authors

Keusch GT, Medlin CA: Tapping the power of small institutions. Nature 2003, 422:561–562.

A journal article with 3 authors

Lonsdorf EV, Eberly LE, Pusey AE: Sex differences in learning in chimpanzees. Nature 2004, 428:715–716.

A journal article with 11 or more authors

Huang Y, Zha G, Luo Q, Zhang J, Zhang F, Li X, Zhao S, Zhu W, Li X: The construction of hierarchical structure on Ti substrate with superior osteogenic activity and intrinsic antibacterial capability. Sci Rep 2014, 4:6172.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Lalena JN, Cleary DA: Principles of Inorganic Materials Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2005.

An edited book

Marghoob AA (Ed): Nevogenesis: Mechanisms and Clinical Implications of Nevus Development. Springer; 2012.

A chapter in an edited book

Teng TT, Low LW: Removal of Dyes and Pigments from Industrial Effluents. In Advances in Water Treatment and Pollution Prevention. Edited by Sharma SK, Sanghi R. Springer Netherlands; 2012:65–93.

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 Current Opinion in Structural Biology.

Blog post

Taub B: Psychopaths Probably Do Experience Fear But May Be Unable To Sense Danger. IFLScience 2016,

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

Government Accountability Office: Information Technology: Continued Attention Needed to Accurately Report Federal Spending and Improve Management. U.S. Government Printing Office; 2011.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Green EI: Caregiver wellness: An inquiry of health risks among frontline direct caregivers of the elderly and disabled. 2009,

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

Hollander S: Rutgers Misses Shot At a Victory. New York Times 1999,

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	Current Opinion in Structural Biology
Abbreviation	Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol.
ISSN (print)	0959-440X
ISSN (online)	1879-033X
Scope	Molecular Biology Structural Biology