How to format your references using the Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. 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

Debije, M. (2015). Renewable energy: better luminescent solar panels in prospect. Nature 519, 298–299.

A journal article with 2 authors

Li, S., and Wang, J. (2014). A compact trench-assisted multi-orbital-angular-momentum multi-ring fiber for ultrahigh-density space-division multiplexing (19 rings × 22 modes). Sci. Rep. 4, 3853.

A journal article with 3 authors

Charlesworth, J. D., Warren, T. L., and Brainard, M. S. (2012). Covert skill learning in a cortical-basal ganglia circuit. Nature 486, 251–255.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Sun, S., Li, F., Liu, F., Wang, J., and Peng, X. (2014). Fluorescence detecting of paraquat using host-guest chemistry with cucurbit[8]uril. Sci. Rep. 4, 3570.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Shynk, J. J. (2016). Mathematical Foundations for Linear Circuits and Systems in Engineering. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

An edited book

Nawrat. M, A. M. ed. (2014). Innovative Control Systems for Tracked Vehicle Platforms. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

A chapter in an edited book

ten Donkelaar, H. J., and Vermeij-Keers, C. (2006). “The Neural Crest and Craniofacial Malformations,” in Clinical Neuroembryology: Development and Developmental Disorders of the Human Central Nervous System, eds. M. Lammens and A. Hori (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer), 191–228.

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 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

Blog post

Luntz, S. (2016). Koala Sperm Lasts In The Fridge, Not The Freezer. IFLScience. Available at: https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/koala-sperm-lasts-in-the-fridge-not-the-freezer/ (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

Government Accountability Office (2004). Aviation Security: Private Screening Contractors Have Little Flexibility to Implement Innovative Approaches. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Al Hashimi, H. (2017). Local Measurement and Characterization via Fluorescing Materials for Phase Change Heat Transfer Applications. College Park, MD: University of Maryland, College Park.

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

Pilon, M. (2012). Game Time Is Adjusted; Jewish School Will Play. New York Times, B9.

In-text citations

References should be cited in the text by name and year in parentheses:

This sentence cites one reference (Debije, 2015).
This sentence cites two references (Li and Wang, 2014; Debije, 2015).

Here are examples of in-text citations with multiple authors:

Two authors: (Li and Wang, 2014)
Three or more authors: (Sun et al., 2014)

About the journal

Full journal title	Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Abbreviation	Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
ISSN (online)	2296-4185
Scope	Biotechnology Bioengineering Biomedical Engineering Histology