How to format your references using the Frontiers in Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Frontiers in Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology. 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

Fuhrman, J. A. (2009). Microbial community structure and its functional implications. Nature 459, 193–199.

A journal article with 2 authors

Conway, T. M., and John, S. G. (2014). Quantification of dissolved iron sources to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 511, 212–215.

A journal article with 3 authors

Deecke, V. B., Slater, P. J. B., and Ford, J. K. B. (2002). Selective habituation shapes acoustic predator recognition in harbour seals. Nature 420, 171–173.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Beck, M., Förster, F., Ecke, M., Plitzko, J. M., Melchior, F., Gerisch, G., et al. (2004). Nuclear pore complex structure and dynamics revealed by cryoelectron tomography. Science 306, 1387–1390.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Moritz, F. G. (2013). Electromechanical Motion Systems. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An edited book

Lu, T. (2014). Video Text Detection., eds. S. Palaiahnakote, C. L. Tan, and W. Liu. London: Springer.

A chapter in an edited book

Nestler, B., and Wendler, F. (2006). “Simulations of Complex Microstructure Formations,” in Analysis, Modeling and Simulation of Multiscale Problems, ed. A. Mielke (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer), 113–152.

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 Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology.

Blog post

Evans, K. (2017). Rescuers Battle To Save Remaining Whales After Hundreds Die In Huge Mass Stranding. IFLScience. Available at: https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/rescuers-battle-to-save-remaining-whales-after-hundreds-die-in-huge-mass-stranding/ (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 (2012). School Improvement Grants: Education Should Take Additional Steps to Enhance Accountability for Schools and Contractors. 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

Eakman, T. L. (2017). Education Level and Critical Thinking Skills Among Substance Use Counselors Nationwide: A Descriptive Comparative Study. Minneapolis, MN: Capella University.

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

Saslow, L. (2006). Stony Brook Medical Center Names Chief Executive. New York Times, 14LI2.

In-text citations

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

This sentence cites one reference (Fuhrman, 2009).
This sentence cites two references (Fuhrman, 2009; Conway and John, 2014).

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

Two authors: (Conway and John, 2014)
Three or more authors: (Beck et al., 2004)

About the journal

Full journal title	Frontiers in Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology
Abbreviation	Front. Microbiol.
ISSN (online)	1664-302X
Scope	Microbiology Microbiology (medical)