How to format your references using the Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems. 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.
EndNoteDownload the output style file
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
Brotherton, M. S.: Astrophysics: Quasar complexity simplified, Nature, 513, 181–182, 2014.
A journal article with 2 authors
Aratyn-Schaus, Y. and Gardel, M. L.: Biophysics. Clutch dynamics, Science, 322, 1646–1647, 2008.
A journal article with 3 authors
Chen, J., Weidner, D. J., and Vaughan, M. T.: The strength of Mg(0.9)Fe(0.1)SiO3 perovskite at high pressure and temperature, Nature, 419, 824–826, 2002.
A journal article with 100 or more authors
Olsen, S. M., Hansen, B., Quadfasel, D., and Østerhus, S.: Observed and modelled stability of overflow across the Greenland-Scotland ridge, Nature, 455, 519–522, 2008.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
Bartley, T.: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Cancer, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK, 2011.
An edited book
Trobec, R.: Parallel Scientific Computing: Theory, Algorithms, and Applications of Mesh Based and Meshless Methods, edited by: Kosec, G., Springer International Publishing, Cham, XI, 107 p. 37 illus., 3 illus. in color pp., 2015.
A chapter in an edited book
Ketelhut, D. J., Clarke, J., and Nelson, B. C.: The Development of River City, a Multi-User Virtual Environment-Based Scientific Inquiry Curriculum: Historical and Design Evolutions, in: Designs for Learning Environments of the Future: International Perspectives from the Learning Sciences, edited by: Jacobson, M. J. and Reimann, P., Springer US, Boston, MA, 89–110, 2010.

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 Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems.

Blog post
Future Of Groundbreaking Mission To Deflect An Asteroid Uncertain:

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: Governmentwide Initiatives: Critical Issues Facing the Next Federal Telecommunications System, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1994.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation
Romer, C.: WhatsUpDoc: A Patient Portal Technology, Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 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
Crow, K.: Spellers Struggle on Screen. Hipsters Howl and Mimic, New York Times, 8th June, 146, 2003.

In-text citations

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

This sentence cites one reference (Brotherton, 2014).
This sentence cites two references (Brotherton, 2014; Aratyn-Schaus and Gardel, 2008).

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

  • Two authors: (Aratyn-Schaus and Gardel, 2008)
  • Three or more authors: (Olsen et al., 2008)

About the journal

Full journal titleGeoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems
ISSN (print)2193-0856
ISSN (online)2193-0864
ScopeAtmospheric Science
Geology
Oceanography

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