How to format your references using the Instruments citation style

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

Moynihan, D. A Central Agency Is Crucial for Disaster Response. Nature 2013, 495, 7.

A journal article with 2 authors

Schulz, B.; Frommer, W.B. Plant Biology. A Plant ABC Transporter Takes the Lotus Seat. Science 2004, 306, 622–625.

A journal article with 3 authors

Perner, J.; Mauer, M.C.; Hildenbrand, M. Identity: Key to Children’s Understanding of Belief. Science 2011, 333, 474–477.

A journal article with 4 or more authors

Perozo, E.; Cortes, D.M.; Sompornpisut, P.; Kloda, A.; Martinac, B. Open Channel Structure of MscL and the Gating Mechanism of Mechanosensitive Channels. Nature 2002, 418, 942–948.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Kang, C.W.; Kvam, P.H. Basic Statistical Tools for Improving Quality; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Hoboken, NJ, 2011; ISBN 9781118491751.

An edited book

Science Literacy in Primary Schools and Pre-Schools; Eshach, H., Ed.; Classics in Science Education; Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht, 2006; Vol. 1; ISBN 9781402046414.

A chapter in an edited book

Giorgetti, A.; Girgenti, A.; Citti, P.; Delogu, M. A Novel Approach for Axiomatic-Based Design for the Environment. In Axiomatic Design in Large Systems: Complex Products, Buildings and Manufacturing Systems; Farid, A.M., Suh, N.P., Eds.; Springer International Publishing: Cham, 2016; pp. 131–148 ISBN 9783319323879.

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 Instruments.

Blog post

Andrew, E. Oral Contraceptive Pill Could Be Altering The Physical Structure Of Your Brain Available online: https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/oral-contraceptive-pill-associated-changes-brain-structure/ (accessed on 30 October 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 Computer-Based Patient Records: Better Planning and Oversight By VA, DOD, and IHS Would Enhance Health Data Sharing; U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2001;

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Atwill, R.L. Evaluation of Water and Nitrogen Management Practices in Southern US Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Production. Doctoral dissertation, Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS, 2015.

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

Stewart, J.B. On Trump Tax Form, a Decade’s Worth of Questions. New York Times 2017, B1.

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	Instruments
ISSN (online)	2410-390X
Scope