How to format your references using the International Journal of Molecular Sciences citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 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

Garman, E.F. Developments in X-Ray Crystallographic Structure Determination of Biological Macromolecules. Science 2014, 343, 1102–1108.

A journal article with 2 authors

Kirzhner, T.; Koren, G. Pairing and the Phase Diagram of the Normal Coherence Length ΞN(T, x) above Tc of La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO4 Thin Films Probed by the Josephson Effect. Sci. Rep. 2014, 4, 6244.

A journal article with 3 authors

Gibbs, M.J.; Armstrong, J.S.; Gibbs, A.J. Recombination in the Hemagglutinin Gene of the 1918 “Spanish Flu.” Science 2001, 293, 1842–1845.

A journal article with 4 or more authors

Boorum, M.M.; Vasil’ev, Y.V.; Drewello, T.; Scott, L.T. Groundwork for a Rational Synthesis of C60: Cyclodehydrogenation of a C60H30 Polyarene. Science 2001, 294, 828–831.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Fisher, H.G.; Forrest, H.S.; Grossel, S.S.; Huff, J.E.; Muller, A.R.; Noronha, J.A.; Shaw, D.A.; Tilley, B.J. Emergency Relief System Design Using DIERS Technology; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Hoboken, NJ, 1993; ISBN 9780470938317.

An edited book

Model-Based Reasoning in Science, Technology, and Medicine; Kacprzyk, J., Magnani, L., Li, P., Eds.; Studies in Computational Intelligence; Springer: Berlin, Heidelberg, 2007; Vol. 64; ISBN 9783540719854.

A chapter in an edited book

Ostfeld, A. Water Distribution Networks. In Intelligent Monitoring, Control, and Security of Critical Infrastructure Systems; Kyriakides, E., Polycarpou, M., Eds.; Studies in Computational Intelligence; Springer: Berlin, Heidelberg, 2015; pp. 101–124 ISBN 9783662441596.

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 International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Blog post

Andrew, E. World’s First Penis Transplant Was A Success Available online: https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/man-who-received-world-s-first-penis-transplant-become-father/ (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 Checked Baggage Screening: TSA Has Deployed Optimal Systems at the Majority of TSA-Regulated Airports, but Could Strengthen Cost Estimates; U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2012;

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Hernandez, L. A Culturally Sensitive Mentorship Program for Foster Youth: A Grant Proposal. Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Long Beach: Long Beach, CA, 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

Wagner, J. Once Damaged Goods, Mets Reliever Returns to the Top Shelf. New York Times 2016, B10.

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	International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Abbreviation	Int. J. Mol. Sci.
ISSN (online)	1422-0067
Scope	Molecular Biology Catalysis Inorganic Chemistry Organic Chemistry Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Spectroscopy Computer Science Applications General Medicine