How to format your references using the Journal of Biological Engineering citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Journal of Biological Engineering. 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

1. Sharkey N. Computer science. The ethical frontiers of robotics. Science. 2008;322:1800–1.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Traas J, Vernoux T. Plant science. Oscillating roots. Science. 2010;329:1290–1.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Kalka MB, Smith AR, Kalko EKV. Bats limit arthropods and herbivory in a tropical forest. Science. 2008;320:71.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Chakhalian J, Freeland JW, Habermeier H-U, Cristiani G, Khaliullin G, van Veenendaal M, et al. Orbital reconstruction and covalent bonding at an oxide interface. Science. 2007;318:1114–7.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Mallios WS. Forecasting in Financial and Sports Gambling Markets. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2010.

An edited book

1. Karagiannidis A, editor. Waste to Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for Developing and Transition Economies. London: Springer; 2012.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Corney D, Byrne E, Buxton B, Jones D. A Logical Framework for Template Creation and Information Extraction. In: Lin TY, Xie Y, Wasilewska A, Liau C-J, editors. Data Mining: Foundations and Practice. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2008. p. 79–108.

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 Journal of Biological Engineering.

Blog post

1. Andrews R. Dam It: Hydroelectric Power Plants Are Releasing Huge Amounts Of Greenhouse Gases [Internet]. IFLScience. IFLScience; 2016 [cited 2018 Oct 30]. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/environment/dam-it-hydroelectric-power-plants-are-releasing-huge-amounts-of-greenhouse-gases/

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

1. Government Accountability Office. Commercial Aviation: Financial Condition and Industry Responses Affect Competition. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2002 Oct. Report No.: GAO-03-171T.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Mackay EA. Title I funding allocation of reserve funds after increased standards for academic proficiency under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 [Doctoral dissertation]. [Washington, DC]: George Washington University; 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

1. Eligon J, Apuzzo M. Some Who Are Part of Problem in Ferguson Are Asked to Be Part of Solution. New York Times. 2015 Mar 6;A16.

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	Journal of Biological Engineering
Abbreviation	J. Biol. Eng.
ISSN (online)	1754-1611
Scope	Cell Biology Molecular Biology Biomedical Engineering Environmental Engineering