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. Ceci C. Take concepts of chemistry out of the classroom. Nature. 2015;522:7.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Kioussis D, Georgopoulos K. Epigenetic flexibility underlying lineage choices in the adaptive immune system. Science. 2007;317:620–2.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Visser K, Thunell R, Stott L. Magnitude and timing of temperature change in the Indo-Pacific warm pool during deglaciation. Nature. 2003;421:152–5.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Chiang SH, Baumann CA, Kanzaki M, Thurmond DC, Watson RT, Neudauer CL, et al. Insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation requires the CAP-dependent activation of TC10. Nature. 2001;410:944–8.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Tasman A, Kay J, Ursano RJ. The Psychiatric Interview. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons; 2013.

An edited book

1. Honkela T, Duch W, Girolami M, Kaski S, editors. Artificial Neural Networks and Machine Learning – ICANN 2011: 21st International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, Espoo, Finland, June 14-17, 2011, Proceedings, Part II. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2011.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Fraillon J, Ainley J, Schulz W, Friedman T, Gebhardt E. Students’ Computer and Information Literacy. In: Ainley J, Schulz W, Friedman T, Gebhardt E, editors. Preparing for Life in a Digital Age: The IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study International Report. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2014. p. 69–100.

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. O`Callaghan J. This Boy Was Arrested For Bringing A Clock To Class - And Now He’s Been Invited To The White House. IFLScience. IFLScience; 2015.

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. Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites: Information on Program Cost and Schedule Changes. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2004 Sep. Report No.: GAO-04-1054.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Fahmy C. Intoxicated by music: A content analysis of the prevalence of alcohol, illicit substances, and tobacco in popular music from 2000 to 2011 [Doctoral dissertation]. [Long Beach, CA]: California State University, Long Beach; 2012.

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. Packer G. Left Behind. New York Times. 2002 Sep 22;642.

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

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