How to format your references using the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 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

Dobson CM. Getting out of shape. Nature. 2002;418(6899):729-730.

A journal article with 2 authors

Heath RJ, Rock CO. A triclosan-resistant bacterial enzyme. Nature. 2000;406(6792):145-146.

A journal article with 3 authors

Qvarnström A, Brommer JE, Gustafsson L. Testing the genetics underlying the co-evolution of mate choice and ornament in the wild. Nature. 2006;441(7089):84-86.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Gladstone GR, Hurley DM, Retherford KD, et al. LRO-LAMP observations of the LCROSS impact plume. Science. 2010;330(6003):472-476.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Lane C. Magnolia. Wiley-Blackwell; 2011.

An edited book

Trąpczyński P, Puślecki Ł, Jarosiński M, eds. Competitiveness of CEE Economies and Businesses: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities. Springer International Publishing; 2016.

A chapter in an edited book

Dianteill E. Pierre Bourdieu and the sociology of religion: A central and peripheral concern. In: Swartz DL, Zolberg VL, eds. After Bourdieu: Influence, Critique, Elaboration. Springer Netherlands; 2005:65-85.

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 Forensic and Legal Medicine.

Blog post

Andrew E. Why Is It So Cold In Here? Setting The Office Thermostat Right – For Both Sexes. IFLScience. Published August 6, 2015. Accessed October 30, 2018. https://www.iflscience.com/environment/why-it-so-cold-here-setting-office-thermostat-right-both-sexes/

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. Degradable Plastics: Standards, Research and Development. U.S. Government Printing Office; 1988.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Krutsinger R. Evaluation of Grassland Restoration Success in Illinois Using Indicators of Ecosystem Function. Doctoral dissertation. Southern Illinois University; 2014.

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

Rothenberg B. In Wawrinka, Federer Will Face a Protégé With His Own Stellar Résumé. New York Times. January 24, 2017:B10.

In-text citations

References should be cited in the text by sequential numbers in superscript:

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 Forensic and Legal Medicine
Abbreviation	J. Forensic Leg. Med.
ISSN (print)	1752-928X
Scope	General Medicine Pathology and Forensic Medicine Law