How to format your references using the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. 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:

PaperpileThe citation style is built in and you can choose it in Settings > Citation Style or Paperpile > Citation Style in Google Docs.
EndNoteDownload the output style file
Mendeley, Zotero, Papers, and othersThe style is either built in or you can download a CSL file that is supported by most references management programs.
BibTeXBibTeX 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
Lewis, Nathan S. 2007. “Toward Cost-Effective Solar Energy Use.” Science (New York, N.Y.) 315 (5813): 798–801.
A journal article with 2 authors
Allen, Philip A., and Paul F. Hoffman. 2005. “Extreme Winds and Waves in the Aftermath of a Neoproterozoic Glaciation.” Nature 433 (7022): 123–127.
A journal article with 3 authors
Chu, Ling, Kai-Jiong Xiao, and Jin-Quan Yu. 2014. “Room-Temperature Enantioselective C-H Iodination via Kinetic Resolution.” Science (New York, N.Y.) 346 (6208): 451–455.
A journal article with 11 or more authors
Pushkarev, Alina, Keiichi Inoue, Shirley Larom, José Flores-Uribe, Manish Singh, Masae Konno, Sahoko Tomida, et al. 2018. “A Distinct Abundant Group of Microbial Rhodopsins Discovered Using Functional Metagenomics.” Nature 558 (7711): 595–599.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
McSween, Terry E. 2005. Values-Based Safety Process. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
An edited book
Shingareva, Inna. 2007. Maple and Mathematica: A Problem Solving Approach for Mathematics. Edited by Carlos Lizàrraga-Celaya. Vienna: Springer.
A chapter in an edited book
Bjerring, Peter, and Kaare Christiansen. 2011. “Facial Rejuvenation and Other Clinical Applications of Intense Pulsed Light.” In Laser and IPL Technology in Dermatology and Aesthetic Medicine, edited by Christian Raulin and Syrus Karsai, 61–82. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.

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 Graphic Novels and Comics.

Blog post
Andrew, Elise. 2015. “Tree Kangaroos: Real Life Teddy Bears.” IFLScience. IFLScience. https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/tree-kangaroos/.

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. 2016. Child Care: Information on Integrating Early Care and Education Funding. GAO-16-775R. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation
Fulton, Erika. 2010. “Differential Effects of Nicotine on Prospective Memory, Sustained Attention, and Working Memory.” Doctoral dissertation, Long Beach, CA: California State University, Long Beach.

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
Walsh, Mary Williams, and Michael J. de la MERCED. 2014. “Detroit Plan Is Said to Split Creditors Into 2 Groups.” New York Times, January 31.

In-text citations

References should be cited in the text by name and year in parentheses:

This sentence cites one reference (Lewis 2007).
This sentence cites two references (Lewis 2007; Allen and Hoffman 2005).

Here are examples of in-text citations with multiple authors:

  • Two authors: (Allen and Hoffman 2005)
  • Three authors: (Chu, Xiao, and Yu 2014)
  • 4 or more authors: (Pushkarev et al. 2018)

About the journal

Full journal titleJournal of Graphic Novels and Comics
ISSN (print)2150-4857
ISSN (online)2150-4865
ScopeLiterature and Literary Theory
Visual Arts and Performing Arts

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