How to format your references using the Journal of Medical Internet Research citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). 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

Chenn A. Eppendorf & Science Prize. Essays on science and society. Making a bigger brain by regulating cell cycle exit. Science 2002 Oct 25;298(5594):766–767. PMID:12399574

A journal article with 2 authors

Zheng J, Jia Z. Structure of the bifunctional isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase. Nature 2010 Jun 17;465(7300):961–965. PMID:20505668

A journal article with 3 authors

Ota KG, Kuraku S, Kuratani S. Hagfish embryology with reference to the evolution of the neural crest. Nature 2007 Apr 5;446(7136):672–675. PMID:17377535

A journal article with 4 or more authors

Zhang HJ, Yamamoto S, Fukaya Y, Maekawa M, Li H, Kawasuso A, Seki T, Saitoh E, Takanashi K. Current-induced spin polarization on metal surfaces probed by spin-polarized positron beam. Sci Rep 2014 Apr 29;4:4844. PMID:24776781

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Flynn JR. How to Improve Your Mind. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell; 2012. ISBN:9781118314999

An edited book

Brucker P. Complex Scheduling. Knust S, editor. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2006. ISBN:9783540295457

A chapter in an edited book

Banavar RN, Sankaranarayanan V. Switched Stabilization of a Hovercraft. In: Sankaranarayanan V, editor. Switched Finite Time Control of a Class of Underactuated Systems Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2006. p. 61–77.

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 Medical Internet Research.

Blog post

Andrew E. Mid-Sized Planetary Body in Kuiper Belt Could Float In Water [Internet]. IFLScience. IFLScience; 2013 [cited 2018 Oct 30]. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/space/mid-sized-planetary-body-kuiper-belt-could-float-water/

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. Questions Persist about Federal Support for Development of Curriculum Materials and Behavior Modification Techniques Used in Local Schools. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1977 Apr. Report No.: HRD-77-49.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Koonin LM. Acceptability of pharmacies serving as primary dispensers of antiviral drugs during an influenza pandemic: Perspectives of pharmacy executives [Doctoral dissertation]. [Chapel Hill, NC]: University of North Carolina; 2013.

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

Hubbard B, Almosawa S. Somali Migrants’ Trek Becomes Scene of Horror. New York Times 2017 Mar 17;A7.

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 Medical Internet Research
Abbreviation	J. Med. Internet Res.
ISSN (print)	1439-4456
ISSN (online)	1438-8871
Scope	Health Informatics

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