How to format your references using the Mobile DNA citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Mobile DNA. 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. Gerya T. Dynamical instability produces transform faults at mid-ocean ridges. Science. 2010;329:1047–50.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Binder GK, Griffin DE. Interferon-gamma-mediated site-specific clearance of alphavirus from CNS neurons. Science. 2001;293:303–6.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Mendoza M, Herrmann HJ, Succi S. Hydrodynamic model for conductivity in graphene. Sci Rep. 2013;3:1052.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Beermann J, Eriksen RL, Holmgaard T, Pedersen K, Bozhevolnyi SI. Plasmonic black metals via radiation absorption by two-dimensional arrays of ultra-sharp convex grooves. Sci Rep. 2014;4:6904.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Chin E, Nel D, Ólafsson S. Problems and Solutions in Mathematical Finance. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2014.

An edited book

1. Steele RG. Handbook of Mental Health Services for Children, Adolescents, and Families. Roberts MC, editor. Boston, MA: Springer US; 2005.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Matwin S, Nin J, Sehatkar M, Szapiro T. A Review of Attribute Disclosure Control. In: Navarro-Arribas G, Torra V, editors. Advanced Research in Data Privacy. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2015. p. 41–61.

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 Mobile DNA.

Blog post

1. Taub B. 2,500-Year-Old Man Wrapped In Cannabis “Shroud” Discovered In Ancient Chinese Tomb. IFLScience. IFLScience; 2016.

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. Aviation Safety: Changes Needed in FAA’s Service Difficulty Reporting Program. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1991 Mar. Report No.: RCED-91-24.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Stephens BS. Understanding CXC Chemokine Receptor 4 Activation by CXC Chemokine Ligand 12 [Doctoral dissertation]. [La Jolla, CA]: University of California San Diego; 2017.

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. B Y Robert Kelly;, who teaches at Bard College, is a Poet Whose, Music ’ ’not This Island, ’ ’ Will be Published. A LOVE AFFAIR WITH SILENCE. New York Times. 1986 Nov 9;721.

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	Mobile DNA
Abbreviation	Mob. DNA
ISSN (online)	1759-8753
Scope	Molecular Biology