How to format your references using the NeuroReport citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for NeuroReport. 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

Proctor RN. Expert witnesses take the stand. Nature 2000; 407 (6800): 15–16.

A journal article with 2 authors

Cheung ACM, Cramer P. Structural basis of RNA polymerase II backtracking, arrest and reactivation. Nature 2011; 471 (7337): 249–253.

A journal article with 3 authors

Strassmann JE, Zhu Y, Queller DC. Altruism and social cheating in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. Nature 2000; 408 (6815): 965–967.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Roos-Serote M, Vasavada AR, Kamp L, Drossart P, Irwin P, Nixon C, et al. Proximate humid and dry regions in Jupiter’s atmosphere indicate complex local meteorology. Nature 2000; 405 (6783): 158–160.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Wright JR, Cooper JE. Introduction to Aircraft Aeroelasticity and Loads. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd; 2014.

An edited book

Computational Intelligence: Revised and Selected Papers of the International Joint Conference, IJCCI 2010, Valencia, Spain, October 2010. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2012.

A chapter in an edited book

Chesi S, Giuliani GF. In-plane ferromagnetic instability in a two-dimensional electron liquid in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling. In: Polini M, Vignale G, Pellegrini V, Jain JK (eds). No-nonsense Physicist: An overview of Gabriele Giuliani’s work and life. Pisa: Scuola Normale Superiore; 2016. pp. 61–71.

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 NeuroReport.

Blog post

Luntz S. Solar Activity Could Cause Lightning Storms On Earth. IFLScience 2014;

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. Transportation Security Infrastructure Modernization May Enhance DHS Screening Capabilities, but It Is Too Early to Assess Results. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2011.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Robertson E. Transitional services for emancipated foster youth: A grant proposal. 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

Sbarbaro JA. Standard Morning Fare, on the Go. New York Times 2017; A16.

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	NeuroReport
Abbreviation	Neuroreport
ISSN (print)	0959-4965
ISSN (online)	1473-558X
Scope	General Neuroscience

Research and Writing Guides