How to format your references using the Operations Research citation style

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

Cuffey KM (2011) Geophysics. Antarctic ice flow revealed. Science 333(6048):1386–1387.

A journal article with 2 authors

Soo VWC, Wood TK (2013) Antitoxin MqsA represses curli formation through the master biofilm regulator CsgD. Sci. Rep. 3:3186.

A journal article with 3 authors

Laland KN, Odling-Smee J, Feldman MW (2004) Causing a commotion. Nature 429(6992):609.

A journal article with 11 or more authors

Molinari M, Calanca V, Galli C, Lucca P, Paganetti P (2003) Role of EDEM in the release of misfolded glycoproteins from the calnexin cycle. Science 299(5611):1397–1400.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Scheringer M (2002) Persistence and Spatial Range of Environmental Chemicals (Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, FRG).

An edited book

Kasper E (2005) Silicon Quantum Integrated Circuits: Silicon-Germanium Heterostructure Devices: Basics and Realisations Paul DJ, ed. (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg).

A chapter in an edited book

Spengel C, Zöllkau Y (2012) D. Results. Spengel C, Zöllkau Y, eds. Common Corporate Tax Base (CC(C)TB) and Determination of Taxable Income: An International Comparison. (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg), 85–98.

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 Operations Research.

Blog post

Andrew D (2016) Radical Overhaul Needed To Halt Earth’s Sixth Great Extinction Event. IFLScience. Retrieved (October 30, 2018), https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/radical-overhaul-needed-to-halt-earths-sixth-great-extinction-event/.

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 (2012) Aviation Safety: FAA Is Taking Steps to Improve Data, but Challenges for Managing Safety Risks Remain (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC).

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Miller DB (2009) Nurse educators’ leadership styles and nurse graduates’ licensure passage rates. Doctoral dissertation. (University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ).

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

Nir SM (2017) Police Seek Photos of Central Park Related to 2016 Blast That Destroyed a Tourist’s Leg. New York Times (June 28).

In-text citations

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

This sentence cites one reference (Cuffey 2011).
This sentence cites two references (Cuffey 2011, Soo and Wood 2013).

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

Two authors: (Soo and Wood 2013)
Three or more authors: (Molinari et al. 2003)

About the journal

Full journal title	Operations Research
Abbreviation	Oper. Res.
ISSN (print)	0030-364X
ISSN (online)	1526-5463
Scope	Computer Science Applications Management Science and Operations Research