How to format your references using the Plant Methods citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Plant Methods. 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. Bunk S. Better microscopes will be instrumental in nanotechnology development. Nature. 2001;410:127–9.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Pastinen T, Hudson TJ. Cis-acting regulatory variation in the human genome. Science. 2004;306:647–50.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Desai BS, Chadha A, Cook B. The stum gene is essential for mechanical sensing in proprioceptive neurons. Science. 2014;343:1256–9.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Kroodsma DA, Mayorga J, Hochberg T, Miller NA, Boerder K, Ferretti F, et al. Response to Comment on “Tracking the global footprint of fisheries.” Science. 2018;361.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Richards T. Investing Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2014.

An edited book

1. Gilbert JK. Modelling-based Teaching in Science Education. Justi R, editor. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2016.

A chapter in an edited book

1. Furbach U, Schon C. Deontic Logic for Human Reasoning. In: Eiter T, Strass H, Truszczyński M, Woltran S, editors. Advances in Knowledge Representation, Logic Programming, and Abstract Argumentation: Essays Dedicated to Gerhard Brewka on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2015. p. 63–80.

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 Plant Methods.

Blog post

1. Andrew D. Does Taking Antidepressants During Pregnancy Harm The Child? Here Are The Facts [Internet]. IFLScience. IFLScience; 2016 [cited 2018 Oct 30]. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/does-taking-antidepressants-during-pregnancy-harm-the-child-here-are-the-facts/

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. Urban Transportation: Issues Related to the South Corridor Study. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1993 Aug. Report No.: RCED-93-195BR.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Wallace DR. A Comparative Analysis of a Conventional Versus a Computer-assisted Technique for Identification of Mechanical Power Press Hazards [Doctoral dissertation]. [Columbus, OH]: Ohio State University; 2006.

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. Wagner J. To Keep Cespedes Fit: Add Water, Stir, and Hope. New York Times. 2017 Jul 4;B6.

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	Plant Methods
Abbreviation	Plant Methods
ISSN (online)	1746-4811
Scope	Plant Science Biotechnology Genetics