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. Schilling G. PLANETARY SCIENCE: Imaging Spat Pits Amateur Against Pros. Science. 2000;288:2110–1.

A journal article with 2 authors

1. Cemma M, Brumell JH. Immunology. Bacterial escape artists set afire. Science. 2013;339:912–3.

A journal article with 3 authors

1. Gorb EV, Purtov J, Gorb SN. Adhesion force measurements on the two wax layers of the waxy zone in Nepenthes alata pitchers. Sci Rep. 2014;4:5154.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

1. Rambaut A, Robertson DL, Pybus OG, Peeters M, Holmes EC. Human immunodeficiency virus. Phylogeny and the origin of HIV-1. Nature. 2001;410:1047–8.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

1. Voit B, Haag R, Appelhans D, Welzel PB. Bio- and Multifunctional Polymer Architectures. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 2016.

An edited book

1. Meyer-Ortmanns H, Thurner S, editors. Principles of Evolution: From the Planck Epoch to Complex Multicellular Life. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2011.

A chapter in an edited book

1. North D, Zewotir T. Transforming Statistics Education in South Africa. In: MacGillivray H, Phillips B, Martin MA, editors. Topics from Australian Conferences on Teaching Statistics: OZCOTS 2008-2012. New York, NY: Springer; 2014. p. 43–57.

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. Andrews R. Enormous Dutch Air Filter Will Suck The Smog From Your Skies. 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. Operations of and Outlook for the Highway Trust Fund. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1990 May. Report No.: T-RCED-90-79.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

1. Butler-Roberts J. Fashioning distinction: construction of identity through dress and photography in nineteenth-century Paris [Doctoral dissertation]. [Long Beach, CA]: California State University, Long Beach; 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. Saslow L. Laws Seek to Counter Clothing-Bin Fraud. New York Times. 2008 Dec 7;LI5.

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

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