How to format your references using the The Botanical Review citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for The Botanical Review. 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:

PaperpileThe citation style is built in and you can choose it in Settings > Citation Style or Paperpile > Citation Style in Google Docs.
EndNoteFind the style here: output styles overview
Mendeley, Zotero, Papers, and othersThe style is either built in or you can download a CSL file that is supported by most references management programs.
BibTeXBibTeX 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
Moskvitch, K. 2014. Astronomy: To catch a cosmic ray. Nature 514: 20–22.
A journal article with 2 authors
Au, W.W.L., & K.J. Benoit-Bird. 2003. Automatic gain control in the echolocation system of dolphins. Nature 423: 861–863.
A journal article with 3 authors
Falck, J., J. Coates, & S.P. Jackson. 2005. Conserved modes of recruitment of ATM, ATR and DNA-PKcs to sites of DNA damage. Nature 434: 605–611.
A journal article with 99 or more authors
DeLuca, T.H., O. Zackrisson, M.-C. Nilsson, & A. Sellstedt. 2002. Quantifying nitrogen-fixation in feather moss carpets of boreal forests. Nature 419: 917–920.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
Rodda, H.J.E., & M.A. Little. 2015. Understanding Mathematical and Statistical Techniques in Hydrology. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An edited book
Zain, J.M., W.M. bt Wan Mohd, & E. El-Qawasmeh (eds.). 2011. Software Engineering and Computer Systems: Second International Conference, ICSECS 2011, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia, June 27-29, 2011, Proceedings, Part II. XVI, 744 p p. (Vol. 180). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
A chapter in an edited book
Thiel-Bonney, C., & N. von Hofacker. 2016. Feeding Disorders in Infants and Young Children. Pp. 89–118. In: M. Cierpka (ed.). Regulatory Disorders in Infants: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment. Springer International Publishing: Cham,.

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 The Botanical Review.

Blog post
Hale, T. 2016, October 11. Hurricane Matthew Unearthed These Hidden Civil War Cannonballs In South Carolina. IFLScience. IFLScience.

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. 2008. Highlights of a Forum: Ensuring Opportunities for Disadvantaged Children and Families, No. GAO-09-18SP. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation
Schliebe, M.C. 2017. Impact of the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii ) on benthic community structure in southern California wetlands. Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Long Beach.

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
Gordon, M.R. 2017, June 8. U.S. Military Says It Shot Down Drone That Attacked American Allies in Syria. New York Times, p. A10.

In-text citations

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

This sentence cites one reference (Moskvitch, 2014).
This sentence cites two references (Au & Benoit-Bird, 2003; Moskvitch, 2014).

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

  • Two authors: (Au & Benoit-Bird, 2003)
  • Three authors: (Falck, Coates, & Jackson, 2005)
  • 4 or more authors: (DeLuca et al., 2002)

About the journal

Full journal titleThe Botanical Review
ISSN (print)0006-8101
ISSN (online)1874-9372
Scope

Other styles