How to format your references using the Zootaxa citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Zootaxa. 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.
EndNoteDownload the output style file
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
Ando, K. (2006) Materials science. Seeking room-temperature ferromagnetic semiconductors. Science (New York, N.Y.) 312, 1883–1885.
A journal article with 2 authors
Kramer, E.M. & Donohue, K. (2006) Evolution. Traversing the adaptive landscape in snapdragons. Science (New York, N.Y.) 313, 924–925.
A journal article with 3 authors
Lunshof, J.E., Church, G.M. & Prainsack, B. (2014) Information access. Raw personal data: providing access. Science (New York, N.Y.) 343, 373–374.
A journal article with 4 or more authors
Michalet, X., Pinaud, F.F., Bentolila, L.A., Tsay, J.M., Doose, S., Li, J.J., Sundaresan, G., Wu, A.M., Gambhir, S.S. & Weiss, S. (2005) Quantum dots for live cells, in vivo imaging, and diagnostics. Science (New York, N.Y.) 307, 538–544.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
Ruppel, W. (2015) Wiley GAAP for Governments 2015. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.
An edited book
Chhieng, D.C. & Siegal, G.P. eds. (2005) 563 Updates in Diagnostic Pathology. Springer US, Boston, MA, XVI, 198 p p.
A chapter in an edited book
Theron, L.C. & Phasha, N. (2015) Cultural Pathways to Resilience: Opportunities and Obstacles as Recalled by Black South African Students. In: L. C. Theron, L. Liebenberg, and M. Ungar (Eds), Youth Resilience and Culture: Commonalities and Complexities. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 51–65.

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 Zootaxa.

Blog post
Hale, T. (2016) Why Only Some People Can Do These Ten “Tricks” With Their Body. IFLScience. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/why-only-some-people-can-do-these-ten-tricks-with-their-body/ (October 30, 2018)

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 (1989) Transportation Trust Funds. 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
Whitesides, V.J. (2017) The Large Ensemble/European Classical Music Paradigm and African American-Originated Dance-Musicking: A Dispositival Analysis of U.S. Secondary Music Education. Doctoral dissertation. George Washington University.

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
Greenhouse, L. (2006) Justices to Hear Case on Use of Union Fees. New York Times, A21.

In-text citations

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

This sentence cites one reference (Ando 2006).
This sentence cites two references (Ando 2006; Kramer & Donohue 2006).

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

  • Two authors: (Kramer & Donohue 2006)
  • Three or more authors: (Michalet et al. 2005)

About the journal

Full journal titleZootaxa
AbbreviationZootaxa
ISSN (print)1175-5326
ISSN (online)1175-5334
ScopeAnimal Science and Zoology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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