Reference Style & Figure Preparation
Part 3 of 4 — how to format and order references, plus requirements for preparing illustrations, figures, and figure legends.
References
All references, including URLs, must be numbered consecutively in square brackets, in the order in which they are cited in the text, followed by any cited only in tables or figure legends. Each reference must have an individual reference number, and excessive referencing should be avoided. If an automatic numbering system is used, reference numbers must be finalized and the bibliography fully formatted before submission.
Only articles, datasets, and abstracts that have been published, are in press, or are available through a public e-print or preprint server may be cited. Unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications should not appear in the reference list, but may be referred to in the text as "unpublished observations" or "personal communications," naming the researchers involved — obtaining permission to quote personal communications and unpublished data from the cited colleagues is the author's responsibility. Footnotes are not allowed, but endnotes are permitted.
The commonly cited reference types are shown below. For other types of reference, such as newspaper items, see the ICMJE Recommendations or the NLM Uniform Requirements.
Examples of the Reference Style
Article within a journal
Koonin EV, Altschul SF, Bork P. BRCA1 protein products: functional motifs. Nat Genet 1996;13:266–267.
Article within a journal supplement
Orengo CA, Bray JE, Hubbard T, LoConte L, Sillitoe I. Analysis and assessment of ab initio three-dimensional prediction, secondary structure, and contacts prediction. Proteins 1999;43(Suppl 3):149–170.
In-press article
Kharitonov SA, Barnes PJ. Clinical aspects of exhaled nitric oxide. Eur Respir J, in press.
Published abstract
Zvaifler NJ, Burger JA, Marinova-Mutafchieva L, Taylor P, Maini RN. Mesenchymal cells, stromal derived factor-1 and rheumatoid arthritis [abstract]. Arthritis Rheum 1999;42:s250.
Article within conference proceedings
Jones X. Zeolites and synthetic mechanisms. In: Proceedings of the First National Conference on Porous Sieves; 1996 Jun 27–30; Baltimore. Edited by Smith Y. Stoneham: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1996:16–27.
Book chapter, or article within a book
Schnepf E. From prey via endosymbiont to plastids: comparative studies in dinoflagellates. In: Origins of Plastids, Vol. 2, 2nd ed. Edited by Lewin RA. New York: Chapman and Hall; 1993:53–76.
Whole issue of a journal
Ponder B, Johnston S, Chodosh L, editors. Innovative oncology. Breast Cancer Res 1998;10:1–72.
Whole conference proceedings
Smith Y, editor. Proceedings of the First National Conference on Porous Sieves; 1996 Jun 27–30; Baltimore. Stoneham: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1996.
Complete book
Margulis L. Origin of Eukaryotic Cells. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1970.
Monograph or book in a series
Hunninghake GW, Gadek JE. The alveolar macrophage. In: Cultured Human Cells and Tissues. Edited by Harris TJR. New York: Academic Press; 1995:54–56. (Stoner G, series editor. Methods and Perspectives in Cell Biology, vol. 1.)
Book with institutional author
Advisory Committee on Genetic Modification. Annual Report. London; 1999.
PhD thesis
Kohavi R. Wrappers for performance enhancement and oblivious decision graphs [PhD thesis]. Stanford University, Computer Science Department; 1995.
Link / URL with author(s)
Neylon C. Open Research Computation: an ordinary journal with extraordinary aims. Available from: blogs.openaccesscentral.com.
Preparing Illustrations & Figures
Illustrations should be provided as separate files, not embedded in the text file. Each figure should contain a single illustration and fit on a single page in portrait format; where a figure has several parts, a single composite illustration file containing all parts should be submitted. There is no charge for the use of color figures.
Accepted file formats
- PNG (preferred format for photos or images)
- TIFF
- JPEG
- BMP
Figure legends
Legends should be included in the main manuscript text file, at the end of the document, rather than as part of the figure file. For each figure, provide: the figure number in sequence (using Arabic numerals — Figure 1, 2, 3, etc.); a short title (maximum 15 words); and a detailed legend of up to 300 words. It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce any figure or table previously published elsewhere.
A submitted image — either one from the manuscript or another relevant image — may be used by the journal for the cover page or other website design purposes, provided the author holds copyright permission to reproduce it; images that do not meet the journal's requirements will not be used. Images must be 300dpi and 155mm square (1831 × 1831 pixels for a raster image); accepted formats are JPEG, BMP, and DOC.
Last updated on