How to format your references using the AMB Express citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for AMB Express. 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 reference managers.
BibTeX	BibTeX styles 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

Haberland H. Looking from both sides. Nature. 2013 Feb 7;494(7435):E1-2.

A journal article with 2 authors

Vähärautio A, Taipale J. Cancer. Cancer by super-enhancer. Science. 2014 Dec 12;346(6215):1291–2.

A journal article with 3 authors

Tamsir A, Tabor JJ, Voigt CA. Robust multicellular computing using genetically encoded NOR gates and chemical “wires.” Nature. 2011 Jan 13;469(7329):212–5.

A journal article with 7 or more authors

Stanley S, Elkins-Tanton L, Zuber MT, Parmentier EM. Mars’ paleomagnetic field as the result of a single-hemisphere dynamo. Science. 2008 Sep 26;321(5897):1822–5.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book

Yu J, Tao D. Modern Machine Learning Techniques and Their Applications in Cartoon Animation Research. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2013.

An edited book

Mueller L, Sheudshen AK, Eulenstein F, editors. Novel Methods for Monitoring and Managing Land and Water Resources in Siberia. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2016.

A chapter in an edited book

Choi J, Hwang H, Hong W. Predicting the Probability of Evacuation Congestion Occurrence Relating to Elapsed Time and Vertical Section in a High-rise Building. In: Peacock RD, Kuligowski ED, Averill JD, editors. Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics. Boston, MA: Springer US; 2011. p. 37–46.

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 AMB Express.

Blog post

Luntz S. Armored Dinosaurs Used “Krazy Straw” Nasal Passages To Cool Their Blood [Internet]. IFLScience. IFLScience; 2014 [cited 2018 Oct 30]. Available from: https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/armored-dinosaurs-used-twisty-nasal-passages-air-conditioning/

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. Efforts To Improve School Lunch Programs--Are They Paying Off? Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1981 Sep. Report No.: CED-81-121.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation

Al khuwaildi HA. Green techniques in the healthcare system [Doctoral dissertation]. [Long Beach, CA]: California State University, Long Beach; 2010.

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

Cooper H. Bush Is Likely to End Term With Iran Issue Unsettled. New York Times. 2008 Jun 21;A10.

In-text citations

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

This sentence cites one reference (Haberland 2013).
This sentence cites two references (Haberland 2013; Vähärautio and Taipale 2014).

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

Two authors: (Vähärautio and Taipale 2014)
Three or more authors: (Stanley et al. 2008)

About the journal

Full journal title	AMB Express
Abbreviation	AMB Express
ISSN (online)	2191-0855
Scope	Biophysics Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology