How to format your references using the Microbes and Infection citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Microbes and Infection. 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 reference managers.
BibTeXBibTeX 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
[1]
Tsapatsis M. Materials science. Toward high-throughput zeolite membranes. Science 2011;334:767–8.
A journal article with 2 authors
[1]
Hekimi S, Guarente L. Genetics and the specificity of the aging process. Science 2003;299:1351–4.
A journal article with 3 authors
[1]
Fortin PD, Walsh CT, Magarvey NA. A transglutaminase homologue as a condensation catalyst in antibiotic assembly lines. Nature 2007;448:824–7.
A journal article with 7 or more authors
[1]
Reich D, Green RE, Kircher M, Krause J, Patterson N, Durand EY, et al. Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Nature 2010;468:1053–60.

Books and book chapters

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

An authored book
[1]
Kirsh SJ. Media and Youth. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell; 2009.
An edited book
[1]
Ravindranath NH. Carbon Inventory Methods Handbook for Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Carbon Mitigation and Roundwood Production Projects. vol. 29. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2008.
A chapter in an edited book
[1]
Li J, Huang W. Extension and Generalization of the EMMS Principle. In: Huang W, editor. Towards Mesoscience: The Principle of Compromise in Competition, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2014, p. 33–44.

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 Microbes and Infection.

Blog post
[1]
Andrews R. This Cyborg Stingray Is Built From Genetically Engineered Solar-Powered Heart Cells. IFLScience 2016. https://www.iflscience.com/technology/this-cyborg-stingray-is-built-from-genetically-engineered-solarpowered-heart-cells/ (accessed 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
[1]
Government Accountability Office. Aviation Security: Transportation Security Administration Has Strengthened Planning to Guide Investments in Key Aviation Security Programs, but More Work Remains. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2008.

Theses and dissertations

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

Doctoral dissertation
[1]
Singh KK. An 8-PSK receiver using LNA & SRO: Design and mathematical analysis. Doctoral dissertation. California State University, Long Beach, 2015.

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]
Wagner J. Yankees Trade McCann to the Astros. New York Times 2016:B10.

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 titleMicrobes and Infection
AbbreviationMicrobes Infect.
ISSN (print)1286-4579
ScopeImmunology
Microbiology
Infectious Diseases

Other styles