A bibliographic reference conveys information that enables a reader to locate another resource. E.g. for a book, the necessary information includes author name, title, and publication date. For a journal article a reference would also include the journal title, volume number, and issue number.
There are a number of standard formats for bibliographic references, including Chicago[2], Harvard[6], and Vancouver[3]. There are various ways in which they differ from one another:
Spacing and punctuation of components.
Order of components
Number of authors listed (before hitting “et al.”).
Style of author name (e.g. “surname, given names”, “surname, initials”, “initials surname”, etc.).
Style of abbreviating a journal title.
How the references are indicated in the text (e.g. superscript number, author/date).
The standards run to hundreds of pages of rules. In addition, universities often provide their own interpretations or clarifications of the rules.
Tools such as Zotero[10] make it easy for authors to generate bibliographic references in the format of their choice. Publishers then have to handle the output and turn it into XML.
Example 1. Book, Chicago style
(First author name is in the format “surname, foremanes”; second and subsequent author names are in format “forenames surname”.)
Lalloo, Fiona, Bronwyn Kerr, JM Friedman, and Gareth Evans. Risk assessment and management in cancer genetics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)
Example 2. Book, Harvard style
(All author names are in format “surname, initials”; publication date precedes book title.)
Lalloo, F., Kerr, B., Friedman, J., and Evans, G. (2005) Risk assessment and management in cancer genetics Oxford, Oxford University Press
Example 3. Book, Vancouver style
(Author names are in format “surname initials”; no italicization of title.)
Lalloo F, Kerr B, Friedman J, Evans, G. Risk assessment and management in cancer genetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2005
Example 4. Journal article, Chicago style
(Double quote marks around article title.)
Salomone, A, A Bozzo, D Di Corcia, E Gerace, and M Vincenti. “Occupational Exposure to Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers: The Diagnostic Role of Alcohol Biomarkers in Hair.” Journal of Analytical Toxicology 42, no. 3 (1 April 2018): 157–162, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkx094
Example 5. Journal article, Harvard style
(Single quote marks around article title.)
Salomone, A., Bozzo, A., Di Corcia, D., Gerace, E., and Vincenti M. (2018) ‘Occupational exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizers: the diagnostic role of alcohol biomarkers in hair’, Journal of Analytical Toxicology 42(3), 157–162, available: https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkx094
Example 6. Journal article, Vancouver style
(Abbreviated journal title.)
Salomone A, Bozzo A, Di Corcia D, Gerace E, Vincenti M. Occupational exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizers: the diagnostic role of alcohol biomarkers in hair. J Anal Toxicol. 2018 Apr 1;42(3):157–162, doi:10.1093/jat/bkx094
Example 7. Journal article, style rendered by OUP Academic platform
(Generated from JATS article metadata.)
A Salomone, A Bozzo, D Di Corcia, E Gerace, M Vincenti; Occupational Exposure to Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers: The Diagnostic Role of Alcohol Biomarkers in Hair, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Volume 42, Issue 3, 1 April 2018, Pages 157–162, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkx094