Biji T. Kurien, Yaser Dorri and R. Hal Scofield write:
While it is a fact that editors of scientific journals feel the pinch when authors use redundant prose (see the Correspondence by Cheryl Strauss in Nature 446, 725; 2007), it is also true that authors feel intense pain as a consequence of the differences in the style and format of reference required by many journals, as well as from the lack of general standardization criteria for units.
Many high-impact journals have a low acceptance rate, so most authors have to resend their manuscripts to other journals. At this juncture they are forced to spend long hours to reformat their manuscript to accommodate different submission requirements.
The two main methods of referencing articles in journal and book publications are the Harvard (author-date) and Vancouver (author-number) reference systems, although many journals have their own variants. There are also other reference styles, for example British Standards 1629 and 5605.
The Harvard style uses the author’s name and publication date in the body of the text, with the bibliography arranged alphabetically by author. Several universities use variants of this style in their own institutions.
Vancouver style differs from Harvard by using a number series to indicate references. Bibliographies list these in numerical order as they appear in the text. The US National Library of Medicine provides sample references for about 40 different circumstances. Even though several top-tier medical journals use the Vancouver style, it is essential to consult ‘Instructions for Authors’ for any publication before submitting a paper. The Mulford Library at the Medical College of Ohio, for example, keeps a list of journal instructions to authors for more than 3,000 health sciences journals.
In several journals, in-text numbers cite references in superscript. Some journals require capitalization of titles, even for names, whereas others require author names in bold and yet others require the initials of the first author to be on the right side with initials of subsequent authors on the left. Some require author’s first and last name spelt out, whereas others prefer initials. Some require only the first page number, whereas others require abbreviated ranges (501-7) and yet others full page ranges (501-507). Punctuation conventions vary so widely as to drive one crazy. One journal even requires that 75% of the references in an article need to be indexed by ISI and published after 1998. Some need the volume in bold or just italics, some require the year of publication following author names, and yet others want it later on. It goes on and on.
Having a uniform submission and data expression system not only saves time for authors and readers , but can also help to eliminate citation mistakes, unnecessary headaches and speed up the submission and publication process.
Biji T. Kurien, Yaser Dorri and R. Hal Scofield
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA