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References for scientific papers: why not standardise to one global style?
A D Harries1, A M V Kumar2, S Satyanarayana2
1International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), Paris, France ; Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Abstract:
The different reference styles demanded by journals, both for in-text citations and manuscript bibliographies, require that significant time and attention be paid to minute detail that constitute a tedious obstacle on the road to publication for all authors, but especially for those from resource-limited countries and/or writing in a second language. To illustrate this, we highlight different reference styles requested by five popular journals to which operational research papers are often submitted. We call for a simpler, standardised format for in-text and bibliography reference citations, so that researchers can concentrate on the science and its interpretation rather than fonts and punctuation.
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