Frequently asked questions

7.  How can one cite articles published online in BioMed Central journals?

To ensure accurate citation tracking, articles are cited in a way that closely reflects traditional citation. However, since many articles are not printed, basing citation on page numbers is not appropriate. Instead, almost all online-only articles in journals published by BioMed Central are cited in the form:

Journal name Publication Year, Volume:Article number

For example:

BMC Developmental Biology 2003, 2:7

Malaria Journal 2003, 1:6

Breast Cancer Research 2003, 4:R6

PDFs of these articles have numbered pages, but the numbers are not part of the citation.

For precise information on how to cite articles from a particular journal, visit that journal's website.

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