Research and non-research articles must cite relevant and verified literature (in peer review, if applicable) to support all claims made in the article. It is strongly suggested that authors avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation and pre-arrangement of improper citations of work by author groups to each other's work, as this is considered to be a form of misconduct. Non-research article authors (e.g., reviews and opinions) should ensure that the reference cited is relevant and a fair and balanced overview of the current state of research on the topic, and should not be biased towards particular research groups, organizations or journals.
The reference style guide of Red Flower Publications is available here. It contains detailed instructions on how to refer to journals, books, conference papers, patents, clinical trials and other materials. Some references should be included in the main text, while others should be added to the reference list. Details of several important reference types are described below.
The following references types should only be added to the main text and should not be included in the formal reference list. Authors should only consider adding the following types of references when necessary:
The following types of articles should be added to the reference list:
- Articles "In Press": Articles accepted to be published in peer-reviewed journals but not yet published should be referred to as "In Press" instead of publication dates.
- Links to the website: Links to websites not for manufacturers of products or programs should be included in the reference list. These include the title of the website, URL and date the site was accessed.
- Preprints: Articles published in pre-printed servers or institution repositories should be cited in the list of references. These should include the authors' names, title, DOI of the pre-printed and date of posted of the pre-printed. If the preprint has been officially published in a peer-reviewed journal, the authors should cite that version instead of the preprint.
- Data sets: All data referred to in articles published by Red Flower Publications should be accompanied by a citation. Authors should also include a Data Sharing Statement, as this helps readers identify and search data sets and ensures that they give credit to individuals or groups creating data. Red Flower Publications has guidelines for citing datasets.
- All of our journals have a data sharing policy that encourages authors to cite data associated with their articles. In general, the following elements should be included in the data citations:
- Author – individual responsible for the creation of data
- Material designation – tag "[Dataset]"
- Electronic Retrieval Location – persistent identifier (such as DOI) that the author uses
- Publisher Location – often the repository where the author has deposited the data set
- Thesis: The author encourages the citation of his/her thesis, if this is relevant to their submission. In general, the following styles should be followed for thesis stored in a repository or database:
- Author Name, “Title”, thesis type, University, publication year; electronic retrieval location (DOI) if available
