eLife is a highly ranked journal covering all areas of biology. In the sciences, it's common to encounter different citation styles depending on the journal a researcher is trying to publish in. For instance, the journal Nature, has specific style guidelines developed for their publication. eLife has been on the forefront of many cutting edge changes in the publishing landscape like data deposit requirements and new methods for peer-review. One of these cutting edge changes, is the explicit lack of a requirement for how authors format citations. They accept multiple different styles, including Vancouver, Harvard and Chicago. The point eLife is trying to make is that researchers shouldn't be spending a lot of time on formatting references, rather they could use their time better on other pursuits. However, this page will present guidance that you (as students) are to follow. 

Basic citation style for in-text citations:

• Author last name(s) and year of publication must be listed.
  • Here is a sample sentence that needs a citation (Zhang, 2014).
• Two authors? Last names are written out with "and" in between. 
  • Here is an example of a citation with two authors (Kimberly and Salice, 2012).
• Three or more authors? Place et al. after the first author.
  • This citation has three or more authors (Alston et al., 2025).
• Inserting more than one citation? List multiple citations in the same parentheses, connect different citations with the semi-colon. 
  • This example shows two or more different items cited in the same place (Davidowitz, 2004; Jacobsen, 2021).
• Multiple citations in one set of parentheses are ordered first chronologically, and then alphabetically by first author. 
  • This example illustrates the ordering of authors and years when there is a list of citations (Kingsolver and Woods, 1998; Thompson, 1998; Thompson et al., 2003).

Basic citation style for reference lists:

• Reference list must be ordered alphabetically by first author.
• If possible, must include a DOI (digital object identifier) at the end of a reference. 
• Authors must be listed with their last name followed with first and middle initial. (e.g. Franklin DE)
• Journal titles must be spelled out fully, and not abbreviated. 
• Journal titles must be italicized. 
• Article titles must be written in sentence case.
• Article volume must be in bold font.
• Omit any listed issue number. 
• Page range can be replaced by an article number if no page range exists. Sometimes electronically published journals will not assign pages. (e.g. 13:e1005860)

Article: 

• Eyre MD, Labanowska-Bury D, Avayanos JG, White R, Leifert C. 2009. Ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in an intensively managed vegetable crop landscape in eastern England. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 131:340–346. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2009.02.006

Book:

• William CB. 1964. Patterns in the balance of nature: and related problems in quantitative ecology, Theoretical and experimental biology. London, New York: Academic Press.

Book Section (or Chapter): 

• Paululat A, Purschke G. 2025. Mollusca (Mollusks) In: Paululat A, Purschke G, editors. Metazoa – Morphology and Evolution of Animals: A Practical Guide to the Dissection and Comparative Study of Animals. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 77–105. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-69904-1_6