Citing references in-text
- In the text, references should always be listed chronologically and in full unless there are three or more authors.
- Example: Able et al. 1997; Able & Charles 1986; Lowe et al. 1986.
- For references made to papers with three or more authors, only the first name is cited, and followed by “et al.”
- Example: Frank et al. 1986.
- References made to works by the same author(s) and publication year should be included after the year of publication.
- Example: James et al. 1986a, b.
- References should not be numbered in the text.
- Example: Data citation in text: “Data available from the Dryad Digital Repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.XXXXX”.
Reference list
In the reference list, names and initials of all authors should be provided for papers with six authors or less. For papers with more than six authors, only the first six authors should be cited, and followed by “et al.”. References should be listed in the following standard forms:
- Journal articles
- Last name, Initials. et al. (Year). Full title of article. Abbreviated journal title (standard abbreviations), Volume number, page range.
- Books
- Last name, Initials. et al. (Year). Full title of book. Edition (only include this if not the first edition). Publisher, place (cities only except for USA and UK), pp. (page range)
- Chapters in books
- Last name, Initials. et al. (Year). Full title of chapter. In: (Full title of book), Edition (only include this if not the first edition) { [ed(s).] [Editors(s) last name, initials] }. Publisher, City (Include state and country for USA and UK), pp. (page range).
- Data
- Last name, Initials. et al. (Year). Data from: (Title of article). Dryad Digital Repository. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.585t4.
- Websites
- Authorship or Source. (Year). Title of web document or web page. Available at: [URL]. Last accessed DD MONTH YYYY. References to material available on the World Wide Web can be given only if the information is available on an official site and without charge to readers. Authors may provide electronic copies of the cited material for inclusion on the Ecology Letters Homepage at the discretion of the Editors.
