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Types of Styles

Most styles fall into one of three basic types:

• Author/Date
  The citation in the text of the paper will be something like "(Smith, 1992)" and at the end of the paper there will be a list of references, arranged alphabetically by authors' names.
• Numbered
  The citation in the text will be a number, which refers to a numbered list of references at the end of the paper. Some numbered styles incorporate notes into the list of references.
• Footnotes
  The citation in the text will be a number, which will refer to a footnote or endnote which contains the reference. These styles often use short titles in the references, as well as other shortcuts (ibid., op. cit.). Often the footnotes will also be used for notes. When used in a book or thesis, there will normally be a separate bibliography at the end.

Look at the instructions for authors for the journal Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. This journal uses an author/date style. So we will be learning how to create an author/date style.

Throughout this tutorial, we will draw attention to points of difference between author/date and numbered styles, so you will learn how to create both types of style. Numbered styles are actually a little easier to produce.

Footnote styles are more complex, but they use many of the same techniques. At the end of this tutorial, there is a section on footnote styles. Footnote styles are mainly used in the humanities.

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