eLife Referencing Guide
(updated Mar 2024)


Last updated:
How to do citations in eLife style?

This is the Citationsy guide to eLife citations, reference lists, in-text citations, and bibliographies.
The complete, comprehensive guide shows you how easy citing any source can be. Referencing books, youtube videos, websites, articles, journals, podcasts, images, videos, or music in eLife.

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cite eLife  — Referencing Guide



How do you cite a book in the eLife referencing style? (2024 Guide)

Books are written works or compositions that have been published, many of which might be in digital version. Here’s how to cite a book in eLife

Here’s an example book citation in eLife using placeholders:
Last Name FN. 2000. Title, Edition. ed. City: Publisher.
So if we want to cite, for example, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou we’d do so like this:
eLife citation:
Angelou M. 1969. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1st ed. New York: Random House.
And an in-text citation book citation in eLife looks like this: (Angelou, 1969)


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How to reference a journal article in the eLife citation style?

How do you cite scientific papers in eLife format?

An eLife citation for a journal article includes the author name(s), publication year, article title, journal name, volume and issue number, page range of the article, and a DOI (if available). Here’s how

Here’s a eLife journal citation example using placeholders:
Author1 LastnameAF, Author3 LastnameAF. 2000. Title. Container Volume:pages Used. doi:DOI
So if we want to reference this scientific article: “Testing consumer preferences for iced-coffee: Does the drinking environment have any influence?” by C. Petit and J.M. Sieffermann in eLife:
Petit C, Sieffermann J. 2007. Testing consumer preferences for iced-coffee: Does the drinking environment have any influence? 18:161-172. doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2006.05.008
And an in-text citation would look like this: (Petit and Sieffermann, 2007)


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How to cite a website in a paper in eLife style?

Citing your sources is a necessary part of any research paper. To cite a website in eLife this is what you need

Here’s an eLife example website reference:
Author1 LastnameAF, Author2 LastnameAF. 2000. Title. https://www.example.com
To reference the article located at this link:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/05/uselections20083
on The Guardian website:
Tran M. 2008. Barack Obama To Be America’s First Black President. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/05/uselections20083
And an in-text citation would look like this: (Tran, 2008)

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How to cite a YouTube video eLife in 2024

Did you know almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day. Here’s how to cite one in eLife

Here’s a eLife citation YouTube video example:
ChannelName. 2000. Title. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXX
So how to cite a video eLife?
Pixar. 2015. Pizza Clip — Inside Out. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W6rntBADUQ
And an in-text video citation would look like this: (Pixar, 2015)

How to cite a podcast using eLife referencing style

As the world goes digital, so does the way we learn. Podcasts have become an increasingly common source of knowledge. Here’s how to cite a podcast episode in eLife

It is becoming more and more common to reference podcasts in essays or other school work.
Here’s how to reference a podcast it in eLife.
Lastname F. 2000. Title.
Podcast referencing example in eLife using “This American Life” episode 640:
This American Life. 2018. 640: Five Women.
And an in-text citation would look like this: (This American Life, 2018)

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How to cite a piece of music or a song using eLife referencing style?

Although citing a song might seem uncommon, there’s no need to worry. We’ve got you covered for both audio recordings and written song lyrics, here’s how to cite in eLife

An example song citation in eLife.
Lastname F. 2000. Song Title, Album.
Let‘s say we want to reference “Here Comes the Sun” off The Beatles “Abbey Road” album in eLife:
The Beatles. 1969. Here Comes the Sun, Abbey Road.
And an in-text citation would look like this: (The Beatles, 1969)


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