At RIBES we have created a citation and reference style that can be added to common reference managers such as Zotero (open source), Mendeley, etc. We have submitted a request for it to be included in the list of available formats in the “Citation Style Language - Style Repository” (Citation Style Language - Style Repository). To download it, you can use the following link. Simply open the zip file and import the .csl file into your reference manager.

At RIBES we recommend installing and using this style, as it improves efficiency when managing citations and references. We believe it significantly reduces the workload involved in formatting citations and references in manuscripts. However, we note that in some cases the metadata of cited and referenced works may not be fully correct. For example, when importing documents from certain platforms, the first surname may be placed as a middle name and the second surname as the only surname. In some cases, hyphens between double surnames may not be correctly captured by reference managers. For this reason, we recommend always generating at least one reference in the reference manager and carefully reviewing citations and references, even when using this RIBES style.

Below are examples and guidelines for citations and references in RIBES.

1. Journal article (electronic and print, preprints, etc.)

Reference examples:

Fernández-Villavicencio, Nieves-González; Menéndez-Novoa, José-Luis; Seoane-García, Catuxa; Fernández, San-Millán, María-Elvira. (2013). Review and proposal of indicators (KPIs) for libraries in social media. Revista Española de Documentación Científica, 36(1), e005. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2013.1.919
Pinto, María; Sales, Dora; Martínez-Osorio, Pilar. (2009). University library staff and information literacy: from self-perception to realities and training challenges. Revista Española de Documentación Científica, 32(1), pp. 60-80. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2009.1.634

Comments:

  • All authors are listed in the references, even when there are more than three.
  • Author names follow the format “Surname-Surname, First name” and are separated by semicolons (;), including the last one, without using “and” or “&”.
  • Full first names are used, not initials.
  • In cases with two given names, the format follows “Surname-Surname, First name-Second name”.
  • If only an initial is available for a second given name, it may be retained, but the initial must be included (e.g., Jackson, Samuel L.).
  • Journal titles are italicized, as well as the volume; the issue number is not italicized and appears in parentheses.
  • Page numbers are preceded by “pp.” and, in electronic publications, an article number (e.g., “e045”) is used without “pp.”.
  • DOI or electronic source links must always be included when available. DOI is preferred, followed by handle links. All links must be hyperlinked so that clicking leads directly to the document. No period should follow the URL. URL shorteners are not required; RIBES uses its own system via YOURLS, open-source software for link management (GitHub repository).

In-text citations:

  • Grouped:
    • (Fernández-Villavicencio et al., 2013; Pinto; Sales and Martínez-Osorio, 2009)
  • Narrative:
    • Fernández-Villavicencio et al. (2013)
    • Pinto; Sales and Martínez-Osorio (2009)

Comments:

  • When there are 4 or more authors, only the first author is listed followed by et al. The term et al. is italicized.
  • When multiple citations are included for the same idea, they are separated by semicolons.
  • In narrative citations with multiple authors, the final author is linked with “and”. In reference lists, however, “and” is not used and semicolons are used instead.

2. Conference papers / proceedings

Reference examples:

Mersand, Shannon; Gascó-Hernández, Mila; Gil-Garcia, José-Ramón; Burke, G. Brian; Figueroa, Miguel; Sutherland, Megan. (2018). The role of public libraries in smart, inclusive, and connected communities: Current and best practices. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series. https://doi.org/10.1145/3209281.3209403

Comments:

  • The conference name is italicized.

In-text citations:

  • Mersand et al. (2018) or (Mersand et al., 2018)

Comments:

  • When there are 4 or more authors, only the first author is listed followed by et al.

3. Books and monographs (print and electronic)

Reference examples:

Pérez-Iglesias, Javier. (2007). Words for reading. Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha.
de-Castilla, Nuria; Déroche, François; Friedrich, Michael. (2023). Libraries in the Manuscript Age. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110779653
Parra-Valero, Pablo; Cuevas-Cerveró, Aurora; Passarelli, Brasilina; Paletta, Francisco-Carlos. (2021). Social perspectives in information: Hispanic-Brazilian studies. University of São Paulo. ECA - School of Communication and Arts. https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/65848/

Comments:

  • Book titles are italicized.
  • For surnames such as “del Rosal”, “de la Fuente” or “de Castilla”, they may be written as “del-Rosal”, “de-la-Fuente” and “de-Castilla” in citations and references.

4. Book chapters (print and electronic)

Ferreira-Alves, Mirian; Fernández-Bajón, María-Teresa; Simeao, Elmira. (2017). Public libraries and information literacy: a phenomenographic study of Brazilian librarians’ perceptions. In Aurora Cuevas-Cerveró (Coord.); Sonia Sánchez-Cuadrado (Coord.), Research in Information, Documentation and Society: perspectives and trends (pp. 227-240). Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Department of Library and Information Science. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/20055

Comments:

  • The italicized title corresponds to the book, not the chapter.
  • Abbreviations for roles: Coord. for coordinator; Ed. for editor; Trans. for translator.
  • Names are listed before surnames for Coord., Ed. or Trans. roles, separated by semicolons.
  • If a link is very long, RIBES will shorten it using its own service.

In-text citation:

  • Ferreira-Alves; Fernández-Bajón and Simeao (2017) or (Ferreira-Alves; Fernández-Bajón and Simeao, 2017)

5. Legislation

Reference examples:

Spain (2007). Law 10/2007, of 22 June, on reading, books and libraries. https://www.boe.es/eli/es/l/2007/06/22/10

Comments:

  • The issuing body is indicated by country or region (e.g., Spain, Andalusia, etc.).
  • After the year, the title of the law is included in italics, followed by the link if available.

In-text citation:

  • Spain (2007) or (Spain, 2007)

6. Websites (news portals, social media posts, etc.)

Reference examples:

Marquina, Julián. (2017). Makerspaces in libraries: the Bibliomakers phenomenon. https://www.julianmarquina.es/makerspaces-en-bibliotecas-el-fenomeno-bibliomakers/
MCD (2012). Spanish Public Libraries Statistics – Ministry of Culture and Sport. https://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/cultura/areas/bibliotecas/mc/ebp/portada.html

Comments:

  • The author is the person or institution responsible for the page. If the institution name is long, an acronym may be used (e.g., IFLA).
  • Titles may be adapted when unclear or excessively long.
  • Long URLs may be shortened using the RIBES system.
  • For social media, if no author is identified, the username is used.

In-text citation:

  • Marquina (2017); MCD (2012) or (Marquina, 2017; MCD, 2012)

7. Theses / Master’s and Bachelor’s dissertations

Reference examples:

Arriola-Navarrete, Óscar. (2013). Automation of university libraries in the metropolitan area of Mexico City [PhD dissertation, Universidad Complutense de Madrid]. https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/24567/

Comments:

  • After the italicized title, the type of thesis and institution are indicated in brackets.

In-text citation:

  • Arriola-Navarrete (2013) or (Arriola-Navarrete, 2013)

8. Research data

Reference examples:

Quílez-Simón, Pedro; Gallo-León, José-Pablo; Gómez-Hernández, José-Antonio. (2025). Survey data of librarians in the Region of Murcia on cultural activities [research data]. Digitum: Institutional Repository of the University of Murcia. http://hdl.handle.net/10201/150741

Comments:

  • Authors, year, dataset title followed by [research data], repository name in italics, and link.

In-text citation:

  • (Quílez-Simón; Gallo-León and Gómez-Hernández, 2025) or Quílez-Simón; Gallo-León and Gómez-Hernández (2025)

Direct quotations in text:

Direct quotations of fewer than forty words are placed in quotation marks and include the page number: "..." (Souza-da-Silva, 2024, p. 3). For multiple pages use (pp.). For web pages without pagination, use paragraph numbers (párr. 5 → par. 5).

When author and year are included in the narrative, only the page number is added in parentheses.

Block quotations of forty words or more are not placed in quotation marks and are indented.

Updates to this page:

  • 20/11/2024: information added about long direct quotations.