Guidelines for preparing and formatting references in journal manuscripts

1. Reference Numbering

References must be numbered sequentially according to their first appearance in the manuscript. Each reference should use a number enclosed in square brackets.

Example:

Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is widely used in decision-support applications [1].

2. Citation in the Manuscript

Citations must be written using square brackets and should appear immediately after the statement, data, method, or finding being referenced.

Correct:

The method has been applied in several decision-making problems [2].

3. Journal Article Reference

Journal articles should contain the author initials and surname, article title, journal title, volume, issue, page range, publication year, and DOI when available.

IEEE Format:

[No.] Initial(s). Surname, “Article Title,” Journal Name, vol. x, no. x, pp. xx–xx, year, doi: DOI.

Example:

[3] A. R. Isnain, H. Sulistiani, P. Palupiningsih, A. C. Nugroho, B. Azhari, and S. Setiawansyah, “Modification of Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) Method for Improved Decision Making,” Evergreen, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1598–1610, 2025, doi: 10.5109/7388852.

Note:
When a DOI is available, it must be included in the reference. The DOI identifier should remain visible and should be linked to the corresponding DOI landing page.

4. Book Reference

Books should include the author, book title, edition when applicable, publisher, location, and publication year.

IEEE Format:

[No.] Initial(s). Surname, Book Title, xth ed. City, Country: Publisher, year.

Example:

[4] R. K. Jain, Multi-Criteria Decision Making, 2nd ed. New York, NY, USA: Springer, 2022.

5. Conference Proceedings

Conference papers should include the author, paper title, conference title, location when relevant, page numbers, and publication year.

IEEE Format:

[No.] Initial(s). Surname, “Paper Title,” in Proc. Conference Name, year, pp. xx–xx.

6. Chapter in an Edited Book

For a chapter in an edited book, provide the chapter author, chapter title, editor information, book title, publisher, and publication year.

IEEE Format:

[No.] Initial(s). Surname, “Chapter Title,” in Book Title, Initial(s). Editor, Ed. City, Country: Publisher, year, pp. xx–xx.

7. Website Reference

References to websites should identify the author or organization, page title, website name when applicable, and access date when required.

IEEE Format:

[No.] Organization Name, “Web Page Title,” Website Name. Accessed: Month Day, Year.

8. Thesis and Dissertation

Theses and dissertations should include the author, title, type of academic work, institution, location, and publication year.

IEEE Format:

[No.] Initial(s). Surname, “Title,” M.S. thesis/Ph.D. dissertation, Dept., University, City, Country, year.

9. DOI Formatting

When a journal article has a DOI, the DOI must be included in the reference. The DOI identifier should be written accurately and should not be unnecessarily modified.

Preferred Display:

doi: 10.xxxx/xxxxx

Important:
The DOI identifier should remain visible in the reference. It should not be replaced by generic text such as “Click here” or “DOI Link.”

10. Mandatory DOI Links

All references to journal articles with an assigned DOI must include a valid clickable DOI link. The displayed DOI must remain in its original identifier format, while the hyperlink must direct readers to the corresponding DOI landing page.

Example:

[10] A. R. Isnain, H. Sulistiani, P. Palupiningsih, A. C. Nugroho, B. Azhari, and S. Setiawansyah, “Modification of Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) Method for Improved Decision Making,” Evergreen, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1598–1610, 2025, doi: 10.5109/7388852.

Requirement:
The DOI link must be functional, accurate, and resolve to the correct article. Authors should verify that every DOI included in the reference list leads to the corresponding publication.

11. Author Names

Authors should be written using initials followed by the surname. Multiple authors should be separated by commas, with “and” before the final author.

Example:

A. R. Isnain, H. Sulistiani, P. Palupiningsih, A. C. Nugroho, B. Azhari, and S. Setiawansyah.

12. Reference Completeness

Every reference cited in the manuscript must appear in the reference list, and every item in the reference list should be cited in the manuscript.

Authors should verify:

• All citations have corresponding references.
• Reference numbers are sequential.
• Author names are consistent.
• Journal volume and issue are correct.
• Page numbers are accurate.
• Publication years are correct.
• DOIs are correctly written and linked.

13. Reference Quality and Recency

Authors are encouraged to use relevant and reliable scholarly sources, particularly recent journal articles from reputable publishers and indexed databases. References should directly support the statements, methods, data, and arguments presented in the manuscript.

Recommended Sources:

• Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Conference proceedings
• Academic books
• Official institutional publications
• Reliable scholarly databases

Reference Checklist

Before submitting the manuscript, authors should ensure that: