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Springer - Basic (author-date) Citation Generator
Generate references in Springer - Basic (author-date) from a DOI or link in seconds. CitApp renders this style with citeproc, the same engine as Zotero and Mendeley, so every comma matches the spec. Free for students, no sign-up to try.
What a Springer - Basic (author-date) reference looks like
Springer - Basic (author-date) is an author-date style: the in-text citation gives the author surname and year in parentheses.
Rendered live from the same engine CitApp uses in the app:
Journal article
Babonis LS, Martindale MQ (2022) A novel regulatory gene network in cnidarians. PNAS 119:e2113701119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113701119
Book
Kuhn TS (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press
Web page
IPCC (2021) Climate change 2021: the physical science basis. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/. Accessed 15 July 2026
In-text citation
(Babonis and Martindale 2022)
Journal article with 26 authors
Harris CR, Millman KJ, van der Walt SJ, et al (2020) Array programming with NumPy. Nature 585:357–362. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2
Springer - Basic (author-date) at a glance
Read from the style file and checked against the examples above.
- For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names the first 3 authors and shortens the rest.
- In the text, the same paper becomes (Harris et al. 2020).
- First names are shortened to initials.
- DOIs are printed as links (https://doi.org/...).
- Web pages include the date you accessed them.
- The reference list is sorted alphabetically by author.
- The reference list uses a hanging indent.
- The style file was last updated in September 2019.
The guide this style follows: springer.com
How Springer - Basic (author-date) compares with APA Style 7th edition
Where Springer - Basic (author-date) differs:
- For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names the first 3 authors and shortens the rest.
- Web pages include the date you accessed them.
- The reference list is single-spaced, where APA Style 7th edition is double-spaced.
- In the text it writes (Babonis and Martindale 2022) where APA Style 7th edition writes (Babonis & Martindale, 2022).
The same journal article in APA Style 7th edition
Babonis, L. S., & Martindale, M. Q. (2022). A novel regulatory gene network in cnidarians. PNAS, 119(19), e2113701119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113701119
Frequently asked questions
How many authors does Springer - Basic (author-date) list?
For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names the first 3 authors and shortens the rest. In the text, the same paper becomes (Harris et al. 2020).
How does Springer - Basic (author-date) handle DOIs and web pages?
DOIs are printed as links (https://doi.org/...). Web pages include the date you accessed them.
How is the reference list ordered in Springer - Basic (author-date)?
The reference list is sorted alphabetically by author. The reference list uses a hanging indent.
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