4authors-year-doi-url: Minimal, numeric CSL style for documents with extreme space constraints

2025 research methods

The 4authors-year-doi-url CSL style is designed to be as compact as possible—ideal for posters, slides and abstracts—while retaining the three most critical pieces of information for a reference: who (authors), when (year) and where (DOI/URL).

Features

  • In-Text Citations: Simple, superscripted numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3).

  • Bibliography:

    • Numeric: A numbered list, ordered by appearance in the text.

    • No Titles: Article and book titles are completely omitted to save space.

  • Authors:

    • 1-3 Authors: All authors are listed.

    • 4+ Authors: Lists the first 3 authors, followed by an ellipsis (…) and the last author.

  • Year: The publication year is included in parentheses.

  • (DOI) URL: The reference ends with a DOI URL or another available URL.

Examples

In-Text Citation

We also recognise the many-to-many relationship between forms of knowledge and skills.2 To build a predictive model, we will analyse interactions between reader-level factors and a comprehensive set of computationally-derived text variables.5–8

Bibliography

  1. Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619830329

  2. Hattan, C., & Kendeou, P. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2024.2418048

  3. Mathers, S. J., Kolancali, P., Jelley, F., … Murphy, V. A. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100665

  4. Li, S., Hiver, P., & Papi, M. (Eds). (2022). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003270546

  5. Nielsen, J. L., Christensen, R. V., & Poulsen, M. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70003

  6. Kaup, B., Günther, F., & Dudschig, C. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2025.08.001

  7. Martinc, M., Pollak, S., & Robnik-Šikonja, M. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00398

  8. Bernabeu, P. (2022). https://doi.org/10.17635/lancaster/thesis/1795

  9. Blasi, D. E., Henrich, J., Adamou, E., … Majid, A. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.09.015

How to Use

  1. Download the 4authors-year-doi-url.csl file from GitHub.

  2. Add the file to your reference manager:

  • Zotero:

    1. Go to Edit > Preferences.

    2. Go to the Cite tab and click the Styles sub-tab.

    3. Click the + button and select the .csl file you downloaded.

  • Mendeley:

    1. Go to View > Citation Style > More Styles….

    2. Go to the Custom Styles tab.

    3. Drag and drop the .csl file onto the page.

  • Other Platforms: Most reference managers (e.g., EndNote, Papers) have an option to add a custom CSL style. Consult their documentation for specific instructions.

  1. Select 4authors-year-doi-url as the citation style in your reference manager and word processor.
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