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I stumbled over some journal which uses, next to volumes, numbers AND issues. I am wondering how one cites articles in this journal. For example, if some article is contained in a journal having only a volume and a number (OR issue), then usually one writes

Author: Title. Volume(Number):FirstPage-LastPage

But what should I do if the article has a number AND an issue? Are there any rules for this case?

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So the Journal of Old Dits and Dahs, often abbreviated ODD, has decided to use volumes, numbers, and issues. Perhaps this eccentricity is related to the focus of the journal, the history of Morse code. And (somehow) there is an article there which you want to reference.

First step: look through articles in ODD to see how references to other papers in ODD are formatted. This is how that particular journal prefers things. If you are submitting your article to ODD, copy this format. If submitting elsewhere, also use this format unless ruled out by step 2.

Second step: look through any style guides available for your (non-ODD) target journal. Perhaps they have some guidance. Lacking that, check articles in your target journal that may have referenced an article in ODD. For example, you could look at the citations for the ODD article you are looking at. Copy that format.

Third step: (probably not needed if you can find any info above) - use a more conventional citation style, making sure there is enough information to uniquely identify the ODD paper in question. Submit as usual and see if the editorial staff complain at some point. It is highly likely, particularly with electronic databases, that given the authors, journal, and some variety of volume/number/issue/page that the article in question can be found even if not cited as the ODD journal would prefer.

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