During copyediting, all cited references are imported into RefCheck, our web-based system for editing the cited references. While the order in RefCheck is fixed and cannot be changed, authors can still move paragraphs and sentences with in-text citations in the manuscript around, without changing the numbering, even if they are no longer in sequential order. During typesetting, our typesetting script will then automatically renumber the references (see Why have my references been renumbered during typesetting?).
For example, if in step 2 of copyediting you have one paragraph in the manuscript that cites ref [3], and another one that cites ref [4], like that:
Johnson found that this was effective [3]. Meiers found that it was not effective [4].
(...)
References
3. Johnson J. It's effective! J Med Internet Res 2(4); 1999:e1234
4. Meiers M. It's not effective. J Med Internet Res 2(4); 1999:e9999
Now you can change the order of the sentences in the manuscript without having to worry about changing the in-text citation numbering:
Meiers found that it was not effective [4]. Johnson found that this was effective [3].
(make no changes in RefCheck)
In the final typeset manuscript (after copyediting), our typesetting software will automatically renumber the references and in-text citations so that they are cited in numerical order:
Meiers found that it was not effective [3]. Johnson found that this was effective [4].
(...)
References
3. Meiers M. It's not effective. J Med Internet Res 2(4); 1999:e9999
4. Johnson J. It's effective! J Med Internet Res 2(4); 1999:e1234
Note how the references in the reference list are flipped and the in-text citations renumbered.
Important: After copyediting (in the proofreading/galleys stage), no changes to the order of references can be made without additional costs (as this requires manual re-ordering), so during copyediting it is your last chance to edit the references.
See also
- Why have my references been renumbered during typesetting?
- How do I add a reference to RefCheck during copyediting?
- How do I delete a reference from RefCheck?
- What is the RefCheck process for authors? (copyediting step 2b)
- What are the steps during copyediting?