See the RevMan Knowledge Base for more information about references in the focused review format.

References are divided into two groups: 1) references to studies; and 2) additional references.

References to studies comprise included, excluded, and ongoing studies as well as studies awaiting classification. Each study:

• has a Study ID (usually made up of the last name of the first author plus the year) and a numerical reference;
• has one primary reference and may have one or more secondary references.

In the focused review format, it is possible to cite the primary study reference and secondary references individually (e.g. in the Background or Discussion sections). For information about how these citations will appear in the editable and read-only versions of the review see RevMan Knowledge Base.

Additional references are those used in the Background, Methods or Discussion sections and include references to other published versions of the review, including the protocol. When cited, all additional references appear as numbers in the text.