How to cite a preprint in Cell
A scientific manuscript posted before peer review (ArXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv). Style required by Cell Press journals.
Quick answer
To cite a preprint in Cell, include the author(s), year, title, and container or publisher details. A concrete example is below.
Example
Chen, L., and Martinez, S. Large Language Models Meet Clinical Reasoning. arXiv, — (2024). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.12345
This example is rendered with the official CSL definition for Cell. For the exact style required by your journal, paste your references into DEEPNOTIS and pick that style from the dropdown — the app covers 2,800+ variants.
Official source
Cell is defined and maintained by the Cell Press. When a formatting rule is ambiguous, their official guidance is the authoritative reference. DEEPNOTIS renders Cell from the same canonical CSL definition.
What you need
For a preprint, Cell expects these fields at minimum:
- Author(s)
- Year
- Title
- Preprint server (arXiv, bioRxiv, SSRN…)
- DOI or server ID
- Label: [Preprint]
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to mark the reference as [Preprint]. Every major style wants this flag.
- Citing the preprint after the peer-reviewed version has been published — cite the published version instead.
- Forgetting the DOI. When a DOI exists, most styles now require it (usually as a full https://doi.org/… URL).
Cite every reference in Cell — at once
Upload your .docx and DEEPNOTIS re-formats every citation in Cell, automatically. Free to start — 3 documents a month, no card.
Last updated: 5 May 2026