How can I use brackets for serial numbers like 1, 2, 3

Question

I want to write the reference numbers like the following in MS WORD. How can I write in such a manner?

[1] Brattin WJ, Glenda EA. 1 Free Radical Biol Med 1985;1:27.

[2] Osawa T, Kavakishi S, Namiki M. In: Kuroda Y, Shankal DM, Waters MD, editors.

[3] Subramoniam A, Evans DA, Kajasekharan S, Pushpangadan P. Indian J Exp Biol 1998;3h:385.

[4] Lakshmi M, Rajalaksbmi S, Parani M, Anuratha CS, Ajay parida A. Theoretical Appl Genetics

Answer 1

I you only have a few references, the simplest way is to use \cite commands in the text and a bibliography list at the end of the document as follows:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
Some text \cite{Brattin} and some more text \cite{Osawa,Subramoniam}.

\begin{thebibliography}{99}

\bibitem{Brattin} Brattin WJ, Glenda EA. 1 Free Radical Biol Med
  1985;1:27.

\bibitem{Osawa} Osawa T, Kavakishi S, Namiki M. In: Kuroda Y, Shankal
  DM, Waters MD, editors.

\bibitem{Subramoniam} Subramoniam A, Evans DA, Kajasekharan S,
  Pushpangadan P. Indian J Exp Biol 1998;3h:385.

\bibitem{Lakshmi} Lakshmi M, Rajalaksbmi S, Parani M, Anuratha CS,
  Ajay parida A. Theoretical Appl Genetics
\end{thebibliography}

\end{document}

The argument to \bibitem is the key you use in the \cite command to refer to the given entry. The {99} after \begin{thebibliography} ensures that there is enough space left for two digit labels; replace it with {999} if you have between 100 and 999 references.

If you have many references, or references you are likely to want to use in another document, then you should put your references in an external file and use either the traditional bibtex mechanism or the biber/biblatex combination with appropriate choice of bibliogrphy style. See biblatex for idiots for starting on biblatex. For bibtex see the references in the TeX FAQ. Your external bibliography file will have to be structured according to the expectations of these programs.