diff --git a/src/common/reference_manager.F b/src/common/reference_manager.F
index 148edd89ed..6785c31aac 100644
--- a/src/common/reference_manager.F
+++ b/src/common/reference_manager.F
@@ -272,63 +272,33 @@ CONTAINS
    SUBROUTINE print_reference_journal(key, unit)
       INTEGER, INTENT(IN)                                :: key, unit
 
-      CHARACTER(LEN=4*default_string_length)             :: journal
-      CHARACTER(LEN=default_string_length)               :: author, year_str
-      INTEGER                                            :: iauthor, ipos_line, ititle, jtitle
+      CHARACTER(LEN=:), ALLOCATABLE                      :: text
+      CHARACTER(LEN=default_string_length)               :: year_str
+      INTEGER                                            :: iauthor
 
-      ! write the author list
-      WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)', ADVANCE="NO") ""
-      ipos_line = 2
-      DO iauthor = 1, SIZE(thebib(key)%ref%authors)
-         author = thebib(key)%ref%authors(iauthor)
-         IF (ipos_line + LEN_TRIM(author) > 71) THEN
-            WRITE (unit, '(A)') ";"
-            WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)', ADVANCE="NO") ""
-            ipos_line = 2
-         ELSE
-            IF (iauthor .NE. 1) WRITE (unit, '(A)', ADVANCE="NO") "; "
-            ipos_line = ipos_line + 2
-         END IF
-         WRITE (unit, '(A)', ADVANCE="NO") TRIM(author)
-         ipos_line = ipos_line + LEN_TRIM(author)
+      ! Authors
+      text = thebib(key)%ref%authors(1)
+      DO iauthor = 2, SIZE(thebib(key)%ref%authors)
+         text = TRIM(text)//", "//thebib(key)%ref%authors(iauthor)
       END DO
-      IF (iauthor > 0) THEN
-         WRITE (unit, '(A)', ADVANCE="NO") ". "
-         ipos_line = ipos_line + 2
-      END IF
+      CALL write_long_text(TRIM(text)//".", unit)
 
       ! Journal, volume, pages (year).
-      journal = thebib(key)%ref%source
+      text = thebib(key)%ref%source
       IF (ALLOCATED(thebib(key)%ref%volume)) THEN
-         journal = TRIM(journal)//", "//thebib(key)%ref%volume
+         text = text//" "//thebib(key)%ref%volume
       END IF
       IF (ALLOCATED(thebib(key)%ref%pages)) THEN
-         journal = TRIM(journal)//", "//thebib(key)%ref%pages
+         text = TRIM(text)//", "//thebib(key)%ref%pages
       END IF
       IF (thebib(key)%ref%year > 0) THEN
          CALL integer_to_string(thebib(key)%ref%year, year_str)
-         journal = TRIM(journal)//" ("//TRIM(year_str)//")."
+         text = TRIM(text)//" ("//TRIM(year_str)//")"
       END IF
-      IF (ipos_line + LEN_TRIM(journal) > 71) THEN
-         WRITE (unit, '(A)') ""
-         WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)', ADVANCE="NO") ""
-         ipos_line = 2
-      END IF
-      IF (ipos_line + LEN_TRIM(journal) > 71) THEN
-         WRITE (unit, '(A)') TRIM(journal(1:69))
-         WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)', ADVANCE="NO") TRIM(journal(70:))
-      ELSE
-         WRITE (unit, '(A)', ADVANCE="NO") TRIM(journal)
-      END IF
-      WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)') ""
+      CALL write_long_text(TRIM(text)//".", unit)
 
       ! Title
-      DO ititle = 1, LEN(thebib(key)%ref%title), 70
-         IF (ititle .NE. 1) WRITE (unit, '(A)') ""
-         jtitle = MIN(ititle + 69, LEN(thebib(key)%ref%title))
-         WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)', ADVANCE="NO") thebib(key)%ref%title(ititle:jtitle)
-      END DO
-      IF (ititle > 0) WRITE (unit, '(A)') "."
+      CALL write_long_text(thebib(key)%ref%title//".", unit)
 
       ! DOI
       IF (ALLOCATED(thebib(key)%ref%doi)) THEN
@@ -404,4 +374,53 @@ CONTAINS
 
    END FUNCTION get_epoch
 
+! **************************************************************************************************
+!> \brief Helper routine for print_reference_journal()
+!> \param text ...
+!> \param unit ...
+!> \return ...
+!> \author Ole Schuett
+! **************************************************************************************************
+   SUBROUTINE write_long_text(text, unit)
+      CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN)                       :: text
+      INTEGER, INTENT(IN)                                :: unit
+
+      INTEGER                                            :: a, b
+
+      a = 1; b = -1
+      DO WHILE (b < LEN(text))
+         b = next_linebreak(text, pos=a, rowlen=78)
+         WRITE (unit, '(T2,A)') text(a:b)
+         a = b + 1
+      END DO
+   END SUBROUTINE write_long_text
+
+! **************************************************************************************************
+!> \brief Helper routine for write_long_text()
+!> \param text ...
+!> \param pos ...
+!> \param rowlen ...
+!> \return ...
+!> \author Ole Schuett
+! **************************************************************************************************
+   FUNCTION next_linebreak(text, pos, rowlen) RESULT(ibreak)
+      CHARACTER(LEN=*), INTENT(IN)                       :: text
+      INTEGER, INTENT(IN)                                :: pos, rowlen
+      INTEGER                                            :: ibreak
+
+      INTEGER                                            :: i, n
+
+      n = LEN_TRIM(text)
+      IF (n - pos <= rowlen) THEN
+         ibreak = n ! remaining text shorter than line
+      ELSE
+         i = INDEX(text(pos + 1:pos + 1 + rowlen), " ", BACK=.TRUE.)
+         IF (i == 0) THEN
+            ibreak = pos + rowlen - 1 ! no space found, break mid-word
+         ELSE
+            ibreak = pos + i ! break at space closest to rowlen
+         END IF
+      END IF
+   END FUNCTION next_linebreak
+
 END MODULE reference_manager